I find that Amazon definitely builds in shipping on their lower cost items especially the third party items. Stuff like brake fluid and engine oil is almost always pricier than I can buy locally.
The bummer is most of the big distributors business model is to give discounts to contractors so if someone walks in off the street with cash they charge full price. The mill I used to work for used Fastenal for a few years for "everything". Fastenal had a local store that serviced our account and even though it was quality stuff, like Grainger, the counter prices to the walk in public were marked full retail. The mill had a negotiated discount in the 30 or 40% range with Fastenal but unlike Grainger, an employee could not do a cash sale on the mill account. One of our electrical engineers was an electrician on the side and he had the mills discount on his account. He got 40% off the list at the counter so I usually bought him lunch and still made out well ahead.
Back just out of college I had a friend that drove for NAPA all over rural Maine starting at 6 at night and going all night. He had the keys to all the stores he delivered to. He had 50% off Napa counter prices. I think they assumed that if they didn't give him a great discount he would just help himself as at most of these stores, he had the keys to the entire store. No cage or loading dock bay, just the keys to the back door. Kind of creepy going into a store in rural town that rolled up the sidewalks at night. He had a big flashlight that could serve as club and plenty of lights on the truck to light things up.
The bummer is most of the big distributors business model is to give discounts to contractors so if someone walks in off the street with cash they charge full price. The mill I used to work for used Fastenal for a few years for "everything". Fastenal had a local store that serviced our account and even though it was quality stuff, like Grainger, the counter prices to the walk in public were marked full retail. The mill had a negotiated discount in the 30 or 40% range with Fastenal but unlike Grainger, an employee could not do a cash sale on the mill account. One of our electrical engineers was an electrician on the side and he had the mills discount on his account. He got 40% off the list at the counter so I usually bought him lunch and still made out well ahead.
Back just out of college I had a friend that drove for NAPA all over rural Maine starting at 6 at night and going all night. He had the keys to all the stores he delivered to. He had 50% off Napa counter prices. I think they assumed that if they didn't give him a great discount he would just help himself as at most of these stores, he had the keys to the entire store. No cage or loading dock bay, just the keys to the back door. Kind of creepy going into a store in rural town that rolled up the sidewalks at night. He had a big flashlight that could serve as club and plenty of lights on the truck to light things up.
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