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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

#421

Post by Syzygies »

beowulfey wrote: post #362
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.

Yes. I'm missing an unusual screw from the armrest of my office Ekornes Stressless chair, and the closest Amazon length didn't work. I've seen the Mcmaster website before, but thanks for the reminder! I jumped on it, found the right screw in seconds.

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

#423

Post by PontifexMinimus »

exabrial wrote: post #158

Yeah but it’s not node, wasm, sass, typescript, react bootstrap, rails, flask, ecma, flash enabled, spa web 3.0 with social media and crypto integration so it’s pretty much outdated and useless…. /s obviously, but it just points to the absolutely uselessness of ‘modern’ websites

> Yeah but it’s not node, wasm, sass, typescript, react bootstrap, rails, flask, ecma, flash enabled, spa web 3.0 with social media and crypto integration so it’s pretty much outdated and useless….

Ah yes, the oh-look-a-shiny-thing development paradigm.

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

#424

Post by raverbashing »

digitalengineer wrote: post #342
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…

Even though the EU is one market, it really isn't much of a single market due to language and cultural differences. I've helped B2B companies and most small/medium sized ones want to limit their services to their own (and their country's neighbor's) country. There are a ton of problems related to fake company addresses placing orders and having them delivered at some random company's parking lot. Problems with regard…

So, maybe only take prepay for orders outside your 'backyard'?

But yeah for areas that are "old fashioned", what B2B has of experience they lack in getting on with the times.

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

#426

Post by stemlord »

>It's not the most visually stunning site, but that doesn't matter here - McMaster has chosen function over form.

Why do we tend to pretend this kind of thing isn't beautiful. Most people would agree it is.

Why do we tend to pretend function and form are two different things. Even as a colloquialism it's misleading. No need to throw visual design under the bus, what you enjoy about this site is the product of such design done thoughtfully.

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

#427

Post by mcnugget »

auxym wrote: post #347
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…

> It seems most companies here are stuck in the 80s and dedicate next to zero effort to their web ordering process. I'm so glad we can order from mcmaster here in canada, even though shipping is two days and usually min 30 USD even for tiny orders. All local industrial suppliers are truly stuck in the 80s. They have a paper catalog, without prices (if you're lucky you can get a PDF too). If you want prices, you have…

10/10 agree for Canadians McMaster Carr is a godsend. Can order random stock material and have it tomorrow and have a certificate telling me exactly what stuff is with a nice cad model. Their search is the best though, can write some half assed description of what I want and it'll just deisplay what I want. Their mobile website is garbage though.

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

#428

Post by iancmceachern »

bookofjoe wrote: post #373
donbox wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

You could also put "Trucking". Joe Blow Trucking

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

#430

Post by elil17 »

bluGill wrote: post #388
elil17 wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where are you finding pot metal bolts? Your best option should be anything from Ace/Home Depot/Lowes. The matte finish ones are zinc galvanized, that’s just the protective coating. They are made of carbon steel and are graded according to standards set by organizations like SAE. Hardware stores will have grade 2 bolts for the most part (or the metric equivalents). These will be made with weaker steel and will be cut…

While the bolts at home depot are made of some form of iron they often are not graded at all. There is a reason: they wouldn't pass any quality tests. The graded ones are probably okay, I'm not sure as I wouldn't attempt to use anything they have in something important as I have no way of knowing something didn't get put in the wrong bin by mistake.

Home Depot's private label brand (Everbilt) are absolutely graded. An SAE grade 1 or 2 is unmarked but if you look at their metric bolts you'll see the 8.8 grade mark.
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