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Dillon Prices (This Might Belong In The Inflation Thread)

EddieZoom

EddieZoom

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Browsing Dillon Precision site which I don't do very often....when the hell did the SDB (Square Deal B) start to cost about the same as the 550C ? And when did they both exceed $600 !!!!

Three (non carbide) die rifle sets for $140 !!!!

Seems like only yesterday (yep, good old days talk) I bought my first press (an SDB) for somewhere around $150 o_O
 
Got their catalog recently and just shaking my head...glad I bought when I did and nicer still to have gotten some of my stuff used...
 
The price isn't as close as I thought because the Square Deal comes with dies and the 550 doesn't. The Square Deal doesn't load any rifle calibers and has auto indexing. It may be a good choice for a high volume handgun shooter.
 
gerrycaruso said:
The price isn't as close as I thought because the Square Deal comes with dies and the 550 doesn't. The Square Deal doesn't load any rifle calibers and has auto indexing. It may be a good choice for a high volume handgun shooter.
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I’ve worked with a few of them. Setting them up for friends.
I wouldn’t take the SDB if someone gave it to me.

Too small. Too fiddly. Proprietary dies. No thanks.
 
I don't ever recall them not having a price increase at the new year.

I doesn't make sense to hold the price all year long then change at the new year lot clock work.

I always thought what? They have no left over stock purchased with last years materials?

But it did always increase sales in November and December. There sales model is that prices go up in January and it has worked since the eighties.
 
Dillon hammers HARD on small parts like bolts or the small white plastic pieces on the 1050. Very disappointing. Dillon also cancels lifetime warrantees on tumblers that were bought back when they did not add the weasel words "except for electronics" to their lifetime warranty. If you make a claim, they cancel your lifetime warranty and give you a one year one on the replacement.
 
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Rob Boudrie said:
Dillon hammers HARD on small parts like bolts or the small white plastic pieces on the 1050. Very disappointing. Dillon also cancels lifetime warrantees on tumblers that were bought back when they did not add the weasel words "except for electronics" to their lifetime warranty. If you make a claim, they cancel your lifetime warranty and give you a one year one on the replacement.
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They did that with a scale I bought back in the eighties. Replace with a new one with the one year warranty.

Mike Dillon is gone so are his business ethics.
 
Mike 53 said:
Yikes. Just agreed to buy one...what's fiddly? (Buying it anyway) :D
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It’s too small. Everything is tiny. You practically need tweezers to get the location buttons in and out.
I’m also one of the weird people that don’t like auto advancing presses.
When I'm trying to get my powder die belling right or my powder adjusted I don’t want to chase the brass around in circles.
 
38ExtraSpecial said:
It’s too small. Everything is tiny. You practically need tweezers to get the location buttons in and out.
I’m also one of the weird people that don’t like auto advancing presses.
When I'm trying to get my powder die belling right or my powder adjusted I don’t want to chase the brass around in circles.
Click to expand...

gerrycaruso said:
It's a pain adjusting things with auto indexing but once everything is adjusted, the loading does go faster.
Click to expand...

I don’t know about all presses, but I know on the Dillon 650 and 750 you can remove the auto indexing cam with two small screws, it essentially into a 550 with a 5th position.
 
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Since Mike Dillon's passing, it seems the company has now become the marketplace for his son's gear and the pricing has gone up steadily. No more "buy three get a price break" deals on items like toolheads, powder dies and the like. Very disappointing. I love the product and the warranty, but hate having to spend stupid money on any small parts. If I need locator buttons for instance (because I feel if I lose them, that it should not be a warranty issue and I should pay) but let's be reasonable. The shipping kills me. Please Dillon, if I can ship small items for a few dollars UPS with no business contract, why do I have to pay through the nose for you to ship me small parts? Instead, the aftermarket is happy to supply toolheads, dies, powder dies, powder funnels and the like for less.
 
jaypap said:
They did that with a scale I bought back in the eighties. Replace with a new one with the one year warranty.

Mike Dillon is gone so are his business ethics.
Click to expand...
This is a violation of contract law and the Magnuson-Moss warranty act. The trick is getting some government agency interested in enforcing it.

When LL Bean eliminated its lifetime warranty, the fine print included their announcement they would honor it on items purchased prior to the change in policy, but would require proof it was a pre-lifetime-warranty-ban product.
 
steve8140 said:
I don’t know about all presses, but I know on the Dillon 650 and 750 you can remove the auto indexing cam with two small screws cut it, essentially into a 550 with a 5th position.
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That’s nice. I would go for a 750 but I’m so deep in the 550 world. I also like the price and speed of the changeovers.
lumasa said:
Since Mike Dillon's passing, it seems the company has now become the marketplace for his son's gear and the pricing has gone up steadily. No more "buy three get a price break" deals on items like toolheads, powder dies and the like. Very disappointing. I love the product and the warranty, but hate having to spend stupid money on any small parts. If I need locator buttons for instance (because I feel if I lose them, that it should not be a warranty issue and I should pay) but let's be reasonable. The shipping kills me. Please Dillon, if I can ship small items for a few dollars UPS with no business contract, why do I have to pay through the nose for you to ship me small parts? Instead, the aftermarket is happy to supply toolheads, dies, powder dies, powder funnels and the like for less.
Click to expand...
Is it all due to the kid? Or is it just that the old man clung on to something that he believed in whether or not it made good business sense? I’m not sure but I deal with a lot of businesses that get flak for the changes they make when they take it over from mom and pop. However if mom and pop kept the business as is they would have run it into the ground.
I’m not saying that’s the issue with Dillon but sometimes changes need to be made or they make sense to be made. I imagine it’s hard for them to stay competitive with so many reloading companies offering tons of value now a days, while still having enough built in to offer lifetime support for presses. I just don’t think the extra profit is there.
Rob Boudrie said:
This is a violation of contract law and the Magnuson-Moss warranty act. The trick is getting some government agency interested in enforcing it.

