Can you spot the differences between these two Craftsman ball bearing storage cabinets? Three people asked similar questions this week, and it’s an issue that has puzzled me in the past as well.
On the left is model 113613, which is currently on sale at Sears for $140. On the right is model 113616, which is on sale at Sears for $244.
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Readers have asked other questions, such as why the 5-drawer version is more than double the price of the on-sale 4-drawer version, but the differences between the two 4-drawer units are a lot subtler.
Both have 4 drawers.
Both are 18″ deep x 26.5″ wide x 34″ tall.
Both have ball bearing drawer slides that are rated to 75 pounds.
Both have (4) 4.5″ x 1.5″ casters.
So does one cost over $100 more than the other right now?
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There are a few differences. The more expensive one (113616, on the right) has the new “stylized” casters, such as on the ball bearing cabinet I purchased and reviewed last summer. This one also has deeper finger pulls for the drawers.
The drawer configurations are a little different as well, but I can see no reason why this would affect the pricing by such a substantial amount.
Those are the only three differences I can identify. Both models are available in stores and online, and both models lack the more premium GripLatch drawer closures that I initially thought the pricier model might offer.
Often, Craftsman ball bearing products that are also available in-store are cheaper than online-only products when on sale, but more expensive when not on sale. This kind of makes sense to me.
A few years ago I noticed that there were three identical ball bearing chests with three different prices. If I recall correctly, one was a previous year’s catalog model, one was an online-only model, and one was in-store and online model. The products looked identical and I could not figure out why there were three different model numbers and different prices.
Back to the two cabinets discussed above – aside from the minor differences I haven’t a clue why there’s such a big difference in price. The model numbers are close to each other in sequence, the product pages both say they were added to the online catalog in April 2013, and both are available in stores as well.
As part of this post I wanted to see how well a Sears customer service representative could sort through the differences.
Please wait for a Sears Customer Service Representative to respond. This chat may be monitored or recorded for quality assurance purposes. Thank you for holding.
Hi, my name is Anthony F, and it is my pleasure to assist you today.
Anthony F: Good afternoon Staurt, it is a pleasure to chat with you. How may I assist you?
Anthony F: Stuart*Stuart: Hello, could you please tell me the differences between these two products:
Stuart: 00903771000P
Stuart: 00937714000P
Stuart: ?Thank you for chatting with us.
You are not currently in a chat session.
I waited for about 4 minutes of silence before adding the question mark. A few seconds later the chat was disconnected. Unless there was some kind of technical error, my guess is that Anthony F left the chat after realizing he couldn’t tell the differences between the two products and that this would not be a commissionable chat.
I hadn’t had the best experiences with Sears’ “tool experts” chat personnel before, but was hoping that somehow they had access to information beyond what appears on Sears.com product pages.
I really like Sears’ Craftsman ball bearing tool storage products, but they can be very difficult to sort through at times.
With these two products, the one that’s on sale for $140 has a “regular price” of $323, and the one with the sale price of $244 has a “regular price” of $306.
I wish I could provide greater insight, but ultimately only a few people at Sears know exactly how Craftsman ball bearing products’ pricing works.
The only thing we could do as customers is tear apart product specs, descriptions, and photos, and hope that the differences become noticeable.
The common question has been why does one model cost so much more? Sometimes it pays to instead ask why does one model cost so much less? In this case, I can’t really tell you, but I can tell you that you don’t trade too much for that lower price. Personally I prefer the drawer sizes of the pricier unit, but could live with the configuration of the less expensive one. Besides the drawer configuration, at that price I would be happy with the less flashy casters and smaller drawer pulls.
Once or twice I thought why bother sorting through the differences, only to remember that I really like Craftsman tool chests and cabinets, at least at the under-$500 price point. Deciphering the prices can be a chore, but it’s worth it, especially when they have odd sales.
Jim
They probably don’t know themselves. Long are are the days when they had tool buyers. It’s just part numbers. That’s why they are not long for this world.
Steve
Yes.
