Has Eric Lost His Mind?

[1982fxr]

Dude it was a computer glitch ^^^^^^

 

[Sportsman762]

Computer glitch. Most likely a pricing analyst messed up a multiplier or uploaded the wrong sheet. That would **** to be the person who messed up the pricing. I suspect it is all human error. We are all human, but someone probably got a **** chewing over this.

It would be the most abnormal marketing ploy ever. No marketing professional would ever sign off on it. I do not think Eric is smart enough to try such a weird tactic. In the long run it does more damage to the brand (not that Harbor Freight has a brand that can be hurt aka jack stands)

 

[getbent4x4]

7. Own more than a dozen free HF tape measures.[/QUOTE]

Those were the days. Free screwdrivers as well.

tape measures; tarps; moving blanket, multimeters, batteries, zip ties. I enjoyed hoarding. I enjoy the NPR coupons the most.

 

[X1 Mike]

These 50-100% price hikes at Harbor Freight are insane. Did Eric Smidt suddenly develop the worlds' worst coke habit. I'm stunned - This can't be for real, but, it does seem to be. Did he forget what made Harbor Freight Harbor Freight?

I have a general rule of thumb, never tell a billionaire how to run his business.

I used to work for a multi-multimillionaire that had his own jet and whenever I'd get pissed at how something was done and found myself griping to another coworker I'd always finish the sentence with "but then again I don't own an effing jet." Kind of brings your feet back down to earth. Not that all billionaires are unassailable, it's just that they earned the benefit of the doubt.

 

[dogdog]

My question now has to be why you would ask for an article about the floods, feigning ignorance when you damn well knew a source?

I didn't 't know what was your source or where you have gotten that info from, Because those news doesn't seems to be on any major networks at all... that is why I am curious why you are saying that. I remember India early this year have release some flood gates in Kerala regions. Due to heavy rains... flooded villages in controlled matter... They had dam issues last year and caused flood and caved in under ground waters... and that caused usable water shortage... but nothing of China in what you are describing. You do understand many countries have controlled release of the dam to avoid major Catastrophe of their dams, even US are the same if they are faced with immanent danger of dam failure. But once you have respond with EPOCH times, that is the only time I know you are being feed "questionable" news.

 

[dogdog]

Dude it was a computer glitch ^^^^^^

LOL... no such thing as a computer glitch that perform the glitch so perfectly...

 

[dogdog]

I think the answer to that is obvious, Ducks.

only if a duck speaks quack.

 

[measuredtwice]

I have no interest in verifying every claim that was posted about the floods (especially anything from social media sources) but there was flooding in China. There are lots of news articles about the flooding that will come up with a simple Google search. There's even a wikipedia article about it.
Here's one of the 1st Google hits -->
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/21/world/asia/china-flooding-sichuan-chongqing.html

 

[zendriver]

any article in this ? would be interesting.

Try that new search website called google.

Hear it's pretty good.

 

[sberry]

My first thought when I read the title was, they think they're the new sears..lol

They improved while Sears slid downhill. Sears probably still has that pos ratchet, can buy one works from HF for 10$ today. 40 years Sears couldn't fix a ratchet.

 

[PugetDude]

I have a general rule of thumb, never tell a billionaire how to run his business.

I used to work for a multi-multimillionaire that had his own jet and whenever I'd get pissed at how something was done and found myself griping to another coworker I'd always finish the sentence with "but then again I don't own an effing jet." Kind of brings your feet back down to earth. Not that all billionaires are unassailable, it's just that they earned the benefit of the doubt.

Hmmmm...guess it takes a special kind of stupid to open a highly successful chain of 1000 retail stores and displace the #1 tool brand in the USA.

A business model built on luring customers in with free tape measures, multimeters, and lulling them into a false sense of security with non-subliminal aromatherapy.

Yeah, that’ll never work.

 

[bushmechanic]

I have a general rule of thumb, never tell a billionaire how to run his business.

I used to work for a multi-multimillionaire that had his own jet and whenever I'd get pissed at how something was done and found myself griping to another coworker I'd always finish the sentence with "but then again I don't own an effing jet." Kind of brings your feet back down to earth. Not that all billionaires are unassailable, it's just that they earned the benefit of the doubt.

