+10 for McMaster-Carr

I will say their service has been top notch, and I have had many previous orders with them. They also carry quality items/hardware. But not to know the shipping costs in advance or be able to choose a less expensive shipping options if you do not need fast shipping is a real problem for me. Just about every other vendor does give you shipping costs/options, and quite often you will not know how a packaged will be shipped, how many boxes or locations it will be shipped from and what the corporate costs will be. On Zoro if you sign up on their site the shipping is free for orders over $50, but then they have over inflated prices and you need to play the coupon code game. I still feel that with McMaster-Carr that they should implement an option to receive an invoice with shipping before committing to the an order. I had a number of other options for the same tubing at far less cost when you calculated in the shipping.
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On buying online metals I will often use eBay with free/fixed shipping costs, or if ordering online I often adjust the lengths and quantities and to minimize the shipping costs. One of the key factors is the length, go over 3' and the price can go up dramatically. Pre-covid I would go to local metal suppliers and pick through their rems, and in the old Enco times you could get some great deals with free shipping.
 
When I was working, I never cared about the shipping costs on a McMaster order, I only cared I got it in time for my project. I would expect most of their industrial customers are the same, so there would not be an incentive to show the shipping prior to ordering. I never knew what shipping would be from most suppliers we ordered from either, so McMaster-Carr is not that much different than the rest of the industry. For my hobby uses I care, and I look around for the best deal, but we are not their target customer, so I don’t ever expect to see them add shipping options or a free shipping offer from McMaster-Carr.

If you live in an out of the way place, the post office might be significantly cheaper, but I live 2.5 hrs away from the NJ warehouse and my last order for a 4lb package was only $9. I checked the retail cost and it would be $20 if I tried to ship that same package. Even though that is higher than orders from a couple years ago, I still consider that cheap to get what I order the next day. I order from Travers too, they are only 1.5 hrs away, the post office is a few dollars cheaper than UPS on their order page. My last order from them for a 2 pound package costs $14 with UPS and $9 with USPS, so being the frugal hobbyist, I chose the post office. That package took 2 weeks to get here. Whatever McMaster-Carr is doing, they are doing it right.

The local steel suppliers here think their remnants are gold plated. $1.25/lb for mild steel drops, $6 for aluminum, brass, or stainless. I have been contacting some local wastewater plants I have worked with in the past to see if they have any shafts from pump overhauls laying around they would sell for scrap. I might not know what material it is, but for sure it will be better than A36!
 
Everything comes down to your local supplier and availability of what you need. When I was in Michigan I could go to the local supply which wasn't too far out of my way and get basic stuff for fabrication but very limited for anything beyond that.

McMaster has the advantage of delivering wherever you are, whatever you need, whenever you need it so that's worth an awful lot in my book. I also get certificates for most stuff so if I ever needed to prove what something's made from I could do that. At least for me their delivery charges are consistent and usually less than what I could ship the same thing for myself.

If you can make friends with a local machine shop and get drops from them then you'll probably be able to beat their prices, but you'll have to be available during regular business hours in most cases and be willing to take whatever is on offer.

For sheer lack of hassle McMaster-Carr wins hands down over most other suppliers, they'll even sell you 6" of what you need which comes in handy if storage is limited.

John
 
I love McMaster. Ever since they added the option to text questions about products. Super convenient for generic items if you want to know what brand they're selling.
 
Im not a major McMaster Carr customer. I probably spend a few hundred with them a year....maybe 500. But I have always been happy with their products and service. Only complaint is I had an order which recently showed up in about 6 UPS deliveries and the shipping was a killer. Next order I"ll probably do on the phone to ask them if there's a way to limit the shipping cost since most of the stuff I buy from them is just for stock....nothing Im in a hurry to get.
But they are a great company.
 
Tim9 said:
Next order I"ll probably do on the phone to ask them if there's a way to limit the shipping cost since most of the stuff I buy from them is just for stock....nothing Im in a hurry to get.
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Whenever I place a McMaster order, I add a note in the "additional instructions" box asking to ship all items as one package if possible. Saves a lot of cost in the long run. There have only been a few times where they shipped an order in multiple packages and it was due to items coming from different warehouses.
 
I get next day shipping and it arrives the next day at noon! cant go wrong with them!
 
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