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McMaster-Carr Catalogs
Anybody have any tips for prying a catalog out of McMaster-Carr? I've
placed 2 orders and both times I asked for a catalog also but I've never gotten one. |
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Ya'd think they would get the point and start selling them at least.......
Find out who is in their legal and marketing departments and propose that idea along with a notice that they cannot do so without paying you for the idea... They'll revolt against your legal threat and do so without asking you for permission or paying you and everyone unfortunate enough to be a small customer will be happy to have the option. :) ....I've got an old Thomas Register set I'll give you for the price of shipping and packing... :):):) Regards, Joe Agro, Jr. (800) 871-5022 http://www.AutoDrill.com http://www.Multi-Drill.com V8013-R |
Joe AutoDrill wrote: Ya'd think they would get the point and start selling them at least....... Find out who is in their legal and marketing departments and propose that idea along with a notice that they cannot do so without paying you for the idea... They'll revolt against your legal threat and do so without asking you for permission or paying you and everyone unfortunate enough to be a small customer will be happy to have the option. :) ...I've got an old Thomas Register set I'll give you for the price of shipping and packing... :):):) I dunno Joe, they just discontinued offering the printed version, so those may be worth something ;) |
I guess I am lucky. I take the outdated ones from work as soon as the new
ones arrive. Just as good as a new one accept the prices are a little off. Never knew they sold them on Ebay. Larry wrote in message oups.com... Anybody have any tips for prying a catalog out of McMaster-Carr? I've placed 2 orders and both times I asked for a catalog also but I've never gotten one. |
I guess I am lucky. I take the outdated ones from work as soon as the new
ones arrive. Just as good as a new one accept the prices are a little off. Never knew they sold them on Ebay. Larry wrote in message oups.com... Anybody have any tips for prying a catalog out of McMaster-Carr? I've placed 2 orders and both times I asked for a catalog also but I've never gotten one. |
wrote in message oups.com... Anybody have any tips for prying a catalog out of McMaster-Carr? I've placed 2 orders and both times I asked for a catalog also but I've never gotten one. I think the deal is you need to have a Brad & Dunstreet rating, and apply for a net 30 account with them...... Probly also helps if you happen to spend several grand / year with them. -- SVL |
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I think the deal is you need to have a Brad & Dunstreet rating, and apply for a net 30 account with them...... Probly also helps if you happen to spend several grand / year with them. I think it may be a frequency thing. I order an average of once per month. Most orders are under $50. So I'm small potatoes. But, I get a new catalog every year. While we're on the subject I'll put in a plug for their service. If I order by 5:30 PM, its here by 9:30 AM the next morning. Almost never a backorder or stockout. For me, its easier than going to the hardware store. Karl |
Secrets to getting a catalog:
Say you have 25 or more employees Say you are in manufacturing or steelfab, not a hobbyist Do not say you are an engineer or purchasing agent, say you are maintenance Be angry on your second call, or at least say it's your second call, and ask for a supervisor. They have (or had, while I was there) this attitude that they only send catalogs to those they "want" to do business with and meet certain criteria. Credit doesn't have anything to do with it, and if you wait for them to notice how much you order it may be a year before they do. |
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I order from MMC quite frequently and they have never sent me a printed
(or otherwise) catalog....Thank God. Yes, I know what I'm missing....A lot of weight to recycle. |
wrote in message ups.com... I order from MMC quite frequently and they have never sent me a printed (or otherwise) catalog....Thank God. Yes, I know what I'm missing....A lot of weight to recycle. I dunno. I like a printed catalog I can simply peruse for enjoyment and to stimulate ideas. There are many, many items in there you'd never guess they carried, or guess about an application until you read the information they present. Besides, my laptop is clumsy to use while I'm on the can. I'm a bit confused by people who insist they must lie to get a service. If I knew they'd lied to get a catalog, I think I'd automatically assume they'll lie to me and their other customers. I have enough other problems to make me want to avoid dishonest businessmen. If you're looking for a specific item, the online catalogs for both McMaster (better, I think) and MSC (not as good, but perfectly usable) are adequate for any ordering you do. As with anything, if you do enough volume with them to justify sending you a $30+ catalog, they will. LLoyd |
"Karl Townsend" remove .NOT to reply
wrote in nk.net: While we're on the subject I'll put in a plug for their service. If I order by 5:30 PM, its here by 9:30 AM the next morning. Almost never a backorder or stockout. For me, its easier than going to the hardware store. I'll have to agree wholeheartedly. The longest lead i've had is a week. It is usually here the next day. I have had instances where it was partial shipped out of atlanta and partial shipped from another facility, all arriving within 2 days. -- Anthony You can't 'idiot proof' anything....every time you try, they just make better idiots. Remove sp to reply via email http://www.machines-cnc.net:81/ |
