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Harbor Freight is running out of stock locally

RenoHuskerDu

RenoHuskerDu

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Joined
Sep 17, 2018
Messages
359
Location
Texas
Been out of stock on a 3/8" drive battery impact I wanna buy for weeks. Guy says they MIGHT get a truck in a week, and it might be on there.

Got me thinking about this Chinese virus business. I really hate them bastids now, and I'll willingly pay a fair amount more for tools made in the USA. I bet I'm not alone.

The guy who runs HF is no dummy. He responded personally to an email I sent him a few months ago about a diversity hire manager-ess who was clearly in way over her head.

I hope HF has a plan to start selling stuff made in USA. I spend a lot there.
 
kshansen

kshansen

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Central New York, USA
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Retired Mechanic in Stone Quarry
I really don't think HF will be changing to US made items any time soon. Even most products today that have what one might consider American brands are 90% or more composed of imported parts even if the final assembly steps are done in the Western Hemisphere.

We as consumers have pushed the companies to go cheaper and cheaper and the managers of those companies are more or less forced to outsource as much as possible to keep the shareholders happy.
 
RenoHuskerDu

RenoHuskerDu

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Messages
359
Location
Texas
kshansen said:
I really don't think HF will be changing to US made items any time soon. Even most products today that have what one might consider American brands are 90% or more composed of imported parts even if the final assembly steps are done in the Western Hemisphere.

We as consumers have pushed the companies to go cheaper and cheaper and the managers of those companies are more or less forced to outsource as much as possible to keep the shareholders happy.
Click to expand...

I won't accept that anymore. These communist dictators are trying to kill us. If we go back to China now, we'll get what we deserve.
 
R

Ronsii

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s/e Heavy equipment operator
The HF's around here have always carried a small assortment of local/USA made stuff... it's just not their main thing.. and if they can't make money from people buying the disposable junk how would they stay in business... ;) Drove by one of the HF's in lakewood the other day - parking lot was full!!! no lines - so store was full as usual.
 
W

Welder Dave

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Oct 11, 2014
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Canada
Borrowed from another forum.

You will want to sit down for this....

ALL electric drills, and for that matter battery operated tools from DeWalt, Milwaukee, Porter Cable,
Ryobi, Black & Decker, Makita, and pretty much everybody else except a handful of European made tools are
MADE IN CHINA.

DeWalt will market like hell "Made in" and "Assembled in USA" but really its a small fraction of the overall product that is.

Bite the bullet and buy what you think is best.
 
92U 3406

92U 3406

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Jan 3, 2017
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Western Canuckistan
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Wrench Bender
kenh said:
Yeah, was surprised to find my Milwaukee Fuel, 18v was chinee.
But, must admit it is a decent impact.
Biggest problem for American companies is getting the price down, workers cannot live on Chinese wages.
Click to expand...

That is exactly the problem. We all say we support American/Canadian manufacturing but at the end of the day, money talks. The only way we're going to get the manufacturing costs down low enough to be competitive is if we replace workers with robots.

I can't speak for anyone but myself but when it comes right down to it, I'm not made of money. I can't afford to pay 2x as much for an item just because it was made here.
 
Hobbytime

Hobbytime

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Sep 21, 2016
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709
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usa
I needed a starter for my ford 555 a few years back and looked for a " made in USA" starter for any price...it did NOT exist..even the rebuilders use china parts..so I had to buy a made in china starter..so far it works fine, the original starter to my surprise was made in england and lasted almost 40 years....I doubt the made in china one will last that long, I have a bunch of sears craftsman power tools over 30 years old still going strong...I would gladly pay double for true " made in the USA" if they had the old fashioned quality...but im afraid anything made now has a short life span built into it as " planned obsolescence" plays a big part in the profit of most companies...
 
W

Welder Dave

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They must have made a profit before production went to China. Look at Vice Grips, the China made ones aren't as good, they're still OK but shouldn't be the premium price they were when made in the US. Don't know how they can claim original on the package. So many companies are part of a big conglomerate now that it's all about keeping the shareholders happy. A lot of times the shareholders have no clue. I worked for a large industrial supplier. They're so stuck on getting the highest margins they're dropping customers and products because they can't get the 70% margins the shareholders want. They're not selling near as much product either and losing millions in the process. 50% margin is better than no margin. They stopped special orders on a lot of products and they don't even have stores where you can just walk in and buy stuff. Not everybody wants to order online. They are too dumb to realize how much they are losing with their new strategy of trying to compete with Amazon. Why not have stores too like your competition does?
 
John Canfield

John Canfield

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Texas
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Holding companies are active investors in many of these businesses and their activity is to maximize their share value. A public company has a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders to return value. 20 or 30 years ago investors had more of a long term view of business investments, now the focus is on quarterly performance.

Good companies treat their employees as a valuable resource unfortunately it is my belief there aren't many of those good companies left. As one person I am doing my part to buy made in the USA wherever possible. After coming to the realization how dangerous China is to the free world, I really don't want to set foot in a Harbor Freight any longer.

End of rambling...
 
R

Ronsii

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kenh said:
Yeah, was surprised to find my Milwaukee Fuel, 18v was chinee.
But, must admit it is a decent impact.
Biggest problem for American companies is getting the price down, workers cannot live on Chinese wages.
Click to expand...
I think the milwaukee tools aren't too bad... they are definitely overpriced for made in china stuff... their quality is better than the HF chinese stuff however... the makita made in japan stuff is also better quality than most of the milwaukee tools for near same pricing. I don't have a lot of the makita stuff but you can certainly tell the difference between it being made in japan and anything chinese... just something about the look and feel of it :(
 
A

AzIron

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Jun 14, 2016
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1,547
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Az
Consumer throw away society harbor freight started out buying out tools in overstock then resaling them they then went to making tools and they were Chinese garbage that you went and got because the price reflected one time use

So many things in modern society are consumable compared to 40 years ago my dad has a black and decker grinder he bought in 1980 it's ac dc so the pipeline doesnt kill it he paid 80 bucks for it at that time he was doing backhoe work by the hour for 35 bucks that was market rate that grnder has never let us down a grinder today can be bought for 100 bucks if your looking cheap possibly less I charge 110 an hour for a backhoe

Most of my tools wont last long enough to pass onto my son let alone my grandson I still have drills and socket sets from a retired mechanic that my dad and grandpa bought out in 68.

People will not pay a price for a tool that will last 40 years dependably in this day and age so we buy consumable junk so cheaper is better
 
Truck Shop

Truck Shop

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Dec 7, 2015
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WWW.
Tools---The big box, that's just a place to hang badges of old trucks and trailers and fronts are now totally full of badges, I only keep some specialty tools in those boxes plus some junk.
I work out of this cheap a$$ cart, filled with Snappy, some Matco but I haven't bought any of those brands in years. I buy Napa Carlyle wrench's. That cart has just about everything in it
to take care of what ever I need. I don't need or want anymore iron than I have.

Truckshop004edited.jpg 005.JPG
 
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John C.

John C.

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Northwest
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Machinery & Equipment Appraiser
Problem as I see is the upside down view of labor and who is entitled to what share of the profit on something. I see CEOs making 3,000 times what skilled labor makes in building an asset, screws the company up big time and gets canned with a golden parachute of millions of dollars. All the people who built the asset get is a pink slip and a bunch of news media and politicians saying labor did it to themselves. And who says that there is a fiduciary duty to share holders? They are not banks and are not insured in any way on their investments. Their spot on the bankruptcy recoupment is last. This crap about the officers of the company running it to maximize profits for the benefit of the shareholders is just propaganda used to pad their own pockets.
 
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