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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

#321

Post by Cthulhu_ »

tinco wrote: post #302
lokimedes wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The B2B vacuum of Europe. So many voids to fill, for the ones daring to share product details and, gasp, prices, online.

Yeah what is going on with B2B in Europe and not showing prices? It's absolutely bonkers, I have been renovating my house the past 6 years, and to even get into the stores I had to get a business account (by cheating and using my IT business registration). None of the websites show prices if you don't have an account, and some of them even check if your business is legit so I just get refused. The one that rejected m…

I wonder if it's down to having an opportunity to negotiate the price. It's either that, or things like handling get calculated to fine points - a single screw being more expensive than a box of screws, for example. Shipping is complicated as well. Maybe it's about setting up invoicing accounts as well?

Anyway, lots of barriers, makes you think it's either a requirement that I as a layperson don't understand, or a hole in the market.

That said, what about German electronics parts sites like Conrad or Reichelt?

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

#322

Post by benj111 »

thechao wrote: post #87
iancmceachern wrote: post #34

Mechanical Engineer and product designer here. I've been using mcmaster daily for 20 years to do my job. It is definitely the standard by which all others are judged. I'll gladly pay 2, 3, 5, even 10x the price to get it from McMaster. The service, the CAD models, I have what I need the next day. As an example of the level of their service, you can send them a box of loose parts, no part numbers, no markings, and the…

We had piles of their yellow books laying around the house when I was a grad student. Definitely good toilet-book material.

Really? I always found that the ink came off, then you need a bidet anyway...

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

#323

Post by sydd »

stdbrouw wrote: post #313
jwr wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alas, for some reason they only cater to the US market and have no presence in the EU, for example. So while it is possible to order from them, it's rather inconvenient as you need to deal with customs/taxes. Digi-Key got this right: you can order DDP, which makes things quick & simple. Incidentally, I am amazed that they don't have a meaningful competitor in the EU. It seems most companies here are stuck in the 80s…

I often use Conrad for its huge collection of small parts (mechanical as well as semiconductors) most of which can be ordered individually, with an interface with lots of filters and easy access to manuals and data sheets. Sometimes their categorization is a bit off, and they don't have CAD files, but it's decent enough.

Conrad is a shitshow in my country.

- Almost nothing is on stock, most items have 10+ weeks backorder time.

- Ridiculously expensive, its common to find 2x prices than in other shops.

- Full with Chinesium crap (but some high quality items too), one can never be sure what they will get.

Its like a shitty Aliexpress

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

#324

Post by machinawhite »

stdbrouw wrote: post #316
oriolid wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Where are you finding pot metal bolts? Self-assembled furniture seems to have terrible bolts more often than not. Instrument stands and drum kits also come with softest imaginable bolts except the most expensive gear. I'm sure there are other products like this.

Are you stripping hex bolts? If so, the solution may be to buy some good hex bits (and a bit extender) which make it much easier to avoid slipping and stripping the bolt compared to a plain hex key.

Good advice but some are so soft they may've aswell been made out of butter, you have to be very careful even with proper tools.

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

#325

Post by snovv_crash »

loonster wrote: post #183
iancmceachern wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not at all. My rate is very high, so saving a day of my time saves them way more. The burn rate on some of these projects is hundreds of thousands, millions a day. Saving time when your on the critical path (as mechanical design typically is) is worth that much. Once the design is finished there is a whole army of manufacturing engineers and sourcing folks that can drive the cost down. That's not the niche that mcmas…

If it's a commonly used item, it would be much more efficient to pay an entry level CAD guy to draw up a parametric screw part. Add in toolsolids of all the subtracts that the component will do (taps, CBore, clearance), and supplier call outs. It starts to become efficient.

Just tell the project manager that you're adding a day to the critical path for every screw needed, and he'll send you back to McMaster Carr.

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

#326

Post by Tade0 »

tinco wrote: post #302
lokimedes wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The B2B vacuum of Europe. So many voids to fill, for the ones daring to share product details and, gasp, prices, online.

Yeah what is going on with B2B in Europe and not showing prices? It's absolutely bonkers, I have been renovating my house the past 6 years, and to even get into the stores I had to get a business account (by cheating and using my IT business registration). None of the websites show prices if you don't have an account, and some of them even check if your business is legit so I just get refused. The one that rejected m…

I'll do you one better: I had to create a verified business account just to download software(ladder logic IDE for a sewage pump) from one such site.

I even got a call from a nice, older gentleman who asked me why do I want a business account and could this be avoided somehow. Funny he should ask.

To me it appears that these companies see presence in the web as a necessary evil and would rather do business the old fashioned way: calling and in-person meetings.

Apparently so far they hadn't had any incentive to change.

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

#327

Post by fmajid »

rdtwo wrote: post #165
somebodythere wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same with products that are designed to come into contact with food or skin

I have the same policy unless it’s an item unlikely to be counterfeit

It's amazing how widely even seemingly mundane, obscure or low-margin products are also counterfeited.

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

#328

Post by mdiesel »

Tade0 wrote: post #326
tinco wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah what is going on with B2B in Europe and not showing prices? It's absolutely bonkers, I have been renovating my house the past 6 years, and to even get into the stores I had to get a business account (by cheating and using my IT business registration). None of the websites show prices if you don't have an account, and some of them even check if your business is legit so I just get refused. The one that rejected m…

I'll do you one better: I had to create a verified business account just to download software(ladder logic IDE for a sewage pump) from one such site. I even got a call from a nice, older gentleman who asked me why do I want a business account and could this be avoided somehow. Funny he should ask. To me it appears that these companies see presence in the web as a necessary evil and would rather do business the old fa…

They haven't seen any incentive to change, but will grumble about Amazon and point to that as the biggest threat to their business. If they aren't, they should be.

I'd rather do business with anyone BUT Amazon, and its telling I still find myself having to order some bits from them every month.

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

#329

Post by ruiramos »

s_severus wrote: post #307

Small note on the part about the price range UI controls: the author criticizes Amazon for using min, max number inputs rather than a slider control. 2 arguments against a slider: 1. Potentially it is much harder to make an accessible slider control. 2. Sliders break down when you have a distribution skewed away from normal. For instance, if 90% of results are in the range $0-$50, but then a few results are over $100…

Agree with you here. I thought the article made some good points but I've also been bitten by the "naive" [mix, max] slider you describe - I did yearn for some good old text boxes back then!
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