To get around the silly constraints on who gets and who doesn't get a
catalog you do what you have to do. And it keeps you from getting put in a "inconsequential" classification which means you have to buy $1500 a year for a few years before they decide to treat you like the real customer you are and send you a catalog. |
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It's more along the lines of the 7-11 clerk looking at you, saying "I
like how you look, come in the store" and then the clerk looking at the next person and saying "I don't like how you look, go away, you can't come in". I'm trying to tell you how to look nice for the clerk, not how to hide something in your coat and walk out. Remember, I'm coming from doing the job of having to tell a guy who would buy from us a lot if he had a catalog that he can't have one, give him some lame reason and refer him to our website instead, because he doesn't have enough employees for his SIC code or because he has the "wrong" job title. It breaks your heart after a while. The catalog cost about $9 to produce, which is less than the manpower expense they spend deciding wether to send you one if you request it. |
Ned Simmons writes: I'm puzzled by the folks who think that a business is obliged to send them an obviously expensive catalog just because they ask for it. Especially when the whole catalog is available online in a very convenient format. Some companies actually *sell* their catalogs (although they usually also send free ones to good customers). What's interesting to me is that McMaster doesn't seem to mind providing an exceptionally high level of service to people who apparently don't deserve to get a catalog at *any* price. Do they want my business or not? I've never looked at their online catalog, but I've never seen one that was a complete replacement for a paper catalog. Anything that uses a database has the problem of how to find something if you don't whether it exists or not. Browsing through the appropriate section of a paper catalog is more likely to get results in that case. "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh" writes: I'm a bit confused by people who insist they must lie to get a service. If I knew they'd lied to get a catalog, I think I'd automatically assume they'll lie to me and their other customers. I have enough other problems to make me want to avoid dishonest businessmen. It would be nice if people were that consistent, but it's well known that people behave differently in different situations. In particular, many people lie in some situations but not in others. One source on this is "The Person and the Situation" by Ross & Nisbett (1991), but any book on lying is likely to mention it. |
If you are anywhere close to a business manufacturing almost anything, stop
in and ask if there are any "old" catalogues laying around that you could have. It's been my experience that most people receiving new cataloges seldom take the time to "update" but just put the new catalogue along with the old one. A catalogue a couple or three years old would probalby meet your needs as to specifications, etc. and a quick phone call to them would verify current prices. As to the online catalogue, why not try it? It's actually pretty nice, and you can view the actual catalogue page. When all else fails, call them! What with the prepaid phone cards, three or four cents a minute is pretty reasonable to get what you need. Ace "Ron Bean" wrote in message ... Ned Simmons writes: I'm puzzled by the folks who think that a business is obliged to send them an obviously expensive catalog just because they ask for it. Especially when the whole catalog is available online in a very convenient format. Some companies actually *sell* their catalogs (although they usually also send free ones to good customers). What's interesting to me is that McMaster doesn't seem to mind providing an exceptionally high level of service to people who apparently don't deserve to get a catalog at *any* price. Do they want my business or not? I've never looked at their online catalog, but I've never seen one that was a complete replacement for a paper catalog. Anything that uses a database has the problem of how to find something if you don't whether it exists or not. Browsing through the appropriate section of a paper catalog is more likely to get results in that case. "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh" writes: I'm a bit confused by people who insist they must lie to get a service. If I knew they'd lied to get a catalog, I think I'd automatically assume they'll lie to me and their other customers. I have enough other problems to make me want to avoid dishonest businessmen. It would be nice if people were that consistent, but it's well known that people behave differently in different situations. In particular, many people lie in some situations but not in others. One source on this is "The Person and the Situation" by Ross & Nisbett (1991), but any book on lying is likely to mention it. |
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Ned Simmons opined:
Another thing that only dawned on me recently is that McMaster *never* has specials like Grainger, MSC, et al. I ordered a coalescing filter and socket wrench adaptor at 4:45 PM on July 4 from McMaster. Both were on the front porch by 6:00 PM on July 6 (UPS ground). For me, that is very special, indeed. --Winston |
I can beat that. I am 100 miles from the Atlanta warehouse. If I get an
