On 2016-11-15, robobass wrote:

This may be less of a problem in the USA, but I live in Germany, where
there is no Harbor Freight, McMaster, or MSC, so I am especially reliant
on Ebay (which is actually pretty good at picking up the slack) and
Amazon.

FWIW -- I believe that MSC still sells overseas. It is a
problem for those who live in Canada, because the shipping is via UPS,
which insists on proxying the customs -- whether there should be customs
duty or not. :-( This tends to run the cost up. Not sure what it is
like in Germany.

But McMaster Carr just plain *won't* sell to individually in
other countries, for whatever reason.

Amazon is so poor at describing their wares, however, that I
find it ludicrous. I need a wide aluminum dustpan for the shop, for
example. The choices on Amazon give me neither the size, nor a way to
contact the seller to ask.

I *think* that Amazon assumes that you have already looked at
the product at a local store, and are looking for a less expensive way
to purchase it.

[ ... ]

Ebay, on the other hand, has been my salvation, I like Klingspor
sandpaper, for example. Even though it is made here, if you call them,
they will refer you to a seller in your area. If the seller doesn't
stock what you want, then tough luck. Now there are Ebay sellers out
there who will provide me with the products I want, and at a good price!
And this goes for anything from rubber gloves to carbide endmills.

eBay started out with *individuals* selling used things --
likely things no longer made-- so good photos and good descriptions were
pretty much required. While there are now a lot of commercial vendors
there, the description process is still the same.

I don't understand Amazon's reasoning for this practice, but it is
certainly a strategy.

My guess is that it is as described above -- they think that
you've already looked at it in a store, so you know what it is. And it
is up to the actual vendor to handle descriptions -- and many of those
are set up for walk-in purchases, and offer through Amazon to allo them
to move things which are slow in their inventory.

It's nice that they deliver so fast and take back
what you don't want, but why ship you stuff that you wouldn't have
ordered in the first place had they described it properly? And, why
forgo the sales on products I didn't order because I didn't have enough
information?

Again -- they think that you can walk into a store and look --
and don't take into account that you may not be in the same country.

Good Luck,
DoN.

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