Re: M_Boats: M-15 Genoa Cost of Hardware
We have a dearth of chandleries and marine supply outlets here in the Midwest, and the local West shop is minutes away and serves me well when I need just two more stainless fasteners of whatever sort, or a small resupply of Gougeon epoxies, to finish up a job in progress. It also serves as a kind of IRL catalog, which is nice because I don't like to make purchases sight unseen (too often get the "perfect" item, in a dimension one inch too wide to work for me, or needing more interior clearance than I'd anticipated, and such), and because as any shop inventor/craftsperson knows, physically poking around in bins of items can be conducive to having a Plan B design come into your head that trumps the idea you were getting supplies for. There's always something new under the sun out there. I like to try support local businesses, but if I'm in it for more than $10 or $20, then I'll take my gleaned information to the internet. I get to avoid sales tax (usually), and the shipping cost rarely eats up the savings on the pricier items. You can modify your order to make the most of the shipping, depending on whether the vendor is basing it on dollar value of the order or weight of the goods. Based on recommendations here, I just took delivery of a mainsail prefeeder, from Annapolis Performance Sailing (www.apsltd.com). It's exactly what I wanted, a great design improvement over what I'm replacing, though I don't have the sense of having gotten a "bargain." You just have to decide what you want and whether you're willing to pay for it. As it turns out, West Marine sells the exact same prefeeder. It's $7 more than APS', but I had to pay APS $7 in shipping. So for a difference of $5 in Minnesota sales tax on the deal, it didn't really matter whether I bought from West or off the net. And the tradeoff for that $5 is that I'd have had the item immediately, if I'd needed it. I guess you have to be careful to do the research on each item purchased, especially if it's a big-ticket number. I'm searching mightily for a supply of teak or mahogany marine plywood to replace my companionway boards, and though I'm still searching, I stumbled over this boatbuilder's site and made a few impulse purchases of small items. Very fast service, order processing with a "thank you," and very reasonable pricing: Duckworks Boat Builders Supply -- www.duckworksbbs.com Though I grew up farming and ranching, and learned to weld and machine and fabricate equipment and supplies as needed, I do like to have the "just right," Bristol bright, stainless and strong fixtures and equipment for my boat, so sometimes I pay more than I probably should for the genuine article. And sometimes that's what makes it the genuine article. I spent 30 years as a 3M spouse, yet for all the projects I've worked on in that time, I rarely used 3M products if a reasonable alternative was available, because I just felt so darn ripped off by the markup and the huge price disparity between name-brand and store-brand. It's too bad, because 3M has a ton of marine products. But when you're buying 3M stuff through West Marine, wow, button the flap on the wallet pocket. Steven M15 #324 Stillwater, MN ************** Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with Tyler Florence" on AOL Food. (http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&; NCID=aolfod00030000000002)
GOOD POINTS STEVEN. IN ADDITION, THE ON-LINE SUPPLIERS DON'T OFFER FREE- TO-THE-PUBLIC VENUES FOR USCG CLASSES IN BOATING SAFETY/NAVIGATION COURSES EITHER. IN A RETIRED STATE, I DON'T FREELY THROW MY MONEY AROUND THESE DAYS, BUT DON'T MIND SUPPORTING LOCAL SUPPLIERS THAT GIVE BACK TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITY. AND NO, I DON'T WORK FOR NOW OR EVER WEST MARINE. I HAVE A VERY CLOSE FRIEND WHO WORKS AT A LOCAL MARINE SUPPLIER THAT GIVES ME 40% OFF RETAIL, BUT I STILL SUPPORT WEST MARINE NOW AND AGAIN. OKAY, TAKE A DEEP BREATH BILL M17 #632 Paint4Real@aol.com wrote: We have a dearth of chandleries and marine supply outlets here in the Midwest, and the local West shop is minutes away and serves me well when I need just two more stainless fasteners of whatever sort, or a small resupply of Gougeon epoxies, to finish up a job in progress. It also serves as a kind of IRL catalog, which is nice because I don't like to make purchases sight unseen (too often get the "perfect" item, in a dimension one inch too wide to work for me, or needing more interior clearance than I'd anticipated, and such), and because as any shop inventor/craftsperson knows, physically poking around in bins of items can be conducive to having a Plan B design come into your head that trumps the idea you were getting supplies for. There's always something new under the sun out there. I like to try support local businesses, but if I'm in it for more than $10 or $20, then I'll take my gleaned information to the internet. I get to avoid sales tax (usually), and the shipping cost rarely eats up the savings on the pricier items. You can modify your order to make the most of the shipping, depending on whether the vendor is basing it on dollar value of the order or weight of the goods. Based on recommendations here, I just took delivery of a mainsail prefeeder, from Annapolis Performance Sailing (www.apsltd.com). It's exactly what I wanted, a great design improvement over what I'm replacing, though I don't have the sense of having gotten a "bargain." You just have to decide what you want and whether you're willing to pay for it. As it turns out, West Marine sells the exact same prefeeder. It's $7 more than APS', but I had to pay APS $7 in shipping. So for a difference of $5 in Minnesota sales tax on the deal, it didn't really matter whether I bought from West or off the net. And the tradeoff for that $5 is that I'd have had the item immediately, if I'd needed it. I guess you have to be careful to do the research on each item purchased, especially if it's a big-ticket number. I'm searching mightily for a supply of teak or mahogany marine plywood to replace my companionway boards, and though I'm still searching, I stumbled over this boatbuilder's site and made a few impulse purchases of small items. Very fast service, order processing with a "thank you," and very reasonable pricing: Duckworks Boat Builders Supply -- www.duckworksbbs.com Though I grew up farming and ranching, and learned to weld and machine and fabricate equipment and supplies as needed, I do like to have the "just right," Bristol bright, stainless and strong fixtures and equipment for my boat, so sometimes I pay more than I probably should for the genuine article. And sometimes that's what makes it the genuine article. I spent 30 years as a 3M spouse, yet for all the projects I've worked on in that time, I rarely used 3M products if a reasonable alternative was available, because I just felt so darn ripped off by the markup and the huge price disparity between name-brand and store-brand. It's too bad, because 3M has a ton of marine products. But when you're buying 3M stuff through West Marine, wow, button the flap on the wallet pocket. Steven M15 #324 Stillwater, MN ************** Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with Tyler Florence" on AOL Food. (http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?& NCID=aolfod00030000000002) _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
participants (2)
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Paint4Real＠aol.com -
William Larson