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As with pretty much any product you can think of, when you want to go hunting for good deals, your first inclination will probably be to check on Amazon. Amazon wouldn’t be the retail titan it is if it didn’t have everything ever at attractive prices. This also includes professional-grade power tools from the big-name brands like DeWalt, as well as potentially useful third-party accessories for DeWalt tools. However, with power tools in particular, you might want to think twice, or even thrice, before you buy them on Amazon, no matter how attractive the price point may be.

The reason for this is that, unlike retail chains like Home Depot or Lowe’s, Amazon is not an authorized reseller of DeWalt tools. Any DeWalt tools you purchase on Amazon are coming to you from a random person who originally purchased them elsewhere. You might be getting a better price than at a hardware store, but in exchange for that better price, you’re opening yourself up to potential risks later down the line.

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As a power tool brand, DeWalt doesn’t sell its own products; it just makes them in the USA. The tools and accessories are sent out to authorized retailers who sell them at the brand’s recommended price. Retailers that have been authorized to sell DeWalt products include the usual suspects like Home Depot, Lowe’s, Acme Tools, Ace Hardware, and others.

Amazon, however, is not on DeWalt’s list of authorized retailers or resellers. Any DeWalt products sold on Amazon are done so without DeWalt’s knowledge or express permission. How do they get there, then? Amazon itself isn’t the one selling these products, but individual users. If you look under the buy button on an Amazon page for a DeWalt tool, you’ll see the user’s name under “sold by.” You’re just purchasing second-hand products from some random person who either bought the tool themselves or picked it up somewhere.

There are a couple of big concerns that manifest from buying DeWalt products from an unauthorized reseller like this. Firstly, unlike with buying a brand new, boxed tool from a store like Home Depot, you have no idea where that tool has been or what it’s been through. It’s easy enough to say it’s “new” on an Amazon listing, but you won’t know how pristine it actually is until it gets to you.

The other major concern is with warranties. Most DeWalt tools come with some manner of limited warranty. If the product breaks during normal use or is broken out of the box, DeWalt will service or replace it for free. However, that warranty only applies if you purchased the tool from an authorized retailer. If it breaks after you bought it from an unauthorized Amazon seller, DeWalt won’t give you the time of day.