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Comment by sakai | Hacker News Reader

McMaster Carr must be shuddering right now.

I've done a lot of ordering through McMaster Carr, and the ease, delivery time and selection are amazing. It's strange to say this, but they're the one company that I don't see Amazon being able to distinguish themselves from. McMaster is already operating at that level.

Delivery time is why I buy from McMaster. If I get the order in early enough, a dude in a van shows up in a few hours.

Where do you live?

My office is in the Chicago area, near O'Hare airport. Heavy industrial area which explains a lot... =)

I think they also have a big Chicago warehouse. We get the same thing living in Atlanta, and it blew away a bunch of clients that were down here working on a project that we could just drive to McMaster and get something within an hour at will-call.

I like Amazon alright, but I love McMaster. Hope they can keep it going.

McMaster's HQ is in Chicago area, Elmhurst IL - they also have a major warehouse in Atlanta (and NJ, LA, Cleveland I think, maybe others)

This happens to me with Amazon sometimes, when they ship from Nashua, NH to Nashua, NH.

Even Nashua to Cambridge has been same-day for me a couple of times.

This looks like a rebrand of SmallParts which Amazon bought a while ago. Pricing and searchability were always worse than McMaster and it doesn't seem dramatically improved now.

Yes, it is rebranded SmallParts. From their FAQ (http://www.amazonsupply.com/help/200223050/ref=sp_ft_au):

What happened to SmallParts.com? SmallParts, Inc., joined the Amazon family in 2005. In the past seven years, the dedicated team at SmallParts helped us expand our service and selection until we have grown well beyond our original focus of tubing, parts and fasteners for the medical supply and research industries. We have chosen the name AmazonSupply to help communicate our new, broader selection....

McMaster Carr is 111 years old, so they take a longer-term view. Imagine what this may be in 5 years, and 20, if Amazon keeps improving it.

They should take it as a cue to start differentiating themselves as the experts Amazon aren't. Amazon jumping in could be a rising tide, rather than a destructive force, if McMaster Carr plays their cards right.

They already have everything at fairly reasonable prices with overnight shipping(sometimes I get it the same day in the afternoon.) For me the reason I buy from mcmaster is that I need an esoteric part quickly for a project with special requirements. Mass manufacturing from them would not be wise as the prices are going to be higher than buying in bulk from a proper bulk supplier.

The website has a lot of relevant data that you need to make informed buying decisions. sometimes they even have cad file downloads with tolerances listed depending on the part.

McMaster Carr keep all the profitable commercial customers who need guaranteed delivery. and Amazon clears out all the low profit/high cost - need an occasional bit of something for a project - type customers.

Selling books/video online rather than in a store was a breakthrough area when Amazon got into it, ordering parts and materials isn't a new idea - Amazon is a lot less disruptive in this area.

My guess is that the biggest hit will be small specialist model/hobby shops, but unless you are in a few big cities there aren't any of these anyway.

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