There must be some considerable variation in the build quality of these things. For $4, I wasn't expecting the world's best cutters, but I was expecting them to actually be able to cut.
The product I received has the blades so far out of alignment that the best it can do is squash the wire, and then only if you exert immense pressure (in the meantime lifting the tracks off your board). Photo cutting a standard LED lead.
There are screws that might be able to adjust the alignment if they weren't so stiff I can't actually turn them.

I've got far more than $4 worth of use out of these clippers. If you need to cut wires, extra solder off boards, etc, etc these will do the job just fine. If you're looking for something to cut with scientific accuracy, maybe a $4 pair of clippers is not for you...

You get what you pay for, and these are cheap. That said; if you buy these, don't bother complaining. For a quality set of diagonal cutters, you should be prepared to pay $15 or more. And and such things are not currently available from SFE.

I bought these;
My complaint isn't that these are crap - they are - but that Sparkfun doesn't appear to offer the "real mcCoy". Must be a decent pair they use downstairs? no?

these should have a link to the new hakko cutters.

I agree with the prior commenter that there must be a wide variation in build quality on these. I teach and run a builders club after school, where we do a lot of electronics, and I needed some inexpensive tools. Most of what I bought fell into the "you get what you pay for" category, functional but not great. These cutters however were a complete waste of money, The blades were so far out of alignment they couldn't cut anything. A couple of the pairs "sort of" worked for a little while with a lot of torquing them around but they quickly went back out of alignment and I could never get them to work again.

Unless I was shipped the incorrect item, these are not flush cutters!. Flush cutters, by definition, have upper and lower jaw faces which are -- well -- FLUSH! These cutters have jaws which are beveled on both sides. This prevents one from actually making a flush cut. At this price, I didn't expect high quality. I do, however, expect flush cutters to be flush -- not beveled. If you are looking for a cheap pair of cutters with beveled jaws, these might fit the bill. If you want a pair of cutters capable of actually making a flush cut, check the craft section of WalMart or go to Home Depot.

When I first read the title I got a bit worried: I thought that it said Flesh Cutters, not Flush cutters.

Yes, I wasn't expecting much, but at the very lest a pair that wasn't visibly used, dirty and oily. As far as cutting abilities - forgo your efforts. Cheap tools are bad news

This is actually the first thing I have bought from Sparkfun that I was disappointed in. Same complaints as everyone else. They are dull but more importantly they don't line up which makes them essentially useless.

The picture don't correspond with reality, the ones I received are not flush cutters and win the bad quality award. Guys, you make very good quality products, take this out of your portfolio or describe what you are really going to get.

Same complaints as other folks: The cutters are dull, the two blades don't line up, and they don't make good flush cuts -- they make sharp points. For about the same price you can get a very similar-looping but far better pair of nippers at a certain shopping-mall store with the initials "R.S."

These have a sturdy spring and padded handles but as mentioned before are a bit dull. I have a pair from Harbor Freight that work better for stripping and clipping but these DO seem much sturdier.

Concur with the low quality assessments. Mine don't even close all the way due to uneven surfaces. Looks like they need to be seriously reground to have any usefulness at all. Also, the bottom surface has a chamfer, so they really aren't even flush cutters.

Sparkfun should be a liiiiittle more upfront about these. They are everything but high quality. The cutting surfaces are dull, and they do not line up.
Better than nothing, and marginally OK for cutting leads, but they really should be a temporary solution until you can pony up for a good flush cutter. Perhaps with some modification they could be decent.
That said they ARE cheap, and as always you get what you pay for.

My wife's jewelry making ones are better, I guess I will keep stealing hers...
These will probably be ok after a serious sharpening

I love these things. I just bought them because they were so darn cheap, but they've been loyal to me with all my snipping needs.