Craftsman impact socket set - thoughts / pricing?

[Farrell]

Hello,

Today I stumbled upon a hard to find craftsman socket set. This is a 119 piece set where are the extensions and duplicates are not pictured and not included in the count. I was mainly interested in the set for the swivel sockets / universal impact sockets. But I really appreciate it is all of the sockets are made in the USA and it looks like none of them have been used. I paid $600 for the set and I was wondering what the collector community thought about this purchase?

I have never really seen the USA made universal impact sockets hit the secondary market. I thought this was a pretty good value for under six dollars per socket.

Any thoughts on the set and value would be greatly appreciated

 

[Renegade1LI]

I have been using cm USA impacts since the late 70s, no issues, they have held up well, never had the swivel impacts, they look good. As far as price,i prefer to look at value , you bought something that is no longer made and it was new, if you're happy it's a good value.

 

[nbpt100]

I am not an expert on older Craftsman pricing but you got good quality and sure seems like a good value. Good Luck

 

[Corndoggeh]

Lets say you post that on Ebay for $600. You will get a ton of watchers and views but it will be a while until someone pays $600. Someone will buy it but its a waiting game.

 

[Farrell]

I will probably keep the set and swap out my chinese craftsman stuff. I was just curious about the value because I haven’t seen many of these sets on the secondary market.

 

[Renegade1LI]

I will probably keep the set and swap out my chinese craftsman stuff. I was just curious about the value because I haven’t seen many of these sets on the secondary market.

Makes it even more valuable.

 

[nbpt100]

Makes it even more valuable.

Exactly! The value is the use you will get out of it with out any BS. The Chinese Craftsman will not hold up as well. The only down side is that if you warranty one now it will be replaced with a Chinese one.

SBD is suppose to be bringing the manufacturing back to the USA but I do not see that as a fact as of now. I am going to hold off on any warranty in the hope of getting a USA made replacement. Between the pandemic, the ship blocking the Suez canal and an infrastructure policy that will favor made in USA, it must be looking better and better to the bean counters who have driven outsourcing.

 

[qqzj]

Chinese impact tools hold up just fine. This is totally an investment for appreciation. Hopefully you can flip them in the next 20 years before all the people who knows about Craftsman die off. After that the value could drop from there.

Sent from my SM-G981U1 using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Ugly Truck Nut]

Nice set.

 

[Fedwrench]

A nice set from the past!!

Looking through an old 2010 Craftsman Tool Catalog, there's a 97 piece dual marked 3/8 & 1/2 drive metric & SAE shallow & deep ultimate impact set listed (009-83125) with two impact universal joints and looks like 5 impact extensions that listed for $429.99.
However, that set didn't include the pinless impact swivel socket sets.
A 3/8 drive 16 piece SAE & Metric set ran $349.99 (009-15360). The 1/2 drive sets were a bit pricy at $269.99 for SAE 1/2 to 15/16 (009-15391) while metric ran $299.99 for 13-19 mm plus 21 & 22mm (009-15390).

I'm not sure what value you could place on the set because, I'm not sure if the ebay crazies affection for Craftsman USA too extends to impact sockets.
In the end, all that matters is that you're happy with your purchase.

 

[vssjim]

I think these new to you US made sets are the way to go. No matter who the vendor was to Craftsman they have always held up for me as I have never broken or worn out one and some of mine go back to the seventies. I would sell off what ever your older ones are and be happy on what you have picked up now.

 

[dmccjr201]

Hello,

Today I stumbled upon a hard to find craftsman socket set. This is a 119 piece set where are the extensions and duplicates are not pictured and not included in the count. I was mainly interested in the set for the swivel sockets / universal impact sockets. But I really appreciate it is all of the sockets are made in the USA and it looks like none of them have been used. I paid $600 for the set and I was wondering what the collector community thought about this purchase?

I have never really seen the USA made universal impact sockets hit the secondary market. I thought this was a pretty good value for under six dollars per socket.

