Stolen Tools

[neophyte]

In my search for old Gray open ended wrenches, I have stopped by a few pawn shops. I was always amazed at finding Hilti concrete drills. These are expensive contractor tools, which I would think are rarely pawned by the contractor. Maybe by his ex-employee, though.

Hilti used to be sold at Home Depot, in their own section with a Hilti rep on site.

I was told by someone once, that Hilti’s main profit came from their specialty connectors and fasteners, and that Hilti used to give tools away to customers who purchased a large amount of the other products, although I have no clue if this is true.

I wouldn’t be surprised if contracting companies occasionally bought a bunch of tools for each job, then gets rid of all or most of the small tools during down times.
Maybe the company officially “scraps” the tools for a tax write off, with workers “salvaging” the tools from the dumpster.
Maybe they sell off the tools cheap.
Maybe yhe contractor hoes bankrupt and the tools wind up at auction or sheriff’s sale.
I would only worry about Hilti tools if the tools need service, since Hilti is yhe only official service center with parts, or if the serial number has been carved out of the tool housing, dince serial numbers are usually laser burned into the housing of the tool.
Hilti has changed battery systems, various connection such as collated screw attachments, and a number of other components over the past couple decades, so it wouldn't surprise me if some companies just ditch older tools to save the hassle of figuring out compatibility.

 

[neophyte]

Between construction jobs, I once worked for an importer. A pretty standard breakdown of costing went like this He would pay $1 and then wholesale it for $10, the retailer would charge $20. They all would make money, but not a great deal.

I’ve seen plenty of Klein Plier Wrenches on eBay at maybe a $25-$30 price.
Normal retail is about $50.
The tools are new enough to the market that I presume the tools were “unlawfully liberated” from Lowes or Home Depot before then,
(HD seemed to be the first on the market with this Klein Plier Wrench, and had purchased at least 25,000 of them judging by stock numbers listed on the website),
I choose not to purchase these, but it is possible some of these were purchased from Home Depot, maybe at a decent discount, when HD cleared out Klein for Milwaukee from stores.
I also don’t know what the wholesale price for a regular not huge retailer is, buy I would guess the Plier Wrenches cost retailers $25-$30 at the most.
I presume Home Depot hot a much better price for an order of 25,000 , maybe $15 or less.
It’s honestly hard to say what a good deal is, and what too good of a deal is.
There is also the chance someone bought a couple pairs, opened one to use, couldn’t return the other pair because too much time had passed, and is now trying to get whatever he can back on eBay, while competing with the other lower priced listings.

 

[zendriver]

“a price that’s too good yo be true”
Around 2008 I purchased a bunch of individual tools at prices that were “too good to be true”.
The tools were specialty tools used for building, and it was around the time or just after the economy tanked and building companies went under.
The prices on Facom and other tools and brands from Cripe, and Epsteins have in many cases seemed “too good to be true”.
Major retailers routinely clearance tools at prices that are “too good to be true”, but not at all stores, at the same time, on the same products.
At one tool/craft retailer, the wholesale price the store pays seemed to be around 40% of the normal store price, except for power tools, when I got to see wholesale prices once.
That leaves a lot of room for discounting the average customer might not expect.

Seeing a retailer of apparently new tools being randomly sold off the back of a truck would look suspicious to me, especially if the tools match the brands Home Depot carries, and which are in news stories being shown stolen, but I actually watch the news.
Plenty of people don’t watch the news.
I worked in some office with a woman who wanted a cordless drill, but who thought $20 was expensive for a drill.
Rockwell and B&D decades ago used yo have drills that sold for $10 at list price.

Your points are perfectly valid, but that doesn’t change the fact that the reason that tool theft is so huge, because of people that are willing to buy stolen tools - knowingly, unknowingly, or just don’t care either way, is huge as well.

