McMaster-Carr Shipping Charges?

What Jim said. I use McMaster all the time for my business. I try to hold off ordering until it's an absolute must so that I can combine shipping.

blackjack2564 said:

I once ordered some stuff at 9 am morning......it arrived SAME day at 2.15pm! I'll never forget that, it's a record for me.

I got some nichrome from them last fall ....in 2 days. Have been using them for 15 yrs with no complaints. Need real help, just call you will get fast friendly help looking for items or descriptions.

Yes they are an industrial supplier and geared for that, so don't expect stupid cheap shipping [ala-Amazon] BUT be amazed at all the stuff they carry & how reliable and fast they are.

Here's a copy of my invoice, you decide if it's fair, I certainly thought it was.

View attachment 268752

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I too have been happy with McMaster in the past. I just wanted to see if their shipping was still fair, since you don't find out what it is until after you order. Thanks for posting your invoice. Your shipping cost of about $7 for 4 pounds seems quite reasonable.

McMaster charges their actual fees from UPS, they generally don't know what it is until
after the package is packed and weighed. They have a great deal with UPS. That is the
reason for the delay, but it has never been more than one business day until you get the
email. I have an account set up with them and they email status and invoice regularly.

Folks in our club have been using this site with good results for general hardware items:

https://www.trimcraftaviationrc.com/

When I ordered my 1010 rail from McMaster-Carr, the shipping was higher than the cost of the rail due to the size (Length) of the shipping container. I ended up increasing my order to two rails to help offset the cost of shipping. Be prepared for such costs.

Ordered some foam pipe insulation. About $30 worth. McMaster is about a 25min. drive to NJ.

$36 in shipping. The 6ft box didnt even weigh 2lbs.
Still fighting them.

I can ship a 25lb "O" motor case to CA for that.

Ive gotten stuff that will fit in a sml box, they will ship in a much larger box to bump up shipping.

People need to to call and complain.

Most carriers have gone to dimensional shipping charges so your rates are based on the size of the package. Years ago, the company I worked for shipped things that were pretty light, so we got hit with dimensional charges all the time. The sale rep explained that a 2 cubic foot box of ping pong balls took up as much space in the truck/plane as 2 cubic feet of brick.

I started this thread a few months back. I forget what the shipping ended up being, but I remember being totally fine with it. And the metric rail was so awesome looking.

... Still haven't mounted it on a pad, though...

lcorinth said:

I started this thread a few months back. I forget what the shipping ended up being, but I remember being totally fine with it. And the metric rail was so awesome looking.

... Still haven't mounted it on a pad, though...

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They are awesome. Once I received mine, the shipping charge became a wash, as the rail nearly pays for itself ( not really), but the purchase was worth every penny!

rocketsaway said:

Ordered some foam pipe insulation. About $30 worth. McMaster is about a 25min. drive to NJ.

$36 in shipping. The 6ft box didnt even weigh 2lbs.
Still fighting them.

I can ship a 25lb "O" motor case to CA for that.

Ive gotten stuff that will fit in a sml box, they will ship in a much larger box to bump up shipping.

People need to to call and complain.

Click to expand...

Ed

I calculated the approximate cost to ship a estimated 72" x 10 " x 10" box weighing 2 pounds from MMC to your house using the on-line UPS shipping cost calculator. The UPS Ground price would be $36.90 based on a dimensional weight of 44 pounds and a package length exceeding 60".

All package services have went to charging the minimum dimension weight when the packaging exceeds 3 cubic feet in volume by ground (for air is it is 1 cubic foot). I estimated your package volume is 4.17 cubic feet. https://www.ups.com/content/us/en/r...t.html?srch_pos=1&srch_phr=dimensional+weight

The UPS calculator give the following pricing from your order derived from the information you gave here.

If you have a UPS or FedEx commercial account and subscribe to their e-mail update services, both companies sent notices on these changes within the past year.

Bottom line is it is much cheaper to order big, light-weight and/or long stuff from your local wholesaler/big box store on-line. Most ship to their closest store/distributor to you at no charge. If you are willing to go and pick-up your order at your local Lowes, Home Depot, Wal-Mart. Grainger's, Tractor Supply, 80/20,, etc. distributor/store, you get lower prices and pay no shipping charges.

Bob