Zoro & free shipping

[rmwarren]

I've had good experiences with Zoro the few times I used them, often for obscure stuff that they had readily available. I know [member=44099]Cheese[/member] is a fan also, they have an interesting backstory. I've used WW Grainger for ~40 years for industrial hardware.

I learned the hard way that if you don't charge your expensive gadgets every so often, the batteries go bad. In the case of the Jabra speakerphone, it's even in the warranty info I never read. The 2 batteries were readily available from Zoro, $40 bucks & change. Free shipping was $50.

What I needed:

[attachimg=1]

What I added to hit $50:

[attachimg=2]

Turns out they drop ship from multiple facilities, which kinda bit them in the butt. I even feel a little guilty.

RMW

 

[Michael Kellough]

Free shipping at chewy.com could use some fine tuning too.

If I order three 25# bags they ship free sine the order is over $49.
Three bags is too heavy for one carton so it actual comes in two separate shipments, every time.
They’d make more money if they lowered the value of the minimum order for litter.

 

[semenza]

Turns out they drop ship from multiple facilities, which kinda bit them in the butt. I even feel a little guilty.

RMW

  You have to assume that Zoro has that factored into their business. I wouldn't give it another thought.

Seth

 

[rmwarren]

Turns out they drop ship from multiple facilities, which kinda bit them in the butt. I even feel a little guilty.

RMW

  You have to assume that Zoro has that factored into their business. I wouldn't give it another thought.

Seth

No problema.

Per the article they are focused on small-mid sized business, I assume any $50.01 order is a loss leader and they'll make their money on repeat business. It was impressive to see they have 4M SKUs that all drop ship.

RMW

 

[semenza]

Turns out they drop ship from multiple facilities, which kinda bit them in the butt. I even feel a little guilty.

RMW

  You have to assume that Zoro has that factored into their business. I wouldn't give it another thought.

Seth

No problema.

Per the article they are focused on small-mid sized business, I assume any $50.01 order is a loss leader and they'll make their money on repeat business. It was impressive to see they have 4M SKUs that all drop ship.

RMW

I  didn't read the article. 4M SKUs! Wow. Though I suppose that drop shipping makes it easier to have a lot of SKUs. I have bought quite a bit from them over the years. I think most of their stuff is drop shipped. I recall getting things from lots of different places and a variety of shipping methods.

Seth

 

[rvieceli]

The article referenced was from 2020, I was looking at a late 2022 article which said 600 employees and 11 million products.

$1 billion in sales in 2022

I like ZORO their prices are competitive, shipping is fast and there are usually 20% or 15% coupons

Ron

 

[luvmytoolz]

I learned the hard way that if you don't charge your expensive gadgets every so often, the batteries go bad.

Most modern batteries are pretty easy to rejuvenate so they then charge to full capacity.

 

[Cheese]

I'm a big fan of Zoro, but I also like to keep the RS Hughes card close to the chest for purchasing 3M abrasive products. Whereas most of the 3M suppliers require you to purchase a "full package" of 3M abrasives, RS Hughes will usually sell you a single 3M abrasive item. I've purchased single band file belts along with single Scotch-Brite pads and 10-packs of Cubitron and Xtract sandpaper.

Just to add to this free shipping discussion, I recently purchased $210 of 3M abrasive products from RS Hughes and paid a $15 flat fee for shipping. The products were shipped from 6 different locations in 8 separate shipments. The abrasives were shipped from, Miramar FL, Carol Stream IL, Salt Lake City UT, Austin TX, Maple Grove MN and Marietta GA. I had the UPS guys showing up multiple times on the same day to deliver the order.

I think I got my $15 worth on that order.  [smile]

Update: I just notice these words on the bottom of all 8 invoices in bold, NO MINIMUM ORDER

 

[rmwarren]

I learned the hard way that if you don't charge your expensive gadgets every so often, the batteries go bad.

