Walmart "Visegrip" Pliers.

[lilredex]

Usually I don't pay attention to those boxes of cheap tools that Walmart and others have sitting out in their aisles. But yesterday they had some 6" models for $3 that were very well made and caught my attention.

Sometimes you need more than just a clothes peg to hold something and these fit the bill. The jaws mesh squarely and all the joints are tight. They look like the real deal...except the name is not there.


green shot

Here's the question...how can they do it?? There were at least three parties involved and they probably got $1 each if they were lucky.

If the manufacturer got the steel and the labour and the plating for free his $1 might be enough to maintain his shop. The distributor (in Vancouver) probably paid for the freight to Vancouver then to Toronto out of his share and Walmart got $1. And there may be more parties involved, too.

The real deal costs $9 here.

 

[supperfly17]

They hope you come in for that and overpay on something else.

 

[RedneckWelder]

Walmart is oriented more towards making their profits through volume sales vs. high profit on each item. Same goes for harbor freight, Amazon, etc.

These look like they'd be good for nasty work where you do not want to get the better visegrips messed up.

 

[ADSR]

Those don't look bad. I'm sure they're made of cheese for that price tho.

 

[Chuck122]

They probably make much less than 1$ per pair. Maybe they make 30¢ tops. They simply hope that at the 3$ price point they will sell enough to make decent money out of them.
I also think they are likely made out of cheese

 

[davesnothere]

You guys are crazy. There's no cheese in china.

 

[steveo3002]

at that price theyd be usefull for low stress duty...holding stuff while painting etc

 

[monomach]

I've seen them, and I'm sure they'd be a super cost-effective way to hold canvas or tarps or plastic sheeting or whatever, but I refuse to actually buy anything from Wal-mart. I'd rather burn one down than buy something from it. That company has hurt this country too much in the process of enriching its hillbilly owners.

 

[1/2 Cup]

You guys are doing my head inunbelievable...

I was at one of our big box stores on the week end, the exact same thing here costs us $27.95 AU each.

The reason I looked was that a week earlier at one of our large tool retailers they had a pair on special in Irwin promotional twin pack for...... you guessed it $29.95.AU

I brought 2 packs (4) and I am going back to get more.

 

[1/2 Cup]

I must say mine look better finished than the one in the pic.

 

[sgtgrizzo]

I've seen them, and I'm sure they'd be a super cost-effective way to hold canvas or tarps or plastic sheeting or whatever, but I refuse to actually buy anything from Wal-mart. I'd rather burn one down than buy something from it. That company has hurt this country too much in the process of enriching its hillbilly owners.

 

[jjjrmx5]

You guys are doing my head inunbelievable...

I was at one of our big box stores on the week end, the exact same thing here costs us $27.95 AU each.

The reason I looked was that a week earlier at one of our large tool retailers they had a pair on special in Irwin promotional twin pack for...... you guessed it $29.95.AU

I brought 2 packs (4) and I am going back to get more.

WOW.

$30 AUD.

Here in the states several stores had the genuine 2 packs of Irwin vice-grips marked down to $9.99 USD or less for the pair on Black Friday a few weeks ago. Yep-10 dollars.

I loaded up several sets as they are far better than the no-name brands.

As for the Walmart vice-grips, give them some use and see if they stay tight.

I needed some cheap small ones and tried out the HF units. After a weeks use they got so loose and sloppy they were unsuable and now used as hood or hatch strut props when replacing the struts on failed/blown units.

They may "look" the same but report back after you give them a good workout.

 

[k p]

You guys are doing my head inunbelievable...

I was at one of our big box stores on the week end, the exact same thing here costs us $27.95 AU each.

The reason I looked was that a week earlier at one of our large tool retailers they had a pair on special in Irwin promotional twin pack for...... you guessed it $29.95.AU

I brought 2 packs (4) and I am going back to get more.

Yep, this is called "country pricing", you should google it. It's an unjustified pricing scheme to essentially gouge consumers in certain areas of the world. Often times the manufacturer will say that higher labour costs, import taxes, transportation costs etc. are responsible for the pricing gap. Canada is no stranger to this phenomenon. I've actually heard a quote essentially saying that "they're used to paying a certain price for this product and continue to buy it, so the market can bear it".

When the CAD has been at near par with USD for many many years, you have to wonder.

