Why did tool cabinets get so expensive?

[Stuey]

What Will Happen to Pricing of Tool Chests, Cabinets, Combos, and Mobile Workbenches?

I’m afraid that tool storage chests, cabinets, combos, and mobile workbenches are going to go up. in price.

toolguyd.com

Before rising material and freight costs, tariffs forced the redesign of a lot of mobile workbenches and tool cabinets. That's why it's hard to find 18" deep cabinets anymore, because brands had to move to 24" or so to get around the punitive tariffs.

Longer drawers mean longer drawer slides, and in some cases greater load capacities.

Deeper tool boxes mean fewer fit into the same shipping container as before.

So, first you were paying for more steel, worktops, and drawer slide lengths, and higher shipping fees to move larger tool boxes. Now, you're paying higher prices due to costs going up pretty much universally across the board.

 

[yellowbox]

Everyone wants a pay raise...but complains when companies raise prices. When you get a pay raise, you just raised prices. It's simple but so few people understand.

Most people are not getting raises, but c.o.l. keeps going up

 

[yellowbox]

So glad i bought my last (and final) toolbox in 2017. And VERY glad most of my tools were bought in the 70's & 80's. Mostly Craftsman USA stuff. Prices today scare the bejeebers out of me!

The young ones don't mind, coworker just bought 6 piece snapon screwdriver set
325.00 he couldn't be happier, I don't get it

 

[finn]

Most people are not getting raises, but c.o.l. keeps going up

Maybe you’re not getting pay raises, but that doesn’t translate to nobody’s getting pay raises.

Unemployment is at a forty year low, and the dollar is stronger than anytime in recent memory.

I suspect that wages have been rising in China, which is impacting import prices.

 

[toyotadriver]

Most people are not getting raises, but c.o.l. keeps going up

Everyone I know is getting pay raises. Businesses and government are competing for the same employee pool and the only option to be competitive for hiring and retention is to raise pay. Now whether the raises are keeping up with inflation....that's a good question.

 

[iamhomeless]

Everyone I know is getting pay raises. Businesses and government are competing for the same employee pool and the only option to be competitive for hiring and retention is to raise pay. Now whether the raises are keeping up with inflation....that's a good question.

Considering blue collar wages have essentially been stagnant after adjusting for inflation since the 80's, and non executive white collar wages have been either flat or receding since the mid 2000's, I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Crazyjake8493]

Everything got more expensive because people have money and companies realized people would keep buying even at the the higher prices. If people weren't buying, the price increases wouldn't be sustainable.

 

[yellowbox]

Maybe you’re not getting pay raises, but that doesn’t translate to nobody’s getting pay raises.

Unemployment is at a forty year low, and the dollar is stronger than anytime in recent memory.

I suspect that wages have been rising in China, which is impacting import prices.

Seriously? The dollar is weak
40 year low for unemployment, ah no...
Didn't say nobody , said most , even if they were inflation is at 40 year high so money doesn’t go as far

 

[Blueshound_GJ]

Seriously? The dollar is weak
40 year low for unemployment, ah no...
Didn't say nobody , said most , even if they were inflation is at 40 year high so money doesn’t go as far

Not sure where you're finding evidence of a weak dollar... Everything I'm reading says the dollar is very strong right now.

A Powerful Dollar Could Spell Trouble for Investors | Morgan Stanley

The surging greenback is trading at its highest levels in 20 years. Equity investors need to proceed with caution.

www.morganstanley.com

 

[finn]

Seriously? The dollar is weak
40 year low for unemployment, ah no...
Didn't say nobody , said most , even if they were inflation is at 40 year high so money doesn’t go as far

What’s the dollar vs the Euro?

Where are you getting your info… ok I can probably guess.

 

[BillD]

Unpopular opinion but tool boxes among other items have been underpriced for many years. Imagine how much toolboxes would cost if manufacturing hadn't all been moved by the corporations to China from 1970 to present.

There no question that if United States existed in a bubble things would be much more expensive. Moving low tech (and low profit margin) industries undoubtedly raised our standard of living.

