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"Buy cheap, buy twice," the old saying goes, and it's one so many of us have been stung by. It's always difficult to resist the siren call of what looks to be a good bargain, but you don't want to pick up something of poor quality that isn't up to the job. All of this is particularly important when it comes to tools. It could be anything from weeks to even years before you have another DIY project that requires the specific tool in question again, and indeed, there may never be one. Quite rightly, then, you might resent paying the full (and generally considerable) price for a brand-new, reputable brand's products.
There are alternatives. Your town may have a community tool library, from which you can rent the items you need. Initiatives like these are becoming popular around the U.S. and the world, but unfortunately, they aren't universal. Failing that, and if your network of friends and family also can't provide the tools you need, the brands themselves may have an alternative option. You might not have known that Leatherman's exchange program exists, but if you take a look, it could prove a real DIY lifesaver.
When it comes to multi-tools, Leatherman is a household name in the United States. The brand boasts that it created "the world's first pliers-based multi-tool built by our founder, Tim Leatherman," a legacy dating back to the first orders placed in 1983. Today, the Leatherman Exchange program serves as a means of dealing in second-hand Leatherman tools, whether you're looking to obtain one for a cheaper price or you have no more use for your own and would like it to go to another careful owner.
How to use the Leatherman Exchange program
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The Leatherman Exchange service is presently only available within the United States. On the website, you can select either Sell Your Item or Shop All. To sell your item, select the Leatherman item you're looking to sell, either from the catalog of Leatherman products or directly from your order history. Input the category (multi-tools, knives, pocket tools, or accessories) and color of the item, followed by its current condition. Leatherman provides guidance on exactly how it defines whether an item is Used In Good Condition, Used In Excellent Condition, New Without Packaging, and New In Box. To qualify as New In Box, it will require all the original attachments, manuals, and anything else it came with. For other options, you need to be transparent about any dents, scratches, or anything that may be missing. Stock photos, as well as user-uploaded ones, can be added.
The final step is filling in both the original price of the tool and the price you'd like to sell it for. You can also input a lower minimum price and Enable Price Drop to help encourage a sale. This cuts the price by 10% each week until it arrives at your minimum. Meanwhile, if you're looking to buy a tool somebody else has listed, you can look through everything that's currently available through Shop All, with peer-to-peer options all listed by Leatherman customers. You can also filter by category, color, and condition. If you can't find what you're looking for, Amazon sells some affordable-yet-solid multi-tools, as well as a reasonably priced tool to sharpen your multi-tool blades.