Most modern batteries are pretty easy to rejuvenate so they then charge to full capacity.

[member=75933]luvmytoolz[/member] I attempted this on a DeWalt 20V bricked using with a cobbled-together DIY light that I hadn't included a voltage limiter circuit on, to no avail. I don't recall the actual method, something found on YT.

If you have experience with a specific method that would work on a USB charged BT speakerphone, I'm listening.

Thanks,

RMW

 

[luvmytoolz]

I learned the hard way that if you don't charge your expensive gadgets every so often, the batteries go bad.

Most modern batteries are pretty easy to rejuvenate so they then charge to full capacity.

[member=75933]luvmytoolz[/member] I attempted this on a DeWalt 20V bricked using with a cobbled-together DIY light that I hadn't included a voltage limiter circuit on, to no avail. I don't recall the actual method, something found on YT.

If you have experience with a specific method that would work on a USB charged BT speakerphone, I'm listening.

Thanks,

RMW

If the batteries are Li-ION there's a better than very good chance of recovery. Usually what happens is the batteries fall below a voltage level that the intelligent controller in the charger can't detect what's connected so won't charge. In this case simply connect a power supply or a similar rated battery pack of the same voltage rating (current rating doesn't matter) + to + and - to - for 5 to 10 minutes. This will usually bring up the cell voltage enough so the charger will then charge it.

This is assuming that unlike the early Makita LXT's there's no inbuilt fuse that blows if the voltage drops too low and stops it from ever being charged again. You might need to open the battery pack to get to the terminals directly depending on if there's some control circuitry wired in.

 

[rmwarren]

Thanks. I've got to open it up anyway to solder in the replacements, I'll try to hotwire before making the swap. There info out there about replacing them so I doubt there's a fuse.

RMW

 

[luvmytoolz]

Thanks. I've got to open it up anyway to solder in the replacements, I'll try to hotwire before making the swap. There info out there about replacing them so I doubt there's a fuse.

RMW

The last Mirka sander I bought the batteries were DOA as they'd been sitting on the shelf too long, so they sent out two brand new ones under warranty. I used some paper clips to get to the inside of the -/+ terminals of the old ones and connected them up with some wire, 10 mins later had them charging and they've been like new since. I've done the same with Makita and DeWalt batteries no problem.

You just need to raise the voltage a bit so they're recognised by the charger circuitry.

 

[squall_line]

I've tried this with a Festool battery that came to me DOA from Recon, and while I'm able to float it up to a high enough charge that it will be recognized by the charger, and it will take a charge, it will not hold that charge, so I'm convinced one of the cells are bad.  YMMV.

 

[Cheese]

This was a very common problem with the earlier Milwaukee batteries. If I remember correctly, they didn't have to be at zero voltage for the charger to refuse to charge them. A simple drop of 4-5 volts was all that was needed. I made up a couple of 12 gauge wires with alligator clips, hooked them up + to + & - to - to solve the problem.

Another battery noted for this condition, is the Paslode batteries for their earlier gas guns.  They were much more frustrating because the battery terminal was a silver bump on each side of the battery case. Nothing to clip wires to, to bump them up in voltage, charging wires had to be electrically taped to each terminal.  [mad]  Eventually I just quit using the guns.

 

[todd_fuller]

I'm a big fan of Zoro, but I also like to keep the RS Hughes card close to the chest for purchasing 3M abrasive products. Whereas most of the 3M suppliers require you to purchase a "full package" of 3M abrasives, RS Hughes will usually sell you a single 3M abrasive item. I've purchased single band file belts along with single Scotch-Brite pads and 10-packs of Cubitron and Xtract sandpaper.

A word of caution on RS Hughes. I've generally had a good experience. However, be careful for backordered items. While they allow you to order a single item, if they don't have it, it will sit backordered for AGES. I ordered a Loctite Pro Pump dispenser (if you use thread lockers, this is an amazing accessory) end of 2021 and it finally shipped mid 2023!