Until that somehow changes, the cops can break up as many “theft rings” as they want and it’s not going make any difference because they’ll be other ones quickly forming to replace them, as the demand will still be there.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I was involved in manufacturing of tools. If our company was able to land a contract with the big box stores, one of the requirements was for our company to buy the existing nationwide store inventory of the competitor we were replacing. I was responsible for physical handling and storage of the incoming competitor inventory, so I got an inside look. The items we received were then sold any way that our company could make money on them to cushion the blow. A lot of new tools can appear on the street in this way. This is how Ollie’s, Big Lots and such get some of their inventory.

 

[rooster59]

I wouldn’t want to be caught red- handed stealing tools from the people around here who actually use tools for their livelihoods. Would not be pleasant.

 

[neophyte]

Your points are perfectly valid, but that doesn’t change the fact that the reason that tool theft is so huge, because of people that are willing to buy stolen tools - knowingly, unknowingly, or just don’t care either way, is huge as well.

Until that somehow changes, the cops can break up as many “theft rings” as they want and it’s not going make any difference because they’ll be other ones quickly forming to replace them, as the demand will still be there.

There is no easy way to determine if a tool is “stolen”.
If you simply seize the “stolen merchandise” then the buyer of the “stolen goods” is at a loss, but may also actually be a “victim”, since he loses whatever he paid for the tools, which he may have purchased in good faith, believing the tools were legitimate fair market purchases.

 

[zendriver]

There is no easy way to determine if a tool is “stolen”.
If you simply seize the “stolen merchandise” then the buyer of the “stolen goods” is at a loss, but may also actually be a “victim”, since he loses whatever he paid for the tools, which he may have purchased in good faith, believing the tools were legitimate fair market purchases.

Very true, but that’s the way it works.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

I once bought a bunch of Great Neck tools from my local tool store. They had purchased them at scrap prices from a company that replaced the Great Neck with their brand. They were so cheap the tool store didn't even bother pricing them, I had to do that for them from a list. They were in a tool box that got stolen from the back of my p/u. I was annoyed over that, not for the modest cost, rather the bother of putting together another tool set. So I went checking the local pawn shops first. I didn't find them but I found a nice little 1/4" Mac torque wrench, a handy gunsmithing tool which cost me more than the replacement tools did. chuckle.

 

[carmantl]

Ironworker here. About 10 years ago my crew were on the third floor of a large office building complex and saw a small car pull in to our jobsite and park next to our Conex. Little smurf jumps into our trailer and 30 seconds later exits with a damn near new Stihl concrete saw. We could not get off the building in time to stop this. I informed my company owner that I would have it back in a day if I could take the next day off with pay. He looked at me like I had 3 eyes and said go for it. I went to the nearest pawnshop and asked about new pawns. They were no help so I called the County Sheriff and asked for an appointment at said pawn shop. Deputy arrives, I tell my story, he tells pawn shop to show ALL previous day transactions. We got saw back and little scamp did 11.29 for theft!

 

[dawgn86]

just came across this thread and thought it would **** to come out and find your tools stolen; especially if you use them to earn your living.
I got a Craftsman 3 box stack with Craftsman, Tekton, SK and Gear wrench tools; it ain't much, but it is 40 years of Christmas and Father's day gifts from the wife, kids, parents and in-laws. Throw in overtime shifts as well. I don't turn wrenches for a living, but I would be heartbroken if what i have was stolen.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

My brother had his place broken into. They stole his tools as well. He had poor Dad's hand tools, which they stole with his. The insurance paid for the tools. What hurt was the loss of a set of Gray open end wrenches. After the war, consumer goods were still very hard to get in '47. My parents had to order them in.It was a big purchase, that my mother remembered well. My poor Dad had very few good tools, and that set Gray wrenches were one of them. His other ones were mostly ones I had given him, Craftsman mostly.

That was why I was in pawn shops hoping to put together a 1947 Gray open end set. Gray in those years wasn't the Gray of today, when it came to looks, they were pretty basic.