Yup. I hang around a lot of people that could buy my life, and do business with some that could buy my entire state.

They're weird, infuriating at times, but they're great at what they do. They generally seem air-headed and irresponsible; but that's the mind-set... That pie in the sky outlook that they keep chasing no matter what knocks them down.

They rarely give two shakes about the monetary pay-off. Their motivation normally seems to be business itself, enjoying the process, interacting with new ideas, and sacrificing their experience of everything we love in life to make it happen.

It takes decades of sacrifice to manage that; to get to a point where you can keep crawling back up from the bottom to the top. They've almost always had less in their bank account than even me at several points in their life.

I recall a relative of mine in bankruptcy court (entirely reasonable scenario), and also struggling on a loan. Right there in the damned courtroom, he secured a bigger loan from the affected party during the event itself.

The reason he got there is because he had the spine to do it; he had what most people don't. He was happy to live in a trailer and try again, and again, and again until it stuck; and he never stopped trying, even after success.

The same man once needed to get halfway across the United States, but was flat broke at the time and millions in debt. So, what would we do? Give up and find something else to do.

What did he do?

Walk right up to an aircraft vendor, place an order for a plane, and demand a test flight before delivery... To precisely where he needed to go, where he'd sold an option on a property he hadn't purchased yet. All legal and above board, and LITERALLY contracted on a cocktail napkin...

...but it took gigantic, osmium balls to do any of that at all.

 

[American Locomotive]

I find it hard to believe a "computer glitch" would cause a universal site-wide price increase of almost every single item in their system. Either someone manually typed in the wrong multiplier, or they were experimenting around with price increases to see what they could get away with.

HF isn't "dumb", they have a long way to go before convincing people that the stuff they have will be worth as much as "name brand items". Especially when you buy one of their fancy new MIG welders and can't buy any spare parts for it when its out of the 90 day warranty, like happened to someone on here already.

They know massive price increases would turn off a lot of their customers.

I have a general rule of thumb, never tell a billionaire how to run his business.

I used to work for a multi-multimillionaire that had his own jet and whenever I'd get pissed at how something was done and found myself griping to another coworker I'd always finish the sentence with "but then again I don't own an effing jet." Kind of brings your feet back down to earth. Not that all billionaires are unassailable, it's just that they earned the benefit of the doubt.

Eh, the vast majority (65-70%, this is a fact) of billionaires come from very wealthy and privileged backgrounds where they were free to spend millions of dollars building their businesses without really any care for failed attempts. Of those ~65%, about 1/3rd of them inherited enough money to automatically be listed on Forbes 400 Richest list.

Of those ~30-35% "self-made" billionaires, many of them simply got lucky because of opportunities available to them or people they knew. Of those "rags-to-riches" billionaires, many of them have dozens or even hundreds of people who are really truly and actually responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company and keeping it solvent.

There are plenty of millionaires and billionaires who are clearly clueless about how things work, and have crashed successful companies right into the ground. As mentioned earlier, there are many other companies structured such that there are so many people between the CEO/Founder and what actually happens, that the company effectively runs itself. To me, being a millionaire or billionaire isn't a really measure of "success" or "grit", It's more of a measure of opportunity or privilege in someones life.

 

[bsaint]

Yea it went crazy on Insta. But everything is back to normal.

 

[dogdog]

Try that new search website called google.

Hear it's pretty good.

LOL I'll have better chance of rubbing my eight ball to find out that answer which article he was referencing to.

But as to the OP, it seems more of a snafu on some one loading a wrong pricing model than a glitch.

 

[qqzj]

It is a marketing move. It is a glitch, it won't last so long.

Dude it was a computer glitch ^^^^^^

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[The Fall]

Sears was largely the victim of financialization. It doesn't explain the whole story, but it's a chunk of it.

I didn't realize HF could inspire this sort of reaction. I thought there were only four things there -- impact sockets, jacks, tool boxes and breaker bars -- and that the rest was a bunch of rolling-the-dice tools you'd regret buying.

 

[X1 Mike]

Eh, the vast majority (65-70%, this is a fact) of billionaires come from very wealthy and privileged backgrounds where they were free to spend millions of dollars building their businesses without really any care for failed attempts. Of those ~65%, about 1/3rd of them inherited enough money to automatically be listed on Forbes 400 Richest list.

