I was just wondering where everyone found their best deals? Do you find them in stores or do you find them online? I do a little of both but I never know if I could have beaten the price or not. I hate to leave a great deal (I think) laying there so I usually just wind up buying it anyway. Sometimes I do well, sometimes I could have beaten the price elsewhere. So where do you get your best steals and deals?
I usually just look in my tool shed. Seriously, my dad bought tons of tools and never used half of them. He's gone now and he left all of the tool stuff to me because I liked to putter around like he did. I usually use more than what he did though and I'm really getting into woodworking.
I've found that most decent-sized towns have a freight/tool clearance warehouse of one kind or another and if you ignore the cheapie tools and look for the surplus goodies you can find some good deals.
Yard sales and garage sales have also been very good to me when it comes to finding excellent tool deals. I have a friend who swears by the treasures he finds at estate sales. He says most often he encounters quality tools that have been well-kept.
Definitely online for me no matter what it is that I'm buying. I usually use one of those places that compare prices for me at various merchants. I also never shop online without first googling for a discount coupon code for the store where I'm shopping. A large percentage of online businesses have discount codes for a certain percentage off or free shipping. It surely makes a difference!
I've seen some great deals made at house contents sales. I guess you'd find similar items to yard and garage sales, but these involve an auctioneer, and I think a good strategy is to have a good look at what's available and may be sold as part of a group and you may spot something you want that's well worth what they're asking. Sometimes there are hidden gems in a basket of old tools for example. Then hopefully there's not much bidding on those items, of course.
I agree this is a super way to find bargains, tools included. We call them public auctions and estate sales here and if you can find one that doesn't have a lot of people bidding, the number of things you can find for very little money is astounding.
It depends on what I'm looking for. A friend of mine has this massive shed with all the tools and stuff from his father, grandfather, father in law, uncles and great grandfathers. It's like a treasure hunt but what I need is probably in there!
I just find it in a local store. Usually when I am shopping I am spending the whole day looking for a great deal. I never tried to do online shopping because I’m still not used to it.
