Home Depot opened its first two stores in Atlanta in June 1979, and I’ve been fixing up my home and rental properties ever since. That’s over 40 years of leaky faucets, broken water heaters, crooked ceilings and wobbly ceiling fans.
I’ve bought a lot of stuff in those orange aisles. Wood, paint, more drill bits than I care to admit.
But here’s the thing about a store that sells everything under one roof. This can’t possibly be the best place to buy everything.
And some of the things Home Depot sells aren’t physical goods at all. They are waiting for you on the Financial Products Register.
These are what you will actually receive.
Here are seven things I leave on the shelf.
1. Security Plan
You’re standing there with a $700 washing machine, and someone offers you three years of “protection” for an extra hundred bucks.
Say no.
The pitch is relentless for a reason: These schemes are highly profitable. According to research from the nonprofit Consumer Checkbook, retailers who sell policies for third-party insurers typically receive commissions of 40% to 60%. Analysts estimate that less than 20 cents of every extended-warranty dollar comes back in claims.
Consumer Reports has been saying this for years. Stores keep half or more of the fee they charge for these contracts – which is a much better margin than you’d get from selling the actual equipment.
The mathematics on your side is even worse. The average trip to repair an appliance is around $200, and the chance of a breakdown in the first three years is low.
So you’re probably paying $100 to insure a $200 event that probably won’t happen.
Leave it. Hundred banks. If the washerman dies, you will get the money. If it’s not, you keep it.
Then check your credit card. Many extend the manufacturer’s warranty for free. I wrote “Ask Stacey: Are Service Plans and Extended Warranties Worth It?” I investigated the entire racket.
2. You can’t pay for anything early on the Home Depot card
“No interest when paid in full” offer at checkout? read it again. Find the word “if”.
This is a deferred interest incentive, and is not the same as 0% APR. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau specifically names Home Depot among the major retailers whose store cards have this feature.
There is a trap here.
With true 0% financing, if you still owe money when the promo ends, you start paying interest on what’s left.
With deferred interest, the lender charges you interest retroactively – calculated on the original purchase date, on the original purchase amount, not on the balance you leave.
Missing the deadline by a day will cost you interest on the money you have already paid.
I’ve been a CPA since 1981, and it’s that kind of arithmetic that bothers me. You can do everything right for 11 months and still get billed for all 12 months.
The rates make it even worse. CFPB survey data shows that more than 90% of retail credit cards have a maximum purchase APR of more than 30%, while general purpose cards have a maximum purchase APR of more than 30%.
Can you pay for it by leaving extra space? Good. Are you expecting to scream under the strings? go away
3. You can bid yourself for setting up a work
Home Depot does not install your floor. A local contractor does it.
The company itself says so. Its own website describes the people doing the work as “independent, authorized service providers”. Home Depot’s job is to find the contractor, coordinate the project, and collect the funds.
There is nothing suspicious in this. Those installers are licensed, insured, and background checked.
But you are paying for a middleman. And when something goes wrong, you’re calling a coordinator – not the guy holding the hammer.
So for anything straightforward – a dishwasher swap, a ceiling fan, a storm door – get a quote from Home Depot, then get two from local contractors.
Sometimes the depot wins. This does not happen often. You’ll never know unless you ask.
4. A key tool that won’t cost you anywhere else
A few years ago, my 14 year old refrigerator started making a rattling noise in the middle of the night. I knew exactly what it meant.
Amazon did not have the replacement model in stock that I wanted. Home Depot had it but couldn’t deliver for two weeks. There was a man sitting right there on the floor near Lowe.
They sold me that floor model for a little over $2,000 – down from $2,600 – with free delivery. (I saw the entire process in “How to Buy a Refrigerator, Step by Step”.)
Home Depot is one of maybe five stores selling similar boxes. Prices vary rapidly between them, and floor models and open-box units can fall into the hundreds.
Never buy a large appliance at any store you go to. Home Depot Incorporated.
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5. The cheapest device on the shelf
Home Depot stocks appliances at every price point. This is a feature, not a bug – but the bottom notch is a trap for the wrong buyer.
Are you going to use a drill twice in your life? Buy the cheaper one. seriously.
Going to use it every weekend for a decade? The cheaper one will expire, you’ll buy the better one anyway, and you’ll have paid for both.
Match the tool to how often you’ll actually pick it up.
And if you need something once in a while – a tile saw, a floor sander, a carpet stretcher – rent it. Home Depot rents equipment, and that part is a real deal. There’s more in “9 Things You Can Get for Free at Home Improvement Stores.”
6. A single bolt
It costs you time, not money.
You need a specific screw. At Home Depot, that means walking into a warehouse the size of an airplane hangar, looking for and hoping for an employee.
At the hardware store on the corner, someone leads you to the trash can.
It’s not just me grumbling. In a recent Market Force Information study, both Ace Hardware and Menards trailed Home Depot and Lowe’s in terms of customer experience, with Ace receiving top marks for staff availability and helpfulness. We broke down the findings in “Which home improvement store are Americans most loyal to? Not Home Depot or Lowe’s.”
Big box for big loads. Corner shop for small repairs.
7. Wood you haven’t touched
A stack of 2×4’s is not a uniform product.
Folded, folded, cupped, split – it’s all in that pile, priced exactly the same as the straight stuff.
So when you’re at Home Depot or Lowe’s, pull them out one by one. Look down the side as if you were aiming a rifle.
Take an extra 10 minutes. That’s free money.
And if you’re building something that will last, consider the price of a real wood warehouse first. The better the grades, and the person behind the counter has usually made something.
bottom line
Home Depot is not a bad store. It’s a great store, and I’ll probably be joining before the month is out.
But it is a shop. There are no friends, no advisors, and certainly no lender you should trust without reading every word written in the fine print.
The stuff on the shelves is mostly in good condition.
It’s what they sell you at the register – protection plans, credit cards, installation packages – where the real margin is hidden.
Know which aisle you are standing on.