I disagree with one thing: I usually go to Mcmaster to browse. I often have a problem, and I know that it must be a relatively common problem with an elegant solution, but I'm not experienced enough in that area to know what the solution is. Browse through the catalogue for a while and sure enough, there's a widget that's specifically designed to solve your problem. The design of the website makes it really easy to do that. Everything is well curated, labelled, described, tagged, and hierarchical.
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
#112I normally browse HN incognito on my phone but had to go to my desktop and login to say this: I fucking love MMC and their website. I got into woodworking during the pandemic and eventually built a loft bed for my son. I needed some very specific sizes of furniture bolts in small quantities and Amazon just didn't have what I needed. McMaster-Carr to the rescue! I agree that they aren't the cheapest, but the quality i…
Why is that a typical male experience? There's no reason a female would want anything different here
I think the stereotypical female experience is wanting to see the breadth of items available, and maybe "oh wouldn't this go nicely with that thing you bought?" I really don't think the stereotype is true, though. I LOVE browsing McMaster with no specific items in mind, and would not at be mad about "you just bought 1/4-20 18-8 stainless steel screws. here are nuts."
All in all, I'd say to be careful with stereotypes. I'm sure women love the McMaster-Carr shopping experience.
Re: Mcmaster.com is the best e-commerce site I've ever used
#113I love McMaster, but also want to give a shout out to their competitor, grainger. Similarly excellent UI. One benefit that I take advantage of is free delivery to their local warehouse for in person pickup. I don't know why more companies don't serve the customer with this.
Grainger isn't directly a competitor as they focus on "everything" but they're amazing.
You can pay them to open the local branch at 2 AM on a Sunday if you need a part and they have it in stock.
Re: Mcmaster.com is the best e-commerce site I've ever used
#114[deleted]
Re: Mcmaster.com is the best e-commerce site I've ever used
#115mcmaster is great, i had ordered a small part from once and wanted a catalog, asked them what the order minimum was for a catalog and they emailed me back basically saying "a catalog is on its way" no asking if i actually wanted a catalog or what my address was, they just sent the 20lb book over
Re: Mcmaster.com is the best e-commerce site I've ever used
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
Compared to Amazon, MMC has a very small number of SKUs, inventory that never goes stale, and prices that are only affordable in the context of B2B transactions. It’s not a comparable service.
And also zero counterfeit products that will burn down your house.
I am increasingly wary of buying things that might be in this category from Amazon.
Re: Mcmaster.com is the best e-commerce site I've ever used
#117Re: Mcmaster.com is the best e-commerce site I've ever used
#118McMaster is great. This article is also completely glossing over another reason to use them: Their shipping is somehow insanely fast. Almost everything is next-day delivery, even for standard shipping. They've somehow got their logistics COMPLETELY nailed. I believe they have their own agreements with USPS/FedEx/etc... McMaster is generally not the cheapest, but they're almost always the fastest and the easiest. Mach…
I'll second that. I ordered an 8-foot-long aluminum bar for $25, which, at the time, was too long to ship with traditional shippers. So, a semi trailer showed up at my door. Shipping cost $8.
Re: Mcmaster.com is the best e-commerce site I've ever used
#119MechE here as well. An alternative to McMaster is Misumi. Misumi is nice because you can order parts that are made to order (imagine a rod with the specific thread and length). No next day shipping like McMaster but being able to buy a custom “off the shelf” part without making a special internal part number is huge (so you don’t need drawings or anything). They’ll ship you a couple books like the signature yellow bo…
> being able to buy a custom “off the shelf” part without making a special internal part number How does that work? I have been searching the internet for stainless steel M8 x 20 set screws with a torx socket, maybe uncommon but straightforward. I have yet to find these anywhere outside of having them manufactured in china by truckload - I need maybe 100.
You can only buy parts that are configurable to begin with. If it doesn’t exist in their catalogue, it won’t be configurable unfortunately.
Re: Mcmaster.com is the best e-commerce site I've ever used
#120No love for Rock Auto?
Without RockAuto is right up there with the submitted site.