Big box stores: Inferior tools?

[Carl Bert]

No deals are being made to sacrifice quality standards. The nightmare of trying to constantly change manufacturing and design specs to accomplish such would drive a crazy person insane.

You could not be more wrong. Go compare the model #'s on the tools, or plumbing fixtures. I can't believe there are still people out there that still don't know about this.

 

[JDgreen227]

Carl Bert, you are 100% correct about the brand of mowers being Snapper...I read a book about Wal-Mart recently and an entire chapter was devoted to that situation where Snapper refused to cheapen their product.

 

[Tollster]

SO ya'll are saying all the Porter Cable, DeWalts, Makita, Hitachi, Bosch, Bostitch, Ridgid, Milwaukee, Dremal, Husquavarna, May Tag, Jen Air, East Wing, American Standard, Kohler, are all garbage if you purchased them from Lowes, or HD. Model number for model number?

There are names I specifically left out such as GE, Black and Decker, and some mower brands, IMO they are poorly made no matter where you choose to buy them, and there is a reason,they are priced cheap....because they are.

Sorry,but I do not buy all the companies listed above would alter the quality of their products for a large volume contract. Perhaps they would make a Home Depot model, which you could not buy no where else? Is what ya'll mean?




Kholer, American standard,

 

[Pops15]

SO ya'll are saying all the Porter Cable, DeWalts, Makita, Hitachi, Bosch, Bostitch, Ridgid, Milwaukee, Dremal, Husquavarna, May Tag, Jen Air, East Wing, American Standard, Kohler, are all garbage if you purchased them from Lowes, or HD. Model number for model number?

There are names I specifically left out such as GE, Black and Decker, and some mower brands, IMO they are poorly made no matter where you choose to buy them, and there is a reason,they are priced cheap....because they are.

Sorry,but I do not buy all the companies listed above would alter the quality of their products for a large volume contract. Perhaps they would make a Home Depot model, which you could not buy no where else? Is what ya'll mean?




Kholer, American standard,

Look at the model numbers! IF the model number is different, or has extra numbers or letters tacked on it's most likely a cheaper version or possibly a totally different version than what others sell.

Bostitch has a lower priced line sold at Lowes! I made the mistake of buying them. No comparison to their higher quality line.

I don't know if Porter Cable has a lower line for the box stores or if there products are just junk now. Their quality is a fraction of what it used to be.

DeWalt is the same everywhere....excellent miter saws, very good cordless drills, and the rest is crap. When B&D bought DeWalt back in the 80's or 90's they copied the B&D industrial line in looks but the guts were much cheaper.

I think Milwaukee is the same everywhere....check the model numbers.

No one is going to make a lesser product with the same model number but MANY will make a lesser product, often to a retailer's specs. They will have a different model number than what other outlets will have.

I know for a fact that Moen, Kohler, Larson, and others make a cheaper line that Lowes sells. The model numbers are different than what others sell.
Lowes and Menards have a tremendous amount of power. Lowes tried to get Armstrong to guarantee to sell them a certain amount of flooring. It would have cut into Armstrong's ability to supply other outlets. Then Lowes tried to buy Armstrong and ended up buying a different flooring company.
Menards owns at least one window manufacturer. I wouldn't be surprised if they own a piece of some of the companies mentioned.

 

[JDgreen227]

I have always thought one of the main reasons for model numbers on products being a digit or two different was mostly so you could not take some store's ads to another store and ask them to "price match plus 10% more off...." Back in the mid-90's to early 2000's I was frequently able to take a Lowe's sale circular to Home Depot and ask them to price match items, those days are long gone. Last time I tried that at Menards, even with a $60 deck box there that was selling for $49.99 at Lowes, although the price on the shelf was $59.99 at Menards, the registers rang it up at $49.98 so they wouldn't have to pay me the price match plus 11% difference Menards advertises.

AND, I have no doubt whatsoever when I showed the cashier the Lowe's ad, she immediately keyed in the $49.98 price and THEN claimed that was the selling price there.