Jerry
Maybe one is no longer being made, and they are clearing out inventory?
Hang Fire
I’m pretty sure the 113616 is replacing the other.
My reasoning is this: on the Griplatch/BB/HD models, the new deeper finger pull “Edge” models have already replaced the older, narrower griplatch models (like mine). Now I think they are pushing the new styling down to the cheaper models.
Stuart
Possibly, but both models seem to have been released at the same time. Both are also one or two levels below the Edge-series products. Usually when Sears wants to discontinue a ball bearing product they use different pricing schemes.
Hang Fire
I suspect discontinuance will happen once existing stock is exhausted. And yes, these are steps below Edge-series, but I think that Edge represents the new styling theme that will eventually be spread up and down the lineup to make all the older chests look “old”. Sears has excelled at creating tool chests at every quality/price point while maintaining a family resemblance between all of them. Of course they might stop doing this because nothing they do any more makes any sense.
Toolfreak
You’re mostly paying more for the newer styling.
They are the same cabinet, just one has the “older” style finger pulls as pointed out, the other has the “newer” larger pulls.
The drawer size is also different between the two, and of course the stylized casters as pointed out.
I would also guess the cheaper one actually uses the earlier 70lb rated drawer slides, and the newer one uses the new 75lb rated slides. Maybe not. I’ll have to inspect both at Sears and see if the slides on both have the same part number.
When I saw the differences in the designs late last year, I thought Waterloo was doing away with the smaller finger pull completely, at least for Craftsman boxes, but they still use it on the standard-duty cabinets as well, so it just seems they’re using their previous standard finger pull size and the newer larger pulls to cosmetically differentiate these new boxes, at least to the average consumer that might go more by visual differences than tech specs on paper.
I’ve also heard the sheet metal on these is now even thinner. The thicker pulls actually aren’t half bad on the newer Griplatch models, but I’m still glad I got one of the earlier boxes before they were gone.
Stuart
Both units have comparable shipping weights, so I wouldn’t think there would be a difference in the thickness of steel used for the drawers.
The less expensive (on sale) model is advertised as having DynaGlide drawer slides, but the more expensive (on sale) one doesn’t mention this style of drawer slide by name.
In 2012, possibly in part of 2013, the non-heavy duty ball bearing products were built with 50-pound-rated drawer slides. I thought that could be the difference here, but the description says 75 lbs for both. Otherwise, the smaller finger pulls and regular casters are similar with the previous non-heavy-duty standard series of ball bearing products.
I’ve been pretty pleased with my GripLatch cabinet with wider finger pulls and GripLatch drawers, except for one defective caster wheel that rubs and decreases in diameter every time the unit is moved. Sears wouldn’t send a replacement caster and told me I would have to lug the entire 100lb unit back to Sears for a replacement cabinet, but offered and gave me an $18 (10%) refund to live with the defect.
Toolfreak
I meant that the thickness of the steel used in the cabinet itself, and the drawers, has been said to be thinner in these new cabinets, than they were in the previous models.
I’ll check out the slides next time I’m in Sears which should be soon and report back.
It used to be you could get parts and warranty replacements for tool storage via the Sears Parts operation, but my experience these days is you need to go into a store (preferably the one you bought the unit from) and have them order you what you need at no cost under warranty.
It’s actually kind of strange that Waterloo/Sears doesn’t make things easier on themselves, and only having say, three or four types of casters used on the tool boxes, plus selling them as sets in-store for those who want a lower-end box but the higher-end casters.
Hang Fire
Stuart, if your Craftsman box was made by Waterloo, perhaps you can find a replacement caster in their inventory.
Stuart
At the time I tried to get them to send me a replacement set of casters, as they’re not available individually, but they wouldn’t or couldn’t. They told me to bring the entire cabinet back for replacement. I could always buy the casters if it bothers me enough.
Andrew
It might not be based on product cost at all.
