Harbor Freight (again)

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  • LCHIEN
    Internet Fact Checker
    • Dec 2002
    • 20920
    • Katy, TX, USA.
    • BT3000 vintage 1999

    Harbor Freight (again)

    Since the demise (January 2021) of the 20% coupons and the free gimme items, I have stopped going there. I used to go on a monthly basis.
    I did go today and bought one toy for the kiddos.

    Anyone see a use for the "members club"? Thirty bucks a year and looks like you only get deals if they have a members sale on something you need. No percent off anything coupons.

    Sure miss the 20% off anything days. I really don't traffic the store much at all since then... maybe its the fact I already have too much stuff.

    One of my digital calipers has gone haywire and I'm thinking about replacing it.... would have done it in a minute today if I had a 20% coupon.

    Unless they were losing money before, it sure seems to me based on a sample of one that their new marketing plan is not working.

    I still have a box of tape measures, lights and voltmeters I give to friends and family. I know when that had that lawsuit that my 3 years spending at the local store ended up around $1000.

    I guess applying for a HF credit card could get you 5% off every purchase.

    The other thing is that they are introducing new lines (Bauer, Banks, Pierce, Hercules, Icon) of premium priced tools with a hard sell, fancy names with prices considerably higher than their old Pittsburgh and Central lines. It guess this is a thinly disguised price raise?
    Last edited by LCHIEN; 09-07-2021, 08:14 PM.
    Loring in Katy, TX USA
    If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
    BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions
  • leehljp
    Just me
    • Dec 2002
    • 8429
    • Tunica, MS
    • BT3000/3100

    #2
    I agree with you Loring. My trips to HF have been curtailed considerably. Next to our HF is a great local fried chicken restaurant - mildly spicy quite different from the chain store chicken restaurants. We went there twice this summer and LOML asked why I didn't go into HF!

    I do look at their "sale" items online - if I need anything, and IF they have it on sale, I will go there. I am finding that I am doing a LOT more online comparison of HF items versus the same or equal item at HD, Lowes, ACE etc before I purchase something now.

    Another thing that my local HF store does that irritates me - is that on their bottom line items, a pattern is developing on those items (may be my local HF store) - their shelf item is "out," while the more expensive set has plenty on display. I needed an 18 inch long 1/2" breaker bar (only had 3/8" at home). I went to the HF store this summer and they were out ($11.99). I couldn't believe they were out, and they had plenty of their new brand (Icon) at $39.99. I deliberately asked a lady at the cash register and she said they had plenty in the back. I asked for it and I bought one. The same thing happened in the early summer with their black 1/2" impact wrench sockets. I had to ask for the cheaper set while they had plenty of their special name brand (Icon) at more than twice the price on display. IF that happened once, I can understand, but when it happened twice, I see a pattern.
    Last edited by leehljp; 09-02-2021, 06:48 AM.
    Hank Lee

    Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!

    Comment

    • cwsmith
      Veteran Member
      • Dec 2005
      • 2737
      • NY Southern Tier, USA.
      • BT3100-1

      #3
      I agree and my visits to HF have seriously declined for a number of reasons. My thoughts are that the Covid pandemic has seriously hit them. In prior years my frequent visits there amounted to at least a couple a week. Coupons and free stuff were attractive to a lot of people and I liked the great variety of cheap tools, of which I have more than a few. Most often tools that I just couldn't buy at my local stores like Lowes and Home Depot..

      But during the first year of the pandemic, I stopped going to many of my weekly visited shopping places because people refused to wear face masks. On the occasional visit I also noticed many of the sales people who I had been friendly with, had quit. (I still keep in touch with a couple of them.) They too, cited the health risk as most of them were older.

      The other challenges that I see are that they seem to be increasing their brands and new tool introductions at a much fast pace (New Tool Tuesdays) and the prices are going up markedly. In my local HF the aisles have been rearranged at least three times over the last year. On top of that, they appear to have stopped printing their multi-page, monthly sales magazine/catalog.

