Online Metals Flat Rate Shipping

[Makintrax73]

I wish speedy would do that. They are real expensive to ship to me, there prices are good, but shipping puts them out of bounds.
I buy a lot from StockCarSteel great price, and reasonable shipping.
Online is one of my sources, mcMaster, and Metal Supermarkets (but they are usually high), but only about an hour each way.
You always have to check prices around there's quite a difference in prices. Depending on who bought what at what price.
Shipping is only part of it. I'm a small consumer, so I buy what I need mostly... sometimes just for stock, but I have bought up stock. What I need is bigger chunks at a decent price.

I suppose it's a "you can't have your cake and eat it too" situation with Speedy. I drive through Rockford IL usually a couple times a month so I generally just put in a order for pickup and wait because their shipping costs are atrocious.

What I discovered by going into the office is you can get better prices by getting in contact with the in office sales staff and putting your order in through them, and also if you order online the order goes through Wisconsin and might take a couple weeks to show up in Rockford. Orders placed with sales staff directly in Rockford are processed way faster.

The office staff there have been universally helpful which surprised me as a hobbiest who orders tiny amounts of material. If you go in the office they will sit you down with a salesman who seems perfectly happy to enter even small orders and give better than the online price. And the prices generally seem way, way better than other suppliers with a few exceptions to start with. If their shipping was $11.99 flat rate I'd probably never order from anyone else.

 

[GeneT45]

This made me laugh. I got the same ad yesterday too. BUT, I'd also ordered some stainless from Online Metals a week or so before - when their flat rate shipping was only $10. Way to spin a cost increase...

GsT

 

[mmcmdl]

Closest thing I have to a “nearby” steel yard is @mmcmdl about an hour South

I resemble this .

 

[MrWhoopee]

Closest thing I have to a “nearby” steel yard is @mmcmdl about an hour South

Bring your truck, one stop shopping! Tools and material all in one place. Open 7 days a week, no sales tax ever.

 

[ChazzC]

You always have to check prices around there's quite a difference in prices. Depending on who bought what at what price.
Shipping is only part of it. I'm a small consumer, so I buy what I need mostly...

I totally agree – if I need something I don't already have I check McMaster, Online, Grainger & eBay (if it's something like precision ground bar I'll also see if th local-ish MSC has it so I can just drive). Depending on what it is and hw fast I need it (usually not an issue) sometimes Grainger can provide it cheapest for pickup (they're closer than MSC), and mainly times it has an Online label on it: eventually Grainger will probably start charging shipping to the branch, but I hope not in the next 20 years.

 

[Pevehouse]

I'm surprised at how difficult it has been to find scraps and drops in the Houston area and end up ordering most of my stock. Any help on shipping is appreciated so I'll move Online up on my list of suppliers. For small sizes and short lengths I've been happy with the service and shipping from Hobby Metal Kits. https://hobbymetalkits.com/

Try fleabay. There’s a couple of steel suppliers that sell on there and their shipping is very reasonable. They also have whatever grade steel you want

 

[verbotenwhisky]

I'm surprised at how difficult it has been to find scraps and drops in the Houston area and end up ordering most of my stock. Any help on shipping is appreciated so I'll move Online up on my list of suppliers. For small sizes and short lengths I've been happy with the service and shipping from Hobby Metal Kits. https://hobbymetalkits.com/

 

[pontiac428]

The online metals weight limit is a narrow window for savings. I bought 4 proto boxes a good while back, they were pretty suitable for loading up my metal stock buckets. The steel proto box is best skipped unless you need remnant bits of HR. eBay can be the best deal going most of the time. Local is my preference, but they are geared for quantity and nothing is cheap anymore. Drops are hit and miss unless you're just picking up randoms. For alloy steels, I usually go straight to McMaster and get what the job calls for.

 

[David2011]

View attachment 486907

There's a Metal Supermarkets not too far from where we're working on the battleship's guns. Their prices make McMaster look cheap so unless they have something I absolutely have to have that isn't available anywhere else, I'm not shopping there. When I was in college I built 2 street rods. I could buy drops and scraps pretty easily. These days, everyone I've talked to says they have contracts with scrap companies and won't sell. The metal scrapyard near me won't sell to individuals either. OTOH, after my last experience with mystery metal I may buy new from now on (probably making a story up here) so I'll know what I'm getting. More on that in projects once I'm finished.

 

[projectnut]

As I mentioned in a previous post sometimes customers, and even home projects need metals of known quality. That’s where McMaster comes in. They aren’t cheap, but they do provide the certs. Sometimes quality supersedes price.