McMaster Carr.... shipping?

[PartsGuy]

Hi all,
Everyone here seems to like McMaster Carr for their fastener needs, but how are their shipping charges?

I was looking at some metric bolts, and their price and package quantities are very appealing. Created an account, went through the motions, and they do not disclose shipping charges anywhere during the transaction.

Not really keen on the "surprise" shipping concept, but they are only a day away via ground from Cleveland, and everyone seems to love them here....
any stories, good or bad about their service and especially their shipping???

 

[EOC_Jason]

Yeah that's the only negative thing about their site. From the charges I've had from my orders (just UPS ground shipping), it's just whatever the regular rate would be... It doesn't really seem like they up-charge or anything. They always do a good job boxing things in only as large of a box as necessary.

You could probably get an estimate if you put the things in your cart, then call customer service if it was of real concern. But they aren't going to rip you off and charge like $30 for a few bolts...

 

[dr_clyde]

They are fair on shipping. I’ve never had them be unreasonable foe what I’ve shipped, considering I always get it next day.

 

[wayne55]

I just received an order of odds and ends, screws, washers, bearings, etc., nothing too heavy. Order was $47 plus 3.77 state tax and 6.66 UPS shipping. I'm just one state away from the Atlanta warehouse.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

They are usually fair on shipping but once I ordered some O-rings and was charged like $15 for shipping. I believe if you call they will quote shipping before you place the order.

 

[bwringer]

Don't worry about it. Shipping charges will be very minimal; much less than any place else. You just don't know exactly what it is until later because it doesn't get weighed and measured until it's all packaged and headed out the door.

No mystery markups to pay for "free" shipping, no padded shipping charges for added profit. It is what it is.

This saves a LOT of time and money, but for some reason it makes people crazy. Just relax, and realize over the long run they always package and ship to minimize cost, and with their enormous scale and volume, they can ship a hell of a lot cheaper than anyone else.

 

[matt_i]

I have it in my mind that its going to be $10 for ground unless I order something super large.

Which is a pretty smokin deal considering ground is essentially 1-day shipping from where I live. Typically ships out of Cleveland.

 

[vavet]

Has anyone ever been to one of their warehouses? It must be truly impressive. I wonder if they give tours?

 

[WhoWhatNow]

I usually budget for $5-7 for up to a few boxes of bolts and $10-12 if I am ordering 3’ long stock. It is usually very reasonable considering I typically get the parts the next business day. If you call they will give you a shipping quote.

 

[SALIV8]

Has anyone ever been to one of their warehouses? It must be truly impressive. I wonder if they give tours?

The warehouse is amazing in Elmhurst. And mcmaster Carr has awesome customer service and will stand behind their products.

 

[Davefr]

If you order very small/lightweight (ie <1lb) parts they'll ignore your request to ship USPS and will charge you the UPS rates. (UPS is uncompetitive for small parcels).

For larger shipments they seem fair.

My pet pieve is companies that don't offer a USPS First Class Parcel rate for <1lb shipments.

 

[PartsGuy]

Cool, sounds like they're reasonable, even if they don't give you an up-front total... Thanks!

 

[matt_i]

Has anyone ever been to one of their warehouses? It must be truly impressive. I wonder if they give tours?

I was at the Will-Call in Atlanta a few times when I lived there...although I never got an official "tour" but that desk was just inside the warehouse on the main floor. There were 4-5 levels of mezzanine as I recall and gravity roller conveyors that came winding out of all levels with plastic totes on them. It was like something out of Willy Wonka. All the conveyors converged to a single one and a person was a "distributor" who seemed like they were analyzing the workload of the "checkout lanes".....it appeared a person checked the order, packed it in a box, added brown paper or air-pillows. The next person taped it, applied the ship label, and there were UPS semi trucks backed up to the warehouse, it seemed to get routed to one of about 5 trailers and then there was a person packing each trailer.