 

[Tollster]

Look at the model numbers! IF the model number is different, or has extra numbers or letters tacked on it's most likely a cheaper version or possibly a totally different version than what others sell.

Bostitch has a lower priced line sold at Lowes! I made the mistake of buying them. No comparison to their higher quality line.

I don't know if Porter Cable has a lower line for the box stores or if there products are just junk now. Their quality is a fraction of what it used to be.

DeWalt is the same everywhere....excellent miter saws, very good cordless drills, and the rest is crap. When B&D bought DeWalt back in the 80's or 90's they copied the B&D industrial line in looks but the guts were much cheaper.

I think Milwaukee is the same everywhere....check the model numbers.

No one is going to make a lesser product with the same model number but MANY will make a lesser product, often to a retailer's specs. They will have a different model number than what other outlets will have.

I know for a fact that Moen, Kohler, Larson, and others make a cheaper line that Lowes sells. The model numbers are different than what others sell.
Lowes and Menards have a tremendous amount of power. Lowes tried to get Armstrong to guarantee to sell them a certain amount of flooring. It would have cut into Armstrong's ability to supply other outlets. Then Lowes tried to buy Armstrong and ended up buying a different flooring company.
Menards owns at least one window manufacturer. I wouldn't be surprised if they own a piece of some of the companies mentioned.

That makes more sense. I figure the model numbers would have to be different. I will have to put this through the test on the husky saws, next time I am in there, as I frequently the husky dealer often, so I will compare the homeowner models and see if the model numbers vary.
Strange that they do not post any specs for any of the low quality models on any of the manufacturers websites?

 

[charlz]

I forgot to add that talking to a Miller dealer, he pointed out to me the differences between their mig welders and the ones sold at "box stores". I can't remember what they were though... sorry!

I have heard/read the difference is plastic versus metal parts, like the wire-feed rollers. Never opened one up to take a look though.

 

[troutsqueezer]

I have heard/read the difference is plastic versus metal parts, like the wire-feed rollers. Never opened one up to take a look though.

FWIW, when I asked the local dealer about Miller vs. Lincoln (MillerMatic 180) he stated that he preferred the Miller because the wire feed roller mechanism is metal compared to plastic in the Lincoln. So I bought the Miller.

 

[s219]

Talking about the HD or Lowes JD mowers, there is a major difference. Most every JD mower at the big box store comes with a Briggs and Stratton engine. If you buy a JD mower from a dealer, chances are the mower will have a commercial Kawasaki engine in it.

I don't think that is true, though it may have been in the past. Right now Lowes and HD only sell the low-end 100 series Deere riding mowers, and it's the same exact product you can get at the Deere dealer. In the old days, the Deere dealers didn't carry the low-end models, but they do now, and there is no difference.

 

[podagrower]

The only item I know that you cannot do comparison shopping on is a mattress. Look at a Mattress at Sears or other mattress vendor, obtain the identifying nomenclature, now try finding the same mattress at another vendor.

I heard mattresses can be compared by letter a lot of times. The Admiral model at one store will be the Anastasia at another, and the Advantage someplace else, not sure how true it is.

There are many items that have different models at box stores than online. I can not buy the same model Kohler generator from my distributor that HD and Lowes carries, I do not know if there is a difference in quality.

Retailers have been dictating supplier prices for decades. My father worked for a now defunct grocery store chain in the 60s and 70s. There was a local slaughterhouse whose products they wanted to use in their store brand sandwich meat. The told the owner "we want to use your product, but we don't think you have the production capacity, will you expand you?" And the owner did, mortgaging it all. Then they told the owner "your product is not selling as well as we hoped, we need to cut the price". And what choice did the owner have, but to agree, because he had already invested so much, he had to have the grocery stores business to stay open. This cycle continued for a few years until they ran him bankrupt.

Walmart tells every manufacturer how much their product will sell for on wm shelves. There is no arguement, no negotiation, the manufacturer has no choice but to unengineer their product to meet wm pricing if they want to sell at wm.