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

[tim0625]

Breath deep, the saying is "iron sharpens iron"...woodworkers translation, one person is the 4000 grit, the other is the chisel and then they switch. This is a little 'out of the box' but that's what we do here and integrity is something everyone works out for him/herself...most of us agree we need it, in life, in marriage, in business and even in our woodworking. The definition? You may or may not know it but if you close your eyes and look inside, you already know what to do.

HD does need to be consistent. I see no corporate reason why they honor a competitors coupon in Ohio but not in Pennsylvania. The cashier could have declined. One said no and she said yes. So their policy seems gray even to the employees and everyone at HD has a responsibility to communicate down line and everyone is to know what their policy is. No one is advocating 'the five finger discount' and we all know duckkisser is fooling around but we must always take care of that person in the mirror because one day, you're old and your life is over, and your kids have become YOU...yikes!! ??....and you die and then....now that's another discussion.

Corporate greed will get worse. The dollar rules the board room - China products and sneakers made by 12 year olds are the norm. If you swear off any corporate environment with NO integrity issues, your list is probably short and like Ernest T. Bass, you may need to hermitize yourself. Personally, I buy from the mom and pop stores when possible and right now, there is a small lumber store that primarily exists for the contractors...I've pressed him and he's started ordering hardwoods for me. No, it's not the nice yard where you can sort through and find the best, but it's local and I'll pay a little more and order from him when I'm able. Mine is a hobby so a little more for a board isn't a big deal. Having said all of that, my 15" drill press is a Rigid...with a lifetime warranty....get the smelling salts.

[ChetlovesMer]

Good job, Paul-Marcel.

I guess I didn't realize it was getting heated. I found the whole conversation very interesting so that's why I threw my 2 cents in.

It's a subject I've been fascinated by since I started my small cabinet business. Out here in Iowa there's a very large "buy local" movement.

It's kind of interesting because I have customers who will tell me its so nice to do business with "a small honest company". I always wonder how do they know I'm honest? ... I like to think I am, but really I don't know that they have any way of knowing that.

What makes it interesting as well is that the big company that employs me in "my real job", has always seemed to me to try to do the right thing. I've seen them take the high road on numerous occassions, going way out of their way and doing way more than what should be neccessary to make things right with a customer.

So, I find it interesting that I get the benefit of the doubt nearly everytime, but then I always hear about how evil the big businesses are... To me, I think there are good hard working people and their on some who aren't. Sometimes some of those people work for a big company, sometimes for a small one. Like I said, the whole thing is very interesting to me.

I do know this: Good people hang out on the WoodWhisperer Forum...

(Okay, I had to say it, after-all I was risking a major wedgie.)

[TheOneHandedHandyMan]

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.

Well said Chet. Everyone thinks the big guy is out to get the little guy, and in turn uses it as an excuse to try and pull a fast one on the big guy...

Wait, this isn't the extreme couponing forum?

[Pwalter5110]

Just wanted to let you all know I just got the Dewalt 734 planer and saved 80 bucks with the Harbor Freight coupon. The manager at the Home Depot here in Pittsburgh had no problem what so ever accepting it.

[edh]

I don't know if you all figure my comments will be appropriate or appreciated here but here goes anyway.

I do a lot of my shopping for hand tools and odds and ends at Lee valley Tools. I have shopped there for over 20 yrs. The reasons are:

1. The staff is helpful and honest. The staff are for the most part, woodworkers and quite knowledgeable.

2. Occasionally I get a letter from Lee Valley about a product they know I've bought from them. They are usually telling me that they have detected a problem and want to correct it by replacing something I've bought with a better product at their expense. They care about their customers.

You don't get that kind of service from places like Home depot or Lowes. Lee Valley does not match other stores coupons to my knowledge, but to me and everyone else I speak to in the crowded Lee Valley store while shopping, coupons do not matter.

[beamansw]

For the military guys, you can add an additional 10% off also.

