I went to several Lowe’s stores recently, to see what their near-final Black Friday 2020 tool deals displays would look like. Usually by this time, most deals are supposed to be up, and we can a good look at what will be on sale.
With Lowe’s typically being a close Bosch retail partner, that’s where the deals are supposed to be. What I found was that there were plenty of Dewalt, Craftsman, and Kobalt displays, and a smattering of other brands. But not much Bosch.
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There are usually a couple of displays featuring Bosch Black Friday and Holiday season “special buys,” but I couldn’t find much, not even in the “PRO” area of the store.
I’ll give you a list of the deals I’ve come across so far, below, with most not being unique to Lowe’s except for a laser level that I cannot find at any other major Bosch dealer.
To start off, the Bosch 40pc screwdriver set, shown above, gave me a chuckle.
I didn’t take a closer look because I already ordered a Milwaukee 70pc set for $10 shipped, and also a Dewalt 35pc set with right angle attachment for $15.
In big letters: BEST BIT HOLDER ON THE MARKET PERIOD.” Sure, Bosch’s bit holder is okay, and I bought a couple, but because they were cheaper than other brands’. But the best? I can’t say I’ve ever thought that.
And then in small letters, they associate the claim to a private social media account. I don’t know why, but I found this amusing. I guess this agrees with Bosch’s marketing practices, which seem to increasingly prioritize paid influencer and social media advertising.
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Bosch Tool Deals at Amazon and Lowe’s
Here’s what’s on sale, from the Lowe’s Black Friday 2020 sales flyer and what’s currently on sale at Amazon and elsewhere.
Bosch 40pc Impact Bit Set: $15 – w/ “best bit holder on the market period”
Bosch GLL 3-15 3-line 50′ laser level: $100
Bosch 18V brushless drill/driver (new special buy): $99
Bosch 18V brushless FREAK (new special buy): $99 – now at Tool Nut
Bosch 21pc drill bit set: $10 – live now
Bosch 10pc jigsaw blade set: $10 – live now
Bosch 18V impact driver kit: $79
Bosch 18V drill/driver kit: $89
See More Bosch Tool Deals Here
Bosch Laser Deals at Home Depot and Amazon
This Bosch Deal Should be Your First Laser Distance Measuring Tool
From Acme Tools’ Black Friday Jump Start Sale:
Bosch 12V Max FlexiClick drill/driver system: $149
Bosch SDS Plus rotary hammer kit: $249
Bosch 18V brushless SDS Plus rotary hammer kit: $439
Bosch 10″ dual bevel glide miter saw: $519
Bosch 12″ dual bevel glide miter saw: $599
Bosch 9 gallon wet/dry dust extractor: $449
Bosch 165ft laser distance measurer: $99
Bosch battery – free with select 12V Max laser kits
Bosch 12V Max 360° green laser level: $519
Bosch 12V Max 360° red laser level kit: $419
Bosch $20 off $100
Amazon $20 off $100+ Bosch Tools
Acme Tools $20 off $100+ Bosch Tools
Tool Nut $20 off $100+ Bosch Tools
Bosch PS21 Cordless Screwdriver Kit
Bosch 12V Max Cordless Screwdriver Kit: $69
This Bosch cordless screwdriver kit is a very good deal. But… I keep thinking – this is a DECADE-OLD tool.
With Dewalt offering their 12V-class brushless motor cordless screwdriver kits for $89, and Milwaukee’s premium M12 Fuel drill and impact driver kits priced at $99 right now, I’m starting to lose excitement over this Bosch promo.
(If you can budget the extra $20, I like the Dewalt Xtreme screwdriver better than the Bosch PS21, and you might too.)
As another alternative, you can get a Skil 12V-class brushless and impressively powerful drill kit for $63 right now via Amazon.
Thoughts?
Bosch finally came out with a cheaper brushless 18V drill and impact driver that could compete against other brands’ $99 offerings. I suppose this set me up with inflated optimism at the start of the season.
But where’s the CORE18V promo from last year?
Last year’s Lowe’s Black Friday 2019 Black Friday sales flyer had a couple of Bosch 18V and 18V CORE18V cordless power tool promos options.
And there was a mix of other tools as well. Lowe’s focused on a broad range of Bosch tools.
But now, all we’ve seen in this year’s Lowe’s Black Friday 2020 tool deals sections are a couple of power tool accessory sets, the $99 drill and FREAK impact kits, a single laser level, and that’s it?
See More: Lowe’s Black Friday 2020 Tool Deals
Where’s the rest – is the Lowe’s sales flyer that we’ve been working with missing some pages?
Meanwhile, at Home Depot, they’ve replaced many (most? all?) Bosch power tool accessory sets with Diablo, and so there are fewer Bosch accessory deals there as well this year. Still, as mentioned above, there are 2 laser distance measuring tool deals and a laser level deal at Home Depot.
See Also:
WHY is Diablo Rebranding so Many Bosch Power Tool Accessories?
From Devils to Demons: Is Home Depot Switching from Bosch Spade Drill Bits to Diablo?
