Rick was the latest reader to write in asking about end-of-season tool deals, and I figured my response might be of interest to others. Please chime in with your opinions!
Do you see any last minute price drops before christmas?
How about after christmas sales?
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Looking at woodworking – carpenter type tools.
At this time, retailers are mostly looking to offload their holiday tool inventory, such as all those “special buys” they stocked up on. This typically continues after Christmas as well.
A lot of retailers have rolling sales, but a lot of the time they’re limited time deals on last-minute gift ideas and the types of tools and accessories people didn’t realize they needed/wanted.
For woodworking tools, Lee Valley *might* have another free shipping event in early January. Other woodworking suppliers will probably have regular sales, but nothing predictable.
Promotions always seem to slow down after Christmas, but there are always some sales here and there to entice customers eager to spend fresh gift cards.
Amazon’s $10 off $50 and $25 off $100+ discounts are still good bargains for different brands of general hand tools and power tools. Now is a good time to buy trim routers, router combos, accessories, dovetail jigs, and those types of tools. [I mentioned these tool types specifically since Rick was asking about carpentry-focused woodworking tools.]
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You might also want to save up some funds in case you’re close to a Woodworking Show. You can sometimes find some nice deals there, and the power tool sales reps might be willing to flex on pricing.
I checked my own expenditures logs, and January thru April is always a slow time for me. If I can wait, I plan bigger purchases around June and December. Certain brands, such as Festool, aren’t ever on sale.
Does anyone else have observations or recommendations they can make about end-of-year sales?
fred
I just got some emails from Toolbarn.com, Toolup.com, Tools-Plus.com and ToolTopia,com . All purportedly had last minute holiday deals – but I’m sort of tooled-out for this year.
kalvin
rockauto.com is giving 5% off with promotion code 1912024416590092
Jason
You will start to see the special buy tools start to clearance out soon I have actually started to see some mark downs already at my Lowes and Home Depot.
Stuart
Yup, I just came from Home Depot and noticed lower prices on a bunch of stuff I purchased last week. Ah well. I could run over there with my receipt, but can’t find my receipt. The same with Lowes and the Kobalt tools I bought for testing and review.
fred
I see that Zoro has a 25% off deal today (Friday 12/20) that last for 3 hours (11AM to 2PM CST) – with promo code SHORT
Stuart
Thanks! I just saw the email. What’s nice is that there’s no minimum order amount as with Monday’s 30% off deal.
fred
Toolstoday.com sells a pretty complete line of Amana router bits, saw blades etc. at What I think are competitive prices. they are again offering a 10% off deal thru 12/26 with coupon code holiday13
Jason Smith
Thanks for always keeping us updated with the latest tool deals!
Yadda
Recent newscasts indicate seasonal sales have been soft. Although this probably will not impact tool vendors, retailers like Sears, Home Depot, Lowe’s and many others will have great sales after Christmas.