lastgoodusername
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Good and bad online tool stores
- Thread starter atikovi
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Chromdome35
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- Joined
- Apr 22, 2013
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- 194
Another vote for KCTools from me, easy and fast to deal with.
I'll add
KBCtools.com (mostly machining stuff, but lots of other goodies)
Cyberweld.com (mostly welding and accessories)
I am a fan of Zoro, especially with coupons. They've been fantastic with things that are in stock, but I would use caution buying items that are drop ship or not in stock. I waited over a month for something that "ships in 10 days" and several weeks for another item that also stated the same shipping time.
KBCtools.com (mostly machining stuff, but lots of other goodies)
Cyberweld.com (mostly welding and accessories)
I am a fan of Zoro, especially with coupons. They've been fantastic with things that are in stock, but I would use caution buying items that are drop ship or not in stock. I waited over a month for something that "ships in 10 days" and several weeks for another item that also stated the same shipping time.
Zoro is owned by Grainger, carries much of the same stuff and is cheaper, especially with 20% off coupons. Very nice to deal with. Grainger only sells to businesses and price is based on the volume of business you do with them. You have to watch Amazon, sometimes the prices are really bad and if you buy from a third party on Amazon the results can vary a lot. Let's not forget Rockauto, often a very good deal. Jegs is very good to deal with.
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uncwstudent
Well-known member
I've used CPO and Zoro and never had a single problem. Both were top notch
jmcf1949
Well-known member
JB is local to me and I've had zero issues after three orders. They might be a broker that gets their stuff from many sources.
mikehaugen
Well-known member
Honestly most all online places are pretty good these days, I order from many sources and I won't list the one's that have already shown up a bunch of times already, but here are a few thoughts.
Northern tool hasn't impressed me... not because of service but because of prices and sky high shipping.
Home depot has been great, I usually prefer it to Amazon.
I've ordered a few things directly from snap-on and their shipping speed has been impressive.
Price and shipping speed are my 2 main factors for online ordering. Service not so much because it's rare I ever have had to have any further communication with a seller beyond placing the order and them sending me a shipping confirmation.
I have though recently returned a few things through Amazon (which I never used to do) and their return process has been fantastic.
Sent from my SM-G930V using The Garage Journal mobile app
Northern tool hasn't impressed me... not because of service but because of prices and sky high shipping.
Home depot has been great, I usually prefer it to Amazon.
I've ordered a few things directly from snap-on and their shipping speed has been impressive.
Price and shipping speed are my 2 main factors for online ordering. Service not so much because it's rare I ever have had to have any further communication with a seller beyond placing the order and them sending me a shipping confirmation.
I have though recently returned a few things through Amazon (which I never used to do) and their return process has been fantastic.
Sent from my SM-G930V using The Garage Journal mobile app
jimmyin3D
Banned
Toollady.com
Amazon
KC Tools
These websites have been great. Fast shipping great communication!
Places like Chadstoolbox and tools delivered I would stay away from. If you list something on your website make sure it’s in stock, or let me know it’s backordered. Toolsdelivered wouldn’t answer any emails or messages and finally just cancelled the order through my bank. They finally responded saying my order was not stocked.
Amazon
KC Tools
These websites have been great. Fast shipping great communication!
Places like Chadstoolbox and tools delivered I would stay away from. If you list something on your website make sure it’s in stock, or let me know it’s backordered. Toolsdelivered wouldn’t answer any emails or messages and finally just cancelled the order through my bank. They finally responded saying my order was not stocked.
Mecha
Well-known member
KCTOOLCO
HJE
KC Tool needs to be said to have amazing customer service. I bought two sets of a Gedore deal and one came with a bottle opener and one without. I had picked them both up at their store in KC too. The guy wrote down that one of my orders missed out on the bottle opener. About a month later I got a package with an apology note, a bottle opener, a Gedore baseball hat, a Wiha T20 bit to try, and a KCTool sticker. Just went way out of their way to make it right.
HJE
KC Tool needs to be said to have amazing customer service. I bought two sets of a Gedore deal and one came with a bottle opener and one without. I had picked them both up at their store in KC too. The guy wrote down that one of my orders missed out on the bottle opener. About a month later I got a package with an apology note, a bottle opener, a Gedore baseball hat, a Wiha T20 bit to try, and a KCTool sticker. Just went way out of their way to make it right.
Dakkyz
Well-known member
Ebay for used tools, or vintage.
Amazon for most things as can ship tools from the US, Germany, spain, italy and Japan reasonable speeds and shipping and unbeatable customer service.
