anyone know of a way to buy crafstman tools on the cheap?

i got broken into and my whole toolbox stolen today, along with some other crap like my motorcycle helmet and gloves. i need to replace it all. and if i can, without buying the odd sizes, like 13mm, 16mm...

new or used, doesnt matter actually. i am going to check out ebay.

 

There are some seriously great deals on boxes with tools on eGay. Search around a bit, I know for sure they're there.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sscguy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There are some seriously great deals on boxes with tools on eGay. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Hell, you might even find your own tools there

 

POlice Auctions.. Seriously!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">anyone know of a way to buy crafstman tools on the cheap?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Craftsman tools are sold at Sears stores. You can check their weekly ad on their website, and see what's on sale. Also, Sears stores often have a deal whereby you can save 10 percent off anything you buy (even on top of sale prices) if you open a Sears credit card account at the same time as your purchase. Check your local Sears store for details.

 

Craftsman always has a calendar with coupons. At my Sears in Orange, there is ALWAYS a stack of calendars next to the register in the tool department. I grab one every time I go and tear out that month's coupon while I'm in line at the register.

Another interesting economic factor with Craftsman is the larger the set is, the cheaper the tools are. To wit, there are tons of guys at the Long Beach automotive swap meet who break up the sets and sell various parts of it separately. Knowing your capitalistic tendencies, you might be able to just get a new Sears charge card, buy the biggest set they make (with the discount that comes with the new charge card), break up the set, keep the stuff you want, sell the rest and maybe break even. I might be in for some 1/2" metric stuff....

thawley -- who's always thought of doing this myself, but got married first

 

THIS JUST IN...

Craftsman 263 piece mechanics tool set on sale tomorrow for just $199 ($70 off) this Friday & Saturday. http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr...CRAFT

Sears opens at 6am tomorrow. First 200 customers get $10 Sears dollars. That's less than 73¢ a tool!!! OMFG!!!!

 

yea, there are some killer deals tomorrow

one way to get a nice discount is to buy gift cards for large amounts at a GREAT discount on ebay.

i saved a shizload of money doing this

craigslist is also a good spot for cheaper stuff

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nsxtasy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Craftsman tools are sold at Sears stores. You can check their weekly ad on their website, and see what's on sale. Also, Sears stores often have a deal whereby you can save 10 percent off anything you buy (even on top of sale prices) if you open a Sears credit card account at the same time as your purchase. Check your local Sears store for details.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

K-mart will be carrying craftsman and die-hard soon - at least the one near me will.. saw it in their black friday flier.

 

I saw Craftsman in the local K-Mart ad was like wow i didn't know any other place other than sears sold Craftsman.

 

makes sense since sears bought kmart


EDIT: Ooops, other way around per posts below


Modified by atc5 at 8:17 AM 11/25/2005

 

since the wifey isn't working right now as she just finished her internship, i'm trying to get her to work at sears over the holidays so i can get a discount.

she said she'd rather work at the mall so she can get a discount on clothes.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by atc5 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">makes sense since sears bought kmart</TD></TR></TABLE>

its the other way around, kmart bought sears from what i understand. Kmart bought Sears for $11 billion.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by chrisw85 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

its the other way around, kmart bought sears from what i understand. Kmart bought Sears for $11 billion.</TD></TR></TABLE>

how did that happen. Kmart was in an horrable ecomnic state less then 3 months ago, and i don't know if they could turn it around that quick.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slammed_93_hatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

how did that happen. Kmart was in an horrable ecomnic state less then 3 months ago, and i don't know if they could turn it around that quick.</TD></TR></TABLE>

http://money.cnn.com/2004/11/1...kmart/

i was trippin out when i heard the news as well, i thought it was the other way around; i've always thougth of sears as a bigger company than kmart, but i guess thats not so.

 

Smaller companies sometimes buy bigger companies (e.g. Worldcom buying MCI). Regardless of who buys whom, which is a legal as well as financial issue, what matters to consumers (as well as to employees) is which facilities remain in what locations, the sourcing and branding of stores and products, etc. When one company is headquartered in suburban Chicago (Sears) and another in suburban Detroit (K-Mart), and the headquarters remains in Chicago, most of the administrative staff will come from the Chicago company. Which brand name will survive on the stores? Who knows? Look at SBC, which acquired AT&T (a smaller company) and is using the AT&T name on the merged company. In any case, I think you can count on Craftsman tools continuing to be available at the stores, whether they are called Sears or K-Mart (sounds like at least some stores will be renamed from K-Mart to Sears rather than the other way around).

 

find an auto-tech that work at the local sears to hook you up...when i worked there i got 20% off for being an employee and an extra 10% coupon for my manager because it was job related...