I'm sure someone here can track an old Sears ad and see what it would cost in 2022 dollars.

I did. A similarly looking to the Harbor Freight box I mentioned in the first post that currently sells for $590 today and weighs 319lb is this Craftsman that weighs only 142lb and is significantly smaller in all dimensions. This Craftsman combo from 1959 cost $1315 in today's dollars. So the modern box is half the price and twice the size/weight.

So the modern box, even though it went up significantly in price recently, is still much cheaper than what could have been bought in 1959. Which is not surprising. Most things either got cheaper, or a much better product. Take a 1959 Chevy and a 2023 Chevy. The price might be comparable, but one is a much better product.

We've all gotten used to cheap stuff, and it has come at the cost of American jobs. If we want those jobs back, we've got to buy USA made, with workers getting a real living wage. But cheap is a hard habit to break.

The jobs didn't go away. The people are just doing more skilled (added value) labor.

 

[Jim greengo]

I live in CT and support this. Imagine you live on a corner lot, and all your neighbors cut through your driveway to save money. That's basically what NY and MA do with our state. Wish we could have got tolls on the interstates to help pay for road maintenance . Maybe someday.

That's what gas taxes are supposed to be for.

 

[mogandave]

HF boxes saw a pretty big price hike after the tariffs on china steel were imposed (2018 I think?). In Nov 2019 (post-tariffs) I bought my USG 44 for $425 on sale ($500 normal). Pre-Tariff I believe they were about $100 cheaper

Tariffs on Chinese steel would have no direct effect on the price of toolboxes made in China.

Tariffs on Chinese steel would directly affect the price of toolboxes made in the USA from Chinese steel.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

Tariffs on Chinese steel would have no direct effect on the price of toolboxes made in China.

Tariffs on Chinese steel would directly affect the price of toolboxes made in the USA from Chinese steel.

That's how they work though. The tariff artificially raises the cost of an item/product, purposely to make it less competitive. So if a tariff on steel from country X exists, all things produced with that steel within the tariff enacting country will have higher costs. Typically that means prices will be going up.

It can indirectly impact the producer, as sales should theoretically drop some % due to increase cost of the item/product compared to other options. Boxes of certain dimensions, IIRC 20" depth and less, were subject to a tariff upon import. Thus the builders responded by making deeper boxes more available to avoid the tariff. It wasn't a steel tariff, it was a tool box tariff.

 

[HaiKarate]

I am not discussing why this tax and fees. Even if I don’t agree with you. Highway is a funny thing.

But stating things like this will never make prices go down anywhere in the globe, this is of the many factors. Will gov employees willing to go take a pay cut for the country?

If you want to talk government employees, the problem isn't how much they get paid. The real problem is there is 10-100x as many of them than there need to be or should be and most of them ****.

 

[mogandave]

That's how they work though. The tariff artificially raises the cost of an item/product, purposely to make it less competitive.

I think this is generally correct, yes.

So if a tariff on steel from country X exists, all things produced with that steel within the tariff enacting country will have higher costs. Typically that means prices will be going up.

I think this is generally incorrect. Tariffs on steel are on steel, not on products produced from steel.

If that were true, the tariffs on every product containing any amount of steel would have to be recalculated depending on the amount of steel in each product, and that is simply not the case.

It can indirectly impact the producer, as sales should theoretically drop some % due to increase cost of the item/product compared to other options. Boxes of certain dimensions, IIRC 20" depth and less, were subject to a tariff upon import. Thus the builders responded by making deeper boxes more available to avoid the tariff. It wasn't a steel tariff, it was a tool box tariff.

But if what you said about the steel were true, increasing the volume of steel would also increase the tariff.

 

[bigcreek]

I saw an auction this week that sold several sets of Stanley Vidmar tool cabinets. Each lot had 8 or 10 brand new looking tool cabinets and each lot sold for between $14000 to $18000 and that was before the buyer had to pay taxes and buyers premium. I couldnt believe it. I dont know what those go for brand new but I was astounded. There were half a dozen lots or so.

