Get Connected--Buying Tools Online
ou can't always spare a man to drive to town replace and that busted tool that you know you'll need tomorrow.
Source: TOOLS OF THE TRADE Magazine
Publication date: 2001-03-01
By Michael Morris Everyday you put in long, hard hours, and most of the time you and your crew run to beat the clock. You can't always spare a man to drive into town to replace that busted tool or shop for tools you don't have but know you'll need tomorrow.
Technology to the rescue. Now you can grab your laptop from the truck, sit down during a coffee break, and browse the Internet for tools you need at prices your local supplier would find hard to match. You can compare specs on just about every tool available, pick out what you want, tell the seller where and when you want it delivered (overnight, if necessary), and they'll send it straight out to the site.
Tools to Go
Anything that sounds too good to be true probably isn't true, and although the above scenario is fact, not fiction, online shopping still is not a perfect way to buy tools–yet. After all, you can't pick up that tool to check its balance or grip, you can't eyeball its fit, finish, or workmanship quality, and you can't feel the way critical parts operate. But if you've already scoped out a particular tool and you know what you want, buying tools online is as easy as having a pizza delivered.
If you haven't gone online to try out this system, you're in for a surprise. In the past year or two, hundreds of stores have opened up on the Web to sell tradespeople just about every kind of tool, part, and material imaginable.
Some of these Web sites are inventory clearinghouses that offer random and ever-changing mixes of tools. Some sites are aimed at consumer do-it-yourselfers, others at hobbyists like woodworkers. Many tool sites were started long ago by the Web's "early adopters" and remain small-shop operations. Those that are still in business seem quaint compared to the full-featured sites operated by more recent (and better-funded) megatraders like Amazon.com, CornerHardware.com, Home Depot, Lowe's, Sears Craftsman, Ace Hardware, and others.
There are good reasons why all these entrepreneurs are so eager to offer online tool sales, and why they go after builders and tradespeople. A recent study commissioned by Amazon.com found that just about half of the people who buy and use tools are involved in commercial or industrial construction. The study also showed that:
- Nearly half of all tool users log onto the Internet at least once a day.
- Nearly one-third have purchased products online, and half of them bought tools from online stores.
- Virtually all respondents who bought tools online plan to do so again.
- Two out of five respondents who haven't bought tools online yet say they're likely to do so eventually.
Early last year, Amazon.com decided it wanted in on the online tool sales game, but it didn't want to waste time building a new site. So it acquired the online and catalog sales division of Tool Crib of the North, one of the Web's largest, most established tool sellers. (Tool Crib stores in North Dakota and Minnesota remain an independent operation. To help draw customers to its site, Amazon also licenses reprint editorial material from <i>Hanley-Wood's Tools of the Trade</i>.)
According to Eric Broussard, general manager of the Web site (www.toolcrib.amazon.com), "online is a great place to do research, a great place to get nformation on a huge number of tools. And there's convenience: We're open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. You also have different shipping options, depending on how quickly you want the tool."
Broussard admits there are drawbacks to buying online, but says they're like those of any mail-order catalog operation. "You can get a tool delivered overnight, but you can't get it today," he says. "And if testing is part of the buying experience for you, if you want to hold that tool before you buy it, we might not be your best choice." Buyers also must pay shipping costs to receive or return tools, but he adds that toolcrib.amazon charges only $5.99 to ship most items. Purchases above $199 are shipped free, and the company offers a 30-day, no-questions-asked return policy for all items.
The major Web sites have size and scale advantages over the smaller sites – and over many local brick-and-mortar tool stores. "We have over 10,000 tool and equipment inventory items, over 25,000 if you count hardware in general," says Rich Mathews, toolcrib.amazon's product manager. "And we are priced very competitively. We don't offer volume or contractor discounts, but we'll beat anyone else's price or pay you 10 percent above the difference."
Selling to professionals is where the real online profits are, according to some 'Net experts. A growing number of Web tool stores are targeting builders and tradespeople exclusively.
True Value Hardware's consumer Web site (www.TrueValue.com) allows co-op store members to create individual online accounts for one type of customer in particular – the professional. As chief information officer Neil Hastie explains, "We have put our [development] dollars in the business-to-business area, not the business-to-consumer area. We want the contractor, and we want him to be associated with one of our stores."
Channeling online accounts through True Value's 1,200-plus stores gives its members a local advantage over remote, Web-only tool sellers, Hastie believes. Personalized accounts, flexible pricing plans, and on-site service for volume customers are options he hopes will turn contractors into dedicated online customers.
"Each store owner can create an Internet custom catalog specifically for a contractor," says Hastie. "And he can price specifically to that contractor–cost-up, list down, or contract price, whatever he wants." The site's software is so sophisticated it can anticipate what a contractor will order the next week. When a builder logs on, the site displays items that fit previous buying patterns; the builder can then accept or ignore the offer. Even smaller contractors can have their own custom hardware catalogs within the True Value site, Hastie adds.
Tool Specialists
Some Internet tool-sellers are job-specific merchants for specialized trades, from lumber to masonry to auto-body repair. These niche sellers stay competitive in the rapidly expanding Internet universe by offering personalized service or hard-to-find tools no one else stocks.
