Harborfreight

[B7500]

Anyone ever order from Harborfreight? Prices seem cheap.
http://www.harborfreight.com/
-Terry

 

[46mac]

You get what what you pay for. Harbor freight's tools are good for causual use, the tools I make my living with I buy elsewhere. There shipping can drive you nuts if you are in any kind of hurry, but overall many bargains can be had.

 

[B7500]

I just "won" an air grease gun on Ebay. With shipping it comes to $16.00. They do not take Paypal but wanted my credit card number. I was just concerned about that.
-Terry

 

[AndyM]

Most of their stuff is Chinese, like buying from Homiers, which explains the cheap prices. Much of the time they offer free shipping and other specials.

Locally, I have a Harbor Freight retail store, and they are adding more all the time. Since I have that, I've never bought anything from them through their catalog.

Like the other poster said, the quality isn't for everyday use, but if it's something that you're not going to use every day, this is a cheap way to get one.

 

[RichZ]

You can sometimes get some unusual stuff that I haven't seen elsewhere from Harborfreight. For example, I bought a T-bar puller from them. It was cheap, under $20, and it works great. It's basically just a lever with a doo-dad that hooks to the T-bar, but it sure comes in handy when I remove temporary pens set up when you need to isolate an animal.

 

[pruntyc]

My step-son bought a battery inverter from them 4 or 5 years ago. It was a more powerful one, than he could find elsewhere. And it has worked perfect. He is on oxygen and uses it in his car to run an oxygen machine, when he goes any place in his car. So they have the good and the bad, just watch what you buy from them.

 

[PondKeeper]

I have bought from them without any problems. Backorders can cause a delay. Like other posts I agree that you need to know what you are buying to avoid quality issue; ie: I wouldn't buy chain or hooks because I want American made quality for my peace of mind for safety reasons.

Mike

 

[OkeeDon]

I have bought a lot of stuff from Harbor Freight. Most of the time I have been completely satisfied. Sometimes I bought cheap stuff even for daily use in my business because in a harsh environment, the good stuff didn't last any longer. Electric drills are a good example. We'd buy a $120 Dewalt and, drilling with a lot of cement dust (Hardipanel), it wouldn't last any longer than a $24 HF drill. I would buy 3 or 4 HF drills at a time and just toss it when the bearings went out.

Others I bought because I couldn't justify it any other way. We did a little gas plumbing, mostly with copper but every once in a while with pipe. There was no way I could justify the cost of a Rigid pipe threader, but I got a pipe thread kit, pipe cutter and pipe vise from HF for a fraction of the cost. We just took it a little slower and made sure we didn't over stress it. If I was using it every day, I could have justified getting a more expensive setup.

Right now, the hottest item is their aluminum racing jack. Almost every racer I know has bought one. They are down under $150 for something that costs $600 or more elsewhere. No one has any complaints about them. If you've ever had to load and unload a heavy floor jack you'll understand.

Everything I've ever bought from Homier was flat-out junk. Might come from the same country, but the best comparison is thin sheet metal as opposed to cast iron. I bought 2 Homier 4" grinders and both burnt out within 10 minutes of use! I bought some Homier roller saw stands and the bearings fell out of the rollers while I was assembling them. I wouldn't buy even a screwdriver from Homier.

 

[ns_in_tex]

I bought a pipe expander that broke the first time I used it, but I also bought a 9/16 through 1" drill bit set for 22.00 2-1/2 years ago. I have probably drilled more than 50 holes with one or two of the bits in 1/2 or 5/8 steel and have not sharpened one yet.

 

[k8ny]

I have purchased quite a number of items from HF over the years. As many posters here mention, most of their offerings are fine for casual use ( I don't make a living with tools any more) . The grease gun you 'won' I purchased for 12.99 less shipping. Since I had a larger order shipping was free. The gun is chrome plated and works well but again, I wouldn't purchase this if I needed to make a living with. For my tractor use, it's fine.
Now, on my last TELEPHONE order I made in March of this year, I used my credit card. I noticed about 2 weeks after this transaction that additional purchases had been made and not by me. These purchases were on the same day and a few days after I placed my order with them and were all made in California. My credit card company also noticed it and informed me at apporximately the same time I noticed my bill (I was able to view my credit card account billing online). There was, I believe, an investigation by the credit card company however nothing was conclusive from that. The credit card company didn't charge me for the purchases (approx $250) and they immediately issued me a new card. After this experience I only place orders with them online as opposed to by telephone (online is more secure than a manual phone order in my opinion.)
That has been my experience with their products and billing.

 

[frank_f15]

never got anything from them, but have seen a few tools that others have bought. in my estimation they are not of high quality or for everyday hard use.

 

[TresCrows]

Most of their stuff is pretty low end but I have bought some useful items from them. For casual and one time use--yeah.
I have caught them doing bait and switch. They were selling a night vision goggle for 99 dollars or some such. I went and looked at them and got sidetracked. A few days latter they were sold out of the item and they gave me a rain check. When they called I went to get it. Yep, same box and same price but inside the box was nothing like the original item. This POC was not worth 20 cents much less 99 dollars /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif. J

 

[DaveNH]

Nuts & Bolts

I bought this about twenty years ago and it was a life saver.
Saved me countless trips to the hardware store.
It's getting low so I think I may purchase another one.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

If you ever pay for a meal with a credit card you're in more danger there. Your credit card actually leaves your possession and sight with a stranger who could do more harm with it than these guys. If you really don't want to give your card # out, however, you could always buy and send a money order.

 

[jyoutz]

I really wouldn't be concerned about the credit card. Really EVERYTIME you use it, online or not, it stands a chance for fradulent theft of the account number. I once had a card that I used at a gas station. A few weeks later I noticed some HUGE charges on my invoice from British Columbia. I called the bank, and I ended up not paying a dime of these charges. You are protected by federal law from being liable for these type of unauthorized uses.

 

[Taylortractornut]

I buy alot of there Machinist tools like chamfer tools, Bits, dial indicators, and dial dalipers. Pretty good stuff for my branch of machining. We have a few import stores here well a few towns over. The big one is Wood Sales. tThey dont offer refunds just a swap out. I buy all my grinding rocks there. I can buy the 25 dollar wire wheels for the grinders for 4.75 and they last the same time as the Napa/ Lowes brand. I buy alot of Chisels and such there to. They have the same brand motorcycle straps as the local stores but alot cheaper. I bought a Grip brand grinder for 10 dollars that has been with me 4 years and as only used 2 sets of brushes.
I buy alot of good air tools there as well. For their prices I bought a pnuematic sheet metal shear for 20 dollars 3 years ago and its used every day. My biggest saving s there though is my consumables like chop saw wheels for 2.50 each vs 4.00 for the same thing at a supply store. Grinding wheels for 59 to 99 cents each for 4.5 inch rocks, and 99 cents fr 7 inch rocks. I get harped on by friends telling me to buy American but i show them in stores the way they say made in China, for XXXXX co.