> McMaster Carr, a company worth a little over a billion, sells metal, bolts, casters, and many other industrial bits and bobs. Their website is infinitely better than Amazons
I’ve bought a few dozen things from McMaster. For very competent people who know precisely what they want it is good, but I do find I spend an hour looking at the specs of “doodad” which will almost meet my needs when I stumble onto “doodaddy” which is a better fit. After I buy it, a friend points out they sell “doodada” which is even better.
Note I’m an engineer, but didn’t study in North America, so the names of things are different.
McMaster is terrible for product discovery, you have to know the precise name of the thing you want.
For the average person on the street Amazon is better.
I’ve bought a few dozen things from McMaster. For very competent people who know precisely what they want it is good, but I do find I spend an hour looking at the specs of “doodad” which will almost meet my needs when I stumble onto “doodaddy” which is a better fit. After I buy it, a friend points out they sell “doodada” which is even better.
Note I’m an engineer, but didn’t study in North America, so the names of things are different.
McMaster is terrible for product discovery, you have to know the precise name of the thing you want.
For the average person on the street Amazon is better.