At local HD, it seems they are clearing out this item. They had a
boxed unit for $125 and the display for $115 (w/o dust bag, etc.).
Regular is $139. (tag on box said "slow mover")

I had bought a reg. price unit about a year ago based on reviews and
recommendations here. It's made in Germany and presumably a Metabo.
It works great. I needed to get some sandpaper (don't recommend HD
for that, very expensive), so made a quick run last night. I wanted
to try out a 2nd unit to see if they "wobble/vibrate" about the same
(somewhere read there can be differences between the same unit). I
picked up the $125 unit. Not sure what I'll do with a 2nd sander, but
dust collection w/ the shop vac seems exceptional, and all the good
reviews prompted me to have a spare onhand or run different grits. I
think it will be covered by their current lifetime warranty plan also.

If you are interested in this sander, HD might be clearing these out.

I picked up a 14v drill and 14v impact driver for $139 for both (mod
910 combo) a few weeks back also. Each seperately sells for that
price, and they are also covered by that lifetime warranty (includes
battery). They are a bit heavy compared to similar brands.

What am I missing? Are these great deals? Or have I lost sight of
some other facts?

Like any of these big retailers, they change merchandise as needed. My
commercial rep there tells me when some of these things are coming up
and helps me get what I need at a better price than normal.

According to him, the reason they discount, closeout, or drop prices is
from a few different reasons. The product may indeed be a slow seller;
if they don't sell A LOT of the items on the shelf, it is gone. They
may change vendors, or manufacturers specs due to customer complaints
or quality control issues, and they want the old stuff off the shelf.
They may a have an "improved" model coming out with a different
appearance which gives them something new to sell.

It has little to do with the product, everything to do with marketing.
As discussed here at great length, their tools range from servicable to
really good. As long as they stay by their warranty, I don't care how
they buy them or what they do to market.

I do miss the old days, though. When the fistfight for shelf space at
HD was between Bosch, Stanley, DeWalt and Porter Cable, they had some
really swinging deals from time to time. I bought sanders, nailers,
nails, etc. at as much as 40% off when they would make a big vendor
switch.

I would suspect that one day we will walk into HD and they will sell 90
percent Husky (HD brand) and Ridgid. The other tools will be those
seen on TV from time to time, and those they can't wrangle a deal with
to make them under the HD name.

As I come to think of it, I think we are almost at the 90% mark. HD
owns Husky outright, they bought the Ridgid handtools name (excepting
wrenches and pipe cutters/threaders), and they own Ingersoll Rand, and
a few others I don't remember off hand.

Robert

good pt on HD owning brands... but we now have a Lowes close by and I
noticed they have a much broader tools brands display..

it will be interesting to see it shake out

but no 6" ROS as Lowes..

went there 1st to get my paper.. no 6" h&l 6 hole..

ah well.. it's cheaper on the net anyway.. serves me right for being
too lazy to place an order..


On 5 Dec 2005 10:41:16 -0800, wrote:

Like any of these big retailers, they change merchandise as needed. My
commercial rep there tells me when some of these things are coming up
and helps me get what I need at a better price than normal.

According to him, the reason they discount, closeout, or drop prices is
from a few different reasons. The product may indeed be a slow seller;
if they don't sell A LOT of the items on the shelf, it is gone. They
may change vendors, or manufacturers specs due to customer complaints
or quality control issues, and they want the old stuff off the shelf.
They may a have an "improved" model coming out with a different
appearance which gives them something new to sell.

It has little to do with the product, everything to do with marketing.
As discussed here at great length, their tools range from servicable to
really good. As long as they stay by their warranty, I don't care how
they buy them or what they do to market.

I do miss the old days, though. When the fistfight for shelf space at
HD was between Bosch, Stanley, DeWalt and Porter Cable, they had some
really swinging deals from time to time. I bought sanders, nailers,
nails, etc. at as much as 40% off when they would make a big vendor
switch.

I would suspect that one day we will walk into HD and they will sell 90
percent Husky (HD brand) and Ridgid. The other tools will be those
seen on TV from time to time, and those they can't wrangle a deal with
to make them under the HD name.

As I come to think of it, I think we are almost at the 90% mark. HD
owns Husky outright, they bought the Ridgid handtools name (excepting
wrenches and pipe cutters/threaders), and they own Ingersoll Rand, and
a few others I don't remember off hand.

Robert

wrote in message
...
At local HD, it seems they are clearing out this item. They had a
boxed unit for $125 and the display for $115 (w/o dust bag, etc.).
Regular is $139. (tag on box said "slow mover")

I had bought a reg. price unit about a year ago based on reviews and
recommendations here. It's made in Germany and presumably a Metabo.
It works great. ... but
dust collection w/ the shop vac seems exceptional,

It is a great sander. I hooked mine up to my shop vac, but the vacuum was
too strong and it had the unfortunate consequence of causing it to stick to
whatever flat surface I was sanding. Agreed though that the hookup to the
vac hose is good. Maybe it just needs a couple of holes drilled in it :-)

j

yeah, I get a slight 'stick' to the surface, but it obviously loosens
once it's running ;-)

dust collection seems to be superb


On Mon, 5 Dec 2005 14:00:07 -0800, "J" wrote:

wrote in message
.. .
At local HD, it seems they are clearing out this item. They had a
boxed unit for $125 and the display for $115 (w/o dust bag, etc.).
Regular is $139. (tag on box said "slow mover")

I had bought a reg. price unit about a year ago based on reviews and
recommendations here. It's made in Germany and presumably a Metabo.
It works great. ... but
dust collection w/ the shop vac seems exceptional,

It is a great sander. I hooked mine up to my shop vac, but the vacuum was
too strong and it had the unfortunate consequence of causing it to stick to
whatever flat surface I was sanding. Agreed though that the hookup to the
vac hose is good. Maybe it just needs a couple of holes drilled in it :-)

j

I guess I have the wrong vac. Even when running it clamps down and either
vibrates the board or the sander.

j

wrote in message
...
yeah, I get a slight 'stick' to the surface, but it obviously loosens
once it's running ;-)

dust collection seems to be superb


On Mon, 5 Dec 2005 14:00:07 -0800, "J" wrote:

wrote in message
.. .
At local HD, it seems they are clearing out this item. They had a
boxed unit for $125 and the display for $115 (w/o dust bag, etc.).
Regular is $139. (tag on box said "slow mover")

I had bought a reg. price unit about a year ago based on reviews and
recommendations here. It's made in Germany and presumably a Metabo.
It works great. ... but
dust collection w/ the shop vac seems exceptional,

It is a great sander. I hooked mine up to my shop vac, but the vacuum was
too strong and it had the unfortunate consequence of causing it to stick
to
whatever flat surface I was sanding. Agreed though that the hookup to the
vac hose is good. Maybe it just needs a couple of holes drilled in it :-)

j