When LL Bean eliminated its lifetime warranty, the fine print included their announcement they would honor it on items purchased prior to the change in policy, but would require proof it was a pre-lifetime-warranty-ban product.
Click to expand...
They also had a satisfaction guarantee that was allowed to be abused for a loooong time. When someone brings in 25 year old bed sheets and they would take them no question they enabled customers to steal from them. When really after 25 years if you’re not satisfied with the longevity of your sheets and you think the company owes you a free set then you’re just an a$$hole.
 
The changes started with Mike Dillon. Some companies can offer things like free parts/support when they are still growing, and need the reputation boost to fuel that growth. It's harder to support that kind of warrantee out of a steady-state cash flow, with an ever growing base of customers who can make claims.

It started with MIke Dillon. I asked on of their employees "what changed" when they went from providing "unofficial lifetime support" to non-commercial 1050 users to "letter of the warranty, even a small screw will cost you. The answer was that Mike Dillon told the staff to stop giving out free parts to 1050 users whose limited warranty had expired.
 
38ExtraSpecial,
You make a good point about changing business plans and times. I used to like the stories about Grandpa Dillon in the mag, but then started to see the more articles about the new rifle line/parts etc from one of the kids. Times change and I guess I need to change with them! I still plan on sticking with my Dillon press and give thought to buying a full 750 setup for future or for my kids. Solid investment either way as the prices continue to rise.
 
lumasa said:
38ExtraSpecial,
You make a good point about changing business plans and times. I used to like the stories about Grandpa Dillon in the mag, but then started to see the more articles about the new rifle line/parts etc from one of the kids. Times change and I guess I need to change with them! I still plan on sticking with my Dillon press and give thought to buying a full 750 setup for future or for my kids. Solid investment either way as the prices continue to rise.
Click to expand...
I’m not saying it’s right or wrong but it’s change.
One of my favorite quotes.

“Some things ain’t like they used to be, but I suppose from some standpoints they never were”

One would think you could up the price by $50 a unit and offer lifetime support knowing that very few people are going to use up that $50 in parts in their lifetime but with all the pressure and “value” brands eating up their sales they probably knee jerked and pulled that cost savings. Not seeing the forest for the trees and understanding that the support they offered allowed them to be more expensive than everyone else in the first place.
 
38ExtraSpecial said:
I’m not saying it’s right or wrong but it’s change.
One of my favorite quotes.

“Some things ain’t like they used to be, but I suppose from some standpoints they never were”

One would think you could up the price by $50 a unit and offer lifetime support knowing that very few people are going to use up that $50 in parts in their lifetime but with all the pressure and “value” brands eating up their sales they probably knee jerked and pulled that cost savings. Not seeing the forest for the trees and understanding that the support they offered allowed them to be more expensive than everyone else in the first place.
Click to expand...
Dillon's smartest revenue grab was going "Factory direct". Their few resellers of Dillon equipment only got 15% margin (which is why few dealers stocked Dillon equipment). The street price of the other brands is often 30%-50% below retail, but Dillon is always full retail. Now that ordering online is the norm, the concept of competing with the local shop no longer exists.

Dillon also has always been "good enough" on quality - not "high end" - note the use of low grade alloys and pot metal on parts not requiring the strength of steel.

Their "hammering hard" on parts for their high end press, and constantly pushing the edge on annual price increases, is one of the things that has opened up room for credible competitors like Mark VII. Some of the old like companies that always lagged Dillon in press design are starting to come out with progressives threatening Dillon dominance.
 
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Rob Boudrie said:
Dillon's smartest revenue grab was going "Factory direct". Their few resellers of Dillon equipment only got 15% margin (which is why few dealers stocked Dillon equipment). The street price of the other brands is often 30%-50% below retail, but Dillon is always full retail. Now that ordering online is the norm, the concept of competing with the local shop no longer exists.

Dillon also has always been "good enough" on quality - not "high end" - note the use of low grad alloys and pot metal on parts not requiring the strength of steel.

Their "hammering hard" on parts for their high end press, and constantly pushing the edge on annual price increases, is one of the things that has opened up room for credible competitors like Mark VII. Some of the old like companies that always lagged Dillon in press design are starting to come out with progressives threatening Dillon dominance.
Click to expand...
I agree. These other companies are offering more and more and especially innovative designs that leave Dillon in the dust. The 750 was a nice upgrade but it’s just making the 650 what it should have been from the start. Not putting it ahead like other companies have been doing.
I bleed Dillon blue and love their presses but sometimes wish they would pull a S&W and steal some ideas from Lee and improve on them a bit.
 
Agree with everyone that the Dillon prices have gotten silly. I bought an SDB in 1996 for $279. At that price they’re great for 1 caliber loading but back then the conversion kits were pretty cheap so starting out with 40 I added 9mm and still felt pretty good. I got a 550B for about $479 in 2012 to load 45 and 223.
 
Mikie said:
Agree with everyone that the Dillon prices have gotten silly. I bought an SDB in 1996 for $279. At that price they’re great for 1 caliber loading but back then the conversion kits were pretty cheap so starting out with 40 I added 9mm and still felt pretty good. I got a 550B for about $479 in 2012 to load 45 and 223.
Click to expand...
Figure inflation and the Dillon prices now are not bad at all. Online inflation calculator shows $550 today’s money.
 

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