      I visited the store two weeks ago and purchased a transfer pump and again this past Monday to purchase a pickup hose. The manager said they didn't carry the hose, and I pointed out that the website said they had one. He didn't know anything about that and didn't have the time to go look. Service has seriously degraded with often only two or three employee's in the store. Yet there are still all too many customer's in the store without masks (our county Covid map has reflect a count of 34 just two months ago, to well over 500 this past week!).

      So, while I still favor HF, I don't like that the prices are going up, the offering going down (no coupons, sales flyers, etc.). But that appears to be true all across our area with almost every store. Prices at Lowes and HD are absurd, lines at that auto-checkouts exceedingly long, and very little service people anywhere. I've also noticed that there are a lot of theives who boldly just take stuff and walk out the door as they know that nobody will stop them. And, my two local Walmarts look like they just suffered a before-the-storm raid, with far too many barren shelves.

      CWS
      Think it Through Before You Do!

      Comment

      • Pappy
        The Full Monte
        • Dec 2002
        • 10453
        • San Marcos, TX, USA.
        • BT3000 (x2)

        #4
        Same here. HF visits are few and far between. Generally only if an item I need is on sale. I'm in need of a new Multimeter now and was looking at this one.

        DM600 Compact Digital Multimeter (harborfreight.com)

        For ~$10 more I get a name brand. Why chance the quality of the HF one?

        edit: I just found the Klein unit on Amazon for the same price as the HF one!
        Last edited by Pappy; 09-05-2021, 09:44 AM.
        Don, aka Pappy,

        Wise men talk because they have something to say,
        Fools because they have to say something.
        Plato

        Comment

        • nicer20
          Established Member
          • Sep 2007
          • 365
          • Dublin, CA
          • BT3100

          #5
          More or less echoing all the same thoughts above.

          In addition, I find lack of 20% coupons and the other month long coupons (that appeared in mailers & magazines) a serious handicap for me. The closest HF store is 35-40 mins drive each way. So driving there just for small items and that too, to find out they are out-of-stock, doesn't make sense. We have friends in that town whom we would visit (albeit not so much due to pandemic) regularly. It was much more convenient to carry those coupons in wallet and stop by whenever we are in that town.

          Regarding their better brands like Bauer, Hercules - I believe they are very good (I have a couple of those tools and they are very nice) but I find their 90 day only warranty a big flaw in their strategy. For example, I recently bought a Ryobi 18Ga cordless nailer which sells for $99 in HD. The Bauer nailer is $89. For $10 more I get a 3 year Ryobi warranty then why buy Bauer.

          Comment

          • nicer20
            Established Member
            • Sep 2007
            • 365
            • Dublin, CA
            • BT3100

            #6
            Originally posted by leehljp
            I agree with you Loring. .........

            IF that happened once, I can understand, but when it happened twice, I see a pattern.
            "Once is happenstance , twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action."

            Comment

            • leehljp
              Just me
              • Dec 2002
              • 8429
              • Tunica, MS
              • BT3000/3100

              #7
              Originally posted by nicer20

              "Once is happenstance , twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action."
              To an INTP personality - twice is a pattern!
              Hank Lee

              Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!

              Comment

              • dbhost
                Slow and steady
                • Apr 2008
                • 9209
                • League City, Texas
                • Ryobi BT3100

                #8
                So long story short. I also wondered about the recent changes at Harbor Freight.

                As a business goes, they are not doing themselves any favors. The Hercules, which admittedly is their top of the line, 12" double bevel sliding miter saw, still only a 90 day warranty, and sells for $20.00 MORE than the Metabo HPT (Formerly Hitachi) compact 12" double bevel slider with a 5 year warranty.

                The compelling reason to buy from Harbor Freight was go get good, basic tools that had, well good bones, and really attractive prices. My old Chicago Electric 12" slider is, after setting the fence to zero, and verifying the bevel / stops etc... are where they should be, it honestly has been a fantastic saw. Original price was $129.00 and they had the 20% off coupon back then.

                Would I buy one of their, even the Admiral or Bauer branded saws? Not gonna happen. If I am climbing that far up the ladder, I am going to go for the name brand with the better warranty.

                It seems they got new management in that forgot why people buy from them in the first place. All they are doing is pushing me back to Lowes, Home Depot, Northern Tool, and Amazon...

