Tool Descriptions

I don't buy too many things on Amazon for $.48 (well, screws ;-) but free is even better. Though, I did have to pay $60/gallon for paint (and that was 30% off!) to get them. The sales kid asked "do you want stirrers and openers with that". "At that price for paint, you bet your A$$". ;-)

Do you have a cheaper place where you can buy damned near everything?

I don't trust Ebay. You're dealing *directly* with who knows who. Amazon has a tighter leash on their sellers.

Trust but verify.

Free with a paint purchase at my local Sherwin Williams, the paint can/ bottle opener.

Exactly, and I've been doing business (mainly buying) on Ebay for twenty years this July and have yet (knock on wood) been stiffed as either a buyer or seller. One has to check the buyer/seller ratings and use PayPal to shield yourself. PayPal seems to bend over backwards to protect buyers often, it's claimed, at the expense of sellers who feel THEY are victimized by purchasers. I don't know the truth there but. . . I can say this with a perfectly straight face: Over the two decades I've dealt with folks on Ebay, I have save a lot of money. Really A LOT! If I were to send off $2,500 to $3,000 to somebody on Ebay next week and they take the money and run leaving me with nothing, I would STILL be ahead of the game. I'd be mightily pissed, but financially, I'd still be ahead of the game overall.

I've been a eBay buyer since '99 and have bought close to ~400 items. There've been 4 or 5 occasions I didn't receive my purchase and the seller wouldn't respond, or was giving me the runaround. I never had _any_ problem with the eBay/paypal reimbursement process, always swift and painless.

I haven't checked, but I doubt Home Depot will ship it to your house for

Just went there Saturday. $120 for two gallons, on sale. $170 normally. But paint stick and a bottle opener are free. ;-)

You fellows sure know a bargain... Is the paint that good? Do you still use 2 coats?

Bill wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news3.newsguy.com:

Last I knew, Home Depot has a minimum purchase amount before you get free shipping. I think it's $35, but it might have changed. They will, however, ship to store for free.

I'm going to give the ship to store thing a try soon, I'm just waiting for when I know I'll be near my local store.

Puckdropper

Sw paint is pretty good. Good paint last much longer and equally as important it is easier to work with. I buy their best every time.

My experience as well. Granted, it isn't the national garage sale it used to be, but it still has its value to me.

There used to be a thriving community of folks that were buying overruns, s econds, closeouts and even inventory from closed businesses. No idea how m any circular saw blades, jug saw blades, recip saw blades I bought. Those d ays are gone, though.

Still, just about three weeks ago I got a really nice set of older Stanley butt chisels. I love those, as well as the older short handled Sears butt chisels. They are perfect for me as the round handles are easy to grip and manipulate when not using a hammer/mallet. Also, the steel is soft enough to recover from hitting a nail or hard knot, and I touch them up on a sand er on site if I need to, and can get a great edge with 320g on site. Check it out:

I am pretty patient, and don't usually pay more than 6 bucks for them, and as little as about $3.50. Lots of life in these old chisels, and I buy som e of them that need some help, with regrinding and re-edging.

Now I am buying cameras that I use in my business to do inspection reports. I usually pay about .25 on the dollar, and sometimes they are immaculate, in the box it came in and with all accessories. Why so cheap? Folks have no need for a digital camera, no matter how fully featured it might be. T heir super duper smart phone takes better pics than many digital cameras, b etter movies, and awards the user with instant gratification of being able to post and enjoy.

I have four of the camera I favor so I can keep one around at all times. T he last one I bought at the first of this year came and didn't work 100% as if new. The seller contacted me immediately, and offered my money back wi th shipping. When I didn't respond in about 18 hours, he sent my money bac k to PayPal. In the end, I found an inexpensive fix, he paid for it, and I sent him the difference.

Sure, you can get burned. But as said above, with the right technique and some patience there are still some good deals to be had.

Robert

So? Most of us live close enough to a Home Depot that it's no burden to drop in and pick one up. Of course if you live in the boondocks . . .

Amazon prices aren't really much better than the local stores anymore. Sometimes they aren't as good.

I let my fingers do the walking... Seems most everywhere is cheaper these days than Amazon...

I've only bought a few things off Ebay, but never got burned. A late, great friend of mine bought thousands of things off Ebay, and said he never once got burned. He's been gone a few years though, so can't speak about today. I just know I've lost ALL trust in Amazon. At one time you could be sure prices were good, and mainly had to worry about shipping. Now prices are often double or triple or more than what you can buy elsewhere, so trust is out the window for Amazon.

Their prices, excluding shipping, should ALWAYS be better than local stores. They have almost no overhead compared to say, Home Depot, that has a couple thousand large stores filled with employee's, thieves and so on. Now, they seem to be just a sales outlet for every Tom, DICK and Harry who rip you off on price or shipping or most likely, both.

I once bought a lathe chuck from Amazon. I looked around a little first, but trusted Amazon at the time. When I got it, turned out it was in a Harbor Freight box. Looked up the HF number on the box, and there it was, about $4 cheaper, but about $9 cheaper including shipping. Still, I didn't mind too much, but that was a good while ago. Now, it seems way too often the prices are in multiples of 2, 3 and more of what can be easily found elsewhere. Stupid pricing really and one would be best not trusting them at all.

The people in SW are also very good at getting you information, if they do not know they will find out, rather than BS you.

I don't find that at all. Sometimes it's not a lot more expensive to buy locally but Amazon has a much wider selection that I don't see elsewhere.

As much work as it is to paint, I'm not about to go cheap on it. If it's easier to put up, or lasts another year, it's worth more than double.

And yes, I'll use two coats. One before I put the siding up and one after it's up (probably this fall).

Not according to CR: