Cheap Home Depot Finish Nails

[Larry Edgerton]

Senco.

And I need to type more to get it to post.......

[Bryan Cramer]

Communal barrel......

That sounds a lot like Harbor Freight.

[william watts]

I bought nails from HD a couple years ago and could not drive them without bending about 1 out of 4. I thought my hammer skills had severely declined over the years but when I looked closely at the nails they were pre-bent from the factory! They all had a slight curve, and appeared to be very soft metal when compared to my coffee can stash of old nails. I went to ACE hardware and was surprised to find american made steel nails that drove beautifully. The box they came in had "steel" in big printing meaning other nails, are something else, don't now what that could be?

[Cody Colston]

I have heard that claim many times but I have never actually seen it. Until somebody comes up with hard core evidence, I don't believe it. Tool manufacturers can't compromise their brand name integrity by selling what amounts to counterfeit goods nor can they accept the legal risk of deceptive advertising. My opinion is that HD and Lowes sell cheaper because they buy in huge quantities and can get a better wholesale price than a local hardware store. There is also the economy of scale. A large business runs much more efficiently than a small one, all other things being equal.

If you have actually compared allegedly identical tools sold from a chain and independent store that turn out to be different, why not post some photos?

+1
I bought a John Deere lawnmower from HD because the local JD dealer didn't have the model I wanted in stock. He told me the ones at HD were the same ones they sold through JD and carried the same warranty.

[Art Mann]

I reject the notion that the consumer is wholly to blame for this race to the bottom. Partially sure, but not wholly. The big box moves into an area, comes in with very low prices, almost predatory, they can sell at a loss for a while. As long as it takes to put the local yard under. And if you watch one of these stores carefully, you can perceive when they think they have the local market cornered, because the quality starts slipping, the prices start creeping. Its little things all across the board. I'd like to say that I absolutely refuse to shop at these big boxes, but its not true, I do shop there, but always wary, and some things I just wont touch. Take electrical receptacles. Buy a leviton receptacle from the local electrical supplier, there is a little spring behind the connection screws to make installation at odd angles easier, like screw up, which is the case fro at least half the installations I've done. The big box...no spring, so you are trying to get the wire around the screw and the screw keeps collapsing on itself....Im not making this up, check it out for your self. So a receptacle from the big box is maybe $.15 cheaper than a supply house? And thats to a consumer, I'm sure electricians buying case quanties would actually pay less at the supply house. And for the $.15 you save you get an exercise in great frustration. Of course if you don't know any better, you think thats how its supposed to go, but I grew up with a dad who was an electrician, and have probably put in 500 receptacles as an indentured servant, so I do know better. Somebody has to chose every single item in those stores, somebody in the back office purchasing department. And they are big enough to negotiate for items specific to them, they have bought entire product lines. Remember when Ryobi was a serious competitive company with quality innovative tools to rival the best, but at very fair pricing? Or when rigid was an independent maker of plumbing tools? Point is they don't sell themselves as the quality leader, they sell themselves as the low price outlet, and sometimes as the "value leader".

It is they who have done the "value engineering".....thats marketing BS for "how can we cut corners on this to lower the price to us without these idiots noticing?" SO they value engineer the entire store, cheapening things in lots if little insidious ways that add to their bottom line, save you a few pennies but leave you with greasy fingers and stained millwork.

Your experience with wall outlets does not correspond to mine. Every time I go to Lowes to buy them (which is fairly often), I am presented with at least three buying options. First, there is the third tier "contractor pack" which tells you who the target market is. These pieces are flimsy and poorly made (just like you said), but the cost is something like $0.69 in dozen quantities. Most new houses are populated with these because the homeowner doesn't know the difference and they want a cheap house. Then there are the individually packaged second tier product with the same brand but of entirely different and better quality. The cost is maybe twice what the third tier product is. That is the product I use in my houseand other houses I have worked on. Then there is the top tier product that is often grey in color. These outlets are by far the most expensive but they are mechanically very solid and are usually designed for 20A rather than 15A. These are the ones I use in my own shop and garage.

Would you care to speculate on which produce sells in the highest volume?

[Steven Satur]

Also, you will net see Sthil sold at the box stores because they will not cheapen their product.
A salesman once told me that HD will go to a manufacturer and say "we will buy 10 million of your whatever and we will pay you somuch per unit, the manufacturer at the price that HD offered to pay, has no choice but to cheapen the product.

[Larry Edgerton]

Also, you will net see Sthil sold at the box stores because they will not cheapen their product.
A salesman once told me that HD will go to a manufacturer and say "we will buy 10 million of your whatever and we will pay you somuch per unit, the manufacturer at the price that HD offered to pay, has no choice but to cheapen the product.

An idea pioneered by Walmart. Read " The Walmart Effect"

[Kent A Bathurst]

An idea pioneered by Walmart. Read " The Walmart Effect"

You really don't want to be a supplier to the BORG or to Walmart - you get hooked in at fantastic volumes, other-worldly demands on ancillary topics in the relationship and you can end up where your entire business has become focused on that one account - you basically have no leverage in the business relationship. And they keep hammering, hammering, hammering on price.

[Mel Miller]

+1
I bought a John Deere lawnmower from HD because the local JD dealer didn't have the model I wanted in stock. He told me the ones at HD were the same ones they sold through JD and carried the same warranty.

Your experience is different from mine. A couple of years ago I was in the market for a nice JD mower. I looked at HD and 3 JD dealers.
The mowers at HD were cheaper, but not the same model numbers. HD did not carry the same models as the JD dealers.
I asked several knowledgeable people about it and they assured me the mowers from the JD dealers were better and worth the difference.