Buying from Home Depot/Lowes? Save ~18.5% everytime.


ryandetzel

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Not spam, don't delete me. :-)

You can get some of those 10% off coupons on ebay that work at Lowes or HD and then use something like cardpool.com to get giftcards to that store at a discount. I purchase $500 in gift cards for $448 and used a 10% off to save 18.5% when I purchased my table saw. You have to plan ahead but saving that much is defiantly worth the hassle.

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I'm not 100% sure if it works, but I have read about a lot of people using Harbor Freights 20% off coupon at Home Depot!?!?! Deffiently worth a try.

The HD near me has a big sign posted that says, "Their coupon is our coupon." I asked a cashier once about the Harbor Freight 20% coupon and she said they would honor it. I haven't actually taken them up on it, though, so can't say for sure.

-- Russ

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I am thinking about buying a dewalt planer from there in the near future and I think I am going to try using the HF coupon. WIll save me about $100 if it works.

I need a couple items, too. Let us know how it works. I wonder if you can only use the coupon for an item that HF carries...which would limit things quite a bit.

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I have used a HF coupon at the Home Depots by me, At one store no problems, the other I had to explain what/who HF is, and that they sell tools. After about a five minute conversation I had my 20% off. Well worth my time. Good luck if you try it. Pat

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The HD near me has a big sign posted that says, "Their coupon is our coupon." I asked a cashier once about the Harbor Freight 20% coupon and she said they would honor it. I haven't actually taken them up on it, though, so can't say for sure.

-- Russ

Dang, I wish I would have known this sooner.

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HF coupon update:

I went up to HD to pick up a Makita drill set, and made the mistake of asking customer service if they accepted the "20% off one item" HF coupons. The manager said no because HF is a "discount store." So I grabbed my item, picked the stupidest looking cashier I could find, and played stupid myself. I said, "I read online you guys honor these coupons." She didn't flinch and punched in the discount. :) So I guess it's just a crap shoot.

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HF coupon update:

I went up to HD to pick up a Makita drill set, and made the mistake of asking customer service if they accepted the "20% off one item" HF coupons. The manager said no because HF is a "discount store." So I grabbed my item, picked the stupidest looking cashier I could find, and played stupid myself. I said, "I read online you guys honor these coupons." She didn't flinch and punched in the discount. :) So I guess it's just a crap shoot.

Integrity, its whats for dinner.

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Integrity, its whats for dinner.

Yep, and I'm not ashamed. Manufacturers and corporations have declared war on the consumer, and I feel no regret fighting back. Morally ambiguous? Perhaps. But perfectly legal and totally their problem. They shouldn't muddy the waters by advertising they accept competitors' coupons if they're not gonna stand by it. And cherry on top...HD still made plenty of profit on that item, even with 20% knocked off. You know what their mark-up is? I don't either, but I bet it's pretty high. :P

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Fighting back would be purchasing somewhere else so they don't make money. All this does is encourage them to continue doing what they are doing. Why walk away from a business model that lets them sell at a still "pretty high" margin.

I'd say there isn't much ambiguity at all. The manager said his store didn't honor the policy. You found a simple way to trick someone into honoring it. That is about as ambiguous as hiding a pack of sand paper in side another item you bought and not paying for it. Because really it was the checkers job to make sure you didn't do something wrong. And they still made a good profit margin on the larger item so it is all ok.

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Fighting back would be purchasing somewhere else so they don't make money. All this does is encourage them to continue doing what they are doing. Why walk away from a business model that lets them sell at a still "pretty high" margin.

I'd say there isn't much ambiguity at all. The manager said his store didn't honor the policy. You found a simple way to trick someone into honoring it. That is about as ambiguous as hiding a pack of sand paper in side another item you bought and not paying for it. Because really it was the checkers job to make sure you didn't do something wrong. And they still made a good profit margin on the larger item so it is all ok.

It's kind of like encouraging a customer to sign up for a line of credit for a one-time 10% discount, and rushing them through the application process so they don't read the fine print, which ultimately costs them far more than what they save up front. Morally ambiguous? Is it not the customer's job to know what's what?

And stuffing some sandpaper in another item is stealing. I offered a representative of the store a coupon, and she had every opportunity to decline it. Perhaps their policy shouldn't be so ambiguous. Apparently many others use the HF coupons at other HD stores...how about some consistency?

I suppose this isn't the right place to have this argument. Suffice it to say we see big-business retail through different lenses.

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Suffice it to say we see big-business retail through different lenses.

No, I don't disagree that large businesses do their best to take advantage of people. Where we differ is how to counter act it.

From what I understand of your response is: Cheating policies to cost them money. Which is ok because they do it to you and they are still making a nice profit from you.

My take on that is this: First, engadging in the same behavior you are protesting is a failing approach. It reminds me of a t-shirt I saw ones "****ing for abstinence". And second, if they are still making a healthy profit from you how can you say you are really hurting their corporate greed. I'd propose the opposite. You are encouraging them to find new ways to screw us over to make more money of people that don't work the system.