One could point the finger at COVID-19 supply disruptions, but how did so many other brands manage to supply Home Depot and Lowe’s – at the least – with cordless power tool and accessory promo displays?
You know what – maybe they’re saving some good stuff for Cyber Monday. Right?
If you find any noteworthy Bosch tool deals, please let us know!
Mike
Love my Bosch 12V Flexiclick and 12 V drill, but just about ready to give up on Bosch. They seem like they don’t care about the 12V US market, too many tools not available or only older brushed versions in the US that are available in Europe. Seriously thinking about switching over till Milwaukee.
Stuart
If you love your Bosch 12V tools, no reason to change them over just yet.
If you come across a new tool and it’s in another platform such as Milwaukee’s, you could always slowly transition.
Remember, the US market is a small part of their worldwide sales.
Maybe a lot of other users have given up on Bosch, and that’s why they have such a small promo tools selection this year?
fred
It might relate to not wanting to spend the money to go head to head with TTI and SBD. They may not see a big profit potential compared to other sales in other parts of the world. When I’m in Europe – I seem to feel that the European consumers that I see are not as driven by low price on things like tools. The Brits may be closer to us. I’ve been to a few woodworking specialty stores in England where they have some bargain bin tools on offer. But while I’ve not done extensive tool shopping elsewhere in Europe – I’ve not seen anything approaching a HF in Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria and Spain – where I have browsed some tool stores.
Frank D
We need more Bosch products in NA!
Already have most of the bits and accessories, pretty much all the 12v stuff.
If Bosch had a trade in special for 18v, I’d switch colors 😉
Just can’t justify a third 18v platform or I would have to sleep in the dog house.
Patrick
The ‘freak’ driver is a pretty solid deal. They are usually offering the 1600, but this is one of the 1800 variants. I used an 1800c with a Core 4.0 to swap out winter wheels on our cars this week and it didn’t struggle with a single lug nut. It’s so nice not to need separate drivers.
Toolfreak
I didn’t really expect much in terms of BF deals on Bosch stuff aside from the usual “50% off” accessories at Lowe’s that they do every BF and several other times during the year.
Given how much of the 12V/18V lineup is still legacy brushed tools, you’d think Bosch would leverage that and be able to offer steep discounts during the holidays to get new users into the platforms and eventually the higher priced brushless tools with the same batteries, but they really just seem to offer the same tools and the same combo packages every single year for the last decade, with little new tools or even new accessories.
Bosch is really giving up a huge segment of the US market by not offering some kind of killer deal over the holidays, not to mention still not having the broad lineup of most other brands. It’s a REALLY big plus when your tool lineup has not just drills and drivers and saws, but impact wrenches, power ratchets, string trimmers, leaf blowers, and maybe even a stick vacuum. I’ve watched several brands build these kinds of lineups at increasingly attractive price points and Bosch still offers the same tools at around the same prices year after year.
Robert Hafer
I was hoping that Lowe’s would offer the Bosch 12v Drill/Driver and Impact $99 deal from last years. It had both tools, 2- 2AH batteries, charger and bag. I purchased one for my son, and I’m still kicking myself for not getting one for me. At the current price of $169, I could spend a few bucks more and purchase the 18v versions. The 99 dollar deal was a virtual no-brainer.
If I see that deal again, I’ll buy a set whether I need them or not. Even if I never replaced the batteries and regarded them as disposable when the batteries died, I’d still consider them worth it for 99 bucks.
Stuart
It might still be? But I too have been surprised that it’s not on sale yet this season. Maybe they want to focus on their new budget-priced $99 18V offerings?
Robert
It may be, and your opinion would be much more informed than mine. The reason I’m surprised, is because I’m half expecting to see some manufacturers eventually steering away from their 12V entirely. I could see them focusing more on the newer 18 V subcompacts.
When you look at the Makita subcompacts for example, they’re as small or smaller than their 12 V alternatives, it would seem that there’s less of a point in maintaining both platforms under those circumstances. With the advancements in the technologies, they’re only going to get smaller and lighter. I would think that some companies would want to get out from under their 12V before 18V becomes the standard for the compact as well as the full-size models.
Stuart
Perhaps – there a lot of 12V tools that are larger an 18V.
However, there’s still battery size and weight to consider. That, and the size comparisons tend to be between 12V and premium 18V/20V Max brushless offerings, which are associated with a rather sizable price gap.
Makita compact 12V combo kit is $99 right now. Their subcompact combo kit is $199. Brushless 12V are for users who like the 12V platform and want smaller tools with power and longer runtime.
Milwaukee’s 12V system enjoys the most success here, due to the breadth of their line. Their core M12 tools continue to be in demand, but yes 18V and 20V Max tools are getting more compact and lighter, closing the gap between 12V and 18V in a growing number of tool categories. It’s not yet clear what impact this will have on the industry, but so far 12V class tools still look to be as popular as before.
Tom D
I find even with the 18v I’m reaching for he smaller batteries unless it’s something like a chainsaw – I simply don’t use an impact enough to need more than a few Ah.