Toptul

[nicksnothereman]

I think toptul is a rebrander of import stuff in europe. Not that it's bad stuff, just that there's probably comparable stuff available here (with a different brand name). Would be my guess. None of these companies actually "manufacture" anything but typically the taiwanese manufacturers (I think toptul is taiwan origin) are fairly consistent in their products regardless of the name on the handle or configuration.

Some of the stuff doesn't get here because it's niche; maybe focus on that stuff.

 

[Olafur]

Olafur, William tool company. Not Williams the company under the Snap-On Umbrella. Here is their website. http://www.wtools.com.tw/

They are the source of TOPTUL's ratchets.

Interesting, I stand corrected. Thanks!
Lots of familiar ratchets there!

 

[Brownsfan]

You want Toptul in the US? Why not buy Taiwan Kobalt? Aren't they Rotar made?

 

[ultgar]

...... Personally I love angle socket wrenches but they are never seen in America. So I decided to carry them because I know they're neat and I want others to be able to get them. .

Angle socket wrenches are available through Facom and sold through many online dealers. You can get them in 6pt x 6pt or 6pt x 12pt configurations in both metric (6-38mm) and fractional sizes (1/4-1"). There are quite a few sets available.

The Toptul angle socket wrenches are very similar to Facom's 76 series.

 

[merbie]

i have french made angled wrenches from the 70s and i never use them

 

[SuperSheep]

For just being a retirement hobby, you REALLY want your money asap. Sorry I have a job that takes me away from home and to the middle of no where for 4 days on and 3 days off.

***** was REAL quick with opening non-paid cases after like 3 days, in the middle of the night no less. Despite paying right away like in the morning when I had a chance, dude musta blocked me from purchasing from him?

Hey, if you don't want my money, oh well. And to think I found this out when I was trying to a wrench set and a couple of ratchets on a non-auction listing, which meant you would have been paid right away, you would do that. The first 2 purchases were to get a feel of Toptul's quality, the 3rd would been 300+ dollar order.

Oh wait, there is all of a sudden 120+ more TOPTUL listings from ANOTHER seller... Convienent eh? Enjoy your -Negative Feedback.. oh and your retirement too.

 

[sac02]

For just being a retirement hobby, you REALLY want your money asap. Sorry I have a job that takes me away from home and to the middle of no where for 4 days on and 3 days off.

***** was REAL quick with opening non-paid cases after like 3 days, in the middle of the night no less. Despite paying right away like in the morning when I had a chance, dude musta blocked me from purchasing from him?

Hey, if you don't want my money, oh well. And to think I found this out when I was trying to a wrench set and a couple of ratchets on a non-auction listing, which meant you would have been paid right away, you would do that. The first 2 purchases were to get a feel of Toptul's quality, the 3rd would been 300+ dollar order.

Oh wait, there is all of a sudden 120+ more TOPTUL listings from ANOTHER seller... Convienent eh? Enjoy your -Negative Feedback.. oh and your retirement too.

Huh?

 

[SuperSheep]

The seller is a ***** and has an condescending attitude. If you reread the last 3 pages, you will get that vibe and what I meant.

 

[mensa]

The seller is a ***** and has an condescending attitude. If you reread the last 3 pages, you will get that vibe and what I meant.

Op (seller) started a thread awhile back demanding to know why snap on tools were superior and essentially called everyone idiots for not buying his Toptul.

Thought he was buried and rid of.





.

 

[flyingtpot]

The seller is a ***** and has an condescending attitude. If you reread the last 3 pages, you will get that vibe and what I meant.

 

[flyingtpot]

Op (seller) started a thread awhile back demanding to know why snap on tools were superior and essentially called everyone idiots for not buying his Toptul.

Thought he was buried and rid of.

.

 

[redvalkyrie]

I don't know what I can add except my own experiences so for it's worth...

I was approached several times by Toptul and asked to become a NA distributor. It was extremely difficult to get any sort of reasonable deal going--maybe some of it was language based, maybe some of it was cultural. At the time, they wanted very large orders up front which would have created huge overhead. Trying to warranty their products was also going to be an issue if I couldn't get one particular item from there to here ASAP. Finally, even though I sit land locked in Oklahoma, one of the largest ports in the country is about ten minutes away. They couldn't figure out how to get a container to me...

Anyways, I can see the frustration buyers and sellers are having with Toptul. It's without a question, a range with wonderful products and the demand is there for their products. There's just no solid distribution system from Taiwan to NA and they're going to have to work more on that problem. Take a hit up front and bend over backwards to make customers and distributors happy. Unfortunately, with Taiwan tools there is no boutique association like there is with other tools and COO. USA has Snap-On and Detriot iron. France has Facom and Peugeot. Germany has Hazet and Porsche. Japan has Koken and every Japanese car...Taiwan has...? Porsche owners want German tools. Chevy owners want American tools.