[pagel]

I don't believe there's any ill-will per se from corporate heads toward their customers. It's the corporate business model that "we've" adopted, or accepted, that necessarily squeezes the little guy. The irony is in the self-defeating nature of consumers who attempt to make up for their squeeze buy trying to squeeze the Home Depots and Lowes of the world. That squeeze simply reverberates back down to the consumer. Regardless of how you play the game, the house always wins, and we're left with the squeeze.

[sbarton22]

I think this is an extremely interesting conversation. I think, as long as we stay away from personal attacks, the discussion can continue.

I find two very interesting things here. First, the assumption that big corporate entities are engaging in new devious and sinister tactics. Dutch banks did to the American revolutionists the exact same thing that bankers do to us today. The very minute the first guy opened to open a second shop did so, he used the power of bulk to lean on the guy with the single shop. It is a business. All of the other feel good stuff about selling the best product and making people happy is secondary, because if you took the money issue out, it would called a charity.

Now, let's look at business for a second. Business is based on leverage. I have something you want, say, money. You have something I want, say, that new table saw. EVERYTHING past this point is gamesmanship. Say the saw cost Big Box X $100 and they put it on sale for $150. They come by that price (among other things) to be competitive and not let someone else use price as leverage against them. But then, they offer a discount for this that and the other thing, which is leverage against other stores to entice you to buy there.

Now, was using the coupon at a cashier wrong? If we look at it strictly as a business issue, it could not be considered so. The customer tried to use his bit of leverage to get a deal....mind you, the same deal that the big box might give to veterans, or professionals, or a guy with the right piece of clipped paper we call a coupon. This is the second thing that I find interesting in this thread... The wrong assumption we make is that we assume the price is the price. It is all negotiable. How you choose to negotiate is your business. In lots of other countries, what was called moral ambiguity in this thread is considered the standard way to do business and is considered insulting to the merchant if you do not engage in this process.

Ever try getting a hotel and notice there is something called the bunk rate, but no one ever seems to pay that? No one pays sticker for their car. Airlines all have deals. Why are we ganging up on this guy because he chose to continue to negotiate? ALL THINGS ARE NEGOTIABLE!! I think it is because we remember when we were children and when Daddy told us no, we might try to run to Mommy to try to get a yes. We can all agree a family unit cannot operate like this. However, we should not confuse business with families.

One last point....if Big Box X NEVER gave any type of discount ever, then there might be some issue. But once they open to door to telling us their price is negotiable, then they have opened the door to negotiations. It isn't about big guy versus little guy, it is simply a game of leverage and salesmanship.I would venture that most people have tried using a coupon that they suspected might be expired.

[ChetlovesMer]

I don't know if you all figure my comments will be appropriate or appreciated here but here goes anyway.

I do a lot of my shopping for hand tools and odds and ends at Lee valley Tools. I have shopped there for over 20 yrs. The reasons are:

1. The staff is helpful and honest. The staff are for the most part, woodworkers and quite knowledgeable.

2. Occasionally I get a letter from Lee Valley about a product they know I've bought from them. They are usually telling me that they have detected a problem and want to correct it by replacing something I've bought with a better product at their expense. They care about their customers.

You don't get that kind of service from places like Home depot or Lowes. Lee Valley does not match other stores coupons to my knowledge, but to me and everyone else I speak to in the crowded Lee Valley store while shopping, coupons do not matter.

The other day, Lee Valley sent me a check for 8 bucks. It turns out they lowered the price on a sharpening stone since I had purchased it and they refunded me the difference. I was shocked and surprised. I had no idea the price went down. But how cool is that? They moved right to the top of my places to shop list.

[JimB1]

Home Depot around here won't take HF coupons even though there is a HF store a few minutes up the road from them.

I checked with Home Depot's main office, they said it's up to the manager of the store if they want to match competitors coupons.

-Jim