Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

bedelstein.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

361–370 of 501 posts

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

#361

Post by omnimus »

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 mean renovating your house is not B2B so it makes sense they want business registration.

I think they do it because they don't want to bother with small buyers. If people knew how much cheaper the parts are in these companies compared to hobby markets they would all want to buy few pieces to save money. This is not customer they want, they want customers that buy massive quantities.

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

#362

Post by beowulfey »

fake-name wrote: post #5

McMaster 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…

And on top of that you don’t even need a business account. Individuals get the same service. I’ve ordered hard to find parts like tiny springs for home projects, just a few bucks. It’s amazing.

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

#363

Post by bombcar »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #186
bombcar wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Wow, Thats crazy, but as it should be. Hope the employees get OT.

IIRC it’s the local manager(s) who usually has to roll out and they do get an after hours fee.

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

#365

Post by roflyear »

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.

For like a $.5 part from McMaster? Are you on drugs?

McMaster is "expensive" but it isn't like they are charging a crazy amount of money. They are just expensive.

I still use them over randos tho bc I know I'm going to get what I ordered. I never did not, but if I did, I'd have the correct part maybe even same day.

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

#366

Post by roflyear »

xadhominemx wrote: post #36
pGuitar wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Almost everything is next-day delivery, Could it be that you live next to one of their warehouses? On the other hand, Amazon delays orders on purposes if you aren't a Prime member.

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.

People complain about the prices, but it isn't like only businesses can afford them.

I buy screws there all the time. It isn't like it is $10 a screw! It's like a nickel or less.

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

#367

Post by marcus0x62 »

Mistletoe wrote: post #122
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…

Maybe your customers or employer would like you to save 2, 3, 5, 10x the price… My memories of McMaster from doing my hobbies is that it is outrageously expensive.

For production quantities, sure, nobody in their right mind would source from McMaster Carr (or Grainger, or any similar company,) but for their niche, they have a solid value proposition: they’ll get you small quantities of anything they carry incredibly quickly. For maintenance and repair (their primary market) or prototyping, that can be incredibly valuable.

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

#369

Post by jamincan »

14 wrote: post #178

Last I checked they don’t deliver to Canada so not the best site I have used as I couldn’t order the parts I needed. They were the only one who had the part I needed so had to get an American friend to buy it and ship it to me afterwards. I really hope they can see Canadians would buy from them if we could.

It seems they only do B2B in Canada. We use them all the time.

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

#370

Post by mikepurvis »

duckmysick wrote: post #348
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…

> Yeah what is going on with B2B in Europe and not showing prices? Is it that much different from SaaS companies that instead of prices show a "contact sales" button?

But most of those have multiple self-serve tiers (maybe even a free one) below the must-call “enterprise” option.
Post reply on HN