 

[redvalkyrie]

Just an aside, Toptul sent me several performance tests of their wrenches versus everyone else--the one I remember best was a test to see how much torque it took to widen an open end. While I don't think they came in first, they were very high up on the list.

 

[ultgar]

I don't know what I can add except my own experiences so for it's worth...

I was approached several times by Toptul and asked to become a NA distributor. It was extremely difficult to get any sort of reasonable deal going--maybe some of it was language based, maybe some of it was cultural. At the time, they wanted very large orders up front which would have created huge overhead. Trying to warranty their products was also going to be an issue if I couldn't get one particular item from there to here ASAP. Finally, even though I sit land locked in Oklahoma, one of the largest ports in the country is about ten minutes away. They couldn't figure out how to get a container to me...

Anyways, I can see the frustration buyers and sellers are having with Toptul. It's without a question, a range with wonderful products and the demand is there for their products. There's just no solid distribution system from Taiwan to NA and they're going to have to work more on that problem. Take a hit up front and bend over backwards to make customers and distributors happy. Unfortunately, with Taiwan tools there is no boutique association like there is with other tools and COO. USA has Snap-On and Detriot iron. France has Facom and Peugeot. Germany has Hazet and Porsche. Japan has Koken and every Japanese car...Taiwan has...? Porsche owners want German tools. Chevy owners want American tools.

Warranty was a problem with Toptul plus lead times for stock orders were 60 days and you had to buy a fair amount to get the best pricing.

They do a nice job of packing everything..........boxes within boxes within boxes. Absolutely no damage from Taiwan to NJ.

There's just not enough "absolute" profit in the line to keep anyone's interest beyond a few stock orders. Thats what happened to me. And outside of this list, there are not many people asking for their tools.

SD

 

[dnschmidt]

You know I was just going to let this slide but I can't help myself. SuperSheep wonders why I blocked him. Explanation: In one of his messages to me he called me a **** which in my opinion made him a **** and I have a policy of not selling to dicks, so, I banned him. In this message he explained his job situation to me after the fact. If he would have contacted me before or right after the auction closed to let me know his situation I would have never opened the case with EBay. The standard deal on EBay is that when the auction ends you're suppose to pay and I'm suppose to ship, which I always do the day I get paid. Not having ESP, and without any explanation, I was completely right in filing the non-payment complaint. It's not my job to figure out why somebody hasn't paid in a timely manner it's their job to explain their problem to me.

Tomorrow morning, when I wake up, I'm still going to be rich and have a seven handicap. My life will go on without your $300 order just fine. If I run out of Pro V1 golf balls that could be a crisis. Not having your $300 order, not a crisis. Does this attitude make me a condescending *****? I don't think so, it makes me a businessman who has the right to chose his customers just as everyone else does in America. Just as you don't HAVE to buy from me I don't HAVE to sell to you. Are you claiming some constitutional right of which I'm unaware? With respect to EBay there is only one significant North American seller and that's me, SCHMIDTDN. I don't use screen names or multiple names as you seem to be implying. You also might have noticed that my prices are about half of what the guy from Great Britain, the other significant seller of TOPTUL on EBay, wants for the same products.

I never DEMANDED anything with respect to Snap-On in which I am a VERY happy shareholder. SNA up 28% YTD. Do I in fact wonder why people pay so much for it. YES I DO. I would never call anybody an idiot for buying Snap-On tools since every time they do I make money.

To Redvalkyrie, you are a valued customer of mine, and I believe a very happy one, and your impressions of TOPTUL are EXACTLY CORRECT. They will never have a major presence in the United States for all of the reasons you've mentioned and probably a couple of others I could add. TOPTUL is the Snap-On of Taiwan their problem is that they themselves believe it. Their problem is that nobody in America, who hasn't previously owned their tools, does; without a massive advertising campaign to differentiate themselves from Harbor Freight they have no chance. I offer as evidence the two companies (Wren and Ultimate Garage) that have tried and failed in their attempts.

 

[dnschmidt]

Ultgar, I've read your comments with respect to TOPTUL in the past and now in the present. I AGREE with all of your comments both good and bad. They make great stuff but they have absolutely NO understanding of America or the American market. It's a damn shame but the truth is the truth.

 

[redvalkyrie]

I have indeed been a very happy customer of dnschmidt. He provided excellent service.

I wish Toptul allowed for more "unique" stock orders. They really do make awesome torque wrenches, files, screw extractor kits, and lots of other stuff.