Of those ~30-35% "self-made" billionaires, many of them simply got lucky because of opportunities available to them or people they knew. Of those "rags-to-riches" billionaires, many of them have dozens or even hundreds of people who are really truly and actually responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company and keeping it solvent.

There are plenty of millionaires and billionaires who are clearly clueless about how things work, and have crashed successful companies right into the ground. As mentioned earlier, there are many other companies structured such that there are so many people between the CEO/Founder and what actually happens, that the company effectively runs itself. To me, being a millionaire or billionaire isn't a really measure of "success" or "grit", It's more of a measure of opportunity or privilege in someones life.

Give someone with an attitude like yours $750K and take every penny from a typical millionaire and I'd bet my house that the broke former millionaire gets back to a million faster than the guy with an attitude like yours.

 

[X1 Mike]

The same man once needed to get halfway across the United States, but was flat broke at the time and millions in debt. So, what would we do? Give up and find something else to do.

What did he do?

Walk right up to an aircraft vendor, place an order for a plane, and demand a test flight before delivery... To precisely where he needed to go, where he'd sold an option on a property he hadn't purchased yet. All legal and above board, and LITERALLY contracted on a cocktail napkin...

...but it took gigantic, osmium balls to do any of that at all.

That is an awesome story. Some guys are just wired differently.

 

[American Locomotive]

Give someone with an attitude like yours $750K and take every penny from a typical millionaire and I'd bet my house that the broke former millionaire gets back to a million faster than the guy with an attitude like yours.

So you turn an observation of real world facts (that most billionaires start out extremely wealthy) and try to turn it into some kind of attack on my money management skills? Alright then... I'm also not sure what my "attitude" is other than merely being able to understand that truly self-made billionaires that actually possess the skills, talent and drive necessary to become a billionaire are extremely rare. Most are just riding on the success of their forebears.

They say the first million is always the hardest. Well, when you start out with $10 million inheritance at age 10 (which you could just put in an index fund, not do anything and up a billionaire in just 50 years), things are definitely a lot easier.

So excuse me if I don't hold all billionaires up on some pedestal as if they are financial and economic geniuses.

 

[PugetDude]

So you turn an observation of real world facts (that most billionaires start out extremely wealthy) and try to turn it into some kind of attack on my money management skills? Alright then... I'm also not sure what my "attitude" is other than merely being able to understand that truly self-made billionaires that actually possess the skills, talent and drive necessary to become a billionaire are extremely rare. Most are just riding on the success of their forebears.

They say the first million is always the hardest. Well, when you start out with $10 million inheritance at age 10 (which you could just put in an index fund, not do anything and up a billionaire in just 50 years), things are definitely a lot easier.

So excuse me if I don't hold all billionaires up on some pedestal as if they are financial and economic geniuses.

If you’re not the lead dog the view is always the same.

 

[bushmechanic]

So you turn an observation of real world facts (that most billionaires start out extremely wealthy) and try to turn it into some kind of attack on my money management skills? Alright then... I'm also not sure what my "attitude" is other than merely being able to understand that truly self-made billionaires that actually possess the skills, talent and drive necessary to become a billionaire are extremely rare. Most are just riding on the success of their forebears.

They say the first million is always the hardest. Well, when you start out with $10 million inheritance at age 10 (which you could just put in an index fund, not do anything and up a billionaire in just 50 years), things are definitely a lot easier.

So excuse me if I don't hold all billionaires up on some pedestal as if they are financial and economic geniuses.

Nope.

It takes a special kind of person to ride that wave; and the path to becoming a millionaire requires more sacrifice than most are willing to endure.

If they were willing to, there would be many more millionaires on this planet. It's all to easy to say things like "well, if my daddy had given me...".

If your pops gives you a million dollars, you aren't going to increase that by 100,000%...

All that said, there are a hell of a lot more millionaires out there than you seem to believe; and many don't look like it at all.

 

[bushmechanic]

If you’re not the lead dog the view is always the same.

True.

 

[PugetDude]

All that said, there are a hell of a lot more millionaires out there than you seem to believe; and many don't look like it at all.

