racinfarmer
Well-known member
I only go to one, since as near as I can tell, they all have the same stuff. Never seen anything close to empty here in MN.
Has Harbor Freight Lost Its Marbles?
- Thread starter DennisH2014
- Start date
I only go to one, since as near as I can tell, they all have the same stuff. Never seen anything close to empty here in MN.
kythri
Well-known member
You should read the article.
theoldwizard1
Well-known member
HF has a lot of "baggage" they are going to have to unload before people are going to drop a C-note with them on a torque wrench !
cosmokenney
Well-known member
I have one each of their three different "brands" of angle grinders. Three different price tags. And I can tell there is a quality increase in each. The really cheap drill master, of which I actually bought two, had the lock button fall out after I used it for about 15 minutes. The middle of the road Chicago electric one is a work horse that I've been using for 4 years. And the top-o-da-line Hercules, which I bought after returning the one broken drill master, is a beast. It's really powerfull and sturdy feeling. However I don't thing the thumb operated power switch will last. I much prefer the, i guess it's called a paddle switch on the chicago electric.
I've had a total of seven torque wrenches from Harbor freight, craftsman and tekton fail in the last 5 years. The craftsman $50 ones (that's was the sale price 2 years ago) failed the fastest. Literally used them once before then ended up in the trash. Not sure what the moral of my story is though, but hopefully those new torque wrenches are better than some of the other ones out there.
I've had a total of seven torque wrenches from Harbor freight, craftsman and tekton fail in the last 5 years. The craftsman $50 ones (that's was the sale price 2 years ago) failed the fastest. Literally used them once before then ended up in the trash. Not sure what the moral of my story is though, but hopefully those new torque wrenches are better than some of the other ones out there.
If they had a 3/8" split-beam in that fancier torque wrench line I'd be in there tomorrow to look at it. I've sworn off micrometer style clickers though. Also at least my local HF is usually packed. They run 2 registers most of the time and sometimes 4 and the lines often snake out into the aisles.
It's rare that I've been in one that wasn't busy except at an odd hour. One of the stores I used to visit owns the conjoining building and uses it as backup to their stockroom they move so much product.
bmwpowere36m3
Well-known member
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HF MO...
Flush out the competition, slowly raise quality, build consumer trust, monopolize and eventually raise their prices. At those prices I'd rather buy PI or CDI wrench for a few more bananas....
Flush out the competition, slowly raise quality, build consumer trust, monopolize and eventually raise their prices. At those prices I'd rather buy PI or CDI wrench for a few more bananas....
turnthewrench 2.0
Well-known member
You can safely click the <button type="button">Ignore Thread</button> button.
Back to Harbor Freight...
Are these business goals, any different than any other business in existence?
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The last paragraph of the article, pretty much says it all.
That's pretty much how it's done in business today, using OPM other-peoples-money
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PugetDude
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I hear Montgomery Ward is making a comeback...
Motorman55
Well-known member
All I know is the HF store in Parsippany, NJ is always stocked to the top of the shelves and the place is clean and smells clean.
Been there several times and the stuff keeps moving out the door at a pretty good clip.
Been there several times and the stuff keeps moving out the door at a pretty good clip.
Mikeske
Well-known member
God help us if that ever happens. I worked at a Montgomery Ward as a part time mechanic and worked doing brakes and alignments. I got in trouble one night on a alignment for not trying to sell parts, that would have been difficult to do as I could tell the owner had just replaced everything on the front end and all I was doing setting everything properly. The owner of the car did not tell the service writer anything other then he wanted new tires and do a alignment.
I about had to physically haul the that sorry service writer over and show him that the car had all new parts. One hour later I took my toolbox to my pickup truck loaded it up and went home. I had quit!!!
JazzBlueRT
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You should learn about finance so that you understand what you read.
HF is a dead company walking. Dividend recaps are what hedge funds use to liquidate all the assets of a corporation before they leave the bankrupt carcass to the bond holders. No company has ever survived using this strategy.
Uh, Harbor freight is a private company. Why would there be dividends to recapitalize?
It seems they are borrowing as much capital as they can because someone is willing to lend it to them.
Not a bad gig if you can get it.
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Continually complaining about the smell of Harbor freight products, seems like something only an ex-wife would do! 
That smell might have come from all the rubber scrap we used to export to them but they have since banned.
Maybe the next batches will smell like roses
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That smell might have come from all the rubber scrap we used to export to them but they have since banned.
Maybe the next batches will smell like roses
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kythri
Well-known member
Again, I do stress you should actually read the article. It does not say what you think it says.
