HF Icon box prices are out

[Cryptic1911]

It's nice to see that they are trying to up their game, but their prices are too high for what they are. I bought an 84" x30" box from Strictly Toolboxes for $4075 a few months back. HF wants too much for a 25" depth box

 

[sselander]

There is a 20% Icon tool storage coupon on the Icon tool storage page

https://www.harborfreight.com/icon-tool-storage

 

[Skin]

There is a 20% Icon tool storage coupon on the Icon tool storage page

https://www.harborfreight.com/icon-tool-storage

And so it begins. Still, needs to be 35%-40%.

 

[Mikeske]

Cmon 20% is still a good discount over the original price. I suppose that a pro series box comes out from a truck brand with 25” drawers and it’s the cats meow but someone else just introduces tool boxes that 99.9% have never even seen or touched and some are ripping apart the company that introduces it. What ever happened to wait and see

 

[DSLTRK]

Cmon 20% is still a good discount over the original price. I suppose that a pro series box comes out from a truck brand with 25” drawers and it’s the cats meow but someone else just introduces tool boxes that 99.9% have never even seen or touched and some are ripping apart the company that introduces it. What ever happened to wait and see

HF shot themselves in the foot with the initial flyer pricing.

20 % is not enough after the price has been jacked up 60%.

 

[Brownsfan]

Wasn't the original price like 2500 for the 56 and like 999 for the hutch ? Now its 4000 and 1300. Even at 20% off that's still a lot more than originally stated. I saw the box at my local HF. It would be a great box at 3500 with the hutch. Then add 36 month no intrest financing. That would be a home run in my opinion. At almost 4500 with the hutch after coupon. That's a tougher sell. They are very nice and impressive in person.

 

[Skin]

Cmon 20% is still a good discount over the original price. I suppose that a pro series box comes out from a truck brand with 25” drawers and it’s the cats meow but someone else just introduces tool boxes that 99.9% have never even seen or touched and some are ripping apart the company that introduces it. What ever happened to wait and see

Because its flawed marketing.

-The (56) box was announced at 10 months ago at $2500, its $4000 (well...3200 now)
-HF and its clientele are built around cheap ****. These boxes were always going to be poor sellers, with the updated pricing they simply wont sell...period.
-At the end of the day its still a Chinese box that's competing directly with truck brands at marginally less money. Plus there is the question of support. I can get drawer slides for a 20 year old Snap-on box. Why would anyone spend nearly as much money for an unknown?

I think the direction they want to go and the initial quality are all great. I think they're also being very greedy with these boxes and forgetting what makes their brand so successful to begin with. As I said just a few posts ago, their game plan should be to unload these boxes at around cost. Get some volume and exposure out there, especially into shops, and they'll sell themselves.

 

[DSLTRK]

Because its flawed marketing.

-The (56) box was announced at 10 months ago at $2500, its $4000 (well...3200 now)
-HF and its clientele are built around cheap ****. These boxes were always going to be poor sellers, with the updated pricing they simply wont sell...period.
-At the end of the day its still a Chinese box that's competing directly with truck brands at marginally less money. Plus there is the question of support. I can get drawer slides for a 20 year old Snap-on box. Why would anyone spend nearly as much money for an unknown?

I think the direction they want to go and the initial quality are all great. I think they're also being very greedy with these boxes and forgetting what makes their brand so successful to begin with. As I said just a few posts ago, their game plan should be to unload these boxes at around cost. Get some volume and exposure out there, especially into shops, and they'll sell themselves.

Don't tell that bear denotools guy on YouTube that these are too spendy.

He thinks they're "Snap-On killers", especially after receiving the entire set for FREE and giving his 'unbiased' bear review.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

Don't tell that bear denotools guy on YouTube that these are too spendy.

He thinks they're "Snap-On killers", especially after receiving the entire set for FREE and giving his 'unbiased' bear review.

Does he ever use tools, or just "review" them? I watched his video on the new boxes and all of his non-ICON tools looked like they had essentially no use.

 

[WittHay]

Nothing wrong with a tool company having a mascot just like a hockey team. Going to stores and drumming up support. Receiving free stuff like large tool boxes, so he can inform loyal Harbor Freight fans and customers of new products. .

 

[Spencer Was Here]

I'm going to be visiting one of the locations in a few hours that is supposed to have these on display.

Let me know if there are any specific features, etc. or a that you want to see photos of.

 

[backmarker3]

Cmon 20% is still a good discount over the original price. I suppose that a pro series box comes out from a truck brand with 25” drawers and it’s the cats meow but someone else just introduces tool boxes that 99.9% have never even seen or touched and some are ripping apart the company that introduces it. What ever happened to wait and see

That pro truck box could have promos and rebates. How much are they giving in trade in on used US General box or Snap on Mac etc. They deserve ripping apart because of the deception. They are only waste deep in the truck brand game.