order in by 7:30 in the morning it is at my door by noon. Any order in by 8PM is delivered by UPS by mid afternoon. I asked my UPS driver about it. He says that UPS keeps a couple of trailers at the McMaster loading dock and pick them up every night around 9PM. Early morning orders within 100 miles or so are sent by a private delivery service. I am also among the blessed few who has received a catalog for the past couple of years but I seldom use it. It is easier to use the web site and the catalog is just to big to make good bathroom reading. :-) -- Glenn Ashmore I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com "Karl Townsend" remove .NOT to reply wrote in message nk.net... ... I think the deal is you need to have a Brad & Dunstreet rating, and apply for a net 30 account with them...... Probly also helps if you happen to spend several grand / year with them. I think it may be a frequency thing. I order an average of once per month. Most orders are under $50. So I'm small potatoes. But, I get a new catalog every year. While we're on the subject I'll put in a plug for their service. If I order by 5:30 PM, its here by 9:30 AM the next morning. Almost never a backorder or stockout. For me, its easier than going to the hardware store. Karl |
I personally don't
feel right about fibbing in this situation. Yep, no sense losing sleep over a catalog :)) |
On Wed, 6 Jul 2005 23:23:52 -0700, "PrecisionMachinisT"
wrote: wrote in message roups.com... Anybody have any tips for prying a catalog out of McMaster-Carr? I've placed 2 orders and both times I asked for a catalog also but I've never gotten one. I think the deal is you need to have a Brad & Dunstreet rating, and apply for a net 30 account with them...... Probly also helps if you happen to spend several grand / year with them. When I first started ordering from them I asked for a catalog. The salesperson asked if I had an old one (or how did I know what to order?). I answered that I had a three year old catalog liberated from someone else. She replied that McMaster-Carr considered that to be a current catalog. I kept on ordering occasionally and discovered their improved web site, and ordered a little more often. After about three years of ordering 4 or 5 times a year a catalog arrived, and a new one every year since. I have no D&B rating nor open account, just regular ordering. It paid off for them. When I began to build a new (large, complicated) house, I began ordering VERY regularly; the stack of receipts is now well over a foot thick, with a few of them running to several thousands. I might have turned elsewhere if I hadn't begun receiving catalogs. As a side note, I have five or six people who get my superceded catalogs who have all seen the speed and quality I get from McM-C. A new generation of customers from one catalog recipient. -- --Pete "Peter W. Meek" http://www.msen.com/~pwmeek/ |
On Thu, 07 Jul 2005 19:34:10 -0000, (Ron Bean)
wrote: I've never looked at their online catalog, but I've never seen one that was a complete replacement for a paper catalog. Anything that uses a database has the problem of how to find something if you don't whether it exists or not. Browsing through the appropriate section of a paper catalog is more likely to get results in that case. If you have a fast Internet connection, their online catalog is as good (in some ways better) as the hard copy. It is easier to do searches; more words in the descriptions are indexed; more info (like CAD drawings) is available; illustrations are clearer (and magnifiable); prices are up-to-date; availability is known immediately; and the speed is acceptable. The only real advantage the hard catalog has, is that it is easy to leaf through it to discover things I never knew I couldn't live without. That MAY not actually be an advantage. -- --Pete "Peter W. Meek" http://www.msen.com/~pwmeek/ |
In article , Ignoramus15786 says...
I also do not see what's the big deal about these catalogs, other than the prestige factor. I can find anything that I need by asking here and browsing their online catalog. Some folks are "online" and some folks are "hardcopy only." Often you can tell the latter because there's a lot of muffled cursing inside their offices and the sound of computer keyboards being slammed into the walls. Basically folks like us like to have pages to drool over. Strange I know but there it is. The real deal is that most of the GUIs for those online catalogs just plain suck. Jim -- ================================================== please reply to: JRR(zero) at pkmfgvm4 (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com ================================================== |
On 8 Jul 2005 15:18:12 -0700, jim rozen
wrote: In article , Ignoramus15786 says... I also do not see what's the big deal about these catalogs, other than the prestige factor. I can find anything that I need by asking here and browsing their online catalog. Some folks are "online" and some folks are "hardcopy only." Often you can tell the latter because there's a lot of muffled cursing inside their offices and the sound of computer keyboards being slammed into the walls. Basically folks like us like to have pages to drool over. Strange I know but there it is. The real deal is that most of the GUIs for those online catalogs just plain suck. Jim And while I do have wifi networking in my home..balancing a cat and a laptop on my knees while sitting on the terlet tends to lessen the enjoyment of the browsing..and the pooping Gunner "Considering the events of recent years, the world has a long way to go to regain its credibility and reputation with the US." unknown |
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