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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

#371

Post by kasey_junk »

omnimus wrote: post #361
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 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.

Minimum order quantities are a standard practice to avoid this problem.

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

#372

Post by toddmorey »

"People visit McMaster-Carr with high intent to buy a specific part, that's it."

Mcmaster is great, but it's important to point out there's no brand or product selection decisions. You pick your criteria and get exactly one option. It lends itself to a very different experience.

How would this work for cars or couches or headphones?

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

#373

Post by bookofjoe »

donbox wrote: post #284
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…

and Canada, though only to business and school addresses only.

Pro tip: Use M.D. after your name and you're a business. I AM an M.D. but friends I've given this advice to over the years have had success in impersonating a business with this title.

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

#374

Post by situationista »

hownottowrite wrote: post #333
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…

DDP is probably the only good solution here for most EU customers, but frankly the hassle and expense of doing business in the EU is what keeps most US e-commerce companies from entering the market.

I tried googling DDP but couldn't find it - do you know the URL?

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

#375

Post by klausjensen »

toddmorey wrote: post #372

"People visit McMaster-Carr with high intent to buy a specific part, that's it." Mcmaster is great, but it's important to point out there's no brand or product selection decisions. You pick your criteria and get exactly one option. It lends itself to a very different experience. How would this work for cars or couches or headphones?

Wouldn't that be exactly the same, just with more filters?

When I am on Amazon, trying to find something, I always feel like I have to fight the site, rather than being helped by it. Paid ads, very poor categorization/property-search, deceptive UX, fake reviews, "amazon picks" etc etc etc. And when I find the right product, I might receive a fake.

I think what people enjoy and celebrate about McMaster-Carr is that it is exactly the opposite of that.

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

#376

Post by bnug »

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…

Yeah, if you're in a large metro area (I was about 1 hour from the Atlanta distribution center), they would often ship SAME DAY if you ordered by about 10am. It was amazing, and very convenient during chaotic times when you forgot to order one tiny little piece of hardware that was needed before your custom built tooling could be delivered. This was in 2005 - 2007 timeframe, before Amazon started the 1 day stuff.

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

#377

Post by systems_glitch »

toddmorey wrote: post #372

"People visit McMaster-Carr with high intent to buy a specific part, that's it." Mcmaster is great, but it's important to point out there's no brand or product selection decisions. You pick your criteria and get exactly one option. It lends itself to a very different experience. How would this work for cars or couches or headphones?

You never have to worry about it being junk, though. When I order fasteners, metal parts to be machined/used in fabrication, or just misc. supplies from McMaster-Carr, I know whatever supplier they are using will be high quality and the part won't be a counterfeit. It also seems that they tend to stick with US manufacturers if possible.

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

#378

Post by systems_glitch »

TaylorAlexander wrote: post #127
Mistletoe wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It depends on what you need. For basic metric nuts and bolts it seems to be the same price as a local hardware store but I don’t have to leave my office to buy the stuff.

They also have the weird stuff the local hardware stores don't, and usually it's higher quality.

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

#379

Post by systems_glitch »

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…

Yup, McMaster-Carr and ULINE are well known for usually being next-day on standard shipping! Saves a lot of headaches and projects.

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

#380

Post by pGuitar »

iancmceachern wrote: post #41
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.

No, they have next day shipping to the whole US.

In other words, standard shipping is always next day?
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