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Mcmaster.com is the best e-commerce site I've ever used

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Re: Mcmaster.com is the best e-commerce site I've ever used

#71

Post by klyrs »

motoboi wrote: post #9

Now be completely honest: - If you haven't read the article, would you think this site great? My point is: no one knows what is a great e-commerce website. Is one that sells a lot? Amazon does it. Is not one that sells a lot, but that is very easy to use?

Yes, because its catalog is also a CAD library, so you can put the parts into your design and be sure the parts will fit when they arrive tomorrow. Because every part is neatly categorized, searchable by its properties.

I am infuriated when shopping for clothes, computer parts, etc. because the items are rarely categorized and when they are, it isn't comprehensive so searches tend to miss out on the obvious so I end up browsing a site's entire catalog.

And, they do sell a lot. They're the industry standard. The only problem I've had is that they won't ship to individuals in Canada so I had to think up a fake company name.

Re: Mcmaster.com is the best e-commerce site I've ever used

#73

Post by s0rce »

dehrmann wrote: post #40

One thing I love them for is their curation. They find solid tools from companies the average retail buyer might not know.

Yah, you generally don't have to worry, need a ratchet, need a metal shelf, need an air filter, it's going to do what it's supposed to.

Re: Mcmaster.com is the best e-commerce site I've ever used

#75

Post by jbay808 »

motoboi wrote: post #9

Now be completely honest: - If you haven't read the article, would you think this site great? My point is: no one knows what is a great e-commerce website. Is one that sells a lot? Amazon does it. Is not one that sells a lot, but that is very easy to use?

> If you haven't read the article, would you think this site great?

If you search HN comments for "McMaster-Carr", you'll see their website is frequently brought up as an example of great UX, going back over 10 years.

Re: Mcmaster.com is the best e-commerce site I've ever used

#76

Post by hedora »

My homebrew keg was leaking CO2, and the brewing supply company only sells the same crappy (= non-silicone) o-rings that had just failed. They wanted something dumb like $25 for a replacement part.

Enter McMaster-Carr. For significantly less money than fixing one bad o-ring, I have a pile of replacement sets for every seal in the system.

Re: Mcmaster.com is the best e-commerce site I've ever used

#77

Post by s0rce »

calvinmorrison wrote: post #22

No love for Rock Auto?

Rock Auto is great, definitely more consumer oriented and delivery is much slower, seems like professional mechanics rely on same day delivery. The biggest difference I see is that McMaster is curated, you want something there is usually one or maybe a couple options and it doesn't usually openly display the manufacturer. Rock Auto shows you all the options.

Re: Mcmaster.com is the best e-commerce site I've ever used

#78

Post by xen2xen1 »

ISL wrote: post #62

McMaster is a great choice when you can value your time. There is no comparison shipping. You need an industrial tricycle that gets the job done? Great. Add an industrial tricycle to your cart. Unless there is a meaningful difference between models, there will be only one choice. It will be curated and it will do what you generally expect it to do. You'll pay more than you can get it for elsewhere, but it will do the…

Please tell me there's a story behind an "industrial tricycle?"

Re: Mcmaster.com is the best e-commerce site I've ever used

#79

Post by aidenn0 »

talkingtab wrote: post #39

Another vote for McMaster-Carr. It is not like they are great, they just are not stupid or frustrating or annoying at all. I don't know of any other websites that meet that relatively simple standard. Perhaps part of why their website is so good is because they deliver the goods. They follow through. Ever need a 4x8 sheet of copper? It gets delivered to your front door. Sooner than you expect, and at a very fair pric…

Yeah. It's kind of like how in chess, many learners study openings and gambits and obscure checkmates, when the low hanging fruit is just learning to spot and avoid blunders.

MMC is mostly about not making the mistakes everybody else makes, which puts it near the top even before you consider what they do well.

Re: Mcmaster.com is the best e-commerce site I've ever used

#80

Post by paulmd »

motoboi wrote: post #9

Now be completely honest: - If you haven't read the article, would you think this site great? My point is: no one knows what is a great e-commerce website. Is one that sells a lot? Amazon does it. Is not one that sells a lot, but that is very easy to use?

lol, mcmaster carr is probably one of the only specialty e-commerce sites that anyone will randomly bring up in UX discussions or hobby conversations. everyone loves mcmaster carr, like actually everyone, so yeah, lots of people who haven't read this already independently decided that mcmaster carr is great.

even if you're not going to buy there (their prices are high, compared to alternative suppliers, is what I've heard, and there are items and brands they don't carry) it's still a super useful reference of what's possible and what general solutions in that area look like and cost, or even just basic lookup for what types of nuts and bolts you should look for in a project. like it's actually just a really nice pleasant interface for working with hardware in general.

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