Timberwolf Tools (www.timberwolftools.com), which stocks highly specialized wood-chompers like $1,400 chain mortisers and $4,800 four-blade tenon cutters, is actually a sideline sales operation run by a timber frame construction firm. According to spokesman Darren Bantz, company founder John Libby traveled to Japan in 1985 to find timber-capable tools not available in the United States. "That started us off selling these very unique tools to other timber framers," Bantz explains, adding that few other Web or brick-and- mortar outlets offer this kind of production equipment. "You can only purchase eight of the 16 or so tools we carry through our company."
Like many small-volume Web tool sites, Timberwolf offers more personality than technology, despite its Internet presence. "We're a service-oriented company," says Bantz. "Our site doesn't have a 'shopping cart,' so you can't just click on an item to order it. You can look at it, but then you have to call and talk to me about it." Because its tools are so specialized and expensive, Timberwolf prefers dealing with customers this way.
Finding Tool Sources
Although technology enables "virtual" Web marketplaces' existence, the Internet's shortcomings can also make it difficult for buyers and sellers alike. For one thing, searching for certain sites, especially smaller, more specialized tool dealers, can be like trying to find a screw in a Dumpster full of trash.
"Our response rate is not as good as we'd like it to be," Timberwolf's Bantz admits, something Web sellers often complain of. "Some people find us right away and some stumble upon us. We need to get our site remapped so search engines can find us better."
Search engines use key words such as power, tool, or saw to find matching sites among the Web's 800-million-plus pages, then sort and rank the sites by the number of matches found.
"Search engines are a joke," agrees Leon Frechette, a syndicated home-improvement columnist who sells specialty tools and accessories through his own Web site, www.askToolTalk.com. "Every Web seller wants to be in the top-10 listings of that search word. Most users won't investigate sites beyond the first 10."
Because smaller sites can't match the volume of hits the big sites receive, they usually find themselves far down the list, and overlooked by users. "It's really hard for the end-user to find these sites," Frechette points out.
Searching through related industry Web sites is another way to find Internet tool sellers. By now, all tool makers have their own sites listed under their product or brand names, and most provide leads to other sites that sell their brands (these sellers often carry other tool brands as well). Domains such as www.Build.com and www.Buildscape.com list other companies that offer products useful to builders and tradespeople.
There are also Web sites that act as independent Internet information centers. One of the best is www.gomez.com, which keeps track of e-commerce activity and posts scorecards ranking ease-of-use and customer satisfaction for different sites.
Security
As with any sales transaction, e-commerce security remains an important issue. All of the major credit cards guarantee against online fraud, but surveys show that credit card security continues to be a major concern among online shoppers. The surveys also reveal, however, that consumers' fears decrease significantly the more they shop online. Toolcrib.amazon's Broussard argues that posting your credit card information on a secure Web site is safer than giving your card number to someone over the phone, or even to a waiter in a restaurant.
For information on how to protect yourself and your credit while buying on the Web, visit the online information centers for the Council of Better Business Bureaus (www.bbbonline.org/consumer/shopping.asp and www.bbb.org/library/Visa-BBB.asp). Many Web sales sites are now registered with BBB OnLine, which regulates e-commerce much the same way as the BBB protects businesses and consumers in the real world.
If a Web site displays the BBB OnLine seal, the vendor is a member of a local Better Business Bureau–and therefore has a physical location as well as a Web presence. It also shows that the company has been in business more than one year, has a satisfactory consumer complaint record, and that it will abide by the BBB's truth in advertising rules.
<i>Freelance writer Michael Morris is a contributing editor to </i>Hanley-Wood's Tools of the Trade.
Spec out Toolson ebuild, the Professional's Guide to Building Products (TM).
Online Tool Stores
Here's a sampling of online tool stores to get you started. Be sure to check out some of the lesser-known sites for unique tools and some real deals.
www.toolcrib.amazon.com
www.truevalue.com
http://shop.cornerhardware.com
www.ourhouse.com
www.sears.com
www.homedepot.com
www.lowes.com
www.coastaltool.com
www.1stoptoolshop.com
www.41lumber.com
www.ai-supply.com
www.allprotools.com
www.westerntool.com
www.ballewtools.com
www.berlandtools.com
www.brentwoodmachine.com
www.chasdayco.com
www.blackbookoftools.com
www.dscinc.org
www.eagle-america.com
www.harborfreight.com
www.homelumber.com
www.internationaltool.com
www.kenstool.com
www.lapollotools.com
www.mgb.com
www.orcoonline.com
www.outlettools.com
www.toolsforless.com
www.puckettools.com
www.rockler.com
www.sawcenter.com
www.slimspowertools.com
www.northwestpowertools.com
www.woodworkingshop.com
www.tools4less.com
www.tooltownonline.com
www.toolmarts.com
www.tools-plus.com
www.etoolsrus.com
www.toolup.com
www.trend-lines.com
www.vikingpowertools.com
www.wilkmach.com
www.williamalden.com
http://shop.woodcraft.com
www.workshoptools.com
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