 

[1950mercury]

I've seen them, and I'm sure they'd be a super cost-effective way to hold canvas or tarps or plastic sheeting or whatever, but I refuse to actually buy anything from Wal-mart. I'd rather burn one down than buy something from it. That company has hurt this country too much in the process of enriching its hillbilly owners.

+2..

 

[1/2 Cup]

That's the ones.

View media item 35834

 

[signcrafter]

Walmart doesn't care if they only make 10 cents on each one, 10 cents times a hundred thousand is 10,000 dollars in profit. And 100,000 isn't a lot for them to sell, especially at Christmas time. Walmart has just over 11,000 stores so that's only 9 pliers a store to sell 100,000. They don't take up much space and don't take much effort to stock. I'm also guessing walmart gets them for pretty cheap when they place an order for 100,000 of them every few months.

 

[pendragon1998]

I have a few pairs that I bought before I knew better. They have held up pretty well to light/medium-duty use, actually.

Walmart, IIRC, makes a profit of 2-3% on average, so a $3 pair would net them 6 to 9 cents profit.

 

[uart]

Walmart doesn't care if they only make 10 cents on each one, 10 cents times a hundred thousand is 10,000 dollars in profit

It's possible even that they weren't making any profit. In the same way that some items in catalog sales can be loss leaders just to get people into the store, those "isle bargains" can sometimes be the same idea. If they get people coming in and walking around the store to see "what crazy isle bargains are on today", then they've done their job.

 

[signcrafter]

It's possible even that they weren't making any profit. In the same way that some items in catalog sales can be loss leaders just to get people into the store, those "isle bargains" can sometimes be the same idea. If they get people coming in and walking around the store to see "what crazy isle bargains are on today", then they've done their job.

It's very possible. But I'd still bet they are putting a few pennies in their pockets even at those prices.

I've been ordering a lot of electrical **** off ebay, LEDs, resistors, switches, diodes, etc. I can get 100 LEDs for 2-3 bucks shipped. I have no clue how they do it. It costs me more to ship a same sized envelope across town let alone ship it around the world and include the cost of the LEDs. Look at HF, they are selling stuff at prices that are next to nothing and still making a decent profit each day. I think it's a lot cheaper to produce some of these things then what we know.

 

[ndoran]

Yep, this is called "country pricing", you should google it. It's an unjustified pricing scheme to essentially gouge consumers in certain areas of the world. Often times the manufacturer will say that higher labour costs, import taxes, transportation costs etc. are responsible for the pricing gap. Canada is no stranger to this phenomenon. I've actually heard a quote essentially saying that "they're used to paying a certain price for this product and continue to buy it, so the market can bear it".

When the CAD has been at near par with USD for many many years, you have to wonder.

Yes target said exactly that when they opened their stores in canada and people saw they were priced the same as everyone else.

 

[-Brent-]

... I refuse to actually buy anything from Wal-mart. I'd rather burn one down than buy something from it. That company has hurt this country too much...

I'm of the same thought. I have shopped at Walmart a couple times throughout my life (read 5 or less in actuality). All occasions I was "forced" due to exactly what you mention.

I seem to be doing just fine, financially, shopping where I shop.

 

[ndoran]

It's very possible. But I'd still bet they are putting a few pennies in their pockets even at those prices.

I've been ordering a lot of electrical **** off ebay, LEDs, resistors, switches, diodes, etc. I can get 100 LEDs for 2-3 bucks shipped. I have no clue how they do it. It costs me more to ship a same sized envelope across town let alone ship it around the world and include the cost of the LEDs. Look at HF, they are selling stuff at prices that are next to nothing and still making a decent profit each day. I think it's a lot cheaper to produce some of these things then what we know.

Caution is required with electronic components from unknown sources, there is a significant counterfeit electronic component industry and you can run into significant problems. That is not to say that all electronic components available from alternative sources are counterfeit. There are companies that purchase surplus devices at discounted prices and resell with considerable savings. Just remember that the manufacturers only sell through their authourised distributors.

I have seen devices relabeled as different parts. This can have potentially deadly consequences. I have an audio 1000W amplifier at home that needed 10 new output transistors at a cost of $26 each. the owner found new devices on ebay they worked fine for about 5 minutes until we started increasing the output power when they failed and the the board burst into flames. When we cut one of the devices open and compared it to a genuine device we found the die was a different size. When we looked carefully we could see that the writing on the case had been removed and replaced.

 

[tube_guy]

If you really want to know the answer to your question, how those locking pliers can be sold so inexpensively, watch this.

