- This is the truth about Home Depot versus Lowe's.
Which store is better?
I'm gonna bring you inside both retailers,
do a side-by-side comparison and showcase the 10 major
differences to help you decide where you should shop.
Welcome back to the channel
of The YouTube Deal Guy, Matt Granite.
Today's video, obviously not sponsored by either brand.
And while I wished I could have incorporated Ace hardware
and Menards having spent the early part
of my television career in North Dakota and Minnesota,
I'm gonna pick the two largest worldwide hardware retailers
and do that side by side comparison.
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The first major difference between Home Depot
and Lowe's is of course Home Depot is more industrial.
It caters more toward contractors.
Lowe's might feel a bit more homey when you step
inside the doors of that retailer
regardless of what neighborhood it's in.
And if you're a first time hardware customer
you might automatically feel a little bit more comfortable
in Lowe's and that's deliberately tied
to how both retailers are laid out.
Now, in terms of locations
there's more than 2,200 Home Depot locations
and Lowe's has pretty much the same number
as both retailers grow and open more locations,
their pricing remains highly competitive across the board.
In a few moments, I'm going to explain the difference
in terms of the price match guarantee
between both retailers.
And one major misstep that a lot of people think Home Depot
made recently but for my second point of Home Depot
versus Lowe's and how one retailer has the major advantage
I would say Lowe's wins in terms of appliances
but Home Depot might actually win in terms of sales.
Lowe's has a larger variety
of appliances in stock at their stores, and they also deal
with significantly higher numbers of appliances flyers.
You're gonna find a better selection at Lowe's.
But I'm sure you guys have realized the top time
of the year to buy an appliance is generally
Black Friday, Cyber Monday, followed by Labor Day
4th of July and President's Day.
Let's take the president's day sale
of appliances at Home Depot that has not yet wrapped
up at the time I'm uploading this video
where you can see they ran
from the 4th of February, right through to the 24th.
Lowe's on the other hand, seems to terminate many
of its sales one full week before Home Depot.
And we saw this during the holiday season where many
of us were cash strapped.
And if you were trying to make a major appliance
Home Depot might actually have been the better choice.
Before I tackled painting supplies and a major difference
between shipping speeds at Home Depot versus Lowe's
there's one major misstep that Home Depot made
for a lot of people in the industry
and that was when they dropped the ego brand.
Ego power equipment, the world's largest distributor
and manufacturer of power equipment was dropped
by Home Depot in the last year or so.
And Lowe's actually picked up the full Ego catalog
which for a lot of people was a confusing move.
Ego is a hardcore commercial grade contractor
favored outdoor tool and power equipment brand.
Now, all of a sudden when Lowe's adopted that catalog
a lot of contractors were confused
because they wouldn't typically go to Lowe's
and now they had a reason and incentive to do so,
it did anger, a lot of shoppers.
So I'm just highlighting that as a major difference
as part of point two.
In the number three spot for a major difference
between Home Depot and Lowe's, it comes down to paint.
Now, if you're painting your home for the first time
you might feel a little bit more comfortable at Lowe's
but that doesn't mean you should buy
all of your supplies from them.
Home Depot has better painting supplies.
They have the clear advantage.
Not actual paint but painting supplies.
Lowe's on the other hand has the Sherwin Williams Pink
contract which may be the clear advantage.
And having spent most of my adult life in Cleveland, Ohio,
Sherwin Williams is a very proud local brand
that can attest to the fact that there are diehard paint
shoppers that will always go to Lowe's versus Home Depot
for that, although you will find comparable paint brands
with the exception of Sherwin Williams from both retailers.
In the number four spot, it's the battle
of the shipping speeds between Lowe's and Home Depot.
And if you like Home Depot
I'm sorry to say their shipping speeds are just not as good.
I ran many independent shipping tests
through both retailers,
also took into account customer service reviews and surveys.
Lowe's shipping speeds and their next day delivery
which they pride themselves upon
not only faster than Home Depot, but if you are shopping
online, there were more complaints tied
to the curbside delivery options at Home Depot.
