Harbor Freight

I was looking for small, nail-​sized, trimming scissors and greeted at the door by an enthusiastic and cheerful salesman who directed me to the scissors aisle where I unfortunately did not find what I was looking for.
They have many great low-​cost items that are small and cheap enough for Christmas stockings. Most of the items in the store are foreign-​made, but not all of them.
I’ve lost male friends in this toy store for men and the lady hobbyist.

The store is good, but cashiers are incompetent. They overcharged 3 customers in a row. Looks/​sounds suspicious to me.

Good prices on cheap tools. This is a great place to get tools you are not planning to use too often. Why pay $ 100 for something you are going to use a couple of times when Harbor Freight has it for $ 20. Basically, cheap and disposable tools, which usually work fine. This must be a terrible place to work because the employees always look miserable.

Lots of great deals. Quality is pretty good. Looks for 20% off coupons in the newspaper, mailed coupons flyers and in some magazines. Also… they usually have a coupon out for free flashlight, tape measure, scissors, voltage meter and more.

Bought a five gallon wet and dry vacuum there earlier in the year. Called to get replacement dirt bags which you would expect them to carry– not so! None in the store! Had to go online and had to order them as replacement parts and pay nearly 7 bucks shipping and wait… for how long I do not know! IF YOU BUY THERE BE FORWARNED! Customer support from this store sucks!

I can’t say this is my favorite place to buy tools because it is not. Every time I go to this store there are always a bunch of people waiting in line and I can’t remember the last time the employees acted like people with any kind of customer service skills.
Yet I still go here to buy random stuff, whether it be tools, a moving blanket or some mechanics gloves, maybe even some disposable paintbrushes… why? Because the prices are very reasonable, even when taking into account the quality of merchandise you are getting.
They offer a lifetime warranty on most, if not all, handtools they sell. But last time I tried to swap one out they made me bring in the whole set. Not sure if they still operate that way but a heads up, I even had my receipt and they hassled me.
Don’t go here to buy stuff if you plan on using it a lot, as the quality is subpar and it won’t last very long. I had a cordless drill lose its battery capacity after a few months and a replacement battery was more than I paid for the drill!
Keep an eye out for their sale papers, if you know what you’re shopping for and not in a hurry to get it you can usually save a decent amount of money if you wait for it to go on sale. Decent prices can also be had when they do their parking lot sales, but again you need to know what you’re buying. If you watch their sale papers enough you can pick the bargains out and purchase them at your convenience.
One last thing, prepare your sense of smell prior to entering the store. The smell of a plastic/​rubber type smell can be overpowering.

For years I’ve enjoyed wandering around this store looking for bargains, which it has plenty of. Harbor Freight has a lot of the same stuff you’ll find at Home Depot or Lowes, but built cheaply and sold inexpensively. Need a screw gun but can’t afford a DeWalt or Makita? Harbor freight can hook you up for $ 29.00. I have a grinder an air compressor and countless hand tools I’ve purchased here and they’re all working perfectly after a lot of use, so there’s something to be said for inexpensive tools. I appreciate being able to buy an air compressor for $ 60, but honestly there is a small amount of guilt involved. Everything here is made in China. You won’t see any made in the USA stickers in this place. If you can get past that whole giving your money to China for cheaply made, outsourced products thing, it’s a pretty cool store.

I first discovered Harbor Freight when I started prepping for my virgin experience at Burning Man. Who knew I needed so much tarp? Who knew tarp was so confusing? I came here and found literally a wall of different tarps. Then I had to buy the rope to go with the tarp. Jeez louise, this is getting complicated. Fortunately, a dude came over to ask me if I needed help (perhaps my frozen state of staring at the wall of tarps for 12 minutes may have indicated some indecision). And then you go through the aisles and see things you didn’t know you might need. A trolley on wheels! A miniature greenhouse! Solar stake butterflies! Always a fun excursion at HF.

For the weekend warrior this is a great place, cheap tools at cheap prices. Checkout can be a bit tedious at times, I would imagine they pay their employees about as much as we pay for the tools we get there. Don’t expect to be in and out of there in three minutes. Location is not the best but as another reviewer pointed out the rent may justify the low prices. If you are looking for a tool that you only have a need to use once (disposable/​recyclable) this is the place. Also, there are 20% discount coupons to be found in most magazines and newspaper flyers that make purchases even cheaper.

