For Canadians - JH Williams on Amazon.ca

[Egghaus]

I've been surfing the tool section on Amazon.ca lately and noticed they carry a lot more things than they used to. What I found interesting is their pricing on Williams stuff seems to be pretty competitive even compared to US online prices. For example a 3/8" drive socket set;

http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B001DNVDNG/?tag=atomicindus04-20

Pretty reasonable for a US socket set, about 1/3 the price of the same set from Snap On. Looks like they carry most of the line, sockets, wrenches, ratchets, the hard handle screwdrivers etc. Plus shipping is free.

 

[pcos]

Ah, yes. The catch is that most of the items are NOT in stock and will be *** to yyy weeks until arrival. Been there, done that. When they are in stock there will only be 1-2 of each item so you need to be fast on the draw. Kinda like a CL or Kijiji ad in slower motion - act fast or perish!

All said - great deal when they are in stock (I've taken advantage of it many times for screwdrivers specifically) and great tool value.

Don't forget ZTSUPPLY (Zeitlin Industrial Supply) in Detroit, MI (a member here) - they often have great williams deals with free shipping and David is extremely helpful. I've purchased from him a number of times. (good deal on USA Williams 24oz dead blow right now with free shipping in USA). A cross-border mail drop is an essential tool if you are within driving distance of the border as you can broker (verbally declare) your personal purchases in for $0 brokerage.

 

[Egghaus]

What is the typical lead time for an item?

 

[pcos]

Just so happens I have a very recent purchase to illustrate my point. Just last week I bought the Williams 100P-8MD 8 piece screwdriver set - it is already out of stock again (only showed 3 sets when I ordered).

http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B002NH5F30/?tag=atomicindus04-20

I waited about 2 months for it to restock. I previously purchased the slot and philips sets - again were out of stock almost instantly. One set was actually vapour stock as it never actually shipped (database error I guess).

Most importantly, the price when out of stock jumps UP a significant amount. The current linked item was at my door, all taxes in for less than the price listed now.

Again - great deal when in stock but you must be patient and watch the items like a hawk for actual stock in the warehouse.

If I had to guess I'd say Amazon was fishing for customers and when enough pre-orders are secured they ship a pallet of tools from the USA and broker it in. Can't blame them as the volume is quite low I'm sure.

All said, you just can't beat a mail box presence on the USA side of the border. You are pretty close in Binbrook - I suggest the UPS Store on Military Road in Niagara Falls, NY as a good starting point.

 

[matthew]

Regardless of whether the item is in stock or not, you have to watch out with Amazon pricing... which actually is a good thing in some ways, since being careful you can find a decent deal.

I don't really care if it's slow to ship, but I wish Amazon.ca would have more of selection (dot com has way more stuff), even if they needed a few extra days and a few extra dollars to transfer from their US warehouse to the Canadian one. Glad to see a few more tools being added to the offering.

The Williams ratcheting screwdriver looks like a decent buy now. I had looked at getting one off amazon.com and the shipping was more than the screwdriver, making it completely uneconomical.