Amazon Supply’s days are numbered. Amazon Supply was born out of Small Parts, a somewhat specialty industrial parts and materials supplier that Amazon purchased a couple of years ago. Since then, it has been run as a separate industrial supply site aimed at business customers.
This morning I received an email notifying me that Amazon Supply will soon be “upgraded” to Amazon Business. The same thing happened to Amazon’s contractor and building supply trial program, but that was just a program and not a different Amazon site.
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The email says:
Hello from Amazon,
We’re emailing to inform you that AmazonSupply is being upgraded to Amazon Business, a new marketplace on Amazon.com with a suite of features built for business. Effective May 13, customers who visit AmazonSupply will be redirected to Amazon.com, where they will have access to the product selection previously found on AmazonSupply.com, plus hundreds of millions of additional products. You will need to create a new account to shop on Amazon.com, and your AmazonSupply order history will not transition to your Amazon.com account.
There’s a bit more in the email about Amazon Business, but this was the important part.
Have you ever used Amazon Supply? I haven’t. The only time I remember linking to them was when they allowed purchases of a heavily discounted Fein MultiMaster even after Amazon.com sold out and delisted it. But I have bought tools, fasteners, and materials from Small Parts in the past.
This is really minor news, but I found it to be a little sad nonetheless. Not because I used Amazon Supply, but because it signals the final days of Small Parts. Ok, so maybe Small Parts faded out of existence a couple of years ago. But Amazon Supply was that last link, that last remnant of a once much-loved supplier.
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I suppose I cannot complain too much. Once Amazon started fulfilling Small Parts orders, I took advantage of a lot of their fantastic tool deals.
Oh well.
Eric
I’m perfectly fine with this. It sounds like everything will still be there, but now I only have to visit one site to look for stuff instead of two.
Stuart
The last I checked, there was nothing carried at Amazon Supply that wasn’t cross-listed at Amazon.
Joe A
I never even knew it existed!
Bob S
I have used Amazon Supply in the past, It was nice because it offered many things that were not available on Amazon.com. I think consolidating the two makes good sense.
MT_Noob
Wow, I literally learned about Amazon supply 2 days ago from a link that was being forwarded from a Small Part link in a random forum. I never even had a chance to check either of them out.
So where do we go now for small parts? What is your recommendation for miscellaneous nuts bolts fasteners etc? I was looking for an assortment of c-clips at the time.
Stuart
McMaster Carr, MSC, Enco, Zoro, Amazon, whichever has best combination of price and expediency that I need.
MT_Noob
Thanks, I have added those to my bookmarks.
Phil
I had gotten some rectangular tube stock, hardware assortments and the Multimaster deal from Amazon Supply in the past. At most four orders total. I’ve cut back on project requiring lots of industrial supply stuff as I work my way through spine issues. These days with projects picking up, I have to remember my old account info won’t work.
WBC
The problem with all of Amazon’s segments is that they’re so cluttered and unfocused to the point of near uselessness. Shopping for car parts on Amazon.com is a hassle, compared to say RockAuto’s much better organized auto parts website. And that is how I felt about AmazonSupply as well, I would just head over to McMaster as they have the industrial supply website thing nailed.
Amazon is so big, such a behemoth, that they’re clumsy and not good at anything anymore.
SteveR
WBC–I’ve not used these ancillary sites, so I can’t comment personally. To be honest, I occasionally used McMaster-Carr for parts or small items, but disliked the fact that you usually wouldn’t know who the manufacturer of a given item was. I wouldn’t know what I’ve purchased until it showed up, which might require a return, then having to buy the item somewhere else. The other problem is that McMaster-Carr doesn’t provide photos of the product; rather, you get a drawing of a generic soldering iron kit, or of the pliers style you might be purchasing, or whatever. This is the case whether it’s in their paper catalog or you’re shopping online. When I e-mailed them to register my concern, they brushed it off, basically questioning my reason for knowing who made the product. As a result, I now only by bolts and washers from them, and only when I can’t get them somewhere else.
If you find Amazon’s sites so troublesome to use, why not send an e-mail to them to register your frustration? They’ve always been helpful and fair with me. If they knew customers were frustrated and going elsewhere, they might change to meet customer needs. It can’t hurt to try, and it could be a win-win.
Stuart
McMaster pisses me off as well. I received aluminum stock that was gouged at one part with deep cut marks. I complained and all they said was that their products are intended for industrial applications and basically to suck it up or return it on my dime.
I’ve bought raw metal extrusions and materials from other industrial suppliers that were in far better condition, if not perfect.
KL
I’m glad I’m not the only one! McMaster does not care about the little guy and they’ll almost tell you that if you call about a damaged product.
ktash
Another place to buy small parts is J.W. Winco. http://www.jwwinco.com/ I’ve ordered from them in the past and had good luck. They have both imperial and metric sizes, too. The only problem is shipping if you just need a few small items (like I normally do). I think they cutoff is about $35, but not sure since it’s been awhile. Unlike amazon prime members who can get free shipping.
ktash
Forgot to add that I’ve only used Amazon Supply to buy the Fein tool and I think the gyro screwdriver, but not sure. When I have remembered look at their site it seems the product is also on Amazon and is sometimes less expensive on the main site.
ktash
I just checked winco’s site and free shipping kicks in at $20, so not too bad, though I often don’t meet that cutoff either because I do small projects mostly.
KL
I just hope Small Parts doesn’t go away entirely? I always find killer deals on random aluminum or acetal stock. The flip-side of Amazon being so huge is that there are deals to be had if you’re willing to dig. The Amazon-Bot doesn’t view products as products but rather numbers that sell or don’t sell.
Jim Felt
Another example of Pogo/Walt Kelly gone awry: “We have met the future and he is Amazon”…