There are side conversations in a thread wondering if Price=Quality, and Harbor Freight came up. One opened up about 25 miles from me, but it's right in the area I do my weekly grocery shopping, so I've started frequenting the place. I commented that there are a lot of good online reviews for their stuff, but there are also sufficient negative ones with real quality concerns that have caused me to not buy over 90% of the stuff I was initially looking at. I'll still buy something low-end and then regret it later (I'll never learn), but I won't buy something that looks destined for the trash can after a few uses. I don't know if I'm being too cautious--and Harbor Freight is the stuff of jokes--so I thought I'd start this thread about this specific place since it seems to be popular and it seems to attract supporters and detractors, and maybe there are others here who could use the experiences of others when deciding whether or not to "go low" here. Here's a copy of my comments in that other thread to kick things off: I wasn't aware of Harbor Freight's "tiered quality" selections...I'll have to pay more attention. I started shopping there a few months ago when I was gonna get some air wrenches from my compressor and was replacing the 1/4" hose and fittings to get prepared. I've gone in maybe half a dozen times and have bought very little. I get the coupon emails and scan the monthly "Inside Track Club" deals for things I might want. I first make a list in a spreadsheet, and then go read the reviews. After reading what the One Star folks have to say about the stuff, I usually decided to pass. I could always use more ratchet straps for hauling stuff with my tractor and in my truck, but when people say that they fray and snap, I figure that it's not worth the risk. The same goes for a tractor tow chain they sell that is the exact same specs as the one I've had for 12 years, but is less than half of Tractor Supply's price. I'm shopping for another one, but the reviews way that the link welds are weak, some links aren't welded at all, and when the chain snaps the exposed cross-section is full of air bubbles. I'll pass. I've bought some low-risk stuff (extra pair of needle nose pliers to carry in my tractor's kit to pull cotter pins in the field, a $10 shrink-tube heat gun that also strips paint, stuff like that.) But my latest scrub of coupons and "Insider's Club" had my initial list up to a dozen or so items. After reading the reviews and deleting items one-by-one, I bought that $10 heat gun and (on impulse) a pak of shrink tubing. I'd just as soon troll Craigslist. But I rarely buy something on impulse. I'll go a loooonnnng time "without" when I have the luxury of waiting (I just picked up a used 1/4" air ratchet and a 1/2" air impact gun for $5 each after waiting for months). Right now I have a 20% off H.F. coupon good through Sunday, and a Monday Only 25% off H.F. coupon...but I cannot find anything to spend it on. I do want a 48" trail jack that they carry, but the Memorial Day sale coupons I have exclude a whole bunch of stuff, including jacks. I just noticed this when I read the fine print to see if other recently-received coupons could be combined with the holiday sale. If my "local" Harbor Freight had any of those jacks in stock, I would have wasted a 50 mile round trip earlier today not realizing. I almost made a wasted 100 mile round trip to the second-nearest store, but after doing the gas-math, it would have been a stupid thing to do. (Who would think a coupon excludes jacks, for goodness sake?)
I LOVE. Harbor Freight ! When I lived in Idaho, the closest one was in Spokane, a 2 hour drive; so anytime I needed to go to Spokane, I went to Harbor Freight. They have something on sale every single week, and even when it is not on sale, the prices are great. You can sign up for their mailer, and then you get a flyer full of coupons which save even more. When I first met Bobby, he was in Charlotte, and there happened to be a Harbor Freight there, so I introduced Bobby to Harbor Freight, and he loved it, too. When we lived in Idaho, it was a rare trip, but since we moved out here to Huntsville, the Harbor Frieght is not that far away, and (happily) is right on the way home from Sam’s Club; so we make trips there anytime we are in that part of town. They have good deals on yard and garden stuff, plus cheap tools that work great for my needs, and sometimes things like dog beds at a good price, too. We tried signing up for their discount club, but decided that for us, we really didn’t save enough on what we bought to make it worth the membership.
A young person first taking up a trade that requires hand tools or air tools can save a lot of money for an initial buy then later get better quality. I have to say that there are only a few major tool manufacturers in North America. I was always accustomed to buying Snap On or MAC but the cost was absolutely crazy. A decade or so ago Stanley Tools bought Snap On and the tool quality remained the best even if it did look a bit different. I bought a lot of cheap equipment at Harbor Freight and for the cost it was alright and could do what I needed. The only thing I did not like was the tools that had electric motors, nothing worse than a Chinese made electric motor.