 

[ChrisLS8]

People talking about trade ins like it needs to be factored in this comparison. So you already spend way too much on your old box and lost money trading it in on something else? How are you going to be ahead vs the Icon with 20% off or more?

 

[Spencer Was Here]

I'm going to be visiting one of the locations in a few hours that is supposed to have these on display.

Let me know if there are any specific features, etc. or a that you want to see photos of.

Well, nobody asked for any specific photos, but I took some anyway. This was at the Benton Harbor Michigan store today. There was an employee just finishing up putting this combination of boxes together when I showed up.

He said they got these in two days ago and will not be receiving any more pieces. He said if anyone does purchase any of these, that they will be shipped to the local store where they were purchased and that the local store will then arrange for them to be delivered to the purchaser.

Just a couple of overview photos first:

 

[Spencer Was Here]

The fit and finish, or lack there of, on this swing-up panel was really noticeable.

You can see the upper portion of the panel has a slight bend inwards compared to the straight side panel next to it.

 

[Spencer Was Here]

These plastic pieces are how you adjust the tension that it takes to open the drawers.

The one on the top is opened widest on the left side (9:00 position), so if everything was in that position the drawer would open the hardest.

The one on the bottom is shown in its narrowest position, so if all of them were set this way the drawer would open the easiest.

I didn't count, but there are probably at least 8 incremental adjustment points. The system does work and you can definitely tell the difference in the amount of force it takes to open a drawer depending on how these are adjusted.

They didn't seem too robust though, but that may not be an issue, as I would assume this would be something that in the words of some TV salesman, you just 'Set it and forget it'.

 

[Spencer Was Here]

Here are a couple of different views of the "Power Tool Drawer".

It looks like there were plenty of adjustments that can be made to suit various different tools.

 

[Spencer Was Here]

Here is a photo of the 'Charging Drawer'. The roller chain looking power cord that powers up this power strip seemed to work pretty well. It made a fair amount of noise when opening and closing the drawer, but seemed to work as designed.

I did notice the power strip is mounted way too close to the bottom of the drawer. In my opinion, the strip should be raised up to accommodate wall wart-style plugs.

You can see in the sales graphic that is laid inside the drawer that they area assuming only a normal two-prong cord or USB charger will be used here, but I have to imaging some people would want or need to plug in a larger plug and may find out they cannot.

Due to the roller chain mechanism, I don't think this power strip could be raised up any higher even if you wanted to move it.

 

[Spencer Was Here]

This side cabinet/locker was pretty disappointing.

There is no mechanism to keep the door in an open position. it just swings freely, so if the whole assembly is on an uneven floor, like this one must have been, the door will just try to partially close itself. This position is where it seemed to want to return to based on this particular floor.

The four drawers on the bottom of the cabinet are nice and sturdy, but when you grab the black plastic grips you see centered in the middle of each drawer they pull right off due to the amount of force it takes to try and get the drawer moving from its locked position.

They are literally just friction fit pieces of plastic that say 'ICON' on them. The proud owner of one of these lockers will have to take them off, apply some type of adhesive, and put them back on if they want them to stay in place.

The inside of the door has the same type of slot system for mounting various holders as the main box has behind the main worksurface. It seems like a sturdy enough system, but unlike a traditional peg board-style system, you'll obviously be locked into buying only ICON accessories to mount in those slots. The bottom accessory you see here is as low as you'd be able to mount anything, as it slightly interfered with the top drawer as is, so any lower it would definitely cause an issue with the drawers opening.

 

[Spencer Was Here]

This next pic may not be anything other than how this particular set of boxes were put together and the skillset of the person doing so.

Regardless of the cause, you can see there is a pretty significant gap between the chrome trim on the side locker and the main unit. The gap is much bigger at the main work surface height and gets narrower towards the top.

This may not affect the function at all, but obviously it is undesirable.

 

[Spencer Was Here]

You'll see a similar gap between the lower portion of the side locker and the main unit in this photo.

Again, this may be solely due to being improperly or hastily assembled.

 

[Spencer Was Here]

Last photo. Just a general shot of the undercarriage. I would have gotten a better photo, but I was in dress clothes due to a business meeting and didn't want to be crawling around on their floor.

 

[RV8guy]

So far, to me anyway, the ICON box looks like a nice upgrade from the US GENERAL offering. Just not at the price they are asking. I would love to see one in person but none of the stores near me are going to carry it.

 

[Farmall450]

I have 4 US General boxes, so I'm no HF hater, but I wouldn't even consider these boxes when used truck brands can be had for the same money or less.

Agreed. I love my HF Box, for under $400 new lol. Unfortunately for them, I don't see the sales

 

[CJM8515]

I said it before and ill say it again: they priced these things about 1000 bucks too much each. unless of course they are gonna offer a 30% coupon or something... if anything its harbor freight, I would expect the biggest icon box to sell for 300-3500, and the next size down maybe 2000-2500 and so forth with a 25% coupon which you can use on top of that. Aint gonna be selling to many at this price when Id just fork over the cash for a real deal snap on or mac/matco.

