I don’t do a lot of hand work – I have an old block plane (of unknown provenance) that sees regular use and a set of 4 Stanley Sweetheart 750 chisels (a fairly recent upgrade) that I use and like. But I was thinking recently that I might also get some use out of a smoothing plane.
Not wanting to pay for a top-of-the-line plane, and being pleased with the Stanley chisels, I decided to investigate Stanley planes. Found some decent reviews for the Stanley Sweetheart no. 4, so I went shopping on-line.
I do a fair amount of on-line shopping, but I’ve never seen such variation in pricing. Rockler had the plane for $180, Grizzly for $160, ToolNut for $155. Best price I could find on Amazon was $106 + $20 shipping (from outside U.S.). Walmart, $118, free shipping. And then, Home Depot had it for $91 with free shipping – no indication that this was a sale price or a “special buy,” just a regular price. I checked and double-checked model number (12-136) and I’m convinced I was looking at the same product on all the sites.
So, my new plane is on its way (from Home Depot – surprise!), but I’m still amazed at that degree of price variability across sellers.