Although from personal experience, I can tell you
that through curbside pickup, my experience was comparable
at both retailers.
In the number five spot before I tackle lumber customer
service and to major difference Home Depot
has better lighting supplies.
In fact, Home Depot was first to adopt some
of the smarter lighting supplies, the Amazon Alexa
voice service and Google home ready lighting fixtures,
bulbs, and adopters.
Their smart home section is growing
although Lowe's will rival most
of their deals on a regular basis.
Home Depot from ceiling fans to some not so generic lighting
fixtures that many contractors
are putting into very expensive homes,
Home Depot is definitely the favored retailer
between the two.
Before I discuss customer service, in the number six spot
as we approached the spring home improvement season
whether it's a wall tile flooring, or a toilet
for an interior project that you wanna tackle
take everything I told you about appliances
and throw it out the window giving Home Depot
the clear advantage in this category.
Well, Lowe's usually has more in-stock products overall
and you can find this in most major categories
with the exception of lighting, toilets,
flooring and wall tiles, Home Depot takes the leading spot
presenting a wider range of choices
some significantly better floor displays
and some higher end brands and that's based on a survey
of products offered between March 2020 and February 21
for the sake of my research tied to this YouTube channel
in the amount of time I've been covering both stores
as a consumer analyst.
In the number seven spot though
as we talk about analyzing customer service and surveys
and what's available many everyday people that you ask
might actually tell you
that Lowe's has the better shop ability.
Now we already identified the fact
that Lowe's caters to the interior designer,
the everyday mom and dad, that person stepping
into a hardware store for the first time.
But if you actually look at how both stores
present themselves, Lowe's diminishes
that whole intimidation factor.
They have lower store shelves, gone are those
towering hardware displays and stock shelves
and that warehouse feeling that you will find at Home Depot.
I do actually find in my research
and this is very unique 'cause I cover Costco
and Sam's Club regularly on this channel,
the folks that prefer Sam's Club generally gravitate
toward Lowe's, it's not just the color blue
and those folks that love Costco feel a little bit
more comfortable at Home Depot.
And there's no explanation for that.
For this piece, I actually spoke to some engineers
and some contractors having wrapped
up some work at a house that I just sold.
And my brother-in-law's a diehard contractor
with a very strong opinion.
Home Depot, for whatever reason they love the smell,
they love the lumber, which I'm gonna talk
about in a moment, but Lowe's just makes people
feel more comfortable when they step inside
unless they're used to that colder warehouse feel.
In the number eight spot let's discuss
the store credit cards and why anyone
with a Lowe's credit card, as long as you're not waiting
for a very long time to pay off a major purchase
will actually be better off at Lowe's.
So I'm gonna compare the Lowe's advantage consumer card
to the Home Depot alternative
because I figure you guys are a hardcore tool specialists
a distributor, or a manufacturer and contractor.
You're likely not coming to me for advice
and I respect that, you probably have a very strong opinion
of your own.
And if you guys do have opinions to share, please do so
in the comment section I read
and you guys make me better at what I do
but the Lowe's advantage card has the one major advantage.
And that's the 5% off every day or the six months special
financing which Home Depot matches.
But the 5% off every day could be significant
if you are participating
in a renovation or an interior design project
or just going to Lowe's to shop regularly.
There's also no annual fee for this credit card
and new accounts get 20% off the first major purchase.
Great.
If you are looking at the consumer credit card offer
from Home Depot, you do score that six month financing
for purchases that are North of the $299 mark.
But you also get up to 24 months financing
during special promotions, which is amazing.
If you're building a house
this might be the credit card you turn to.
This credit card also gives you a full one year
to make returns, and we will discuss the return
and price match policy between both retailers in a moment.
But you don't get any additional savings from Home Depot.
So if you're not building a house
or tackling a major renovation project where it's going
onto your credit card
you're gonna do better with the Lowe's credit card
and that additional 5% in savings, it really does add
up for your typical everyday purchases over
the course of year.
