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Every holiday season, I make my rounds through Lowe's and Home Depot to see what kind of tool deals they're offering. I've been covering these sales on my Ultimate Tool Reviews YouTube channel for roughly five years, and it's become something of an annual tradition. Usually, I walk away with a pretty good haul. Between the two retailers, it's not unusual for me to spend upwards of $1,000 on tools, accessories, bits, batteries, and other equipment that I either need for work or want to test.
This year, I spent exactly $0.
Not because I don't need tools. Not because I've stopped buying them. And certainly not because I've lost interest in finding a good deal. I simply couldn't find enough compelling reasons to spend my money at either retailer. After visiting both stores in early November and filming my annual holiday deals videos, I came away with an impression I wasn't particularly happy about. The holiday tool deals have gotten worse, and the value proposition at these big-box retailers is becoming increasingly difficult to justify.
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The 2026 Holiday Tool Deals Were Exactly What I Feared
Going into the 2026 holiday shopping season, I wasn't expecting miracles. Between inflation, higher transportation costs, tariffs, shipping expenses, and the general economic uncertainty facing retailers and manufacturers, I had a feeling we weren't going to see the same aggressive discounts we've enjoyed in previous years. Unfortunately, after walking through both Lowe's and Home Depot, that expectation was largely confirmed. There were still plenty of promotional displays, colorful signs, and familiar tool bundles. At first glance, the stores looked ready for the holidays. But once I started examining the actual products and prices, the excitement disappeared pretty quickly.
Many of the deals were simply underwhelming. Some products cost more than comparable offerings from previous years, and others didn't offer enough additional value to make the purchase worthwhile. What bothered me most wasn't necessarily that everything had become more expensive. I expected some of that. It was that the selection didn't seem to be improving alongside those higher prices.
Same Tools, Same Deals, Higher Prices
One of the more unusual things I noticed this year was how many products and promotional bundles looked familiar. And I don't mean familiar because they're popular tools that have been around for years. I mean products and deals that appeared remarkably similar to what I saw last holiday season, and in some cases, even the year before that.
Now, there's nothing inherently wrong with bringing back a successful promotion. If a particular drill kit or battery bundle represents a genuinely good value, I'm perfectly happy to see it return. But part of what makes these annual holiday sales interesting is discovering something new. In previous years, I've generally seen a decent selection of fresh bundles, new accessories, interesting promotional combinations, and products that give shoppers a reason to come back. This year, I felt like I was walking through a rerun. And when you're asking customers to spend hundreds of dollars on tools, offering essentially the same products at higher prices isn't exactly an exciting sales pitch.
Where Are All the Affordable Tool Accessories?
Another disappointment was the selection of smaller accessories and consumables. I'm talking about drill bits, driver bits, gloves, and the countless inexpensive items that working professionals and DIY enthusiasts regularly need to replace. These are some of my favorite things to shop for during holiday sales. I don't always need another impact driver or circular saw. But I can almost always use another set of quality bits, a few pairs of work gloves, or some inexpensive accessories to keep around the shop. Historically, the holiday promotions at Lowe's and Home Depot have been a great opportunity to stock up on those things.
This year, I didn't see nearly as much that interested me. And that's especially disappointing because these smaller purchases are often what get me through the door in the first place. I might stop in to pick up a discounted bit set and end up walking out with several hundred dollars' worth of other tools. But if the smaller deals aren't particularly attractive, why make the trip?
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Even Milwaukee's Holiday Deals Weren't Selling Out at My Store
One of the things I've learned from covering these sales year after year is that certain Milwaukee promotions can disappear surprisingly quickly. In previous holiday seasons, I've seen popular Milwaukee sets and bundles sell out shortly after the deals begin. That's part of what makes visiting early worthwhile. If you wait too long, some of the better promotions might already be gone.
But this year, I noticed something different. When I visited in early November, a couple of days into the promotions, the Milwaukee products I checked were still well stocked. That stood out to me. It doesn't necessarily mean the promotions are performing poorly nationwide. I don't have access to Home Depot's internal sales numbers, and one store visit isn't enough to establish a national trend. But compared with what I've personally observed in previous years, the lack of obvious sellouts was noticeable.
It raises an interesting question. Are shoppers becoming less enthusiastic about these holiday tool promotions, or are retailers simply better stocked this year? It could be some combination of both. Either way, the sense of urgency that I've experienced during previous holiday sales wasn't nearly as apparent this time around.
The $400 DeWalt Deal Was One of the Few Bright Spots
I don't want to make it sound like every promotion was terrible. There was one deal that genuinely caught my attention: a DeWalt promotion around the $400 mark that included multiple batteries and the opportunity to select additional tools. Compared with much of what I saw elsewhere, it offered a more compelling combination of equipment and overall value.