Here's an explanation on Investopedia of why Dividend Recapitalization is not great for a company's prospects. BTW Harbor Freight is a closely held company and has issued dividends in the past as the article explains.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/dividendrecap.asp
Or if you prefer pictures:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dividend_recapitalization
The current owners get cash out of the the company and the future owners get more debt to pay off.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/dividendrecap.asp
Or if you prefer pictures:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dividend_recapitalization
The current owners get cash out of the the company and the future owners get more debt to pay off.
nmantas
Well-known member
What is so bizarre is that the ultra cheap $10 (or less) models get glowing reviews from sites/articles that test them...its a marvel of engineering/manufacturing that they could make an actual precision tool and sell it for a profit for peanuts...miraculously its almost like they didn't have much of an improvement window. It would be funny if the Icons were actually less of a tool than the Pittsburghs at 10x the price. Me, I'm all-in on the PI split beams if for no other reason than I don't have to remember to turn them down after using them.
guy48065
Well-known member
How much are you willing to pay for look & feel since the new $100-ish torque wrenches are the same accuracy spec as the $10-ish old ones?
hotdogstand
Well-known member
No joke, that 5-drawer cart and the matching side shelf are probably the best tools I have ever bought at HF. I love it better than my 44" box. Steal the mat off if a 18" side box, the shelf doesn't come with one.
dnschmidt
Well-known member
Well, let me put it to you this way. If Harbor Freight disappeared from the face of the Earth that would be good for my TOPTUL business. Do I expect this to ever happen: HELL NO! We have five or six of them here in Phoenix and normally you have to fight your way into the store. If they're going out of business then Costco and Wal-Mart are close behind and I don't see that happening either.
The two more established ones in my area are always so full the checkout lines are about 6 deep and backed up into the aisles closest to them. The newer one I think the only reason that doesn't happen is they bought a much bigger space, used to be a Staples.
Closest I've ever seen to one being empty is I happened to be the last one in line when they used to close at 9 or 10. Remember being in line about 15 mins after they closed the doors.
PugetDude
ALLIANCE MEMBER
kctyphoon
Banned
Oh thanks - I clicked the "ignore member" button instead.
Flinter987
Well-known member
If they put out some decent screwdrivers in a variety of sizes and lengths, I'd consider buying some! Screwdrivers must be next, right?
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JazzBlueRT
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All corporations have stockholders and all corporations pay some or all of the profits as dividends to the shareholders.
When corporations borrow money to pay extra dividends they embark upon a death spiral that is rarely ever overcome.
Ultimately the company ends up with product shortages and higher prices because of the debt.
Don't worry about HF turning a profit on those $10 torque wrenches. The landed price was probably a buck or two. Go to Alibaba, a business to business web site and see what quantity prices are like, when buying Chinese goods with minimum orders of a thousand pieces. With HF buying power, they pay rock bottom. I can only guess how little they pay for the freebies they give away with any purchase.
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There have been a lot of comments that a lot of the new stuff is coming awfully close to name brand products. That is why they have all the comparison ads claiming that theirs is as good or better than the name brand. I have the utmost respect for their ability to make money with sharp business decisions but that does not mean that I am a buyer for the more expensive stuff. I looked at that torque wrench and had the same reaction. The warranty says that you are expected to get it calibrated every six months. It does not say where the calibration lab would get parts if it ever required repairs. We all know the answer to that one. People will buy the just as good as ***, to save a few bucks or for the convenience or because they don't care about warrantys and just chuck and replace. They must have it figured out if they can open new store every week. I agree that filling the Sears void is part of it
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Professional Tool User
Well-known member
Most of the new and improved tools HF is trying to sell are overpriced when compared to marginally more expensive known quantities. If they are trying to target the professional, they've already made a big mistake by treating the professional like a DIYer who doesn't know much about what options are available.
True, but I'm not aware of any requirement to divulge any of that to the general public, since HF is not publicly traded.
Perhaps that "analyst" was one of the stockholders.
It was on the Internet, where everything is true and factual.
This assumption is commonly repeated here but I must disagree with it. I don’t shop at Harbor Freight more than once a month but when I go unless it is a weekend the majority of the people in there are tradesmen of one sort or another. They are wearing work clothes or uniforms and the parking lot is full of work trucks and vans.
That doesn’t mean they are buying Hercules drills. They may just be purchasing cheap consumables. It is certainly a good option for that. The point however is the foot traffic in the store I go to is not predominantly DIYs.
The plural of anecdote is not data but I want to counter the notion that professionals don’t shop at Harbor Freight.
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Sound's like professionals are ignorant if they buy tools at HF.
Most that I know, realize time is money and they usually have more money than me, so I'd be the last person to question their business decisions.
Maybe those pros that shop there, just want to get tools to make money.
I guess since my official title is Emergency Vehicle Technician I am probably a professional so I'll add to your anecdotal data. I can tell you me and the guy I work with everyday shop at harbor freight. Our boxes are HF and the impacts he has are Grey Pneumatic and Harbor Freight. My impacts are all Harbor Freight with my missing sizes being sunex/GW. He recently (well 8months ago maybe) picked up a set of their allen keys because one missing size that he needed replaced was as much as the whole set, so he did that instead. They've turned out to be a good set for him. My jack at home is HF, and so fourth. Professionals absolutely do shop there for things, and I'm sure there's 100 more people on this forum alone that could attest to that.
onelochevy
Well-known member
I'm a maintenance mechanic at a chemical plant. Use HF pliers, impact sockets and screwdrivers daily. No complaints at all. The Doyle brand pliers they sell are legit.