These Are the Best Places to Buy Used or Refurbished Tools

If you want to get anything done around the house—whether it’s basic maintenance or ambitious DIY renovations—you’re going to need some good-quality tools to do it. And tools, you may have noticed, are pretty expensive—especially with tariffs, driving those prices up even more.

There are alternatives to buying your tools, of course—you can usually rent tools or even borrow them from a tool library. But renting only makes sense if you’re going to use that tool once, and borrowing tools means no guarantee you’ll get the tool you need when you need it. Sometimes owning that tool makes the most sense, and if you need to save a few bucks at the same time, there’s an easy solution: Buy a refurbished model.

A certified factory reconditioned tool that comes with a warranty (as opposed to a random find at a yard or estate sale) can save you a lot of money while being just as functional and reliable as a brand-new version. The key is knowing where to find those high-quality, certified refurbished tools. Here are the best places to look.

Amazon

The online behemoth sells just about everything, so it’s no surprise that it also stocks refurbished, reconditioned tools. You can search Amazon for “reconditioned tools” to see what sellers have listed currently, or head to Amazon Renewed and look in the Tools and Home Improvement section. If you find one from a third-party, just make sure you check the seller’s ratings and make sure there’s a warranty of some kind included.

In this economy, it’s no surprise that there are several online merchants who specialize in selling refurbished and reconditioned tools. The best place to look:

• Acme Tools has an extensive selection of refurbished hand and power tools, most with certifications and warranties. Returns are free if they’re made within 30 days.

• CPO Outlets offers a pretty amazing 120-day money back guarantee on its certified refurbished products.

• Direct Tools Factory Outlet has a huge selection of tools and a 30-day return period, but you’ll have to pony up shipping fees and a 20% restocking fee.

CPO Outlets is probably the best place to start just because of its return policy, but if you can’t find what you need there, Acme and Direct are reliable choices.

Big box stores

You can buy and rent new tools at most of the “big box” hardware stores, so it’s not surprising that you can also buy reconditioned tools there.

• Home Depot usually has a variable selection of reconditioned tools to choose from on its main website.

• Lowe’s Outlet stores, which sell scratch-and-dent merchandise at big discounts, often also offer used and reconditioned tools at steep price cuts—if you’re lucky enough to live near one. They’re operated as regional clearance centers, basically, so there are only a handful around the country—this site has a (short) list of their locations.

• Walmart has a robust selection of tools listed on its website, too.

Since there are always limited supplies of reconditioned tools, your best approach is to check all of these sources until you find what you’re looking for. Patience and tenacity are key.