Any thoughts on the set and value would be greatly appreciated

Love the set, I bought many of those separately 20+ years ago, hard to find the swivels now, I only have 3 swivels, great impact sockets, hold up well for general everyday DIY and Tech work. A little high for $600, but it is almost a complete set in both SAE/MM so that is still a bargain.

 

[dmccjr201]

Edit:

If you have extra in these sizes, I’d love to purchase them if in decent quality:

Need - Impact Sockets - SAE

(3/8 Drive) - 6pt. - Shallow & Deep -

Shallow - 13/16, 7/8, 15/16, 1, (4)

Deep - 13/16, 7/8, 15/16, 1, (4)

 

[yrly]

The metric & SAE universal set was clearanced for at least low as $85 when they had the USA to China switch. Presuming your store stocked it. There’s an off chance it went lower but I’m not sure lower volume stores sold it in store. Sears clearance was always about then right amount of sales volume to space ratio. You had to have enough volume and space in the store to get just enough wayward stuff to get good deals.

 

[ike]

I am jealous. I regret not buying a big set of Craftsman USA impact sockets back in the day.

I think you could sale each of those rails for $100 pretty easily, $150 easily for the swivels, on ebay. $600 is a great deal on those, you should be able to double your money, if you would want to. I would not try to sell them as a whole, but in small sets to maximize profits.

 

[allinon72]

Anyone remember when these sets showed up in Sears Outlet stores in plain cardboard boxes several years back? Even came with that rail for like $20 a set. I cleaned house on these and still have them.

 

[Jtels85]

Hello,

Today I stumbled upon a hard to find craftsman socket set. This is a 119 piece set where are the extensions and duplicates are not pictured and not included in the count. I was mainly interested in the set for the swivel sockets / universal impact sockets. But I really appreciate it is all of the sockets are made in the USA and it looks like none of them have been used. I paid $600 for the set and I was wondering what the collector community thought about this purchase?

I have never really seen the USA made universal impact sockets hit the secondary market. I thought this was a pretty good value for under six dollars per socket.

Any thoughts on the set and value would be greatly appreciated

As someone who has found at Ace Hardware’s and resold numerous NOS (New Old Stock) Craftsman USA impact socket sets… I consider myself somewhat of an expert. The 1/2” deep set alone brand new without the retail packaging would fetch you $175- 200 from the right buyer. The 3/8” drive metric shallows about $100 and the deeps, roughly $150. You may sit on them for a couple of weeks, but eventually someone will buy them. I see no reason why you couldn’t make at least a grand or more off of what you have there if you were patient enough. For $600, you got yourself a bargain.

As for the China made Craftsman impact sockets, there’s nothing wrong with them. The ones I have used an abused over the last 8 years or so since I purchased them have held up very well. Just because they’re made in China doesn’t make them inferior in any way. I just prefer to keep all of my USA’s in the original packing for collector purposes. To each his own.

 

[Blind1]

I have a few singles of the newer Taiwan made craftsman impacts. They seem to be equal to my tekton/Capri/sunex examples.

it’s an impact socket… not a pair of digital calipers.

 

[Bubba Fett]

Exactly! The value is the use you will get out of it with out any BS. The Chinese Craftsman will not hold up as well. The only down side is that if you warranty one now it will be replaced with a Chinese one.

SBD is suppose to be bringing the manufacturing back to the USA but I do not see that as a fact as of now. I am going to hold off on any warranty in the hope of getting a USA made replacement. Between the pandemic, the ship blocking the Suez canal and an infrastructure policy that will favor made in USA, it must be looking better and better to the bean counters who have driven outsourcing.

They already have the factory built. From what I hear, things were really delayed because of Covid, but it is happening.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I think Craftsman "collectors" will die long before the see even a 10% return on their investment !

 

[m6z]

Nice. Seems like a reasonable price for USA made stuff. With the current USA pricing, I may try the Ebay route with some of mine.

 

[nbpt100]

They already have the factory built. From what I hear, things were really delayed because of Covid, but it is happening.

That is good to hear. Where is the location and what will they be making there? If anyone knows?

 

[Bubba Fett]

That is good to hear. Where is the location and what will they be making there? If anyone knows?

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