Where do you get free item coupons? Do you get them in the mail catalog? I have checked Harbor Freight’s different catalogs and coupon lists that they have on their website but couldn’t find any free item coupons yet. I haven’t received a mail catalog yet. I have been using coupons I find online (which work as well and I can choose what I want to get for free).
They are mailed to you if you are on their mailing list. They are also in some magazines. I find it easier to get them from here: http://www.hfqpdb.com/
WOW!!!
Thank you so much!
According to trade journals and websites, many cheap Chinese extension cords and wires are of a smaller gauge size than advertised. My experience with HF cords seems to be OK visually; I have not actually checked with a wire-sizer but I’d quickly see a 2 gauge difference if it were there and they look OK. Where HF cords fail is the end connectors and in the cheap plastic outer insulation being stiff and brittle in the cold. I have melted (or nearly so) several plugs and socket ends on these cords without having approached the amperage the wire should have carried, and the yellow replacement HF cord ends (male and female) aren’t much better; they will not carry the 15A advertised. If you plan heavy-duty use go one wire size bigger than you need and you’ll do OK till it gets cold. For replacement cord ends get a better brand elsewhere or limit the current to ~12A continuous, 15A intermittent. Avoid the 3-way ends altogether, all junk and not worth the extra cost.
And do get on their mailing list even if only for the free packing material- saves on bubblewrap costs!
Phil
I never get coupons for FREE stuff in the mail 
I get the flyers but they never have the coupons.
Each week in the Sunday paper there will be a coupon, in our paper in an insert called “Smart Source”. That insert is a little booklet of coupons for all the stores.
Also as bguy mentioned, magazines are a good source place to get coupons and the BEST place for magazines is your local library! Car magazines, Popular Science + Mechanics are good places for coupons. The best magazines though are the magazines for RICH people, magazines like “YACHT”. Harbor Freight would REALLY like to get rich people into their store. In those types of magazines they will offer 25% off the first item and free stuff with NO purchase necessary.
Never, never, ever buy any one item at Harbor Freight without using a 20% off coupon!
And yes, HF is not the cheapest place to buy tools. One has to be careful when going there to shop. Those of us that know what we are doing can use HF to our advantage. Let HF make their money off the uninformed, how else can they afford to give us stuff for FREE?
LOL
Rich people buying cheap tools?
wut?
Wouldn’t rich people be rich enough to not care about the prices and not bother with free stuff?
Or maybe they are frugal, that’s why they are rich!
But then, frugal buyers aren’t very profitable at Harbor Freight…
:quest:
agh, don’t you hate it when something you just bought at Harbor Freight has a coupon for less than it cost, soon afterwards?
Yesterday I got a 5 piece pliers set for $8 (20% of $10), and now today there’s a coupon for that pliers set for $9, which means $7.20 with discount.
A while ago I got an 18pc carbon steel hole saw set for around $16. It was the first item I needed from HF and the first item I bought from HF. I didn’t get a 20% off coupon for that because I got multiple items at the same time and only got 20% off the most expensive item. Though this was only in the first time; I quickly learned more about HF and did better with the following trips.
Well now there’s a coupon for that hole saw set, and it is $10, making it $8 with discount! |( :_(
I wonder if I can return the hole saw set I have and get a new one with the new coupon?
Nope, the reason they are rich is either: 1) Their parents named them Rich(ard) :party: or 2: They are cheap bastards and don’t spend money foolishly. Sometimes a cheap, crappy tool is the right/adequate tool for the job.
[quote=texaspyro]
But if they are wise with money then they would get the most out of Harbor Freight (like only buy one item per visit and use 20% off on each item plus a free item). But that wouldn’t be very profitable for Harbor Freight, would it?
I made a convenient paper that you should always have when you go to Harbor Freight.
http://f.cl.ly/items/2p1p3K3z3P470s1x1e3M/coupon%20paper.pdf
It can be even sneakier than that… the wire may not be pure copper. When I checked some Chinese wire, it had 3 times the resistance of pure copper. A lot of it was magnetic!. It may look / measure like 14 ga wire, but electrically it was 18 ga.
…which is why I’m buying these super-cheap extension cords specifically to use with low-wattage LED lighting. Handy for outdoor Christmas lights, and good for LED work lights. Probably less good for heavy shop equipment, like saws? 
No, the cheap cords are easier to saw through… :party:
We’ve used power tools on 16AWG extension cords from wolmart and had no problems… extension cord doesn’t get very hot.
Just bought 2 of the 44” rolling tool chests last weekend. Kind of astonished how good they are for $350.
The first one was bought for my son. I had a large old L shaped tabletop laying around and used the first 44” chest (casters removed) along with an 18” side chest as the base for the tabletop. It’s going to be Lego, wooden train, and hot wheels storage until he’s old enough to use it as his workbench with tools.
I was impressed enough to go back and get a second one for the garage, probably because of toolbox envy. I’ve been wanting to upgrade for years, so when the wife said I should think about getting one for myself I was out the door before she finished her sentence.
Here’s MINE in the garage, it’s partly loaded up. I’m currently painting a 3/4” piece of plywood to be the top so I can mount my sanding/grinding equipment. I’ll probably add a roll-up vinyl cover to protect the drawers from collecting dust while I’m grinding.
Must be contagious. I want one of these for my workshop now. That could almost replace my workbench! Forget painting plywood; you need a scrap section of Laminated countertop for that…
Interesting 
See?, I told you guys. Those U.S. General Rollaways are GOOD!
Here I am quoting myself from post #26 HERE
(Is that as bad as talking to myself?)
I want to get several of those, that would straighten me right up.
“A place for everything, and everything in it’s place”
Trouble is, right now I don’t have a place for everything…….including those U.S. General roll aways.
Nah, plywood is better for my uses. I’m going to be mounting equipment that vibrates and that I’ll be putting pressure on, plywood will hold screws better. Combine that with hot sparks melting the laminate top = ugly and nearly uncleanable top after a few months.