McFeely's

I apologize for the hoops and trauma involved in placing international orders with McFeely's. Here are the problems I see with international commerce. It's difficult for us to use an automated system to quote international deliveries because the shippers have options which can become fairly complicated pretty quickly. If we sold a standardized product (like books or CDs), it would be easier for us to publish a simple set of S&H rates but with product lines as diverse as ours in terms of weight and packaging requirements, not to mention restrictions on exports for some, it really is a matter better suited for a custom quote. I wish that weren't the case but we'd be doing ourselves a real disservice if we even tried to publish a simplifed S&H schedule for international shipments. What would happen is we'd be wildly divergent from that schedule in terms of what we were actually billed and that would result in our either charging our customers too much or eating too much of the S&H. The former isn't how we want to run our business and the latter would eventually result in price increases, neither of which is a good long-term situation.

But, I am hopeful that the future may bring some changes.

Ron

Reply to
Ronald
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Technically, on things like out-of-state purchases, one _doesn't_ pay "sales tax", but 'use tax', which, by a strange turn of affairs, is exactly the same rate as the sales tax. They are separate and distinct items in statute and state tax regs.

On in-state purchases for "in-house use", one _should_ be paying the sales tax at the time of purchase. NYS may allow 'no tax' purchase, and belated tax submission by the purchaser, to 'make good' on in-house consumption -- Several jurisdictions that I am aware of do _not_; and one gets in significant hot water if something purchased 'exempt, for resale' is used in-house.

Reply to
Robert Bonomi

Thanks for the reply. I regularly buy from 'Woodcraft' , 'Rockler' and 'Lee Valley' with no problem. Their sites recognize an overseas address and then send an automated shipping quotation which must be accepted before the goods are sent. Hope you can get this sorted as I would like to get some goods from you. Thanks.

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Reply to
Phil Hansen

Our challenge with this is how heavy some of our items are. For the most part, nothing Woodcraft, Rockler or Lee Valley sells comes close to the stereotypical 40 lb box of screws for which we're famous.

But yes, we'll get it sorted out soon. I appreciate your feedback.

R
Reply to
Ronald

Dunno about that. They all ship some pretty hefty stuff, Emmert-clone patternmakers' vises and Sjoberg workbenches for example.

Reply to
J. Clarke

Thanks,will keep an eye on the website. Cheers

******

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Reply to
Phil Hansen

Where do you think McFeely's gets them now?

Reply to
Jack Stein

This deserves a bit of clarification however.

While we do import fasteners, they're made to our specifications. We don't just buy what's available and trust me, there is a lot of questionable stuff available to buy.

Also, it's important to note that we still do business with North American distributors. The industry changed on us and many of our manufacturing partners became import/export brokers after it became impossible for them to compete otherwise. I was there during the great change-over (as we like to refer to it) and it wasn't something for which we lobbied. We accepted it only after it became clear that the fasteners being brought over would meet our specifications. I know how seriously Jim Ray took the change as I was there to watch him write the letter to our customers.

As an aside, as a part of our standard testing process, we check for torsional strength and the quality of "bit fit". That's not to say that we never make a mistake but we're not about to accept inferior products just because they're cheaper. It goes against who we are. Our imported screws match and even exceed the torsional strength of our previous North American-made product.

Back on topic, when our manufacturing partners changed to import/ export brokers, we lowered our prices. Why? We felt that a cost reduction should be passed on to our customers. We did that even though the quality was equivalent.

Trust me, there's no desire to get rid of what makes us special. Yes, we're part of the Grainger family but we'll never lose focus of those responsible for our success. And I'm pleased to say there's been no effort to make us do so. Our goals are all related to improving our service, not lowering it.

And we have you all to hold our feet to the fire. If we fail you, call me. My contact info is in my profile and my #1 professional goal is to make sure we don't let you down.

Always yours,

Ron

Reply to
Ronald

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