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Yeah, it's sad
But if they don't sell a de-spec'd version to The Home Despot, The Despot won't carry Makita
And The Despot sells too many tools for Makita to say no
Shame, really

Personally I'd rather pay a little more, get a better tool, and support my local tool supply store owner
I think we all need to think about it

The HD thread:
http://www.diychatroom.com/showthread.php?t=471

It's CPV

Lets say Porter-Cable has a framing saw, you see it in your local tool shop for...say $189
It's quiet, light, strong, and has a great blade
You shop around a bit and see it in HD for less
It's only $159...what a bargain!

Hold on there partner, here's what happened
HD brass saw the P/C saw and said great, we want to carry that, but we want to charge less than $189
P/C says we can't lower our price to you, it's a great price

Now comes the CPV
Customer Perceived Value

Big Box says well, our average customer won't see the value (extra $) of that magnesium guide...can you make it steel?
Our avg. cust won't perceive the value of those fancy motor bushings, or that fancy blade
Make your saw for us to these new specs and we'll carry your saw
And we'll sell it for $159

If P/C says no, then Big Box won't carry a P/C framing saw

Voila, Home Despot has a de-spec'd P/C saw that looks like the one at the local tool shop

In the above example, the irony is that if the local tool shop carried the de-spec'd tool, it would be $139

 

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If you look at a blue four door BMW with a price tag of $80K and then go to another dealer and look at a blue four door BMW with a price of $60K, you would not expect to get the same car, would you.

Good example
And yet some consumers still think "volume" alone can explain a 20% reduction in the retail price
(rather than the 2-4% that is the more common actual discount from the manufacturer)
Unfortunately the retailers that do this don't mind that perception and don't try and educate consumers about it