I also use Zoro, KCTOOL, and will try to buy direct from the manufacturer.
Amazon for most things as can ship tools from the US, Germany, spain, italy and Japan reasonable speeds and shipping and unbeatable customer service.
I also use Zoro, KCTOOL, and will try to buy direct from the manufacturer.
BarryWells
Well-known member
Because they have very little. They're constantly waiting for the dog sledd or whatever from Germany.Spain in my case---the Grip-On stuff.Jerk around after jerk around,.
anndel
Well-known member
HJE
Amazon
GJ Classifieds
Ebay
Frankstools
Snap-on
Amazon
GJ Classifieds
Ebay
Frankstools
Snap-on
sweet victory
Well-known member
I ordered a Williams 3/4" drive socket set. Took several weeks with zero shipping updates. Had no idea if they were ever going to show up. Would only use as a last resort.
I've used tools delivered for years and many orders with no issues until my last order. I had an item on backorder that was listed in stock. I wanted to cancel it and tried for weeks to contact them. Two phone numbers never answered with many calls and messages. Multiple emails not returned. They finally cancelled it and said the item wasn't available. But they certainly never saw or heard my messages.
KC tool is great but they're almost never anywhere close to competitive on price on anything but some NWS- since you cant get from Amazon.de to the US.
Chad's is ok, typically the best price in the US, but you never know what they have in stock. If there's an issue you need to use the online chat to find out when it's coming from Germany. Don't be in a rush.
KC tool is great but they're almost never anywhere close to competitive on price on anything but some NWS- since you cant get from Amazon.de to the US.
Chad's is ok, typically the best price in the US, but you never know what they have in stock. If there's an issue you need to use the online chat to find out when it's coming from Germany. Don't be in a rush.
I also put a Grip-On order in. I put it in Feb 22nd and never heard back. I contacted them through email, live chat, and phone with zero answer.
Im at my witts end and am just going to dispute it through my CC. How much longer should I wait?
I was just going to suggest adding an asterisk to Amazon to account for the UK, Germany and Japan sites. Overall, I love the Amazon int'l options since it gives me access to tools I either couldn't get in the US or could get but at a significantly higher price from a local seller.
So the other poster above answered some of the questions, but I'll add a bit more. Use your US email to log into UK and Germany. It's the same account/password, but used on different sites. But lately, I've seen Amazon offering the same items on the US site and indicating it was a "Global" something or the other eligible which means it's coming from overseas. So you may not need to log into the UK and Germany sites anymore? Or maybe I'm only seeing that because I've logged into both sites using my US Amazon account? Regardless, if the item is purchased from Amazon (the seller), they will handle all the customs and duties (duties are covered in their shipping quote when you checkout) and they do remove VAT tax when shipping to the US. Free prime shipping is not an option for any int'l order. Delivery can be 1-3 weeks. The carrier is usually some discount carrier, there will be little visibility into the status of the order once it leaves a European port. Just falls into a black hole until it shows up. More often than not the package will be damaged or destroyed and packing material is marginal at best (what we are used to with Amazon, except they use the kind of cheap cardboard you find in Harbor Freight stores - thin and tears easy). If it's not too expensive, choose one of the expedited shipping options from UK and Germany, your results might be better? Ordering anything valuable or subject to damage would be dicey in my experience, though I would expect Amazon to handle it well if you needed to get a replacement item.
Amazon Japan has different rules and you have to create a new account on their website. Searching for things on the japan site is problematic. Usually if you have the model number, I've found the product, otherwise it's hit or miss with Amazon's translation of your search text and their products. Orders can only be placed on the Amazon Japan website for their products. The shipping can be a little more expensive (but I'm on the east coast) to the US. I recall my last order was 2 socket wrenches (3/8"), 2 socket rail sets, 3 extensions and a few lightweight knick knacks mixed in. So maybe 7 lbs total? That was $30+ in shipping. But, delivery was 3-4 days flat to my door using EMS. If you've never used EMS before, they are flat out fast and good! The cardboard box was thick and well-taped, contents stretch wrapped with care to a cardboard backer so they wouldn't rattle or fall out if the box was compromised. Frankly I was astonished! The only niggle is I think I had to sign for the delivery since it came via EMS. And if you're not home, you may have to pick it up at the local post office (they use USPS for local delivery).
Lastly, try to be aware of different names for tools in different countries. It helps when searching the regional Amazon sites. For example, wrench vs. spanner on the German site. Spanner will net you more results. But if you have a model number, that eliminates this obstacle.
jmcf1949
Well-known member
+1 on JB Tool Sales. I've also had good luck with Crawford Tool near Atlanta.
