It’s the end of October, Halloween is almost here, and there are a couple of good tool deals at Home Depot, Lowe’s, Sears, and other brick and mortar stores. Have you noticed a difference in these stores between a month ago and now? Aisles are cleaner, shelves are fully stocked, and large empty spaces are popping up where seasonal items are usually found. This means that stores are prepping for the winter holiday shopping season.
Taking a walk around large home improvement stores, you can probably even figure out which items will be heavily discounted after Black Friday. Here’s a clue – look for products that are stacked up way higher than usual. 20 plastic toolboxes on a shelf, a dozen small stepladders when the other models are only stacked 3-4 deep, a wall of wet/dry shop vacuums – these are tell-tale signs.
With this in mind, here are 5 tools that you should not buy right now unless you need them urgently. Chances are that they will be on sale 4-6 weeks from now, and if not, they probably won’t increase in price.
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1. Wet/Dry Home and Shop Vacuums
Starting on or around Black Friday, many major retailers will heavily discount one or two wet/dry shop vacuum models. Sometimes these models are special editions with extra-short power cords or few accessories, but others are fully-featured ones. Unless you need one of these heavy duty vacs immediately, wait to see which ones retailers will be putting on sale.
2. Cordless Power Tool Upgrades
If you need a new cordless power tool for a project, go ahead and buy it now. But if you already have something to use in the meantime and are only looking to upgrade, wait. Last year Amazon offered a $25 off $100 discount at the same time as a free battery or accessory promo on Dewalt 12V Max tools (link to expired deal), and there were frequent Bosch and Milwaukee deals as well. Quite a few home improvement stores had enticing promos as well, offering free batteries, accessories, and even add-on tools with certain purchases.
3. Cheap Hand Tools
We’re not fans of cheap hand tools, especially the ones that pop up around major gift-giving holidays, but some can be suitable for casual homeowner use. Many of these types of tools pop up on sale in-store only as retailers look to pull shoppers into the stores where they can more easily entice them to spend more.
4. Socket Sets
Sears and Lowe’s will most likely offer decent deals on smaller Craftsman and Kobalt socket sets. Both brands of sockets and mechanics’ tools are well suited for homeowner, DIY, and even some professional use.
This can be a tricky type of product to buy on sale, though, since specifications and components can vary greatly. We prefer 6pt sockets, so we avoid buying sets for our own use or as gifts that are largely composed of 12pt sockets which won’t see much use.
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Don’t look at the number of tools included in the set to gauge its value – look at the number of sockets. Sometimes the added accessories are 60 screwdriver bits and hex keys that you already have plenty of. Because of this, smaller sets can sometimes be a better buy than larger priced sets.
5. Simple Utility Knives
For the past few years, most major home improvement stores that we visited in November and December had pallets full of inexpensive utility knives that they were practically giving away. You will often see aluminum-handled folding utility knives, but there are usually a number of standard knives on sale as well.
Other items that we expect to see on sale everywhere are AA batteries, home stepladders, inexpensive plastic sawhorses, and LED flashlights.
What else would you add to this list?
Jake
Lowe’s has had a cheap 10in table saw on sale for the last 3 years in a row, and lats time I was in there, seemed like they had a larger stock than normal on the cheaper ones. Probably a good indicator if your looking for a cheap table saw.
Stuart
Was it a Skil? Earlier this week I noticed that the local Lowe’s had a much larger selection of Skil tools than I remember, with a large number of inexpensive circular saws and small cordless power cutters on shelves.
Jake
Sure was
Paul
I want to echo your statements about the Shop Vacuums and Cordless Tools. Be very careful about the great “deals” on vacs and cordless tools.
For example, last year one retailer had a great deal on a vac. But, unfortunately the hose was a unique size and none of the normal accessories would fit. There were tons of upset customers after Christmas complaining when they couldn’t get a brush, wet pickup, or car nozzle for that “Christmas Special”
Again last year, there was a “great” deal on a cordless drill….except the drill only had 125 in. lbs. of torque, a single 600 rpm speed, and a 24 hr. charger. The customers all assumed they were getting the “standard” 2-speed drill, more torque and a 1-hour charger for that low price!
Read the box! If you don’t understand the terms ask on the better tool blogs like this one or try to find someone who knows in the store.
Zac
What do you think of the skil? Im in the market for a new table saw.
Paul
In my opinion the Skill is like all the other “under $300” saws. Lightweight, underpowered, and disposable. They are all just a “skil-saw” in a plastic case. Good luck trying to cut hardwood or having it stay put while ripping a sheet of plywood.
I’m very partial to the Craftsman 21833 as a beginner woodworking saw. It has a cast iron top, big motor, and belt drive It is a great value for the price. And it has built in casters! You can roll it into the corner, out of the way when not in use.
Stuart
In the same size/form factor as the Skil, Bosch’s GTS1031 (review) is much more powerful, versatile, and user friendly. Dewalt’s DW745 (comparison) is also a great performer, and can be found for as cheap as $300 if catch it during the right sale.
I used the Craftsman 21833 contractor saw a couple of months ago, and although my time with it was very limited, I found it to be very decent, especially for the price. However, at 265 lbs it may be mobile, but it’s definitely not portable.