@Yvonne Smith I get their mailer often enough. I was reviewing what I might spend my Memorial Day coupons on and got a weekly mailer, then I got another mailer for some "parking lot" sale. As you know, those "Member's Club" deals are for a several week period (for some reason they do not last an entire calendar month,) and like you, I've yet to be able to cost-justify it. I needed a 1 1/16" open end wrench to carry with my tractor, and they had it but as part of the set. The sales guy was right when he told me that the whole set costs less than that single wrench does at Lowes, but I don't need a whole set of cheap wrenches cluttering things up...I got plenty of [legacy] Craftsman. @Thomas Stillhere My younger brother was a mechanic when he was in high school, and went on to own his own shop. I've seen what quality tools cost. As I commented earlier, I procrastinated long enough on getting air tools to have recently found a couple at a yard sale for $5 each. Actually, they were on a table set out by the owner of a seafood shop I frequent. I think he likes me enough to tell me if they were broken. I asked, and he looked me in the eye when he said they worked the last time he tried them. For $5, I didn't have the cajones to ask if I could bring them back if they didn't work. Heck, if nothing else, I'll learn something by getting a rebuilding kit.
It is a fact that the Chinese motors aren’t up to snuff compared to what else is out there but they normally do add an extra set of brushes which kind of adds to the machine’s longevity. Nearly all of their spray guns (for paint) are good and I dearly love my airless. I’ve had to tweak the airless a little and I bought better tips for the gun but for the price I can’t find anything better. That said, I do not use any of that equipment every day and wouldn’t want to have to because I already know that I’d have to step up on better equipment if I did. The one item that I DO use a lot of on just about every project is clamps. Harbor Freight has all sizes and shapes which to me can’t be beat for the price. As I do more laminations and glued wood fittings I need more clamps so when I do buy more I already know that the rubber pads are going to eventually fall off. Knowing that, I take them off, throw some epoxy glue into the pads and put them back on the clamps. By doing that one thing I’ve have essentially taken an inexpensive tool and made it comparable to something far more expensive.
We have gone to Harbor Freight a number of times for tools. Actually, I've bought tools at both Harbor Freight and Sears (Craftsman). I have a 3-drawer tool box (Christmas sale at Sears), full of Harbor Freight and Sears tools. Don't do mechanic work, but when I do, I have the tools.
It's been a while since I've set foot in my "local" Harbor Freight, and the keep sending me "Good For 7 Days Only" 25% off coupons. This has been going on for months, with gaps in coverage. I've been holding off on using it because my truck's not bee reliable enough to drive into Charlottesville and I might want to buy something too bulky for my Mazda. I'm driving my truck there today to see what I might like to buy myself for Christmas. If my garage were less cluttered, I'd be tempted to buy a drill press. As it is, the only thing on my list is a Farm Jack/Trail Jack. Dunno what else might catch my eye as I wander around.
Can’t have too many bar and C-clamps and oh….ya gotta have have another screwdriver set. Or the mini-wood lathe!
Be sure to take along the little coupons for the free stuff they give you just for showing up at the store, little flashlights and stuff like that, @John Brunner . I love Harbor Freight !
Yeh, but it's for one item only. And it cannot be combined with sale prices. And it's that time of year when everything's on sale. Otherwise, I'd fill my cart with that kind of miscellaneous stuff. I may end up buying On Sale stuff and not using the coupon this time, hoping that they renew it again. I was in there last week to buy a set of trim clip pliers to use when I replace my truck's coil paks, and I asked the guy if there was a way to shake loose a refresh on the 25% Off coupon, since my last one expired a while ago and I feared they finally gave up on me. He told me to email Corporate and ask, but a day or two after making that small purchase, they emailed me another coupon.
Do you get those coupons in the mail or via email? The worse part of this process is printing the daggone thing out. I was told they will try to scan the bar code from the email on my smartphone, but they cannot guarantee that it will work. I plan on testing it today, if I remember to.
Are any of you Members? Do you pay the annual fee? I used to scan the Member's Specials, but never found anything to justify the membership fee.
There should be a place right inside the door for you to sign up for the sales booklets, and then they will mail them out to you every so often. We have not been to Harbor Freight much this past year, so they stopped sending us the coupon books, but if we did go and buy something , they probably would activate us on the list again. We did the paid membership thing for about a year, but found that we didn’t actually buy enough to make it worthwhile for us, so we did not renew the next year. I used to go to the store in Spokane when I lived in North Idaho, and bought some of the sale things in bulk, like the nice work gloves, and then i sold them at my yard sales back in Bonners.