Read:

“The Millionaire Next Door”

 

[sberry]

I really doubt he needs much help with fundamental business advice, general marketing either.

 

[American Locomotive]

It takes a special kind of person to ride that wave; and the path to becoming a millionaire requires more sacrifice than most are willing to endure.

Becoming a millionaire from scratch is hard. I never questioned that. The context of these posts were billionaires. Most billionaires (nearly 70% of them) do not start out from scratch, and this is a fact.

If your pops gives you a million dollars, you aren't going to increase that by 100,000%...

You really think so, eh? If my pops "gifted me" $1,000,000 when I was born, and I did absolutely NOTHING with the money, except have my parents put it into an index fund for me - I'd have a billion by the time I was 72. That's with me doing ABSOLUTELY nothing with the money, besides letting it sit in a fund.

There are 600 Billionaires total in the U.S. ~400 of them were born as millionaires at the minimum. 150 of them came out of their mothers as billionaires. The honest and cold hard truth is that absolutely no amount of perseverance, hard work and determination will guarantee anyone becomes a billionaire. It's largely luck.

 

[bushmechanic]

Becoming a millionaire from scratch is hard. I never questioned that. The context of these posts were billionaires. Most billionaires (nearly 70% of them) do not start out from scratch, and this is a fact.

You really think so, eh? If my pops "gifted me" $1,000,000 when I was born, and I did absolutely NOTHING with the money, except have my parents put it into an index fund for me - I'd have a billion by the time I was 72. That's with me doing ABSOLUTELY nothing with the money, besides letting it sit in a fund.

There are 600 Billionaires total in the U.S. ~400 of them were born as millionaires at the minimum. 150 of them came out of their mothers as billionaires. The honest and cold hard truth is that absolutely no amount of perseverance, hard work and determination will guarantee anyone becomes a billionaire. It's largely luck.

You're not accounting for a lot of factors, there... If you think that's what you'd have, go on and keep thinking it. I'm not going to be the one to start an argument.

 

[bushmechanic]

Read:

“The Millionaire Next Door”

I'll read it.

A brief synopsis does jive with my experience.

 

[Samuel D]

I find it hard to believe a "computer glitch" would cause a universal site-wide price increase of almost every single item in their system.

Yeah, that wasn’t a simple glitch. Maybe there are big-data ways of gauging the outrage to determine how the market would react to real but smaller price increases.

Something is afoot.

 

[dogdog]

Yeah, that wasn’t a simple glitch. Maybe there are big-data ways of gauging the outrage to determine how the market would react to real but smaller price increases.

Something is afoot.

every big company runs some sort of modelings just in case scenarios like "Tariff" , New taxes to maximize profits. Statistic stuff or financial modeling stuff is a big career these days. I am not sure if that is consider gauging. I doubt it's a stun as well... pretty sure some one is getting *** spanked.

 

[zendriver]

I didn't realize HF could inspire this sort of reaction.

At this forum?

Ever see actress Glenn Close, in the movie Fatal Attraction?

Ya it's like that.

 

[Ton ton]

Sears was largely the victim of financialization. It doesn't explain the whole story, but it's a chunk of it.

I didn't realize HF could inspire this sort of reaction. I thought there were only four things there -- impact sockets, jacks, tool boxes and breaker bars -- and that the rest was a bunch of rolling-the-dice tools you'd regret buying.

You forgot the claw hammers.

 

[bushmechanic]

Oh, let's add to the conspiracy:

What if Snap-On secretly controlled Harbor Freight, and the soul purpose of the business was to sell large toolboxes at a low enough price to allow people to fill them with Snap-On tools, or tools at a low enough price to fill a Snap-On toolbox?

This stunt may have been executed in order to remind the population how cheap Harbor Freight is, to reinforce it's purpose...

We may never know...

 

[zendriver]

This stunt may have been executed in order to remind the population how cheap Harbor Freight is, to reinforce it's purpose...

If they did, it's obviously working. They probably needed it anyway.

The wonderful monthly printed catalog is gone, most likely forever. "Coupons" are getting a bit more scarce. ""free ****' almost completely non-existent.

The pandemic has kept people away from many retail stores including theirs.
A lot of people don't have shopping money these days.

I like their stuff, but have probably been to their stores twice this year.