 

[dnschmidt]

Redvalkyrie, I don't understand what you mean by "unique stock orders." I can order anything I want from them it just has to be in stock box quantities which can be 1, 5, 10, 15 or whatever. Please explain what you mean by "unique." as I'm missing your point. TOPTUL has never tried to tell me what I should order they simply tell me how many of something is in a standard inner box and that's how many I have to order.

What's really funny with some people is that they will say, "I want to buy this wrench" when I tell them I'm not going to get it for them because I have to buy 10 of them and I'm not going to get stuck with 9 they get mad. Go figure.

 

[redvalkyrie]

You pretty much hit at what I meant. You have one guy that wants a certain torque wrench. The item is not something you see too many people ordering so, importing a stock amount of say 20 300lbs torque wrenches just so this one guy can get his order...well, that really isn't practical.

If Toptul would be willing to sell single items that customers could pick from a catalog, it would allow the more interesting tools to get into the hands of buyers.

Look at Nepros. They have a website that very clearly shows every tool they offer and these tools are available for purchase. Nepros is taking a substantial beating because their US prices are half of what you'd pay in Japan. They're willing to take that hit just as long as it gets their tools into the hands of buyers

 

[dnschmidt]

I really can't see how an Asian producer can do this without going broke if they don't have an American warehouse. The problem is the cost of shipping tools. The only practical way of doing this is by ship. If I place an order with TOPTUL today it will take at least two months for the tools I order today to show up in Phoenix, AZ. Considering that air shipment is out of the question I don't see any way around this problem. Tools are heavy, ruling out air shipment.

With respect to torque wrenches I can order those one at a time but that really doesn't help much. The problem is that in order to make it at all cost effective I have to buy at least $4,000 of tools at a time and even then I have to pay TOPTUL a $150 small order fee for orders of less than $10,000. Since the freight forwarding charge on any order is $1000 (this is more or less a fixed cost) small orders are simply impossible. Until TOPTUL has an American warehouse, where a dealer can go for one of this or two of that and return warrantee items, their presence in America will always be marginal. I bought the tools I have for sale basically for myself and two friends the extras I sell on EBay. I love their tools but selling these for a living here in America just isn't going to work for anybody.

 

[Kaane]

I am a super happy customer. He ships super fast gives us GJ discount.

Here is some of my recent purchases. The wrenches are amazing! the quality of the finish is fantastic.

 

[valentine]

Two thumbs up for dnschmidt and the excellent service he provides. Communication before, during and after the transaction was excellent. Every question I had was answered quickly and thoroughly. Received the order in only two days and we are at opposite ends of the US. I expected to wait a week or more. Everything was well packed and it all arrived in perfect shape. As for what I think of my first Toptul tools; lets just say I am quite impressed with their quality and this won't be my last Toptul purchase. Really an excellent product from an outstanding seller.

-Valentine

 

[T45]

Ya'll does anyone have a spec sheet on the toptul combos?

(ring, jaw wide, jaw thick, length)

Or care to measure the 10MM if you have one handy?

Thanks

 

[whitedogone]

The offset box wrenches look nice. But the combo's look like you have to clean 'em with a toothbrush......unless in the case that you don't use 'em....I rest my case.

 

[dnschmidt]

Answers:

1) TOPTUL'S website has complete specifications such as wrench width. Simply go to the following web address and type in the part number: http://www.toptul.com/style/frame/t...mer_id=2179&name_id=92173&content_set=color_4
If you don't know the part number use the guide on the left to locate the product you want and that will get you to a page where you can find the part number.

2) The proprietary satin chrome finish I think is easier to clean than the typically full polished American style and I guarantee you much easier to hold when greasy than full polished. This, I feel, is better than the same finishes used on Stahlwillie, Gedore, Hazet and the premier German brands that frankly TOPTUL copied. Rotar Machinery is the parent company of TOPTUL and their primary business is metal finishing. This is their core competency and they are really good at it.

3) TOPTUL makes two high end versions of their combination wrenches. One is called Hi-Performance Combination Wrench and the other (which I personally prefer) are called the Super-Torque Combination Wrench and is the type I sell. The Hi-Performance is slightly thinner. I like the Super-Torque due to their thicker handles which are easier on your hands.

Specifications:

Hi-Performance 10mm combination wrench open end head thickness: 4.2mm
Super-Torque 10mm combination wrench open end head thickness: 5.2mm

 

[Tronyadorable]

The offset box wrenches look nice. But the combo's look like you have to clean 'em with a toothbrush......unless in the case that you don't use 'em....I rest my case.

Real mechanics have a parts washer. Wut B yo point ?

