-1 Menards; +1 Lowes

[hornadylnl]

If you ever want to feel like a criminal, drive your vehicle back in their lumber yard. One of these days, I'm going to go in there and buy 100 bags of something and stack them as messily as I can. Then I'll laugh at the guy at the gate who feels he needs to put his hands on every single bag.

 

[firehawk1]

If you ever want to feel like a criminal, drive your vehicle back in their lumber yard. One of these days, I'm going to go in there and buy 100 bags of something and stack them as messily as I can. Then I'll laugh at the guy at the gate who feels he needs to put his hands on every single bag.

I agree with you on this one. The shack at the entrance/exit at Menards lumberyard is a TRAIN WRECK! You can spend twice as much time sitting there waiting as you did loading it.

 

[prowland]

You want to see some sticker shock go into an ACE hardware store.

 

[Rookie]

Lowes gives killer deals on clearance items.
$2500 door for $400
$800 sink for $125
$300 pressure tank for $50
The list goes on.

Menards?
$200 shower faucet display for $185. When I pointed out that it looked like it had been run through a meat grinder, they were willing to knock off a whole $5. I hate menards.

 

[spasmo]

Lowes is the awesome!!! Read on.. The ONLY problem I have with Lowes is that every time I go in to one and that's quite often I think about my dad. He had a severe heart attack in the one in Kokomo and ended up dying from it. He was buying lumber to build a deck and I think the heart attack happened in the check out line. Now let me tell you something about this incident and Lowes. They offered to come to the house and build the deck for my mother. WOW!?!?!?! She turned them down probably because of the feelings it would bring up everytime she went outside but you rarely find that kind of behavior in a large chain. This was in the end of March in 1998. But I still love Lowes and go there all of the time.

For me, they all have different characteristics including Home Depot. The place I hate going to is Ace Hardware. As soon as you walk in the door, they are all over you and THEN they follow you around the store. When you stop to look at something, they are all over you again. I even had the guy take a bolt out of my hand once because he thought I was incapable of finding what I needed.

I like going to Menards. I love going there on Black Friday. If I want a GOOD tool though, I'll go to Lowes or Home Depot. If it doesn't matter, then I'll go to Menards. They do carry name brand items in other areas though and I have no problem buying those items from Menards. The groceries kill me though.. hehehe

 

[Clay]

I really like the groceries in Menards. At our local store this is pretty new, like with in the last 18 months. They always have the best price of anywhere in town on Prairie Farms milk. Other stuff usually has decent prices with some killer sales on occasion.

 

[edporch]

I would always go to Lowes (or even Home Depot) before Menards.

The ONLY redeeming thing about Menards is SOMETIMES when I go to them they will have the odd thing that neither Lowes or Home Depot have.

 

[CountryBoy19]

It's not really free! You spend for a stamp (.42 i think) plus you are getting back a MENARD "credit" so you can only spend that "credit" at Menards.

You spend $.42 cents on a stamp, send in 10+ rebates all at the same time and get well over $100 in rebate money back. Doesn't seem too expensive to me. You use a stamp to pay your bills right?

And regarding the Menards credit, it's not a problem if you shop at Menards regularly. You use the rebates on your next purchase. You essentially continue getting stuff for the same money you initially spent.

Call it what you will, but I'll call it a heck of a deal. I couldn't even tell you the amount of money we've saved/made with the Menards rebate program. My wife and I are Menards addicts. We always buy the free stuff (with our rebate certificate from the last free stuff) then sell it in garage sales. You wouldn't believe how many people think they're getting a wonderful deal when all they had to do was go to Menards and buy the product and send the rebate in. That is my wife's #1 income in the summers when school is out. She sells Menards stuff.

If you're too lazy to send in the rebates that is exactly what they're counting on, and that is your problem, not their problem. Don't blame Menards for your laziness.

 

[jedi]

You spend $.42 cents on a stamp, send in 10+ rebates all at the same time and get well over $100 in rebate money back. Doesn't seem too expensive to me. You use a stamp to pay your bills right?

Nope! I pay online as much as possible otherwise I walk/drop-off the ones that I can't (water bill). I'm on the D. Ramsey plan so I've cut cost just about everywhere.

And regarding the Menards credit, it's not a problem if you shop at Menards regularly. You use the rebates on your next purchase. You essentially continue getting stuff for the same money you initially spent.

Correct IF you shop at Menards for other stuff. Me I tend to stay away from the "home improvement" stores if I can. I typically "sell" my pre-rebates to my family since I would rather have the cash then be locked in with a "credit to a store".

If you're too lazy to send in the rebates that is exactly what they're counting on, and that is your problem, not their problem. Don't blame Menards for your laziness.

I don't have an issue with rebates in general but do not like the rebates that give you a "credit" to the store you buy the item at. (ie. The menard's type). I perfer the rebates that give you CASH back. Those are indeed a "true savings" from the point of view that you only really did pay xyz for the item as oppose to abc for it.

Now granted you can do what your wife does and make extra income in which case you have to report it to the IRS. Or do what I do as sell the rebate POST or PRE to others so they can claim the rebate or use the rebate if I mail it myself. These options require and extra step so I don't see them as a true rebate (ie. cost savings).

