Harbor Freight Pass/Fail Thread

[Doggy Daddy]

Talk about a valuable resource!

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27192&highlight=harbor+freight

Started in 12/08, over 6000 posts.

[French G.]

Very interesting. Their US General toolboxes are full of win. At least as good as decent grade Craftsman or Kobalt boxes. Not as good as a Snap-on box but the chances of me paying 4-5 figures for a box with no tools in it is slim to none. The whole concept is ridiculous. Last box I bought was a 30 year old Kennedy. Probably be the next box I buy too.

[Boomhauer]

Very interesting. Their US General toolboxes are full of win. At least as good as decent grade Craftsman or Kobalt boxes. Not as good as a Snap-on box but the chances of me paying 4-5 figures for a box with no tools in it is slim to none. The whole concept is ridiculous. Last box I bought was a 30 year old Kennedy. Probably be the next box I buy too.

I'd say the US general toolboxes (not the cheapest ones they have) are way better than the current Craftsman (which really suck) or Kobalt boxes. I'd say they are edging up to the big boy's boxes...not as flimsy as the cheapies.

The thing about Snap On is you gotta remember they are very much geared to the easy credit model...the tool trucks will give the mechanic a huge amount of credit and let him pay it off weekly at "reasonable" rates. They'll sale a guy a supposedly $15000 Epiq tool box and let him pay it off at $20 a week.

Many of the hand tools they make are excellent quality (and can be obtained on eBay for half the cost off the truck) but most of the other things they sell (air tools, welders, shop equipment, etc) are better obtained from other sources, because honestly that's what Snap On does themselves with many things.


Harbor Freight stuff seems to be getting better and better, as they actually strive to improve items. Many other chinese made tools from other sources seem like flimsy crap right off the bat but you can tell the HF tools are a higher level of quality.

[Hawkmoon]

Very interesting. Their US General toolboxes are full of win. At least as good as decent grade Craftsman or Kobalt boxes.

I disagree. HF tool chests are nowhere near the quality of Craftsman.

[lupinus]

I disagree. HF tool chests are nowhere near the quality of what Craftsman used to produce.

FTFY

While others have been steadily improving Craftsmen has generally taken a major dump. Might not all be junk, but a lot of it is no longer any better than others at half the cost. YMMV of course, but that's my opinion on newer Craftsmen stuff I've handled or seen reviews of.

[Boomhauer]

I disagree. HF tool chests are nowhere near the quality of Craftsman.

Have you seen the crap that Sears is putting the Craftsman label on these days? The hand tool line has gone to made in China. The boxes are crap. They've really gone downhill.

The red HF boxes are a very good value. Recommended by many pros, especially to new guys starting out (It's a lot easier to stomach $600ish than the money for a tool truck brand. http://www.harborfreight.com/56-in-11-drawer-glossy-red-industrial-roller-cabinet-67681.html

I've seen them in person, rather good quality, know lots of people that have and love them, and one will be my next box.

[Bigjake]

I'm convinced tool trucks are moron magnets anyway. 

Having taken over management of a shop,  I have no idea why anyone would buy supplies or tools from them while the internet and Amazon Prime exist.  Terminal Supply has a truck full of useful things.  at 50% more than everyone else,  including shipping.

[Boomhauer]

I'm convinced tool trucks are moron magnets anyway. 

Having taken over management of a shop,  I have no idea why anyone would buy supplies or tools from them while the internet and Amazon Prime exist.  Terminal Supply has a truck full of useful things.  at 50% more than everyone else,  including shipping.

Because of the easy credit I mentioned up above.

[Bigjake]

Because of the easy credit I mentioned up above.

Exactly.

[lupinus]

Because of the easy credit I mentioned up above.

Except that these days, so does 3/4 of the internet. Seems to be more then exception than the rule when a website doesn't have a "bill me later" button or some other form of credit available. Usually with no interest for six months to a year.

I think it's the pretty colors and shiny metal.

[grampster]

Trouble with Snap On tools is if you want to sell them.  If you put 'em on the web, you might have a lawyer knocking on your door wanting money.  My son who is an internet seller, says that Snap On feels their tools are always theirs even if you buy 'em.  They will sue you if they catch you trying to sell 'em.  In fact, you might not even be able to list 'em on the Craig's List or E Bay. 

[Boomhauer]

Trouble with Snap On tools is if you want to sell them.  If you put 'em on the web, you might have a lawyer knocking on your door wanting money.  My son who is an internet seller, says that Snap On feels their tools are always theirs even if you buy 'em.  They will sue you if they catch you trying to sell 'em.  In fact, you might not even be able to list 'em on the Craig's List or E Bay. 

I've never heard this.

Your dealer may not want to warranty them if you didn't buy them from him but I've never heard Snap On stopping a secondhand seller from selling used tools.

[Regolith]

Trouble with Snap On tools is if you want to sell them.  If you put 'em on the web, you might have a lawyer knocking on your door wanting money.  My son who is an internet seller, says that Snap On feels their tools are always theirs even if you buy 'em.  They will sue you if they catch you trying to sell 'em.  In fact, you might not even be able to list 'em on the Craig's List or E Bay. 

If they're actually doing that, it will backfire hard on them if they push the wrong person. The courts have ruled in several different cases that you can resell your own property. It's known as the first-sale doctrine.

The first-sale doctrine creates a basic exception to the copyright holder's distribution right. Once the work is lawfully sold or even transferred gratuitously, the copyright owner's interest in the material object in which the copyrighted work is embodied is exhausted. The owner of the material object can then dispose of it as he sees fit. Thus, one who buys a copy of a book is entitled to resell it, rent it, give it away, or destroy it. However, the owner of the copy of the book will not be able to make new copies of the book because the first-sale doctrine does not limit copyright owner's reproduction right. The rationale of the doctrine is to prevent the copyright owner from restraining the free alienability of goods. Without the doctrine, a possessor of a copy of a copyrighted work would have to negotiate with the copyright owner every time he wished to dispose of his copy. After the initial transfer of ownership of a legal copy of a copyrighted work, the first-sale doctrine exhausts copyright holder's right to control how ownership of that copy can be disposed of. For this reason, this doctrine is also referred to as "exhaustion rule."

The doctrine was first recognized by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1908 (see Bobbs-Merrill Co. v. Straus) and subsequently codified in the Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. § 109. In the Bobbs-Merrill case, the publisher, Bobbs-Merrill, had inserted a notice in its books that any retail sale at a price under $1.00 would constitute an infringement of its copyright. The defendants, who owned Macy's department store, disregarded the notice and sold the books at a lower price without Bobbs-Merrill's consent. The Supreme Court held that the exclusive statutory right to "vend" applied only to the first sale of the copyrighted work.

While this is mostly an issue in copyright law, producers of physical property (as opposed to intellectual property) generally have fewer legal protections than IP holders. Snap-On has much less of a leg to stand on in enforcing that policy than the publishers that lost in court on the same theory.