 

[FMC1959]

Real mechanics have a parts washer. Wut B yo point ?

Too late to ask, he rested his case. (we should be deliberating on it)

 

[whitedogone]

Real mechanics have a parts washer. Wut B yo point ?

I hate cleaning ****. Just a pass thru the shop towel for me. Don't get me wrong, it looks like they make some good stuff. I need a set of combo wrenches.... just don't know if anything that I'd want would ever be in stock-for sale. Why the hell someone doesn't step up to the plate and bring in the full line and quanities to make it a go here in the states is beyond me.

WDO

 

[dnschmidt]

I hate to say it but the reason is: THEY WOULD GO BROKE just as Wren Tools did.

Here's the problem: TOPTUL makes great stuff, however, to the average American they are Harbor Freight. Without major investments in a domestic presence, meaning a warehouse, and advertising the only people you're going to be able to sell this to are members of The Garage Journal or other true believers.

The number of people that have ever heard of TOPTUL in this country is less than one tenth of 1%. The number of people that actually own TOPTUL is likely half of that or less. Those that do know that these are great tools and deserve to be popular. But as Clint Eastwood stated in, "The Unforgiven" DESERVES GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH IT.

 

[MagnumForce]

As a note I'm not doing any SAE wrenches - it's time for the world to realize that the metric system has arrived. I'm 62 so I know that change is hard to swallow but the world does move on. Get over it.

Get over the fact that industrial and heavy machinery applications are still 95 percent standard. Some guys who like tools don't give a damn about automotive repair.

 

[BK13]

Pretty sure the OP doesn't care about supplying industrial or heavy machinery. It's not a 'real' business, it's something to entertain himself in retirement.

 

[MagnumForce]

Either way, he's being a richard about it. The passive aggressive comments were not necessary and far beyond being blunt.

 

[T45]

Its funny but nobody stocks inventory anymore
This is what I've seen in the past month here on tools inventory:

SK - takes 3 months from US distributors

PB Swiss - Takes 1 month from US distributors

Nepros - Takes 1 month from US distributors

Seems like a trend, but nothing personal.

 

[T45]

Also, trying to compare Facom to Craftsman on finish quality is absurd.

 

[T45]

Here is the spec sheet for Metric Wrenches

 

[T45]

These are Snap On 10mm dimensions (Toptul in Paren)

Ring Outside - 15 (15.1)
Jaw Outside - 21 (22.7)
Ring Ht - 7 (7.0)
Jaw Ht - 5 (4.6)
Length OAL - 171 (149)

These dimensions are comparable to Facom or Stahlwille, with european length and a +1mm jaw width. The tradeoff for the the thinner jaw height is the slighty wider jaw outside width.

 

[whitedogone]

So, why the hell can't we just buy top til right from taiwan? I can buy chainsaw parts direct from China any day of the week. They ship to my door about a week.

 

[Tronyadorable]

Its funny but nobody stocks inventory anymore
This is what I've seen in the past month here on tools inventory:

SK - takes 3 months from US distributors

PB Swiss - Takes 1 month from US distributors

Nepros - Takes 1 month from US distributors

Seems like a trend, but nothing personal.

Nepros and PB are overseas companies.The Empire makes it a ***** to put your hands on that stuff."Free trade"is only for party donators.Doesn't matter which one. You aint invited.
SK is a joke waiting on it's next bankruptcy hearing--sell off.
Off to get some Toptul to try out.Plenty of it in stock down these parts.

Great photos Kaane.

 

[T45]

Get over the fact that industrial and heavy machinery applications are still 95 percent standard. Some guys who like tools don't give a damn about automotive repair.

Not to mention aerospace...agree the SAE comment is a bit absurd.

Toptul make a full ine of SAE anyway

 

[dnschmidt]

OK, I've tried to explain this earlier in this thread but apparently my communication skills are lacking. So, as Regan once said: "Here we go again."

1) The only tools I have imported are those that I, or two of my friends Dennis and Scott want. Not owning old American cars, industrial machinery, farm implements or airplanes we have no need for SAE tools, therefore, I didn't import any. I have no hatred for SAE tools but since these were for our use I had no need for them.

2) The tools that I'm selling on EBay are extras. To give you an example of what I'm talking about TOPTUL sells their screwdrivers five in a box. The three of us wanted one each of all of their screwdrivers. Five minus three equals two. I therefore have two screwdrivers of each size for sale on EBay.

I don't know how to make this any clearer. I'm not in the business of selling TOPTUL, thank God or I'd be a pauper since I'm not making any money on it, I'm in the business of liquidating excess inventory.

I had thought that I had made all of this clear at the beginning of this post, but apparently not.