If you’re a shade tree mechanic and don’t use any of their tools for your professional business, Harbor Freight is a great place to get tools and supplies. Understand that you aren’t paying for premium quality stuff here, but you are paying for decent stuff for a low price.
My only gripe is that the service is lacking and checking out can take forever but that’s to be expected if you’re paying so little for the items.
Also, they do a sale a few times a year where you may find that signing up for their Insider club (annual fee) may pay for itself on a large tool purchase (such as a compressor or power washer).

I like Harbor Freight. I mean, what person in their right mind who enjoys building and fixing wouldn’t? Inside the store is clean and the selection is flippin insane. Every tool from a meat grinder to axe sharpened to a mig welder with all the accessories in between. All at a very good price.
My issue is the quality of the product. Most of the product is less expensive because it was manufactured in such a way. It’s not always a bad thing and less expensive certainly has it’s place in this world. However, when you buy a tool here, dont expect it to be a lifetime investment, which is what the tools handed down to me by my Father and Grandfather are.
Another negative in my mind is the location. It’s a touch of a shady area, ugly parking lot, ugly building and not easy access. I get it, lower overhead means lower prices, but I’m not sure I want to go back.

Okay, the tool quality isn’t the best. But it’s acceptable. Usually.
Ten years ago Harbor Freight stood out because the quality of the tools were several notches below other places. But it seems all the stuff is made in China now. So it doesn’t stand out as much.
The prices are good, especially when they’re on sale. And the tools are usable. Usually.

Crap tools at good prices. That’s harbor freight in a sentence. When it comes to tools, you really do get what you pay for. When I was first starting out as a mechanic, I bought a lot of tools there because they’re ridiculously cheap. But after you see how quick they wear out and how much better a good tool works, you will start to upgrade. However, that’s exactly what harbor freight tools is great for, the backyard mechanic or the weekend carpenter. If you need to buy a nail-​gun to use twice a year when some trim is coming loose, why buy a $ 400.00 Hitachi when you can get one on sale here for $ 29.99? I still go there when I need something small and insignificant but do be very wary of tools you need to put a lot of pressure on or something that needs to be accurate. The first Snap-​on tool I ever bought was a ½ inch breaker bar because my Harbor Freight one snapped while trying to break a bolt loose resulting in a black eye and chipped tooth. Never again do I buy important or heavy duty tools from there. Also, try not to laugh when checking out at their cash registers. I have yet to see a more archaic computer/​monitor setup at any store in the Reno/​Sparks area.

Yes, 4 stars, yay! ima fan. Like a storefront for Harriet Carter-​type gadgets.
Needing inexpensive car stuff, one of my first purchases here several years ago was an aluminum jack; followed by a torque wrench. A cordless impact wrench, deep socket sets, tire pressure gauges, work gloves, tools, then progressing to non-​car-​related yet neat or fun and cheap gadgets or miscellaneous items: a mover’s dolly, a ‘hoot owl’, scissors, latex gloves, a tarp, a meat slicer, a driveway alarm. Thinking back to all of the things I’ve bought here, they are odd and miscellaneous, and cheaper than other sources, and I’ve used them all. Most of these items are not fabricated to last a lifetime. But of the things I’ve bought, they’ve lasted long enough that I feel I’ve gotten my money’s worth.

Service is good. Most of the tools are made in China. I purchased three things at Harbor Freight Tools:
1) Cordless Electric Drill (18Volts)
Does not have enough power even to drill kitchen cabinets
2) Cordless Electric Screw Driver
Does not have enough power even to auto turn into particle board
3) Coping Saw
Works OK in the one or two times I have used it. The same saw
burned out after short use by a friend.
This store is a great concept, but the quality lacks.
We should be buying American products and stop the flow of Chinese goods into the US.

Harbor Freight has plenty to choose from. Their weekly/​monthly ads are full of esoteric tools and gadgets that everyone needs. And they’re cheap!
But … they’re cheap! If you’re going to be using a tool a lot, or if you’re buying it for work, you might want to go to another place that has higher quality tools. I had to return a flashlight that didn’t work, and it was no hassle with the receipt.
Other stuff you can find there: gloves, batteries, remote-​controlled airplanes, pet leashes, knives, gardening tools, automotive tools, welding supplies, tarps, etc. Because there’s so much stuff there, it’s sometimes hard to find things from the ad on your own. The employees all seem to know where every little item is, though. Ask them!