My news feed has been full of articles hyping up Amazon’s Labor Day deals on Ryobi cordless power tools.
Ryobi tools are usually exclusive to Home Depot, but after seeing the third mass media news post on the matter, I decided to satisfy my curiosity and take a look.
What I found is that there are some notable discounts, but they’re all from 3rd party sellers as I had expected to find.
Advertisement
I always presume that Amazon’s Ryobi cordless power tool deals are offered by 3rd party sellers who are simply parting out bundle deals that they purchased at Home Depot. But, some of the prices I’m seeing are far lower than the same tools have been selling for at Home Depot.
A bunch of Ryobi tools are advertised as “bulk packaged” which I guess means white-box or no-box packaging? Maybe some of these sellers are liquidators?
Personally, I’d stick to Home Depot for Ryobi tools. But if you’re out for a deal no matter what, here’s what I found.
Ryobi 18V 4Ah Battery 2-Pack w/ Charger – $79 at Amazon, $79 at Home Depot
Ryobi 18V Cordless Sprayer Kit – $37 at Amazon, $148 at Home Depot
Ryobi 18V 4Ah Battery – $40.99 at Amazon, $99 at Home Depot
Advertisement
Ryobi 18V Cordless Reciprocating Saw – $49.75 at Amazon, $79 at Home Depot
Ryobi 18V 22″ Hedge Trimmer – $99 at Amazon, $119 at Home Depot
Amazon added a new feature to their search results recently, where you can see how many people have purchased an item. Apparently thousands of people have been buying the Ryobi tools listed there.
More than $1k people bought the Ryobi 18V cordless inflator from Amazon in the past month. Amazon sellers have it listed at $43.98, but it looks like Home Depot has the same product for $36.98. Do people not know that Ryobi tools are exclusive to Home Depot?
Home Depot has new Labor Day 2023 deals – I’d check those before buying any Ryobi tools from Amazon. Or, shop for Ryobi Tool Deals on Amazon if you insist.
Doug N
I agree to avoid third party resellers like this. But I don’t think that is the case for Direct Tools Outlet, which sells manufacturing seconds of Ryobi and Ridgid 18v tools. Great prices, and everything I’ve bought has looked and worked like new. https://www.directtoolsoutlet.com/
Jeremiah D
DTO is owned or run by TTI. I dont know the exact relationship. They dont sell “new” ryobi stuff but most of the “blemished” stuff is new from my experience(its a loophole)Ive got a lot more ryobi (and some other brands) tools than I would otherwise have because of DTO.
For those unaware they do sales quite often including 40 percent off (or more) about every 2-4 weeks. They will only do some items with the extreme discounts.
Scott K
Yes- I’ve been to DTO before and they can be a bit of a mess. I assume TTI sends refurb and “blemished” tools to markets they expect them to sell in. I recall seeing a lot of Ryobi and some Hart and Rigid.
Brent P
TTI is the manufacturer of Ridgid & Ryobi tools. They are selling reman / refurbished tools but should be good as new…
Trev
Don’t buy batteries have had bad luck with theirs.
Mike
I’ve had good luck. I bought a reconditioned 40v battery for my mower and chain saw, because buying a backup battery new would have been pricey! It works great
Ken
Direct Tools is the factory store for TTI, the parent company if Ryobi, Ridged, Milwaukee and other brands.
MC703
Can confirm DTO is legit and there are great deals to be had if you time the holiday sales right.
Lots of grumbling on Reddit and Slickdeals about the $15 flat rate shipping but as recently as a month ago there was a free shipping code and this past weekend there was $5 shipping.
Derek
People are still under the Amazon spell where it’s the only place to buy things. So many things are cheaper elsewhere but people just keep mindlessly buying from Amazon.
MT
By operating at a loss for so long to always have the lowest prices, Amazon did a great job of training everyone to assume they always have the lowest price and just go there. Now they seldom have the lowest prices on anything worth buying.
Eric
Its not always price. It’s also convenience. One store, one place to keep track of, one place to deal with, It’s not always the lowest price or the perfect item but when it’s close I may prefer the easier route over one that saves a couple of dollars.
Bonnie
They’ve also done a good job of suppressing specialty retailers. A fair number of things I buy off Amazon (e.g. epoxy and resin) I simply can’t find locally, even at big art/hobby stores, and once I *have* to buy online it’s hard to argue against their logistics muscle.
Jason. W
My wife questions me every time i try to buy from somewhere other then amazon as if i am going to get my identity stolen or murdered. She only buys from Amazon or walmart. Its nuts
HTG
Remember Ryobi is only exclusive to Home Depot in the USA. They are available from a number of outlets e.g. here in the UK. So perhaps they are grey imports?
SteveP
That would only work for bare tools since the chargers are voltage-specific (i.e. either 240 or 120V). Unlike most consumer electronics. No doubt the safety certification for lithium battery chargers is stringent in both markets
I use Ryobi tools in the US and UK and (mostly) will take a cheap HD buy over to the UK. I think the only UK device I have brought to the US is a 240V mini-inverter. Amazon UK also sells some Ryobi stuff but usually much more expensive than US prices for the same tool
I also have a selection of US and UK-sourced tools and lights (and hand vac) in South Africa. Ryobi in SA is a completely different quality of too – very outdated (may even still be NiCd) no doubt due to trademark licensing
Ryobi lights and fans are great for camping. Just pick up a 12V car charger
krashtd
High probability of organized retail theft rings using this online storefront to peddle stolen goods. TTI is very unlikely to give up sales from Home Depot or Direct Tools Outlet. They have no need of 3rd party liquidators as they have their own storefronts for that.
Scott K
There could be supply from the massive amount of returns that occur that many stores don’t have the ability or interest in managing.
David Brock
HD sells a lot of their items to places like Madcheetah.com and Liquidbidding.com by the semi load to be resold at local/regional auctions. Have bought items that had the original shipping address from the person that order and returned the item yet, sometime unopened.
David Brock
Just noticed that the seller of the 4Ahr battery is just a short drive from one of the auctions sites, probably just reselling auction purchases.
Bonnie
Yep. There’s an auction place near me that regularly has entire pallets of name-brand power tools.
Steve
Have you been to a Direct Tools Outlet yet Stu? The factory blemished Ryobi tools are sold as new in the retail packaging and with a 5 year warranty. Most times you can’t even see any blemish, sometimes I think they just might be overstock. When you catch one of their 30-40% off sales on a holiday weekend the price can’t really be beat. Now that they have a location near me I never buy Ryobi at Home Depot anymore.
Jeremiah D
Totally agree.
Trev
Check the prices their not always the cheapest.HD has some really good sales and return policy. Direct tools not so much.
MKY
Stuart –
“More than ***$1k*** people bought the Ryobi 18V cordless inflator from Amazon in the past month.”
SteveP
Amazon also offers 5% back on Prime purchases if you use a branded credit card