 

[X1 Mike]

After seeing the huge price increase, I have to say I'm not impressed. The boxes lack the depth you can obtain with a Snap-On box, plus are another import box. I could probably find the OEM with a search on Alibaba.

I'm sure they are nice, but not $4000 nice.

I've also noticed the prices have been raised on the tools.

I think they are resting on their laurels here and think just because they gave youtubers free tools to hype them up, people will pay anything to get them. At $59.99, I'd pass on the 1/2" sockets, and $150 for the long wrench set is way too much given all of the competition.

I think the first few months will be a rude awakening for HF if they hold the prices as they are.

They like to compare to Snap-On, but seem to forget they don't offer the same business model. Snap-On is expensive because you get a service with the tool for life.

You are saying a lot of words, the problem is you don't understand the words you are saying.

Rest on your laurels: To be satisfied with your achievements and not to make an effort to do anything else.

I don't care if you are the biggest HF fan or the biggest HF critic no one with a shred of common sense can accuse them of resting on their laurels. They are aggressively entering new markets and investing a metric **** ton of money in this endeavor. The multi million dollar question is will they be successful and none of us knows that answer yet.

 

[backmarker3]

Thanks for taking the time to take and post the photo's Spencer Was Here.

 

[DSLTRK]

You are saying a lot of words, the problem is you don't understand the words you are saying.

Rest on your laurels: To be satisfied with your achievements and not to make an effort to do anything else.

I don't care if you are the biggest HF fan or the biggest HF critic no one with a shred of common sense can accuse them of resting on their laurels. They are aggressively entering new markets and investing a metric **** ton of money in this endeavor. The multi million dollar question is will they be successful and none of us knows that answer yet.

I'll acknowledge the corn on that.

But don't act all high and mighty, English is my Achilles heel.

Good thing I'm not an English major.

What I meant to say is they hyped up the brand expecting it to sell for high prices. In other words I may not know, Icon is all sizzle and no steak.

 

[LXCam]

Hey Spencer, nice job bud. Thank you since nobody else (oops, except BM) seems appreciative of your efforts.

 

[rmsg0040]

Don't forget to add taxes depending which state your are in.

When I go down to Buffalo, NY to Harbor Freight I am looking for "cheap things" or to save on items using coupons.

HF has to decide who they want to cater to: upscale market or guys looking for a bargain.

When I walk into a HF store it doesn't scream upscale rather low end, so why would I want to open up my wallet.

Maybe if they renovated their stores it would make people more open to spend more money.

I said this before and I will say it again, HF needs to streamline their tools, too many wacky names. Other competitors keep it simple with just a few names.

This is just my opinion.

 

[kythri]

Id just fork over the cash for a real deal snap on or mac/matco.

Methinks the long-term strategy for these boxes is to target buyers who can't just fork over the cash.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

Thanks Spencer, it's amazing the difference in initial reviews between your's and the "unbiased" youtube guy who gets the box for free.

 

[CJM8515]

Methinks the long-term strategy for these boxes is to target buyers who can't just fork over the cash.

yea but the tooltruck works on credit lol..idk anyone who pays outright for a box..50 bucks a week forever maybe lol

 

[javyLSU]

Great posts Spencer, I appreciated your criticism of those flaws. I noted some of the same flaws in the unit I saw at my local store this week. I was also disappointed that the drawers didn’t have any latches to keep them shut, only detents like on the US General 44” boxes. For all the talk of “beating Snap-on” I fully expected them to have more than just detents on the drawers. I just came away feeling “meh.”

 

[tripplejl]

Too much money and too much competition at that price point imho.

 

[DSLTRK]

The pics do a great job representing the boxes. Thanks for the early review Spencer. Those trim gaps are bothersome.

 

[kngelv]

I took some pics at the Dearborn Michigan store earlier today. Spencer beat me to posting them. Great job Spencer! I think he is pretty much spot on. Those plastic pieces on the locker drawer came off in my hand too. I thought the detents would break easily in heavy regular use. The seam on the top hutch drawer lip digs into your finger tips when opening or closing and the drawer liners are pretty flimsy. I have a HF 56” now and would say the Icon is definitely a better box but I think they are vastly overpriced, especially the locker.

James

 

[Jason280]

Too much money and too much competition at that price point imho.

Absolutely, it puts you well into used Snap On/Matco/MAC box prices.

 

[stev0n]

Any idea on where I can find a copy of said coupon? Not seeing it on hfqpdb.

I have the last 3 months of Motor Age. I don't see the coupon you are talking about.



Here is a link to the Full Range Icon catalog and store locations stocking Icon.
Not close to me, i wanted to see these up close

https://images.harborfreight.com/media/brand/icon/ICON-Catalog-Locations.pdf

only a link too big to upload

 

[Motorman55]

Here you go...Now on HF website