Physical tool shopping experiance?

[500e]

Prime are helpfully or were last time I was there

 

[addjunkie]

I often buy on line these days, but being the son of an independent small business I do still try to support some. Decided to buy new lawn mower. Looked on line. Choose a honda blah blah blah…..had price in my head. Rang local agri place who does farmy stuff sthil, honda, quads and mowers etc, tvs, and country clothing. Deliver free etc.

40 quid cheaper than I could find on line, assembled and tested, free delivery.

But must agree some small outfits are hard to support, they just seem intent on not being helpful and not wanting to compete.

 

[AdventuresInMetal]

William Moores and DPR?

Yep and Allthread Tools & Fasteners, DPR was the biggest dissapointment for me, it was nothing like when I last went there 20 years ago.

 

[frank horton]

try buying tools n stuff here........
first u pay a premium coz ur on an island.....
tools are always 50 % plus more expensive...
No stock has to be ordered from Athens....
other than consumables I get all my stuff from Germany via a courier....often similar prices to the UK....

Broke my Knipex w/pump pliers the other day.....our local DIY shop...there's nothing else....was 80'ish% dearer than the place in town.....

we generally support local businesses.......

 

[Mick Annick]

I often buy on line these days, but being the son of an independent small business I do still try to support some. Decided to buy new lawn mower. Looked on line. Choose a honda blah blah blah…..had price in my head. Rang local agri place who does farmy stuff sthil, honda, quads and mowers etc, tvs, and country clothing. Deliver free etc.

40 quid cheaper than I could find on line, assembled and tested, free delivery.

But must agree some small outfits are hard to support, they just seem intent on not being helpful and not wanting to compete.

Before moving here we had a fair bit of success with our local shops being willing to match or better internet prices, always went with them if their prices were close.

 

[highseas]

i am luck that our local place is a 5 min walk from the workshop and have just about everything in you would need tool wise and welding consumables even full set ups and gas ect. and will get you any steel in stock with 24 hour notice aswell as a good sales team for regular customers, if i ring up and say look i want this...and i can get it for £40 cheaper on line will you match it 99% of the time they will.

 

[Keith 66]

We used to have several excellent Toolshops in Southend, Fardons, That place was wonderful with everything you could ever want, the owner had been a japanese pow & refused to have anything japanese in his shop. In the end he got too old & passed away & that was the end of that.
Marshall & parsons was another good one until a Machine mart opened 50 yards up the road, they struggled on for a few years & finally went bust about 4 years ago. Machine mart is cheap & a good range but as ever most of what they sell is junk.
There is one place selling good tools left & thats Tool Line in westcliff, does quite a bit of Festool stuff & aimed more at professional users.
If buying online i usually use Axminster tools or FFX, though lately they have got really pushy where loads of crap you dont want gets bundled into your basket as you look at stuff. Pain in the harris!

 

[JohnH]

We are near Gatwick airport. Some companies in there wouldn't blink at a 200% mark up as long as the tools or fixings are there now.

I was just thinking of local places and one of the few left is Fixing and Powertool Center

https://www.fixingscenter.co.uk/c/power-tools

I used to use them a lot at one time.

 

[Agrismith]

I was just thinking of local places and one of the few left is Fixing and Powertool Center

https://www.fixingscenter.co.uk/c/power-tools

I used to use them a lot at one time.

They are a bit disappointing now. Nowhere near what I remember. They have been bought by Nye's but being left as a separate business which is a shame as it would be useful having a counter in Nye's yard.

Bryant fixings in Horsham are brilliant though, their shelves are fully stocked with everything.

 

[JohnH]

Fairalls in Godstone https://fairalls.uk/ have been taken over by some chain or other, I still use them. They do have a really good selection of Power tools and odds and sods.

William Wey next door turned into a small housing estate a year or two back. Do miss them.