There were air-pillow machines at each checkout lane and assemblers folding-up and taping the bottom of cardboard boxes. And...Big A$$ fans were used in this location .

I never got to see what was in the mezz levels, that would have been truly interesting. I feel like their "letter code" means something relative to a location, and there must be an equal and opposite amount of people restocking as pulling. It did occur to me that restocking could have taken place on a different shift to avoid over-traffic in the mezz levels.

I did get in a bind about twice when my local McM was closed and I really had to have the part the next day to keep my plant running, I called the main Chicago number and the team member there routed my order to L.A. and they shipped it overnight/early AM which arrived just as expected. Impressive operation for sure.

 

[BOOT]

If I only need one thing I try to get it on ebay, otherwise I wait until I have a few things to make the shipping worth it Only a few times has my order been a multiple shipper and I paid for each shipment.

 

[rustyjames]

I'm fortunate to have an MC warehouse about 15 minutes away, but there have been many times that I've had things shipped, and the charges have always been reasonable. I always received the order the next day, even when ordered late in the afternoon the previous day.

 

[SALIV8]

Caution: if you order oversized items or large items the shipping charges seem high to me, so call and get a quote first. Small items and non heavy average sized boxes runs about $6-$11 for typically that day or next day shipping which isn't a steal but reasonable.

They don't profit off the shipping they literally pass on the charge they pay. Maybe they could negotiate better rates but for the speed and quality I don't mind the cost.

 

[Stuey]

Shipping has been reasonable for me. I've heard you can request quotes, but I've never been shocked at shipping fees, even on 4' or 6' rods, 24" x 24" plastic sheets, and large stuff like that.

There is a gotcha, although I don't know if it still applies. If you add something to your order and it's uncommon or sold out at your local warehouse, you'll get hit with two shipping fees - one for the bulk of your order shipping from the local warehouse, and one from the next-nearest warehouse that has the item in stock. This has only happened to me once or twice, and not recently, but it's worth mentioning.

McMaster customer service has been good to me over the years, although they still won't send me a catalog.

 

[Viper98912]

Same here, a little unnerving when getting a "surprise" shipping cost, but mine have always been reasonable (7-10 bucks for a small package)

 

[RKA]

I’m less than 20 miles from a warehouse and I still have things shipped. It saves me time and gas. Usually small envelopes run around $6, which seems like their contracted rates with UPS. After the first few orders, I don’t give it a second thought. But if it was a heavy or large order, I would double check since I have the option to pick up. Call them if you’re concerned about the shipping charges.

As for will call, it’s a giant warehouse. You don’t get past 10 ft from the door. Wait at the desk, give them your name and they check the shelves behind them for your order. Beyond that, thousands of feet of industrial shelving and conveyors. I’m always picking up on a saturday afternoon, so it’s a ghost town. I’m sure it’s far busier during the week.

 

[Radio Flyer]

Has anyone ever been to one of their warehouses? It must be truly impressive. I wonder if they give tours?

I live 10 Min. from there headquarters. Truly an amazing place. I've only been to their will call area. I've run into a few people who work there. They have said that they have run into people from town that work there, but have never seen them there.

A few years ago, they did an addition. Bought the whole street, buildings and all.

Looks like the new tollway expansion will have an exit ramp right out front!

 

[BearsFan315]

i order from them on occasion with my restoration, i know the general charge for shipping and handling is about 8.95, but i also get everything the next day if i order by 2pm or something like that since they have a warehouse close by. i just make sure if i have to order from them i order everything i need and spare stuff i have been thinking about. Fastenal is my first choice, then McMaster-Carr. with Fastenal we get a discount on most things and 1-2 days to pick up and no shipping fees

 

[BillK]

I get stuff from them at least once a week. Have never thought the shipping charges were too much. If you have shipped anything lately you know that the rates have gone way up. They must have a pretty good deal with UPS because there is no way the average guy can ship anything for less than $12 or so with UPS.

