The inevitability of winter is that to feed my obsession with motorcycles, I spend a fair amount of time in the garage.
Having done all the jobs I can think of, I turned my attention to the garage itself and discovered that my fascination with the right tool for the job has created the need for a second tool chest.
A tall, red, multi-layer Snap-On tool chest is the dream, but I don’t have Snap-On money. Even Halfords, which was having another of its regular sales, was out of my price bracket if I went for the “Advanced” range.
Snap-On Tool Chests
Snap-On are the definitive article. Yes, there are others. Beta Tools comes to mind, but if there is a “daddy” in the tool world, it is Snap-On.
I’m never going to own one, even on Facebook Marketplace (second-hand); these tool chests start at over £2,000.
If Snap-On is your brand of choice, then for the money I’m looking to spend, I can get a 5-Drawer Micro Roller Cab. It is 8½ inches tall and wide, and 4½ inches deep. Designed for storing business cards, pens, pencils, paper clips and alike, it will only cost you £165!
Otherwise, for a full-size Snap-On, I’m looking at £2,650 for the typical top tool chest and £8,800 for the 5-Drawer base tool chest. And yes, you read those prices correctly.
And so, armed with too much free time and an internet connection, here are the economic alternatives for tool chests of various sizes that my searching uncovered.
Halfords
This is where I bought my first half-reasonable tool chest (pictured), and over the past six years, it has been solid, reliable, and good value for money.
Currently on sale for £140, it is good value, but for some reason, the price also jumps to over £200 at certain times of the year.
The reason I started looking to replace the bottom half of the Halfords set was the cabinet, which, for me, has been pretty much useless. Even a shelf in the cabinet would be an advantage, but there isn’t one.
If you decide to buy the top half on its own, there isn’t an exact copy, but the closest Halfords sells is £150. Strange that you can get the upper, with the less desirable lower, for £140 total. [Or go to US Pro. See Below ~ Ed.]
Adding a 5-Drawer lower tool chest will require a minimum of an additional £225, depending on which Halfords model you choose.
Halfords’ pricing strategy can be hard to understand, and there always seems to be a sale or a sudden discount. Also, check carefully which tier you are buying. Essentials, Standard or Advanced.
| Aspect | US PRO | Halfords (Advanced) |
| Build Quality | Strong, heavy-duty steel; very good for the price | High-quality steel, soft-close drawers, and modular integration |
| Drawer Mechanisms | Ball‑bearing slides | Ball‑bearing + soft‑close + high load rating |
| Warranty | 12 month | Strong 3-year guarantee |
| Best For | Value-focused professionals & DIY | Those wanting guarantees |
US Pro Tool Chests
I bought one of US Pro’s 7-drawer “Affordable” tool chests for three main reasons: Price, Reviews, and they are sold by a company not too far from me in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire.
Being from the Affordable range, I’m buying at the bottom of the US Pro range, which appears to be equal to the upper levels of several other manufacturers I looked at.
At £166 delivered – Next Day by DPD – This was for me the best balance of all the factors. Perhaps the only things I didn’t get were drawer dividers. Not so much of a problem on the deeper drawers, but when I fill a shallow drawer with spanners, it quickly becomes a mess.
The quality is reasonable, considering what I paid. It isn’t Snap-On quality, but it easily matches, and more likely exceeds, the Halfords tool chest I have used for the past 6 years.
Interestingly, if I wanted the Halfords’ tool chest with the cabinet at the bottom, the same unit is available from US Pro for £40 less!
- One word of caution, “US Pro” is a name used by several different companies. The one I’m talking about is a trade name used by F P Trading Ltd.
So if you are looking on eBay or Facebook Marketplace, where F P Trading advertise, check which company you are actually dealing with, or follow the links in the article.
AliExpress and eBay
Reluctantly, I searched AliExpress for a deal. I never have the best of luck with them. Something always goes wrong, such as the time I bought some handguards which were shown in the photo, but only the fixing kit arrived. Or the radiator guard that was definitely for my bike – Trust me, I won’t steer you wrong – but was actually for a 1200 Bandit.
Nonetheless, there was a copy of my 7-drawer tool chest priced at £56. Looking at it a little closer, I spotted the £115 shipping cost and the month-long wait. And so it was off to eBay I went.
eBay is a global marketplace, which is fine except when I want something already in the UK and shipped in a few days, not weeks.
Having filtered all of those offers out of my search, I did finally come across the eBay seller Tools4Trade, who, as far as I can tell, has the same 7-Drawer tool chest for sale, albeit only in black, for £102 with 2-day delivery and shipping included in the price.
They are, according to the eBay advert, based in Milton Keynes and are listing a VAT number.
Bottom Line
If I accept that most companies are selling the same item with a different badge stuck on the front, I could have got a more cost-effective deal from eBay than I did by going directly to US Pro Tools.
That said, I got what I wanted, and I’m happy. After all, I could have gone to Halfords, and then I really would be suffering buyer’s remorse.
If you have one of the Excel tool chests, please let us know what you think. Tools4Trade has sold over 230,000 items on eBay with a 98% satisfaction rating, so they seem like the real deal, but nothing beats real-world feedback.
Before We Go
None of us has any association or connection with any of these companies other than as customers.
The one I bought is mentioned in the article, and I paid for it with my own cash money. No freebies, wads of greasy ten-pound notes, discounts, backhanders or cheques from an insurance company were received.
Snap-On quality is legendary, as are their prices. At the economic end of the market where I was shopping, I was looking for reasonable quality for the money I paid. Set your expectations accordingly.
Strangely, most companies appear to be selling the same tool chests or very close copies of each other. Could it be that they are all made in the same factory somewhere in the East, and have different labels stuck on them? That is for you to decide.
And finally, all of this is correct as I write it. As articles live forever on the internet, some of the information may be out of date, depending on when you read this.
