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Best cheap 1/4 drive socket set? $24

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four.cycle

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wow! do you think they could get any closer to a Tekton knock-off?
I have not see that one yet, but I can assure you that "the best cheap 1/4" drive socket set" is NOT this 46-piece set currently listed on Ebay for $16.99 including shipping. (photo is from the ebay listing)

It'll do in a pinch, but the ratchet is a real turd - heavy, clunky, and very poorly balanced. Just "****** cheap imitation" all the way around.
 

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  • no-name (China PRC) 46-pc 1.4 dr metric socket set (ebay 143625347695 01).jpg
    no-name (China PRC) 46-pc 1.4 dr metric socket set (ebay 143625347695 01).jpg
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four.cycle

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the Rosewill set, which came in at $22.45 incl. shipping, was better overall in appearance than the one just above, but the ratchet is the weak link in the chain: much better than the one just above, but still nowhere near Tekton or any of those it's trying to imitate.
(photo is from the ebay listing)

I'd give it maybe a 4 or 5 out of ten, but most of that credits the ingenious design of the box, latches, the the closed-cell foam insert that holds all the pieces without any rattling, which is the real reason I grabbed this one. This was the last one of these out of several thousand that vendor sold, but my guess is that they're probably out there under different brand names.
 

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  • Rosewill (China PRC) 43-pc 1.4 SAE socket set (ebay 295446783654 01).jpg
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qqzj

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four.cycle said:
wow! do you think they could get any closer to a Tekton knock-off?
I have not see that one yet, but I can assure you that "the best cheap 1/4" drive socket set" is NOT this 46-piece set currently listed on Ebay for $16.99 including shipping. (photo is from the ebay listing)

It'll do in a pinch, but the ratchet is a real turd - heavy, clunky, and very poorly balanced. Just "****** cheap imitation" all the way around.
Click to expand...
Making generic sockets and ratchets is so boring I bet everyone can make it decently. I only have one Yiyitools. A plastic hammer. Looks okay. Worth the $4 I paid for it. This is interesting because it is sold by Amazon, not some random sellers.
 
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pelletman

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PlantItDeep said:
I have two of these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KUPWEB2/?tag=atomicindus08-20
Bought them a few years ago at $15 each. Very happy for the price

Not sure if they'll get that cheap again, but $29 is not horrible if you have a real need for them
Click to expand...
$24 here

www.ebay.com

Ratchet And Socket Set & Extension GearWrench 22-pc SAE Metric 1/4 Drive 6 Point 99575088001 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Ratchet And Socket Set & Extension GearWrench 22-pc SAE Metric 1/4 Drive 6 Point at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com
 
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qqzj

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four.cycle

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qqzj said:
Making generic sockets and ratchets is so boring I bet everyone can make it decently.
Click to expand...

Well..... I believe they could if they chose to do so, but I think that many of them choose instead to cut as many corners as they can to reduce costs and increase profit margins.
Bear in mind I've been dealing with cheapie socket sets since the early 1970s - I was bringing them in from Los Angeles from a company called "Buffalo" - a 40-piece 1/4" and 3/8" drive socket set that I could bring in for $1.63 net, freight prepaid from Los Angeles on minimum orders of 1000 units or more. We retailed the sets for $8.88, and ran them on specials now and then for $4.44, and still more than doubled our money. "Warranty" stuff was replaced with no questions asked at point of sale. I tossed all the "warranty" returns into the dumpster behind the warehouse (because they were of such ****** quality that I could not give them away to my acquaintances.)

I've been picking up cheapie sets off ebay over the last few years just to satiate my curiosity - I'm always curious as to what kind of product we can expect from slave labor. I'm actually kind of surprised by some of the stuff: the "Rosewill" set really doesn't look bad - it actually attempts to present itself (appearance wise) as a high-end German product. (think Wera) - the ratchet obviously is a knock-off of the soft-grip "Tekton" that I mailed to another member a couple week sago. The no-name $16.99 cheapie set that appeared on ebay about two weeks ago looks pretty good on the surface, but I have no fasteners on my Ranger that I wish to sacrifice in the process of "testing" Chinese sockets.
In the end, performance is a metric measured by someone who might know the difference.
For the retail consumer, perception is reality, and if the Chinese can make it look good, it will be perceived as such. Both of those sets I posted above pass that litmus test. That is the scary part - the majority of consumers won't know the difference, so these things will be flooding the market (the same way the 40-piece sets flooded the market in the 1970s.)

I think we're just seeing the beginning of this "super-cheapie-socket-set" tsunami... more's to come.
 
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