Terry

This is a major step forward as we continue building Xcat into a trusted marketplace for quality tools, batteries, gaming consoles, workshop equipment, refurbished stock, and other DIY and trade-related products.

Rather than being an open marketplace for anyone, Xcat focuses on approved sellers only — helping maintain stronger buyer trust, better quality listings, and a more reliable shopping experience for everyone.

🔹 Lower selling fees
🔹 Less competition from poor-quality listings
🔹 A focused UK marketplace built around real products people actually want
🔹 Trusted seller approval and long-term growth opportunities

We are starting with a simple fixed 8% seller fee and manually reviewing every seller application to ensure the right fit for the marketplace.

If you sell products that match the Xcat marketplace and want a better long-term platform than the usual race-to-the-bottom marketplaces, we would love to hear from you.

You can learn more and apply here:

👉 https://xcatalogue.co.uk/become-a-seller/

This is just the beginning — and another important step in building the long-term Xcat ecosystem.

Xcat Team.

👉 “I’d like to get into DIY… but where do I start?”

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be rolling out the Xcat DIY Workshop Series — a step-by-step set of practical guides designed to take you from complete beginner to confident DIYer.

🔧 What to expect

Each guide focuses on real, practical DIY — no fluff, no overload:

• 🟢 Getting started with DIY
• 🟢 The essential tools you actually need
• 🟢 Budget-friendly starter tool kits
• 🟢 Simple repairs you can do yourself
• 🟢 Step-by-step projects
• 🟢 How to use tools properly and safely

📅 New guide every 2 weeks

A new article will be published every two weeks, so you can follow along at your own pace and build your skills gradually.

📍 Where to find the guides

All articles will be available on the main Xcatalogue site:

👉 Main Menu → DIY Den → All Posts → DIY Workshop Series

This will be your central hub for the full series as it grows.

💬 Join the discussion here

Each guide will have a matching thread in the DIY Den forum so you can:

• Ask questions
• Share your own tips
• Show your projects
• Help others getting started

🚀 First guide launching soon:

“Why Start DIY? Benefits, Savings & Real Reasons to Get Started”

Whether you're fixing small jobs or planning bigger builds, this series is designed to give you the confidence, knowledge, and tools to get it done.

👉 Stay tuned — this is just the beginning.

— Terry @ Xcatalogue

If you had to choose just one tool for everyday jobs, would it be a cordless drill or an impact driver?

I’ve seen a lot of people say once they start using an impact driver they hardly touch their drill for screw driving anymore.

But for DIY work around the house I still find myself using the drill most of the time.

What’s everyone else’s experience?

Quick update on the Xcat App project.

Development is still underway and we’re continuing to build out the core features. The main goal is to create something that’s genuinely useful for DIY users and tradespeople rather than just another shop app.

Right now we’re focusing on getting the mobile interface and tool calculators working smoothly, along with the project dashboard and quick access tiles. Once those core parts are stable we’ll move on to things like saved tools, notifications and deeper integration with the Xcatalogue store.

It’s not quite ready for release yet, but progress is steady and the aim is to make the app genuinely helpful when you're working in the workshop or on a job.

More updates soon as development continues.

I had the same issue a while back when one of my older 3Ah DeWalt batteries stopped charging, and I didn’t really want to spend the money on a genuine replacement.

I decided to try one of the Xcat 5Ah replacement batteries, mainly because the price was a lot lower than the official DeWalt ones. To be fair I’ve been pleasantly surprised with it.

I’ve used it with a few different tools — mainly my drill driver, impact driver and circular saw — and it seems to work just like the original batteries. Runtime has actually been pretty good as well. It definitely lasts longer than the old 3Ah pack I replaced.

It also charges fine on my standard DeWalt charger, so compatibility hasn’t been a problem in my case.

Obviously I can’t comment on very long-term durability yet, but for DIY use it’s been perfectly reliable so far. If you’re not using the tools all day every day for trade work, the aftermarket batteries can definitely be worth trying.

Interested to hear what other people’s experiences have been with third-party batteries as well.

I’ve been sorting through some of my workshop tools recently and realised I’ve accumulated quite a few dull drill bits over the years.

Some people say it’s worth resharpening drill bits on a grinder, while others say modern bits are cheap enough that it’s easier to just replace them.

I’m curious what others here do.

Do you:

• sharpen drill bits yourself
• use a drill bit sharpening tool
• or simply replace them when they go blunt?

I mainly drill wood and mild steel, so nothing too extreme, but I do notice bits getting dull after a while, especially when drilling harder materials.

Also, for those who do sharpen bits — is it easy to keep the correct angle, or does it take a lot of practice?

Would be interested to hear what methods people use and what tools... guides i might need?