Many companies operate on what kind of margin they make on a product. Things such as quantity built, cost of materials, and other things might make one more expensive than another on paper. Say they built 1000 of the cheaper version, but only 50 of the more expensive version. Volume discounts might make the cheaper version have a really high contribution margin in comparaison to the expensive one, even at a lower price.
Porphyre
What’s a commissionable chat? The chat monkeys get a cut if you buy something? How’d you find that out? Thanks.
Javier
before reading any answers I would say the wheel design and the size of the drawers, and maybe a slight difference in texture on the top
CB
I recently went to Sears and checked out these and the other tool chest’s. I gotta say the Harbor Freight Pro line (red) chests are way better than the craftsman’s, dollar for dollar by quite a bit.
I saw that the craftsman were on sale so I stopped by a store that was heavily stocked, the heavy duty version was still thin and felt flexy when opening them (they were empty), also had considerable amount of side slop in the drawer slides.
They were not impressive.
Toolfreak
Went to Sears and checked these both out, they were next to each other so it was easy.
The drawer slides are the exact same for both. Same part numbers (one for left, one for right).
The cabinet (red part) is the exact same for both.
The only differences seem to be the drawer size, the small/old style finger pull – large/new style finger pull, and the casters.
The casters aren’t even that different, really only the chrome styled center is different, the wheels themselves are both narrow and softish rubber/plastic.
As for the pricing, it’s not much of a comparison to compare the “sale” prices, since those can vary a lot. The 113613 is $323 and the 113616 is $306 when you compare “regular” prices, and they are both ~$200 on sale now, so the few times that one will drop under $200 and the other will still be at some high “sale” price doesn’t mean much, since they will probably switch places in the regard over the time period they are sold.
Whichever one you want, wait long enough and it’ll be on sale. They are decent units for the $140 price, especially if you can tack on more discounts and rewards offers. If you can swing it though, the Premium units are where it’s at, especially with the Griplatch.
Tomas
I’ve been looking for a toolchest myself and I went and saw all the craftsman chests in person, as well as Viper and US General (Harbor Freight) that I could find at under $600 for a top and bottom pair.
I’ve come to the conclusion that the Harbor Frieght Pro line (red) is the best bang for the buck. Around $350 for a huge amount of storage space, very thick steel, and drawer liners are included.
In terms of quality, Viper came in second for me, but about $100 more and fewer drawers, with some (cough) interesting colors. Craftsman felt super thin and the drawers did not inspire confidence. I will say the griplatch system seemed nice but do yourself a favor and compare it to the harbor freight boxes before you buy.
[email protected]
The only difference are the drawer pulls, the “new” boxes have deeper drawer pulls. I bought 2 side cabinets for my toolbox and could not find right ones, I drove to a sears outlet center put the 2 boxes side by side and there identical, I went to searspartsdirect.com and looked at diagrams they even use the same part numbers for the drawers, the only difference are the drawer pulls.
Fom searspartdirect.com you can buy the older drawer pulls and swap them with the new style ones if your in a pinch and you must have them match your current toolbox.
lameers
It seems like they have already “fixed” the prices, the first one is not nearly as discounted now.
Stuart
Yup. One is now a “hot buy” the other is a “Craftsman Club” sale item, with both being $195. Coupon codes don’t work on either model.
Red
model Model # 115762 vs 114837 the first one has more features rated for more weight and costs almost half the price. even without sale
Madd
Conversations go back and forth and not one person mentions real issues I have with todays boxes! I purchased my original ball bearing Craftsman box in 1999 and a second box in 2006 and none of todays models entice me to go and purchase one. When I bought the boxes I own I bought a top middle and bottom as complete set ups. I have over loaded all my drawers and never had any malfunction of the bearing slides (keeping bearings well greased is a must) and the complaints I have come across are the casters on the boxes made today are crap I.E. they don’t lock they are hard to maneuver and act like a damaged shopping cart. I don’t think that ball bearings are made of steel then and may not be today also doubling the tracks per side interest me now as do solid steel boxes. Made in the U.S.A still interest us old timers, It’s also not the box but the tools you have in it that matter…