IMHO, you not only get what you pay for, but research is important, as we all see here with folks asking opinions here before buying.. This has ALWAYS been a key to buying Craftsman power tools, appliances, etc... (been buying there since they came out with ergonomic rocks to pound sticks with) Since they have never (afaik) made their own products, you have to know who makes each one for them.. I have a Craftsman biscuit joiner... go to sears.com and look at the picture... hmm... rack & pinion fence... I thought only Dewalt had that.... OH!
I just got a sears 1/2" cordless drill.. might be skill, might be dewalt... no idea, since it was a present and I didn't shop for it, but the one I was going to get (3/8" at lower volts) was a Skill, not my favorite drill maker..
OTHO, my Orbital 1/3 sheet sander from sears is a skill, and I like it...
I still have my over-worked sears router that either wife #1 or 2 gave me a LOT of years ago... don't know who made that, but it's still on it's original bushes and runs great..
As others have said, Sears and maybe Monkey Ward were the choices for most folks before Harbor Freight, Home Depot, etc., etc. changed the way people bought tools and hardware..
Maybe the bottom line is that a lot of the folks in the wreck are used to high end tools and you don't go to sears for high end..