In the number nine spot Home Depot has the clear advantage
in this category and that's tied to lumber.
Home Depot excels in terms of straight lumber.
Lowe's is definitely lackluster in this category.
And if you look through any of the major Home Depot
versus Lowe's customer service forums online
like this piece, I found on Reddit
the person that wrote this has concluded that Home Depot
not only excels in lumber, but it's always better
in terms of quality than Lowe's straighter.
Other people have concluded there's fewer broken pieces
of lumber at Home Depot.
Home Depot also often stocks carts filled
with the so-called reject pieces
of wood that they sell for up to 70% off.
So if you just need a small piece for a small project
you're going to have the double advantage
both in terms of selection and pricing
at Home Depot versus Lowe's.
In the number 10 spot, it's the tool rental discrepancy
that gives one retailer the major advantage.
And then for a bonus, I don't know why I wait.
I've so weird but I'm going to tackle the major advantage
given to one retailer in terms of the return policy.
But for the tool rentals Home Depot has been
a little bit more dominant in this category
and you can rent countless outdoor tool rentals.
Although since they don't have the Ego line
you might not be so excited about their outdoor tool rentals
but their indoor selection is phenomenal.
You can also rent large moving and lifting equipment as well
as trucks from Home Depot from almost every major location.
If you look at Lowe's on the other hand though,
they're very clear to tell you that you can rent tools
at select Lowe's stores.
It's not something they specialize in
nor is their selection, the deals they run
or their flexibility in terms of pickup
and drop off anywhere on the same level as Home Depot.
But I guess that would make sense
because if Home Depot is catering toward contractors
and people that build houses and homes and renovate
it would only make sense
that they're a little bit more dominant in this category.
And now for the bonus
before I deliver the verdict.
I don't know why that had to be so formally,
"delivered the verdict."
Again, it's not up to me, it's up to you guys
but I'll just interject with my personal opinion.
The major difference in terms
of return policies is something to know when
you are selecting between both retailers
Home Depot has the industry leading admirable
and recently adopted 180 day return policy.
That means if you make a purchase
you have 180 days to return it.
And if you are a commercial credit card holder
or a holder of that credit card that I mentioned
on the consumer grade level
you have 365 days to return the item.
If you don't have that green of a thumb
and you are buying plants as an example, not perennials
but plants and things just don't go right,
you can actually return your plants and flowers that you
purchase from the Home Depot garden section within a year.
That's kind of amazing.
Many people will tell you that Lowe's actually
has the slightly better garden center
but their return policy doesn't make it as much
of a pleasure to deal with, in my opinion.
And in terms of price matching
both stores are highly competitive.
In fact, if you find the better price that either retailer
the competitor will match it, plus 10%, which is great.
Keep in mind, then it really comes down to
how do you feel, what do you want?
Where are you happier?
And now for the verdict
I think I'm gonna favor lows just a little bit
because I liked the faster shipping speeds.
I like the 5% back with a credit card.
And although I don't like the return policy as much
from this retailer, I don't need a full year to determine
whether or not I'm gonna return something in most cases
because I've already implemented into my household
and it has its own independent warranty.
I'm not a contractor
and while I am learning a little bit more about hardware
so I am less of a tool around my own house,
I don't have the needs of a more seasoned individual
that might approach Home Depot differently.
But that being said which store do I like shopping in?
I like Home Depot.
I like the way that I feel I don't exude the strongest level
of masculinity as you guys can tell
despite how hard I try in front of my wife.
So when I walk into a Home Depot, I like the big shelves.
I like the way that it's all geared toward people
who have a far higher level
of knowledge than I do when I'm shopping from there.
I actually like the way it feels in Home Depot.
But from a purely customer service-based perspective
for the way that I need to learn a little bit more
about the products and have things hand-fed to me
and the selection and the fact that Lowe's actually stocks
more products I might be a little bit more partial to them.
But that could change.
In fact, you guys have a comment
or you think I'm wrong, please steer the conversation.
I learn so much from you guys.
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