                I am VERY glad I got the older HF stuff when I did though. I wouldn't have been able to outfit a shop with the newer price tags.... And the used market here in Houston Metro still stinks...
                Please like and subscribe to my YouTube channel. Please check out and subscribe to my Workshop Blog.

                Comment

                • capncarl
                  Veteran Member
                  • Jan 2007
                  • 3564
                  • Leesburg Georgia USA
                  • SawStop CTS

                  #9
                  Maybe they are hoarders? If they don’t restock the shelf they won’t run out of inventory in the back room and won’t have to re-order, and won’t have to unload the truck? Maybe just lazy?
                  When Icon brand tools first came out i purchased several of their 1/4 and 3/8 ratchets…… can’t never have enough ratchets….. they are as good as my Snap On. There is a world of difference in a cheap ratchet. I replaced most of my metric socket sets with Icon sets when I gave mine to my oldest. It seemed that over the years a lot of sockets sets had been mixed with 12 point sockets, he needed more tools so I got to go shopping! have no use for any socket larger than 1/2”/13mm in a 12 point. The Icon tool boxes and cabinets look really good, but their prices are a lot higher than almost all hobby mechanics will pay. They might be lower than Snap On but that’s not saying much because Snap On always been a lot more than they should have been. For the money their US General tool boxes are a good tool box buy.

                  Comment

                  • Jshack01
                    Forum Newbie
                    • Oct 2020
                    • 9
                    • Pittsburgh, PA
                    • Ryobi BT3000

                    #10
                    When I retired at the end of last November, I received 2 sizeable gift cards to HFT as part of my "don't let the door hit you in the backside" gifts. As a result, I was in the store quite a bit at the start of 2021 trying to burn through the cards.

                    I did pop for the ITC membership right away but mostly because I had free money to spend.

                    It was right at the time that they were switching their strategy from the coupons and catalogs to relying primarily on the online stuff, and it has taken a while to get myself retooled.

                    My takeaways:

                    1. The ITC membership paid for itself easily.

                    2. There are still coupon offers happening regularly, just not constantly. I used to always keep the old coupon on as my phone's wallpaper, and now that it's gone I'm not surprised that drop-in shopping impulse disappeared. I hope it's not fatal for HFT.

                    3. I actually ended up getting a part-time job there restocking shelves. The system used for "replenishment", as it's called internally, has issues if the staff doesn't execute it properly. A lot of the holes on the shelves have been persistent supply chain headaches, but I would recommend asking for someone to double check for the item you want on the spot. I find stock in the back for customers often enough that it's worth asking. There's never really adequate staffing, but there's always a Manager on Duty and/or a logistics associate somewhere. At all times.

                    There's exactly zero chance of the old model ever coming back. They're trying to compete and survive in the Amazon driven world and, right or wrong, they're working the plan.

                    Comment


                    • LCHIEN
                      LCHIEN commented
                      Editing a comment
                      Thanks for that perspective.

                    • dbhost

                      dbhost
                      commented
                      Editing a comment
                      Oh I get they are working the plan / trying to compete with Amazon. But they should be competing on brands that are not well known OR they should be bringing in actual well established branding. Splitting the difference of trying to sell their own premium brands at above established, well honestly mid / premium level stuff, with a horrifylingly short warranty certainly won't work for me as a customer. Of couse they aren't doing this for me anyway. I already build out my shop with pretty much everything I wanted from HF except for 2 major tools that they dropped and won't bring back. #1. The 8" jointer, and the Wide Drum sander that I don't think they carried that long...

                      Seriously. Bandsaw, check, dust collector, check, 12x36ish lathe, check, 12" sliding miter saw, check, 29 gallon air compressor, check, hose reel, check, mortising machine, check... obnoxiously large belt sander, check, collection of pretty good, and absolutely miserable hole saws, check... 1/2" hammer drill and bits for the once every 5 years or so I need to poke a hole in mortar or concrete. Check...

                      Honestly, Most of the big stuff is still on offer, but once it doesn't need a floor stand they seem to have dropped it, and the Central Pneumatic compressors are going away fast. Too bad too. I have 2 of them and I use and abuse the snot out of those poor things...
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