Best rebate I like are the INSTANT ones.



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[CountryBoy19]

I don't have an issue with rebates in general but do not like the rebates that give you a "credit" to the store you buy the item at. (ie. The menard's type). I perfer the rebates that give you CASH back. Those are indeed a "true savings" from the point of view that you only really did pay xyz for the item as oppose to abc for it.

Except you actually do "gain" by getting a credit to the store as long as you will be able to use that credit. By giving you a store credit you save the sales tax on those items as the rebate is credited towards the merchandise before sales tax is calculated. So if I go to the store and spend $400 on merchandise, pay with all rebates, then I saved $28 on sales tax.

If I got a check in the mail I would have to go to the bank to cash it, then I would end up paying sales tax on that $400. I guess for some people the Menards system is better, but for others it isn't.

Now granted you can do what your wife does and make extra income in which case you have to report it to the IRS. Or do what I do as sell the rebate POST or PRE to others so they can claim the rebate or use the rebate if I mail it myself. These options require and extra step so I don't see them as a true rebate (ie. cost savings).
https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...n/81265-indiana_gun_shop_info_-_combined.html

And just how many people report earning from garage sales, or any type of personal property sale to the IRS? If you sell a gun do you report those earnings to the IRS as well?

 

[Mike H]

+1 for Lowes. They give a 10% discount for veterans or active military on top of anything already discounted.
Mennards does not.

 

[jedi]

And just how many people report earning from garage sales, or any type of personal property sale to the IRS? If you sell a gun do you report those earnings to the IRS as well?

Not many even though you are suppose to. Any and all income be it legal or illegal you must report.

If you ever get audit for that year and the IRS agent wants to be a "butt" they may get you for those unreported earnings. Especially ones that are easier to track (ie. gun selling via post on INGO, ebay listings, posting on public forums that you sells "rebate free" items at your garage sales, etc.

 

[Clay]

If its that easy to track, then its probably that easy to show a loss as well

 

[CountryBoy19]

+1 for Lowes. They give a 10% discount for veterans or active military on top of anything already discounted.
Mennards does not.

That is completely un-true. Menards also offers 10% off for members of the military (veteran and active IIRC).

Not many even though you are suppose to. Any and all income be it legal or illegal you must report.

If you ever get audit for that year and the IRS agent wants to be a "butt" they may get you for those unreported earnings. Especially ones that are easier to track (ie. gun selling via post on INGO, ebay listings, posting on public forums that you sells "rebate free" items at your garage sales, etc.

Eh... I'm not too worried about it, and I don't think the IRS is either. If the IRS is worried about reported earnings on garage sales you'd see them out all over the countryside taking note of everybody that is having a garage sale. Then come audit time you'd see a whole bunch of people targeted for audits just to see if they reported their garage-sale earnings.

I don't see that happening anywhere so I'm certain that garage sale earnings are the least of the IRS's concerns right now.

 

[RyanV]

Another +1 for Lowes, they are generally the same price as Menards but with the %10 off a previous poster mentioned everything is cheaper, even sale items. The staff is knowledgeable, and they carry some higher end stuff. The temp hires for their seasonal department could use some help though. It also helps that it is like 2 miles from my house.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Just have to post a couple of my latest deals from Menards.

Dewalt, shock-proof heavy-duty level. Amazon sells it for $85. Menards had it for $30 after $50 rebate, used a Lowes coupon and my cost was $20. I also bought the 2ft version, my cost was $10.

Kids bikes, $20 after $30 rebate, used a lowes coupon to make them $10 after rebate.

Shall I keep going?

+1 Menards!!!!

 

[Roadie]

Slight tangent..

Lowes Customer Service rocks..

My wife is temporarily disabled and has a Handicap Placard due to foot surgery. She went to KMart to pick up some flower and garden supplies and parked close to the fenced area to ask someone if they had a Handicap spot closer to Law and Garden. An employee told here "no, and you cant park there". My wife tried to explain her situation and he just said "if you park there you will be towed."

SO, she goes to Lowes. She is barely out of her car, hobbling in, when a Lowes rep saw her and asked if she wanted some help. She explained what she wanted, asked if they had a powered cart she could use and the guys says: "Dont worry about all that, I'll run and get what you need".

He comes back with her stuff for her approval, runs and rings her up, comes back with the total, runs back in with her money, out with her change and a receipt AND helped her load the car!

Another +1 for Lowes

 

[tyler34]

this thread is the new OC vs. CC debate.

 

[dyoung707]

Lets relate this to gun stuff. I got a great deal on some Bore Snakes, and a cleaning kit at Nards. They also had some range finders, and gun cases(pistol, rifle, and shot). I think when one of them starts selling ammo it might end this debate.

 

[revsaxon]

I have a major dislike for Menards as they don't accept Amex cards. Since 90% of the stuff I buy there is for work (who knew sysadmin meant general contractor), that means I can't use the company card and instead have to expense it on one of MY cards, which just leads to hr getting angry at me. Easier to just go to home depot/lowes/handy andy and skip the whole mess.