 

[bwringer]

I live in Indianapolis and my orders get to me from the Chicago area warehouse overnight with standard shipping.

I think once there was an item that took an extra day from a different warehouse. When you add an item to your cart, it's clearly shown when it will ship and from where.

Much of what I do is building websites, and I consider mcmaster.com to be one of the best I've ever seen in terms of usability and efficiency. It's continually being refined by some of the best in the field; I've seen some of their job listings for developers and let's just say they aren't playing around.

I don't know if they'll ever give shipping costs online; their primary customers are industrial, and care a lot more about minimizing costs that about knowing the costs up-front. Sales to individuals like you and me are barely a blip.

 

[BillK]

I consider mcmaster.com to be one of the best I've ever seen in terms of usability and efficiency.

That is absolutely the truth. I used to use MSC quite a bit but their web site ***** compared to MMC.

 

[bwringer]

That is absolutely the truth. I used to use MSC quite a bit but their web site ***** compared to MMC.

MSC, Grainger, and Fastenal have atrocious websites, and I truly don't understand why. Zoro's website is a little better, but all have absolutely terrible filtering abilities; finding what you need is still far more difficult than it should be.

I've purchased from MSC when I needed some specific things they had and McMaster did not.

I've never actually managed to purchase anything from Fastenal; I've found things I need on their website, but even with an enormous regional warehouse less than two miles from my house, the stuff I need is always on backorder or special order. I've been in their stores a few times, and apparently they mostly stock construction and janitorial supplies at insane prices, and not, y'know, fasteners like their name implies. Dunno.

I do really wish that McMaster-Carr would give photos of some items. The line drawing and especially the CAD drawings are very useful for things like bolts and such, but for many items a photo would really be helpful. For a long time, Duluth Trading only had drawings of their clothing, which seemed pretty bizarre.

I also wish they had the ability to tell you manufacturer and COO on more items as well. There are lots of times it really does matter exactly what brand of chemical or lubricant you're using. (They do have this information on some things, but many items do not.) And although it would add to the complexity, it would be nice if you could see COO on more items as well, or be offered a choice. I'd much rather have name brand or first-world manufactured bearings, for example, than no-name or Chinese bearings.

 

[ericlar80]

McMaster.com is known as being the gold standard in website design when you need neat, efficient categorization of items that makes it easy for the user to browse.

https://www.designnews.com/automation-motion-control/perfect-site/134056132553434

 

[QwikKotaTx]

If everything comes from one warehouse and you don't need it overnight, the shipping charges are normally under $10. If you order a lot of heavy fasteners, expect a higher charge. I just had 3 large 1 1/4" nuts delivered but it wasn't bad. Crazy how fast things come when sent to a commercial address, faster than the email invoice!

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Crazyjake8493]

The nice thing with McMaster is you can get just about anything you need from them. If you're working on a project, and you need an odd, specific part I bet they have it.

I'm not big on not disclosing shipping costs either. I've ordered from hundreds of different sites including little tiny shops with a basic online website and they're always able to give you shipping information before placing your order.

Usually when I order from McMaster, it's something that I absolutely can't find anywhere else, so I'm at the point where I need it badly enough that I don't care what shipping will cost.

 

[manioso]

When McMaster-Carr was in Monroe, NJ it was kind of a toss up whether to have them ship or pick up Now that they have relocated to Robbinsville, NJ I almost always place the order for customer pickup. Usually I'm not time specific, so I make my pick ups on Thursdays, when I'm already in Bordentown on regular business.

 

[PartsGuy]

Well, I placed the order for 3 25-count boxes of M8 JIS flange head bolts (35, 40, and 50mm). They were shipped from two locations, for a shipping total of $12.79. Worked out to about 52 cents per bolt after tax and shipping, and they will be here next day. Can't complain about that! Thanks for everyone's input... as long as I pay attention to large/bulky/heavy items, and where stuff is coming from, I'm probably pretty safe having them as my "new" vendor!