 

[sberry]

I am not a fan for 2 reasons. 1st, the round jaw version I could about get along without and second those seem to migrate in to service along with good ones look similar to most people and pretty soon yyou are out, think you hit the jackpot finding those in the tool box and its one tool I actually got stuck out with in a case where the better tool would have worked. You are usually at last ditch desperation at that point.

No one is robbing anyone at 3$ but its not the same. Woman's tool. Real girly stuff. May have a place in sheet metal work where cheap extra come in handy.

 

[djb2]

I think that some of you are over-estimating the costs, and underestimating the profit.

The Chinese supplier likely makes well under $1 for these. Walmart probably negotiated an order for several million, delivered as produced, and paid for timely. A factory can set up an efficient production line on those terms.

The steel is likely only about $0.10, and plating $0.05.

The factory likely delivers them in bulk to a local packaging plant. In some cases the packaging costs more than the product itself.

The packaging plant loads cases into containers. From here, costs are amazingly low. Containerized transportation costs only pennies per piece. A 40' container holds 59,000 pounds. A clamping pliers I just put on the scale was under a pound. Figure about a pound with packaging, in a box. Listed shipping rates from Asia to the US west coast vary from $1K to $2.7K per container, and Walmart is almost certainly paying significantly less.

Dock fees, warehouse and distribution costs are much higher. Figure $0.10 per piece.

That leaves a lot of margin for the expensive end of the business. Trucking to the retail store, labor for stocking the products, cashiers, and handling returns.

 

[Sebastien]

I have a few pairs that I bought before I knew better. They have held up pretty well to light/medium-duty use, actually.

Walmart, IIRC, makes a profit of 2-3% on average, so a $3 pair would net them 6 to 9 cents profit.

I worked at Walmart when I was a teenager, I don't know about their profit on tools but on sport items and seasonal stuff they are making a 30-45% profit...

 

[upgrading]

I think that some of you are over-estimating the costs, and underestimating the profit.

The Chinese supplier likely makes well under $1 for these. Walmart probably negotiated an order for several million, delivered as produced, and paid for timely. A factory can set up an efficient production line on those terms.

Nice post.

I am amused when people think Walmart or Irwin is selling their Pliers at cost or a loss.

When dealing with China it's all about the MOQ(Minimum Order Quantity).
The higher the MOQ the lower the price.
Check out some pricing at the link. Walmart has much more power to get prices down low.
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/668227277/Curved_jaw_locking_pliers.html?s=p

 

[uart]

Nice post.

I am amused when people think Walmart or Irwin is selling their Pliers at cost or a loss.

When dealing with China it's all about the MOQ(Minimum Order Quantity).
The higher the MOQ the lower the price.
Check out some pricing at the link. Walmart has much more power to get prices down low.
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/668227277/Curved_jaw_locking_pliers.html?s=p

Yeah $2 a piece just cleared from the dock in China. After ocean shipping and local port costs, warehousing and retailing costs Walmart must be making a figgin' killing at $3 per piece.

Ok sorry but I'm skeptical. Roughly break even as a promotional special still seems more likely to me.

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

When I see cheap vise grips like this, I see the potential to modify the tool to my needs without feeling bad about grinding the jaws, or welding attachments to them.

Add a bit of bicycle chain to make a chain wrench.

Grind the jaws down to make a flanging tool.

Weld a couple of piece of angle iron for a much larger wide clamp or bender.

Add a clamp light or similar to make a very strong clamp for your light where you want it.

Add an umbrella mount for shade where you want it.

Weld on extended jaws with custom shapes.


When you look at these things as just a mechanism for you to make your own custom clamping device, you really have no limit except your imagination. And making and using tools you've created yourself gives immense self satisfaction and joy.

 

[Chuck122]

When I see cheap vise grips like this, I see the potential to modify the tool to my needs without feeling bad about grinding the jaws, or welding attachments to them.



Add a bit of bicycle chain to make a chain wrench.



Grind the jaws down to make a flanging tool.



Weld a couple of piece of angle iron for a much larger wide clamp or bender.



Add a clamp light or similar to make a very strong clamp for your light where you want it.



Add an umbrella mount for shade where you want it.



Weld on extended jaws with custom shapes.





When you look at these things as just a mechanism for you to make your own custom clamping device, you really have no limit except your imagination. And making and using tools you've created yourself gives immense self satisfaction and joy.