So if I understand it correctly you are buckling on integrity AND continuing to feed the corporations you say are so underhanded.

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No, I don't disagree that large businesses do their best to take advantage of people. Where we differ is how to counter act it.

From what I understand of your response is: Cheating policies to cost them money. Which is ok because they do it to you and they are still making a nice profit from you.

My take on that is this: First, engadging in the same behavior you are protesting is a failing approach. It reminds me of a t-shirt I saw ones "****ing for abstinence". And second, if they are still making a healthy profit from you how can you say you are really hurting their corporate greed. I'd propose the opposite. You are encouraging them to find new ways to screw us over to make more money of people that don't work the system.

So if I understand it correctly you are buckling on integrity AND continuing to feed the corporations you say are so underhanded.

Maybe you're right, but either way I needed a new drill and they gave it to me 20% off. I would never employ the same tactics with individuals or honest small businesses, but I can't say I feel guilty turning the tables on the big boys. Shortsighted, perhaps, but as Bob Seger put it (kind of)...

I used them

they used me

but neither one cared

we were gettin' our share

;)

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Interesting discussion guys. I'm not sure which of you is right, but I'm confused by one thing. Why do you feel its okay to screw a big company and not a small one? How do you know a small company is honest? How do you know a big company is not?

Seriously, I'm just curious. I don't really have a dog in the fight. My real job I work for a big company and I have my own small company. So am I an honest, lying, good for nothing, but generally kind person? Or am I a dishonest, fat, skinny person with integrity? Or am I a ... well, you get the idea.

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Here are my thoughts, if a place wants to accept competitors coupons then great. They are still interested in being competitive for my dollar. If they aren't intersted in being competitive I'll shop around more.

...and they must sell American stuff, but let's leave that for another discussion. Ha!

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Interesting discussion guys. I'm not sure which of you is right, but I'm confused by one thing. Why do you feel its okay to screw a big company and not a small one? How do you know a small company is honest? How do you know a big company is not?

Seriously, I'm just curious. I don't really have a dog in the fight. My real job I work for a big company and I have my own small company. So am I an honest, lying, good for nothing, but generally kind person? Or am I a dishonest, fat, skinny person with integrity? Or am I a ... well, you get the idea.

I'd guess if your business is honest he wouldn't do it. The logic flows about like third grade play ground fights. He hit me first so I kicked him in the groin! It is the twisted version of the golden rule. Do unto others as you think they have done unto you.

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I know the HF discount ? came up a while back. I called the HD nearest me and was told they don't honor them because they aren't local but said depending on the purchase they could meet in the middle, I told them I wasn't looking to purchase anything now but was just curious, they told me the offer is always good. I now look at their tool prices as being possibly 10% less which may help when I buy a oscillating spindle sander to replace my shop-made groove cutting non-oscillating spindle sander :angry:.

Seriously I am staying out of the not so friendly discussion but I will say two things before I go. 1. The friendly atmosphere Marc has created and everyone here has worked hard to keep is one of the many important reasons I call this forum home and what makes it different from a few others out there. 2. If this continues (which I hope it doesn't) I am going to keep watching this cat fight for one reason-nuclear wedgies!! Now everyone back to your corners and lets move on.

Nate

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Not to be a prudish moderator type or anything, but if it doesn't stay civil, we'll be handing out "nuclear wedgies" just like in the playground.

No nuclear wedgies necessary. I understand everyone's perspectives and respect them. I like this place too much to cause any trouble, and that wasn't my intention. Hopefully people understand where I'm coming from too, even if they don't totally agree with it.

But just to answer Chet's question (hopefully without beating the hornet's nest) and then move on...

Not sure I can definitively answer that, Chet, but I'll try. I'm a small business owner, and my goal is to offer quality services at fair prices. And generally, that's what I see from other small businesses, too. But sadly, I don't generally see the same from big businesses. I see an atmosphere of "gladiator retail," where their goal appears to be extracting as much out of a customer for as little as possible in return. I see hidden fees, misleading advertising, run and gun sales and service. I see fewer local options to make purchases, and rising costs despite poorer and poorer quality products. I see a community with one or two mega-stores with one gazillionaire CEO who lives in another state or country, instead of a number of small businesses owned and operated by my neighbors. I see a corporate culture that sacrifices human dignity for profit margin. I see a world in which it's more and more difficult for a middle class, blue collar, small business owner like myself to compete, to put bread on the table for my family, to pursue happiness, and to have a little left over to fund a luxurious hobby like woodworking. ;)

It would be foolish and wrong of me to suggest that all big businesses operate the way I just described, but in general, that's how it feels.

Now I'll go upstairs and get a new pair of undies, since I just tore mine to shreds with a self-inflicted nuclear wedgie that I probably deserve. Apologies for derailing this thread, and out of respect for Marc's house and the moderators, I'll have nothing more to add. :) Carry on...

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