 

[QwikKotaTx]

Yep, they are pretty great IMO. I just wish they didn't charge tax here in Texas. I too have had to use them for odd metric bolts such as fine pitch not available at Ace.

Another awesome feature is being able to download CAD files in native SolidWorks format for my assemblies. The parts can be modified if need be and I can change the part number if the bolt was too short, etc.

 

[Fueler]

I use MCM at least twice a week and always marveled at the low UPS cost.
The quantity they ship per day must rate a really low per unit ship cost.
GO MCM!


Now, if you have to have something come by truck all bets are off. They get clobbered like anyone else.

 

[unisawone]

I use them often, shipping is fair and website is best i have ever used Grainger doesn't even come close! The other thing is their stuff always seems to be good qaulity. Just my two cents, good luck

 

[bullnerd]

I’m less than 20 miles from a warehouse and I still have things shipped. It saves me time and gas. Usually small envelopes run around $6, which seems like their contracted rates with UPS. After the first few orders, I don’t give it a second thought. But if it was a heavy or large order, I would double check since I have the option to pick up. Call them if you’re concerned about the shipping charges.

As for will call, it’s a giant warehouse. You don’t get past 10 ft from the door. Wait at the desk, give them your name and they check the shelves behind them for your order. Beyond that, thousands of feet of industrial shelving and conveyors. I’m always picking up on a saturday afternoon, so it’s a ghost town. I’m sure it’s far busier during the week.

Allentown/Robbinsville?

I'm in Cream ridge.

Love the will call service.

 

[CraigStu]

Maybe 3 yrs ago I was ordering several 3ft lengths of steel round, flat and square tube. I had some empty spots in my number drill index so added them to the order. Figured just throw them in w/ the steel. Well I ended up w/ three different shipments form 3 warehouses and $20+ shipping. I called and said, if I had known it was coming from 3 warehouses, I wouldn't have bothered w/ the bits. Really nice lady says, no problem I will refund your shipping, want it to go to the same card? I said no need for that, I am glad to pay shipping for the steel. No problem MrS, I will refund it all. Another time I was ordering something that I thought might be expensive to ship due to size rather than weight. So I had it ready to click 'confirm order' and called. Asked if she could tell me shipping charge. It was very reasonable and she asks if I want her to complete the order. I figured may be a good idea to make sure her quote wouldn't be lost in the system. About 30 seconds later she says it will be on the way in about an hour. Another time I ordered something at 945pm. As I was going to sleep I thought of something else. Got to work at 7Am and called to add it to the order. She says I am sorry, your order has already shipped. Wow! In addition to the fantastic stock and service, their online catalog is a wealth of information. What alloy steel would be best, what type of plastic would be best? The answer is all there. I am just a retired hobby tinkerer getting stuff shipped to my house. My record from time of confirmation email to ups at my door is 21.5 hours. Unbelievable. McMC is absolutely the best vendor I have ever dealt with

 

[R. Deschain]

They are about the same in shipping as Fastenal and Tacoma Screw. I don't feel that I have ever been gouged.

 

[RKA]

Allentown/Robbinsville?

I'm in Cream ridge.

Love the will call service.

Robbinsville. Looks like there are 3 of us in this thread near that warehouse!

 

[RKA]

*snip*
My record from time of confirmation email to ups at my door is 21.5 hours. Unbelievable. McMC is absolutely the best vendor I have ever dealt with

I think I got you beat! Ordered around 7AM and by the time I got home from work, it was waiting for me. I think UPS dropped off the package around 3-4PM? Crazy!

 

[rustyjames]

Robbinsville. Looks like there are 3 of us in this thread near that warehouse!

There's a new Grainger in Bordentown that's less than 5 minutes from me but I still buy from MCM.

 

[Dustball]

We order from McMaster every single day and we receive our shipments via Spee-Dee Delivery which is a regional delivery service and cheaper than UPS.