 

I can't imagine having my tools stolen, they are probably my most personally prized material possesions. To a certain degree their financial value but for me even more importantly of personal value. I still have and even use a few tools I got with my first set at age 5. Between the activities I have done with my cars, building of many of my own race cars, and time spent with my father and step-father (both very mechanically inclined too guys), many of my tools just seem like a part of me and my own empowerment. Talk about a real part of my life.

I have so many acquired over so long that I have a hard time keeping track of what I have. Having them stolen from me would be like having someone steal an arm or leg. I can't wait until my own 5 year old son can start using my tools with me and he can begin his own collection. One day of course, my tools will become his tools and I that is important to me. I would be devastated for them to be stolen even if they are mostly Craftsman and not much of the expensive professional brands.

 

i don't think you should buy the complete sets.

you should get the longer flex 3/8" and 1/2" ratchets that are way better than the regular ratchets in the sets. the flex 3/8" is as long as the standard 1/2" ratchet.

they also have some polished 'professional' combo wrenches which are longer and don't hurt your hand since the shape is better. as a comparison, the pro 12mm wrench is around the length of the regular 14mm wrench.

hit up an independent tool truck for ratcheting combo wrenches too. the sets don't have very good sizes in them.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tom_l &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i don't think you should buy the complete sets.

you should get the longer flex 3/8" and 1/2" ratchets that are way better than the regular ratchets in the sets. the flex 3/8" is as long as the standard 1/2" ratchet.

they also have some polished 'professional' combo wrenches which are longer and don't hurt your hand since the shape is better. as a comparison, the pro 12mm wrench is around the length of the regular 14mm wrench.

hit up an independent tool truck for ratcheting combo wrenches too. the sets don't have very good sizes in them.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i have enjoyed my flex head craftsman 3/8" and the metric racheting wrenches.

i don't know how i used to do anything on the car without them.

the craftsman racheting wrench set came with some useless sizes, but uncharacteristically included all of the necessary ones. i think buying them individually might cost more than buying a whole set.

 

this set seems like a decent deal at the moment.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr...55000

tho i still think ebay has the best deals.


Modified by Tyson at 11:50 PM 11/27/2005

 

Tyson:
I cannot understand your agony but hope it comes to an end quickly. I, like Lee, have a very large collection of tools. Some were my father's and some he helped me collect and use. He was less mechanical but enjoyed his hobbies as much as I do mine. I have had some success doing Ebay buying of specialized items. YOu will find both Craftsman and SnapOn and can get some new or nearly so things all of which will have a warranty.

Now to what to do about the sets in the stores or online for that matter. If you have a Sears outlet-get there and check that out first. You never know what they have and what price. I got both the empty track chest and a ball bearing one for less than the latter retails for-a lot less as they were overstocks. It is true that you can break up a set and sell pieces off. There is one that comes in a plastic drawer case that is very good overall for general maintenance. Compact and to the point-all you do is add the unusual items to complete. Another idea is to check with the SnapOn, MAC etc trucks-they do know who is doing what with their tools and you may find someone retiring.

Now to the merger/buyout. One of my dearest friends is now working at the kocal Big K. He is a professional salesman and looked both there and the nearby Sears. How odd that the Sears sits next to a proposed turnpike location being developed. We were ther yesterday looking for some things and he showed us the NEW major appliance department-featuring Kenmore. He then took us to the Craftsman tool isle-it is loaded with sets. From what I see, the KMart will not stock individual items. One would suspect that the Sears name in Pittsburgh will remain as will K Mart. It is not important for us to dwell on who owns what-it is products and service that are affected in the end. Mergers such as Sprint (a pioneer in Digital) and NExtel come from the changes that the economy cause. Sears and K Mart (formerly SS Kresge) are another example of the tightening that is going on.

Just my 2 cents

 

I was actually just looking at buying that tool set yesterday. The only thing that sucks about that set is they aren't the "laser-etched - easy to read" ones. When you see the difference it is really apparent that you want the laser-etched.

They have a 137 piece laser-etched set for $120, this is the regular price. It has a couple less 1/2" sockets and a couple other misc. pieces that aren't included... but for $20 more the tradeoff was worth it to me.

Here is the one I bought...
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr...cs=e1

This 155 piece for $130 doesn't look bad...
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr...cs=e1


Modified by Mugenlude at 1:11 PM 11/28/2005

 

Black Friday sale @ Crescent 145-pc Professional Tool Set - $49.99

Not sure if it's the same one I saw over the last few months. But
seemed like a decent starter set.

 

I've officially told the Craps-man people to get stuffed, having had difficulty returning/exchanging stuff recently. Once it comes down to a true price/quality war, they begin to lose out to competition that they didn't have 10 years ago.

K