Ton ton
Well-known member
Thanks, kctool.
Qualitytools
Well-known member
+++1, Amen to that KC TOOLS is indeed a Great vendor!
Qualitytools
Well-known member
Frankstools for Japanese tools 
Lassen Forge
Well-known member
My snappy student discount kicks ****... and when it doesn't, this list does.
dnschmidt
Well-known member
Acme Electric. I've had to have bought at least $20,000 of stuff from them and never had a problem except on my last order. I bought a new Bosch dual action sander (Rotex clone) and the damn thing was louder than a 747 at takeoff. Called them up got a return shipping label and as soon as I took the package to FedEx they sent out another one without even waiting for the first one to arrive back. The replacement is loud but not nearly as bad as the first one. Class act in my opinion and they still don't charge me sales tax as ToolUp has begun to do. Free shipping over $50 instead of $199 as ToolUp charges.
toplessHO
Well-known member
Ive bought from them and had it shipped to store..zero shipping charge
Good:
autobodytoolmart.com
They have a distribution warehouse in LA & everything I've ever ordered from them has shown up the next day
Bad:
Northern tool. Bastards wanted to charge me over $120 shipping* on a $90 toolbox & the ******* salesman tried to convince me that "FedEx & UPS charge us more to ship stuff because we ship so much stuff". I actually checked with both to see what shipping would cost & both were around $60.
This was just a small box for my daughter, she ended up with a Craftsman stack.
* I'm not 100% sure, but I think it was closer to $150.
Two Door
Well-known member
I would stay away from OTC's site Service Solutions Parts. I ordered a bunch of ball joint press adapters because their prices with shipping were about $15 cheaper than anyone else. It took several weeks to fulfill, came from several different warehouses and the shipping was more than quoted, to the extent it overrode the supposed savings. Talking with their customer service was little help, I finally had to do a chargeback.
I'm also starting to go negative on Amazon. They've significantly missed their delivery dates on a number of items over the past year. The latest was quoted at two days which mysteriously turned into seven. No known strikes or weather, much less any messages from them. And the item, which was listed as Like New, Opened Box, was clearly used and damaged.
I'm also starting to go negative on Amazon. They've significantly missed their delivery dates on a number of items over the past year. The latest was quoted at two days which mysteriously turned into seven. No known strikes or weather, much less any messages from them. And the item, which was listed as Like New, Opened Box, was clearly used and damaged.
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Dumber than lumber
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- Joined
- Dec 19, 2015
- Messages
- 1,898
Taylor Toolworks www.taytool.com
Used them once and have been pleased.
Used them once and have been pleased.
SILVERPLATE
Well-known member
Good:
autobodytoolmart.com
They have a distribution warehouse in LA & everything I've ever ordered from them has shown up the next day
Bad:
Northern tool. Bastards wanted to charge me over $120 shipping* on a $90 toolbox & the ******* salesman tried to convince me that "FedEx & UPS charge us more to ship stuff because we ship so much stuff". I actually checked with both to see what shipping would cost & both were around $60.
This was just a small box for my daughter, she ended up with a Craftsman stack.
* I'm not 100% sure, but I think it was closer to $150.
I have ordered from them twice and both time item was not as described, poor quality and not easy to return.
Frankstools for Japanese tools
I'm now kicking myself on a regular basis for not loading up on KoKen when he carried it...
HenryAZ
MEMBER EMERITUS
I have been able to login to amazon.jp, amazon.uk, and amazon.de using my regular Amazon US name and password.
SJay3660
Well-known member
I have had very few problems with any of the online tool stores. Every time there was an issue, they made it right. I would have to look through the tool arrival thread. One company had one wrong (non reversible) ratcheting wrench in my Williams reversible SUPERCOMBO set. They sent me the correct one and told me to keep the wrong one. I have had other issues over the years, but the online tool stores always made whatever was wrong right.
I prefer JBTools right now. They have my orders on my porch, with free shipping (over $99), faster than any of the other stores. It takes 2 days or less. The only thing that I can fault them for is not having a retail store to walk around in. I would love that. They are about 27 miles away.
I prefer JBTools right now. They have my orders on my porch, with free shipping (over $99), faster than any of the other stores. It takes 2 days or less. The only thing that I can fault them for is not having a retail store to walk around in. I would love that. They are about 27 miles away.
Leon bee
Well-known member
Over the years, I've bought from most of the above listed. For me online tools began with Tool Crib of the North before Amazon ate them. Just found a new one, only one purchase but everything seemed perfect. Genuine Tools dot com. Until I hear negative, will check them again.