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McMaster-Carr
- Thread starter DavidR8
- Start date
Brent H
Ultra Member
@David_R8 : For some reason they do not ship to Canadian residential. You may be Ok if you set up a wee business name and go that route. I think mostly it has to do with returns.
I order a lot of items for the ship as they have a great selection, nothing is typically "out of stock" and they deliver in a day or two.
They have lots of items you can use to fix things up - gears, oilers, belts pulleys etc
I order a lot of items for the ship as they have a great selection, nothing is typically "out of stock" and they deliver in a day or two.
They have lots of items you can use to fix things up - gears, oilers, belts pulleys etc
Yes, I 've ordered from them (successfully) but that was 2 or 3 years ago and I may have used my business name at the time. I've bought some small quantities of tool steels from them as well as some un-usual fasteners from them.
They have a huge selection of industrial supplies that are hard to find elsewhere. Not the cheapest but still a good source for some hard to find items. Just a browse through their online catalogue is quite interesting.
They have a huge selection of industrial supplies that are hard to find elsewhere. Not the cheapest but still a good source for some hard to find items. Just a browse through their online catalogue is quite interesting.
Yes great place, but.... unless you are a company or institution they are not interested in personal accounts. They abandoned CDN orders like this probably 10 years ago, citing too much wasted effort & expense on customs/Nafta paperwork. If you have access to them via your workplace or your own business, lucky you.
I order from M-C but through a friend that has a business. Easier than convincing M-C or going through the hassle of setting one up. I doubt going through the cost of setting up a valid business would be worth it. They do have wide selection of products. Often I use their catalog to find the correct name for certain items and source them elsewhere.
You can register a trade name at any registry. It cost me 35 bucks 25 years ago for the “search” to see if anyone already had the name.
It’s not a corporation mind you but I can open an account at a bank etc.
I use it when A “company” is required , like when I got access to coop card locks
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The McMaster site is good at providing cad drawings for a lot of there stuff. Useful for doing 3d prints and getting templates into fusion
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That's it good for life and that would give me access to suppliers that require a business name/number?
Pretty sure they require a GST number in order to start ordering from them.
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-ag...pics/gst-hst-businesses/account-register.html
https://www.alberta.ca/register-business-name.aspx
I wonder how much hassle that would be?
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-ag...pics/gst-hst-businesses/account-register.html
https://www.alberta.ca/register-business-name.aspx
I wonder how much hassle that would be?
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Wife and I used to have our own "Company". Registering a "Company" could open a whole can of worms such as having to file an annual report to the Registrar of Companies and filing an Income Tax return with Revenue Canada.
Some people might just make up a name like "Billy Bob's Machine" and open an account.
Some people might just make up a name like "Billy Bob's Machine" and open an account.
Just out of curiosity, I checked my account with McMaster-Carr -- its still there - in my personal name (not a company name). I did have to re-activate it because I hadn't used it in several years and it had slid into their "in-active" category, had to get a new password etc. but it is there and seems to be an "active account".
I'm not an accountant & I suspect there are much better qualified forum members that have businesses who can chime in. John's first link is what I have referenced in the past. Registering for a business (BN) is the most basic, but is kind of limited. There may be vendors that will provide you goods on this basis alone that they otherwise wouldn't sell to a personal name, but I think its more a throwback to a prior era. Kind of like printing your own business cards at Staples, its basically a label. Some vendors won't sell to Joe Blow because they have a perception businesses will be bigger sales transaction (which may be true or false, but its their decision not yours). Others may be purely for liability reasons. I've encountered this myself. Some products the government has decided should not be off the shelf available to the public, only commercial.
I believe the next level, typical small business is when you also have a GST# registered/linked to the BN. There is probably some $ threshold when you require GST# registration. When you sell an item or service you add GST. When you buy inventory or tools you get GST credit. I know that when customs is involved, shipping requires this GST number. And I think paid consultants also require GST#. So yes, I think any above requires some kind of GST submission for tax purposes. The more fundamental issue is a business must have some reasonable expectation of profit (however they word it). If you buy a bunch of tools & materials for yourself & don't sell any product or services (no revenue) that becomes a loss. That's still not an issue in itself, but is basically asking CRA to have a looksee what's going on.
Getting back to McMaster, its entirely a company policy. They will sell to Joe Blow if he lives inside the USA, that's why Americans love the place. This used to be the case long time ago for Canucks, but as mentioned, they came to the conclusion that 20$ worth of bolts was costing them $50 in expense prepping the customs paperwork, so they ended it. But larger business accounts essentially no change. I know this because I spoke with them at that time. There could be some legacy accounts that they may still honor, that would be a good thing.
I wish they were accessible because they are fantastic 1-stop shopping, everything comes in 1 box. But I'm kind of over it now. I'll find the same items eventually because they don't make anything unique themselves. We also tried hard to order & drop ship to USA but they made it very difficult. I suspect they screen CC#, IP address... & deem this to be foreign based order. It looks like it goes through and then you get an email saying 'there was a problem with your order'. If anyone has any update to this I'm all ears but I think that's still the case. That then leaves options like a USA buddy who orders on your behalf, or a business re-shipper, which typically adds 15-20% to the transaction & more processing time.
I believe the next level, typical small business is when you also have a GST# registered/linked to the BN. There is probably some $ threshold when you require GST# registration. When you sell an item or service you add GST. When you buy inventory or tools you get GST credit. I know that when customs is involved, shipping requires this GST number. And I think paid consultants also require GST#. So yes, I think any above requires some kind of GST submission for tax purposes. The more fundamental issue is a business must have some reasonable expectation of profit (however they word it). If you buy a bunch of tools & materials for yourself & don't sell any product or services (no revenue) that becomes a loss. That's still not an issue in itself, but is basically asking CRA to have a looksee what's going on.
Getting back to McMaster, its entirely a company policy. They will sell to Joe Blow if he lives inside the USA, that's why Americans love the place. This used to be the case long time ago for Canucks, but as mentioned, they came to the conclusion that 20$ worth of bolts was costing them $50 in expense prepping the customs paperwork, so they ended it. But larger business accounts essentially no change. I know this because I spoke with them at that time. There could be some legacy accounts that they may still honor, that would be a good thing.
I wish they were accessible because they are fantastic 1-stop shopping, everything comes in 1 box. But I'm kind of over it now. I'll find the same items eventually because they don't make anything unique themselves. We also tried hard to order & drop ship to USA but they made it very difficult. I suspect they screen CC#, IP address... & deem this to be foreign based order. It looks like it goes through and then you get an email saying 'there was a problem with your order'. If anyone has any update to this I'm all ears but I think that's still the case. That then leaves options like a USA buddy who orders on your behalf, or a business re-shipper, which typically adds 15-20% to the transaction & more processing time.
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You should give it a go. I suspect you would be a very popular person on the forum. Really!
Go for it and let us know.