Do you find that tools you buy from the Home Depot from brands you expect to be decent to be of extraordinarily low quality? Its happened to me several times, most recently with an Empire Level small combination square. I mean, its a $7 item, and the only moving part is a screw, but the screw could not hold the ruler tight and I had to exchange it.
Do they have all these brands manufacture even cheaper versions for sale at HD?
and
I was at our local Menards today and noted the combination kits they used to sell with the PS21/41 were off the shelves and the display model was gone. Now I have absolutely no idea if they were simply out of stock or making room for something else. They still had the PS21 and 41 available separately. I think they had the kit with the PS41 and the drill from the same series.
I cannot remember if they actually carried the kit that had both the 21/41 in it. Irregardless, the 12v combo kits were gone and it makes me wonder if they are making room for the new PS42 kits? Just wondering and to be honest, hoping. I like the compact Bosch drivers. I don’t care if they are the most powerful or whatever. Their compact size and the way their grip fits my hand makes them a good, no make that great, choice for me.
I’m not sure about what Home Depot does with tools - but they certainly have enough buying-power to request special manufacturing runs or alternative products from their suppliers. The stories about them selling “specially-altered” tools have abounded for many years. I had always thought that these were just apocryphal stories possibly promoted by HD competitors. I still believe that if a manufacturer were to produce a lesser or different product or package for Home Depot or anyone else, they would give it a different SKU, model/part number and GTIN (UPC or EAN). I also question why any manufacturer would agree to produce an inferior product and give it the same part number. At the least it would lead to confusion and/or damage the perceived value of all similarly-identified product.
One of my pet peeves, however, is when an manufacturer makes a change in a product - but keeps the same GTIN.
What I can tell you from experience with Home Depot relates to a batch of lever-handle passage locksets produced by Weiser Lock company in Canada and sold in the past at Home Depot. The Home Depot ones bore different SKU’s than ones sold directly from Weiser. The difference was also quite apparent.- both in cost (cheaper at HD) and manufacture. The HD levers were stamped in a sort of “U” shape - open on the back side. The Weiser-direct levers were hollow - but enclosed all around. Both looked much the same when viewed from the front. Both were inexpensive locksets, probably fit for purpose - but the HD-style lever may not have been as strong.