I remember going to HF and they had printed sales flyers and some freebies if you spent a certain amount of money. They were the "go to " for cheap prices . But then we had Covid and tariffs were placed on Chinese goods. Seems like the freebies disappeared and prices went up. So I had been watching for a "sale" on some trolleys to build another overhead crane in my shop. I'm planning ahead since its going to take a while to make the crane. I'll need at least 4 trolleys and maybe 8, so catching a sale will save me a fair amount......then I'll need 4 chain hoists also. So after checking to see if they were on sale and not finding any, I looked on Amazon. Lo and behold, they had some trolleys that looked identical to the HF ones and were about $20 cheaper. I went ahead and ordered a couple so I can compare them to the ones I already have (HF) on another overhead crane. They also had some lighter duty ones even cheaper......... HF still has some decent pricing, but it seems to me that gradually they have increased pricing and marketing strategy and they may not be the "go to" any more. There are actually several sites on line that have really good pricing...........better than HF on quite a lot of stuff. It might be worthwhile to do a little comparison shopping . Anyone else noticing this?
Buildings and salespeople are expensive, should not be surprising you can get stuff cheaper online. you just need the patience for it to get to you, and the care to order it from somewhere that actually has it in stock in the US. And you don't get to put your hands on it before you buy, to check the quality level...which is always a concern when shopping HF. Have to decide, will this tool actually work long enough to finish one job? or break first?
HF has been trying to move from laughable junk to a cheaper alternative for a long time. That comes at a price even without outside things that won't be mentioned. The online stuff has filled the bottom dollar cheap stuff role. It's been said that if you need it to work for a job or two and it lasts that long, you are golden. Overhead trolleys and chain falls are things I'd consider to be deadly if they fail. I wouldn't get them from a cheapest price supplier. Here's a site for sales at HF, so you can keep watching. https://www.hfqpdb.com/
If you give HF an email address when they ask at check out you will get daily email specials and sales flyers. They have a club you have to pay for that gives discounts. It would definitely be worth it if buying a big item. As far as prices going up. Even the Dollar Tree store have nothing for a dollar these days.
If you want to get spam from HF, give them your email. that's at the bottom of the list of things I would ever do.
Amazon has 6K stands for $30/$35 Just keep that in mind when you go. I have bought quite a few things from Amazon that I am really happy with the quality. Also, if you don't like something they sent, they have a very easy process for returns. You print out a return authorization on your computer and drop the item off at a nearby designated store for return. No hassles. I take stuff to the nearby Kohls store....if you printed the return thingy.....you just hand it to them and it takes about 30 seconds to return it. So far I've only returned a few items in the last couple years, but none were quality issues. Just "didn't fit" or ordered the wrong thing. I bought a Porter Cable electric angle grinder a while back. Porter Cable makes good tools. It was so well made, I ordered a second one. $39 Ordered a tubing bender that was well made and had longer handles and a roller where it met the tube while bending. I've got some name brand tube benders that I bought used, and I'm not knocking them....but new they are a lot more expensive. One that still does small 3/8-1/2 size tubing but with the longer handles is about $200 for a name brand. I have no complaints about the $60 I got from Amazon. Rigid $200 They have some neat trailer jack stands righ now for $25 for a set of 4 of them. I keep some of these in my shop for leveling things and moching thing up They are very light and handy. While I was typing this, the driveway chime sounded. It was the Amazon truck delivering the two trolleys I ordered on Monday. So they got here in a day and a half (its Noon here). Opened one of the boxes, and they look just as good as the HF ones I already have. They are rated at 2 tons each, so they should lift anything I need on this new crane. Anyway, gotta go take the wife to Costco ..........
The OP asked about sales flyers and free stuff. Email is how they send sales flyers these days. They also have been having free stuff in those on occasion. Yes, you get an e-mail or 2 a day. I have them delivered to my spam email address. I only ever look at it when I want something. Yes I set up an e-mail just for things that will spam me. Did it long before spam folders became part of most e-mail sites.
We have a Harbor Freight store here in our town. I might get in there once a year, when I need something. We also have a Menard's store here in town. I go there more often because they have more things I need. Our Menard's store often beats the prices of the Harbor Freight store on comparable items. When I need something, I price check them against each other. The last big ticket item I bought from Harbor Freight was a 3 ton floor jack (to replace the 20 YO Harbor Freight 3 ton jack). The jack (same brand name as the old one) at HF was almost $50 cheaper then an equivalent (unheard of China made) floor jack at Menard's. We also have a Farm & Fleet store. They used to have things priced pretty close to the other two stores, and often carried most of the items I need, but the last couple of years the Farm & Fleet store prices have really gone up, and they are caring less and less of the things I need. That floor jack I bought from HF was about 1/2 the price of the equivalent China made jack at F& F. Harbor Freight has turned into a price check store for me. The zip ties, and a few other things that I used to buy strictly from HF are all junk now, or more expensive then Menard's these days.
I went to the near by Tractor Supply store last week to purchase some bolts. They have the nice bins with different lengths and 3 different grades. I have been buying there for years, but lately I seldom go there. I bought a lot of other stuff there .....often while I was there to purchase the bolts I needed. While I was making my purchase, two young guys were doing a price check on something and decided to go buy the one at HF (which surprisingly you could see their store across the street while price checking). As they left, the two clerks muttered something about them going to HF. I thought to myself..........I was buying here long before these 2 clerks ever got hired, and these same bolts used to cost 1/2 and close to 1/3 of what Tractor Supply is charging now. I needed these certain length bolts to continue working on a project, so they got my business that day........but as bad as inflation has been, it doesn't justify a 200/300% increase in price. For that reason I now purchase a lot of bolts in bulk from Ebay. Found some good vendors and a lot better selection. I can get flanged head bolts and nuts, Allen Heads, Hurricane bolts, Metric .........and the larger quantity lets me throw the extras in a box. With nuts it's easy to stock a bunch of flanged or whatever style. Buy long bolts and cut to length for in between sizes. Tractor Supply basically priced themselves out of a lot of my business by gouging me on the small stuff, and now I go to Ebay a lot. CostCo was out of Birdseed yesterday, That said.............I gotta go over to Tractor Supply in a little while to pick up some Birdseed that the wifey wants...........sometimes ya gotta make exceptions if you know what's good for you. Update..........Went and got a Culvers burger and was near Menards. Remembered the wife liked a scouring brush I brought home from there and said she'd like to have one. So I swung by Menards. Now, though I kid about her, I have a great wife (56 years) and I try to make he r believe her life hasn't been wasted. So while I was at Menards, I remembered they also sell the Birdseed I needed............never went to Tractor Supply. It's the little things like those bolt prices that ultimately cause people to spend their money elsewhere. It's like when you get some food from one of your favorite places and its not up to snuff.........every time you think about eating there again, a little voice reminds you of the last time.
I buy a lot from HF because I don’t generally see the need to step on the tool truck ( I do have some specialty stuff from Snap On ). Pittsburgh Pro, Quinn and Hercules. My tool box is US General. BUT their hoists and stands and stuff can be had off EBay and Amazon for much cheaper. I bought my folding hoist for a little over $150 and I just ordered a 1k lbs engine stand for $70 Also having my email and phone on file makes returns easier as receipts are saved.
Harbor Freight still has fliers, not as many years ago. Email is their ticket now. Pop up ads on the website are constant. All types of sales or discounts. The price increases just increase profits and the "extended warranty" that everybody offers now. If you look at larger corps, they cry about material - labor- tariff costs.. Yet profits are way up for most of them? Weird. LOL Watch the return policy at Harbor Freight.. 90 days warranty of stuff. Must be in same box, sometimes they want the box unopened ! They can be fussy I hear. I've not had a problem. We bought an older home. Plenty of re-model work. I joined the Inside Track Club at Harbor Freight. Discounts or free stuff in 1 month paid for that membership. I receive email from Harbor Freight daily. It is awful. Must take me 3 to 7 seconds to delete it. LOL Same for the home improvement box stores.
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