That really is the only thing I'd buy such pliers for. You can weld 2 together to hold stuff at the desired angle for welding. Also use them to hold stuff while grinding.

 

[Nanashi]

Walmart doesn't care if they only make 10 cents on each one, 10 cents times a hundred thousand is 10,000 dollars in profit. And 100,000 isn't a lot for them to sell, especially at Christmas time. Walmart has just over 11,000 stores so that's only 9 pliers a store to sell 100,000. They don't take up much space and don't take much effort to stock. I'm also guessing walmart gets them for pretty cheap when they place an order for 100,000 of them every few months.

This, but what you guys are missing is Walmart customers 99 out of 100 times don't go in to get one thing. They go in and fill up their cart. Now do the math on that.

Walmart is an under cutter and wants to out everyone else out of business no doubt. Some say that's a great business people like me say its un ethical and driven by greed.

 

[1/2 Cup]

You guys are doing my head inunbelievable...

I was at one of our big box stores on the week end, the exact same thing here costs us $27.95 AU each.

The reason I looked was that a week earlier at one of our large tool retailers they had a pair on special in Irwin promotional twin pack for...... you guessed it $29.95.AU

I brought 2 packs (4) and I am going back to get more.

Sorry, despite all the contoversy i went and brought another pack of two last night. I got the evil eye from Mrs 1/2 Cup as well.

 

[Jason280]

but I refuse to actually buy anything from Wal-mart. I'd rather burn one down than buy something from it. That company has hurt this country too much in the process of enriching its hillbilly owners

Wait, what??

How, exactly, has Wal Mart hurt this country? You're not one of those who believes that capitalism and a free market economy are bad things, are you??

 

[nicksnothereman]

Usually I don't pay attention to those boxes of cheap tools that Walmart and others have sitting out in their aisles. But yesterday they had some 6" models for $3 that were very well made and caught my attention.

Sometimes you need more than just a clothes peg to hold something and these fit the bill. The jaws mesh squarely and all the joints are tight. They look like the real deal...except the name is not there.


green shot

Here's the question...how can they do it?? There were at least three parties involved and they probably got $1 each if they were lucky.

If the manufacturer got the steel and the labour and the plating for free his $1 might be enough to maintain his shop. The distributor (in Vancouver) probably paid for the freight to Vancouver then to Toronto out of his share and Walmart got $1. And there may be more parties involved, too.

The real deal costs $9 here.

Most vice grips are **** anyway.

Some of those bin tools are garbage (pipe wrenches...cough) but most of them are still functional. I use their drilling hammer for various stuff, it was around 8 bucks. Still hammers!

 

[monomach]

Wait, what??

How, exactly, has Wal Mart hurt this country? You're not one of those who believes that capitalism and a free market economy are bad things, are you??

Well, they certainly did their part to kill our manufacturing base by importing trash of all kinds from China. They're the #1 culprit in our conversion to a service economy.

There's nothing "free" about a free market economy...and yes, I believe that uncontrolled capitalism is a bad thing.

Economically, I support the fascist Third Position.

 

[kenburkholz]

To monomach, I have only been in a swillmart once, I will never make that mistake again! Ken.

 

[Jason280]

Well, they certainly did their part to kill our manufacturing base by importing trash of all kinds from China. They're the #1 culprit in our conversion to a service economy.

Absolute nonsense.

First of all, who demands this "trash", regardless of the country of origin? The consumer. The average consumer doesn't care whether it comes from China, the US, or South Africa....as long as it is cheap. Period. Wal Mart simply gives the consumer what they want, just as any intelligent capitalist would. Besides, I challenge you to find any Mom & Pop store that primarily deals in US made/manufactured goods.

Secondly, blame the government, as they're the ones who's made it cheaper to import goods (and support the Chinese economy) versus buying US products. Do you honestly think its Wal Mart's fault that the United States had a $267 BILLION trade deficit with China last year??

As far as the decline of the US manufacturing base goes, you can point the finger at unions, unreasonable salary demands of the typical lazy American worker, and the government for that...no reason to blame Wal Mart.

 

[Virgil Cain]

Well, they certainly did their part to kill our manufacturing base by importing trash of all kinds from China. They're the #1 culprit in our conversion to a service economy.

There's nothing "free" about a free market economy...and yes, I believe that uncontrolled capitalism is a bad thing.

Economically, I support the fascist Third Position.

Because fascist systems have worked so well in the past.