Why not pull an "oopsie"? It cost them nothing and now they are getting good heat.

 

[Wakefield]

I find it hard to believe a "computer glitch" would cause a universal site-wide price increase of almost every single item in their system. Either someone manually typed in the wrong multiplier, or they were experimenting around with price increases to see what they could get away with.

HF isn't "dumb", they have a long way to go before convincing people that the stuff they have will be worth as much as "name brand items". Especially when you buy one of their fancy new MIG welders and can't buy any spare parts for it when its out of the 90 day warranty, like happened to someone on here already.

They know massive price increases would turn off a lot of their customers.

Eh, the vast majority (65-70%, this is a fact) of billionaires come from very wealthy and privileged backgrounds where they were free to spend millions of dollars building their businesses without really any care for failed attempts. Of those ~65%, about 1/3rd of them inherited enough money to automatically be listed on Forbes 400 Richest list.

Of those ~30-35% "self-made" billionaires, many of them simply got lucky because of opportunities available to them or people they knew. Of those "rags-to-riches" billionaires, many of them have dozens or even hundreds of people who are really truly and actually responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company and keeping it solvent.

There are plenty of millionaires and billionaires who are clearly clueless about how things work, and have crashed successful companies right into the ground."///[Was that what happened to Briggs & Stratton? Will we know after the new owner and management has a chance to prove themselves a while?]/// " As mentioned earlier, there are many other companies structured such that there are so many people between the CEO/Founder and what actually happens, that the company effectively runs itself. To me, being a millionaire or billionaire isn't a really measure of "success" or "grit", It's more of a measure of opportunity or privilege in someones life.

I believe that there are both kinds-born with the silver spoon in their mouth and those that worked for it-but of the latter,mostly millionaires,not billionaires
damn, "a million dollars ain't what it used to be" thank you Dr. Dahle
I think it is true some need to listen to Dave Ramsey at least as to "live within your means" or a little less and save the difference
but some have more to save than others

? the Budweiser heir?

 

[340wedge]

I have seen retailers commit the same mistakes time and time again. Harbor Freight known for cheap tools and sales were brisk. They are doing so well they decide to open more stores, way too Many stores that all require rents, extra employees, utilities and etc. My town has three Harbor Freights within 8 miles. They bring in more expensive tools against their winning business model of cheap tools and need to jack up prices to pay for the stock and all the extra stores and etc. Then they get rid of their coupon catalog, Sears ring a bell? A recipe for disaster.

 

[zendriver]

I have seen retailers commit the same mistakes time and time again. Harbor Freight known for cheap tools and sales were brisk. They are doing so well they decide to open more stores, way too Many stores that all require rents, extra employees, utilities and etc. My town has three Harbor Freights within 8 miles. They bring in more expensive tools against their winning business model of cheap tools and need to jack up prices to pay for the stock and all the extra stores and etc. Then they get rid of their coupon catalog, Sears ring a bell? A recipe for disaster.

Not really, since the two companies could not be more different.

Besides, even in our covid19 world, HF is still opening new stores all over, Sears not so much.

HF was probably one of the few companies on planet earth, still printing and mailing a catalog, especially a redundant monthly issue. Maybe when the catalog cycle got disrupted and people were still buying stuff, they realized, it was time to join the 21 century, regarding marketing.

HF initially sold poor quality Chinese made tools, because that was the only thing that country made.

Obviously a different manufacturing country today and HF's product line(and pricing) simply reflects that change.

 

[Steve_P]

HF initially sold very good quality made in Taiwan hand tools. And Japanese air tools. This was in the 1980s. I still have mine and used them daily for several years. Then later they went Chinese mfg to lower costs.

 

[dnschmidt]

OK, I'VE GOTTEN TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS. While visiting a friend that owns an airplane, I believe a Cessna 182, I stumbled upon his copy of FLYING magazine. IT HAD A HARBOR FREIGHT COUPON GLUED TO THE COVER. Clearly Eric is going upscale. Screw all of you poor working class slobs that want cheap tools HF will now appeal to the ascot crowd.

In summary: COMPUTER GLITCH MY ***!!

 

[m6z]

You forgot the FREE claw hammers.

Fixt. That was quite awhile back though.