Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Pub Talk). This thread is read-only.
I’m continually and eagerly looking forward to each and every tool ad I can get my hands on – mostly to see if someone, anyone, has come out with a really great new and exciting tool. Maybe some fledgling start-up company with a clever idea has just found the money to do some serious advertising. Maybe there is a 50% sale on that 13½” helical planer I don’t want to pay $550 for. Okay, that last ‘maybe’ might be a bit surreal, but anyway, I keep looking. Through manufacturers’ brochures, magazine ads, and the Sunday News ads, and online – I keep looking.
But, what do I find? Cordless drill kits, cordless drill kits with extra batteries, cordless drill kits with extra batteries and a flashlight, cordless drill kits with extra batteries and a cordless impact driver, cordless drill kits with extra batteries and a cordless circular saw, and on, and on, ad infinitum (no pun intended). I think you get the idea but the amount of newsprint dedicated weekly to cordless drill ads (which by the way seems to be far more voluminous than all the ads for all other tools combined) boggles my mind.
How many cordless drills, regardless of what comes bundled with it, can you possible want, find room to store and, even if you could remember where you put them all – can a person possibly justify? Perhaps I’m limiting myself by thinking I couldn’t possible need to use more than two at the same time and really only one at any particular point in time. So, do I have to give away the one I bought last week to make room for a new one this week? Can I possibly find one that uses the same battery, or charger as one I already have? And if I do and I buy it, will I then be able to stop reading cordless drill ads? All the while, I know these cordless drill ads will persist, yet I still keep eagerly looking forward to getting my hands on the next tool ad hoping to find that great new and exciting tool idea or 50% off on that helical planer. Addicted.
Cordless Drills are just such a popular tool now cordless tools in general to be honest. Home Depot or Lowes don’t even stock much in bench top tools lately. Wood working had really moved to an area where the best deals are on the internet now, or at specialty stores like Woodcraft. I don’t know if there is a forum that looks out for deals for woodworkers.
That’s one of the most awesome rants I’ve ever seen….and so friggin’ true!!!
I have to admit though, I’m liking the HD ads/sales that folks on the forum have forwarded. I’m still pissed I didn’t pull the trigger on a $59 Milwaukee 12v Jigsaw!!!!
However, sometimes you just gotta go to the store… I stopped into my local HD last night, picking up an online order shipped to the store, and saw a guy who had about 10 shovels and rakes in his cart. Then my eyes gleamed down the center aisle to see what turned out to be a Spring Tool Overstock Sale. I walked out w/ an $11 Husky Stone Rake, $10 Bosch Auger Bit Set, and $4 Milwaukee 1/2″ Socket Driver Bit.
None of that was in a flyer, and I’m sure most of it was store specific sales. I did see that $9 Dewalt Dog Bone Wrench…so there were some corporate wide sale items mixed in…but sometimes the digital age isn’t the best solution.
It’s not about saturating the market with cordless drills. Right now it’s about grabbing market share and drills are typically the starting point when people decide to invest in a cordless line.
Yea didn’t think about it till conductor mentioned it it’s totally the razor blade model. They give the razor away for free and charge out the ass for the razor blades 🙂 It’s the gateway drug of power tools 🙂
The drill is hooking them in and the rest of the tools are the hard yank to make sure they don’t get away.
I keep getting hooked and hooked on the m12 platform. It seems lately I only buy when they have an irresistible sale. It’s been a long while since i bought an m12 tool because I needed one.
Virtually every homeowner or even renter can use a cordless drill. Only a very tiny percentage of us would buy a planer or table saw and those of us who make a living using tools are going to buy whether there is a sale or not. So of course the retailer is not going to waste ad space on such a tiny segment It is just like when you watch a bike race on TV and there are no ads for bikes
Javier wrote:
I keep getting hooked and hooked on the m12 platform. It seems lately I only buy when they have an irresistible sale. It’s been a long while since i bought an m12 tool because I needed one.
It’s been a long time since I bought ANY tool because I actually needed it. Nevertheless, I buy them all the damn time. For some people it’s the booze, others the pills, but for me it’s Proto and Mac
Right on Conductor !
I just bought the M18 right angle drill at Home Depot it was on clearance for 49 dollars I couldn’t pass it up at that price!
DR99 wrote:
I just bought the M18 right angle drill at Home Depot it was on clearance for 49 dollars I couldn’t pass it up at that price!
Damn! That is a hell of a price. For that kinda money I wouldn’t have walked out without one or 3 either. 😆