For someone looking to get into DeWalt's cordless ecosystem, or expand an existing collection, that kind of promotion can still make sense. And that's really what I want to see from these holiday sales. Give shoppers a meaningful reason to spend their money. Offer combinations that would be difficult to justify purchasing individually at regular retail prices. Unfortunately, the DeWalt promotion felt more like an exception than the rule. Across both stores, there simply weren't many deals that made me stop and think, "I need to pick that up before it's gone." And for someone who has spent thousands of dollars during these sales over the years, that's saying something.
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Why I'm Buying More Tools on eBay, Amazon, and AliExpress
Here's where things get particularly interesting. My $0 holiday spending at Lowe's and Home Depot doesn't mean I've stopped buying tools. In fact, I'm still actively shopping for them. The difference is where I'm spending my money. Over the past year, I've increasingly turned to eBay, Amazon, pawn shops, and even AliExpress to find the tools and accessories I need. And in many cases, I've been able to save a surprising amount of money.
Take something as simple as driver bits or other small accessories. When I compare prices across different retailers and marketplaces, I'm increasingly finding options that cost substantially less than what I'd pay at a big-box home improvement store. Sometimes that means purchasing a used tool on eBay. Other times it means ordering inexpensive accessories through AliExpress or finding a better deal on Amazon. I've also become more comfortable shopping at pawn shops, where you can occasionally find excellent prices on perfectly serviceable equipment. Of course, not every cheap tool is a good tool. Quality, warranties, seller reliability, counterfeit products, and return policies all matter. I wouldn't blindly recommend buying the cheapest item available, particularly when dealing with batteries, electrical equipment, or safety-critical tools.
But I'm also not interested in paying a significant premium simply because a product happens to be hanging on a shelf at Lowe's or Home Depot. If I can get comparable performance and quality elsewhere for substantially less money, why wouldn't I? That's the question I find myself asking more frequently.
For years, one of the strongest arguments for shopping at Lowe's or Home Depot has been convenience. You can walk into a store, physically examine a tool, compare different models, and take it home immediately. There's real value in that, and I still appreciate being able to pick up something locally when I need it for a job that day.
But convenience only goes so far. When online marketplaces offer substantially better prices, the appeal of paying more for immediate availability starts to diminish, particularly for accessories and tools I don't urgently need. That's especially true when the holiday promotions themselves aren't giving me much incentive to visit.
The whole point of a holiday sale is to create excitement and encourage purchases. If I'm walking through the store and thinking about how much cheaper I can get similar products elsewhere, the promotion isn't doing its job. And I'm willing to bet I'm not the only tool buyer making those comparisons.
Are Lowe's and Home Depot Losing Their Holiday Shopping Appeal?
I wouldn't be surprised if the major home improvement retailers experience a more challenging holiday tool sales season this year. To be clear, that's a prediction based on my observations, not a claim supported by nationwide sales data. I haven't seen the retailers' complete holiday performance figures, and there are plenty of factors that could influence their results.
But consider the combination of pressures facing shoppers. Tools and accessories have become more expensive. Many households are dealing with higher everyday expenses. Consumers have more ways than ever to compare prices, and competing marketplaces are making it easier to find alternatives.
At the same time, at least from what I've seen, the holiday promotions themselves aren't particularly inspiring. That's not an ideal combination. I also recognize that manufacturers and retailers are dealing with their own challenges. Tariffs, transportation costs, manufacturing expenses, and supply-chain pressures can all influence pricing. Maintaining attractive promotions while protecting profit margins isn't necessarily easy.
But shoppers don't make purchasing decisions based solely on the challenges facing manufacturers. They look at what they're getting for their money. And right now, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to justify some of the prices at the major home improvement chains.
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After Five Years, I Walked Away Empty-Handed
I've enjoyed covering these holiday promotions for years. There's something fun about walking through the stores, checking out the latest bundles, comparing prices, and sharing the worthwhile deals with viewers. And I'm certainly not writing off Lowe's or Home Depot permanently. Both retailers still carry excellent tools, and I'm sure I'll continue shopping there when the price and circumstances make sense.
But this year was different. After roughly five years of covering these promotions, I walked away from both stores without purchasing a single item. Not one drill bit. Not one pair of gloves. Not one tool. That's a pretty remarkable change from someone who would ordinarily spend upwards of $1,000 between the two retailers during the holiday season. And I think it says something about the current state of tool pricing.
I'm not necessarily becoming more reluctant to spend money. I'm becoming more selective about where I spend it. If Lowe's and Home Depot want shoppers like me to get excited about their holiday promotions again, they're going to need to offer something more compelling than familiar bundles, higher prices, and a handful of decent deals.
Because this year, I didn't need another reason to spend money. I needed a reason to spend it with them. And unfortunately, neither retailer gave me one.