 

[mogandave]

I saw an auction this week that sold several sets of Stanley Vidmar tool cabinets. Each lot had 8 or 10 brand new looking tool cabinets and each lot sold for between $14000 to $18000 and that was before the buyer had to pay taxes and buyers premium. I couldnt believe it. I dont know what those go for brand new but I was astounded. There were half a dozen lots or so.

That sounds like a good price for larger cabinets.

The last Lista (similar to the SV) I bought was about $3K and that was years ago and not a big cabinet.

 

[Cruzan80]

Rough rule of thumb is $100/drawer for Vidmar/Lista and similar. So if each box was $200, that is a pretty good price

 

[finn]

I think this is generally correct, yes.

I think this is generally incorrect. Tariffs on steel are on steel, not on products produced from steel.

If that were true, the tariffs on every product containing any amount of steel would have to be recalculated depending on the amount of steel in each product, and that is simply not the case.



But if what you said about the steel were true, increasing the volume of steel would also increase the tariff.

You’re missing something. If a tariff is added to imported stee, the domestic steel producers will increase the price of their product to match. That drives up the price of all domestically produced boxes, and gives free reign for the manufacturers of imported boxes to increase their prices, too.

 

[mogandave]

You’re missing something. If a tariff is added to imported stee, the domestic steel producers will increase the price of their product to match. That drives up the price of all domestically produced boxes, and gives free reign for the manufacturers of imported boxes to increase their prices, too.

Why do you claim I missed that?

 

[mogandave]

Rough rule of thumb is $100/drawer for Vidmar/Lista and similar. So if each box was $200, that is a pretty good price

$100 a drawer for Vidmar/Lista? Old and beat up perhaps.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

I think this is generally correct, yes.

I think this is generally incorrect. Tariffs on steel are on steel, not on products produced from steel.

If that were true, the tariffs on every product containing any amount of steel would have to be recalculated depending on the amount of steel in each product, and that is simply not the case.



But if what you said about the steel were true, increasing the volume of steel would also increase the tariff.

My point was material costs will be going up if raw steel is entering the country with a tariff applied. If you make toolboxes in country X, and steel entering X now has an additional 10% tariff, your steel cost just went up. Now this might make different countries more competitive, or domestic production. But it costs you more.

The company producing must either eat the cost, or pass on some part of that cost. Any product made with that steel has higher costs associated with it, and will either be less profitable or more expensive.


During the last administration, there was a straight up tool box tariff. Not on supplies, or steel. You bring a tool box in below size AxBxC you pay a tariff on that completed box. The overseas builders responded by making larger boxes.

 

[Cruzan80]

$100 a drawer for Vidmar/Lista? Old and beat up perhaps.

That seems to be the average on the used market. Also seen other say the same on here.

 

[Zeus36]

I saw an auction this week that sold several sets of Stanley Vidmar tool cabinets. Each lot had 8 or 10 brand new looking tool cabinets and each lot sold for between $14000 to $18000 and that was before the buyer had to pay taxes and buyers premium. I couldnt believe it. I dont know what those go for brand new but I was astounded. There were half a dozen lots or so.

Replaced my small top/bottom Craftsman box set with six used Stanley Vidmar cabinets around 23 years ago. Was working at Kirtland AFB and they had a dozen of them in a junk pile. I asked what the deal was with the Vidmars - the guys were excited that they just got new Snap-On boxes... I said are you crazy? One of the half-height Vidmar had latches and wheels with a detachable/foldup towbar for hauling around on the flightline. The rest were full-sized with different drawer heights. The old top Craftsman box now does duty in my covered pickup bed.

 

[evildky]

The 2018 China tariffs, definitely. But the dollar is very strong against the yuan.

But we debased it by increasing supply, 30% more money in the supply in 3 years mean 30% less buying power.

 

[ATC]

Glad I got my HF 44" for $399 a few years ago, and the top box for cheap with a coupon too...can't remember the price for it