Retail game changer ....

[Lannis]

So I needed a 55-gallon drum at the house for storage.    I’d like a nice new one, but a refurbished clean one would be OK.   OR if it were free, I’d pressure-clean the inside and paint it myself.

I went looking at my local places, I’m a “locavore” kind of guy.   First to places like Home Depot and Tractor Supply.   Nope, not even on-line.   Then to places that sell storage solutions, truck transfer tanks, hydraulic supplies.   Nope, we don’t sell those.   Matter of fact, one or two of the guys went like Bob of Bob’s Country Bunker in the “Blues Brothers” when he was explaining to Jake that the band’s beer wasn’t free, smiling with pity and shaking their heads with “Naw, naw, naw son … nobody sells those.”

55 gallon drums are the most common commodity on the planet Earth.   Literally BILLIONs have been produced, and tens of millions are used every year, and I can’t buy one.   So I go on-line to “U-Line”, who sells all sorts of shelves, baskets, industrial tanks and storage solutions.  “BINGO”, thought I, look they have lined 55 gallon drums for $103!    So I go to order one.   ONLY available shipping is One Day Delivery from Allentown PA to my house, $109 by truck.   I call, and they say that UPS absolutely will NOT deliver 55 gallon drums, THEIR truck is the only way to transport it.   

So I go to Amazon.   It’s over in 2 minutes.   Brand new lined 55 gallon drum, $105 delivered FREE and TWO DAYS LATER the UPS truck pulls up to my garage, 10 feet from where it will stay,  and unloads my drum.

So any retailer of this kind of stuff will have to explain to me WHY I would EVER consider buying anything from them again when Amazon is providing this kind of service.  Ever.    Deodorant, printer cartridges, ammunition, my wife’s makeup, tools, nuts and bolts, anything like that.  If they make their living selling in bulk to industry, fine, but I’d be foolish to waste one minute even asking if they have anything I need.   I’m sure that when 50 million others start doing like I do, these other outfits will blame “The Economy” for their bankruptcy ...

Lannis

[nc43bsa]

I've dealt with U-Line before, but only with large orders.  IIRC, when I last ordered something they had a $500 minimum order. 

Maybe what you got was their way of discouraging small orders.

They obviously didn't know who they were dealing with.   

I am surprised UPS would handle a drum that large.  Way back when I worked there, the largest liquid container we handled was 5 gallons.

[Lannis]

I've dealt with U-Line before, but only with large orders.  IIRC, when I last ordered something they had a $500 minimum order. 

Maybe what you got was their way of discouraging small orders.

They obviously didn't know who they were dealing with.   

I am surprised UPS would handle a drum that large.  Way back when I worked there, the largest liquid container we handled was 5 gallons.

Maybe they just handle this kind of package for Amazon.   They'd laugh at me, I'm sure, if I calculated the "Dimensional Weight" of this box for shipment from here.   Regardless, if that's the deal, I'll take it!

Lannis

[AJ Huff]

 I've been buying almost exclusively from Amazon for 10+ years now. Their Prime membership is a steal for me. Living so long in the sticks it was the only option. My dad and my brother now buy almost all of their aftermarket car parts from Amazon for a fraction of the cost.

-AJ

[Aaron D.]

My goodness, Lannis, next you'll be telling me my typewriter is obsolete!

Amazon is something, though. On line is something, period. I was a nice guy and ordered a part from my Indian dealer a week ago instead of just going to the computer. Still not in.

[Tobit]

Another Amazon Prime user here.  No matter what I'm looking for, for work or personal use, I go there first.  Amazon Business for work is normally 2 day delivery.  Computers, guitar strings, hair products, dog food in 30lb bags, brake pads, it's all there.

Tobit

[Texas Turnip]

Really. You can buy 55 gallon drums that had food in or the steel ones that contained who knows what all day for 10 bucks here in E. Texas. But, I don't live in a high dolla place.

Tex

[John Ulrich]

So I needed a 55-gallon drum at the house for storage.      ONLY available shipping is One Day Delivery from Allentown PA to my house, $109 by truck.   I call, and they say that UPS absolutely will NOT deliver 55 gallon drums, THEIR truck is the only way to transport it.   

So I go to Amazon.   It�s over in 2 minutes.   Brand new lined 55 gallon drum, $105 delivered FREE and TWO DAYS LATER the UPS truck pulls up to my garage, 10 feet from where it will stay,  and unloads my drum.

Amazon has shipping pricing that others can only dream about! 

[AJ Huff]

Not only that but you can order a 55 gallon drum, socks, a fishing pole, soccer cleats, pop tarts, etc. and only make ONE payment, and it's a secure payment. That's been a huge plus in my book.

-AJ

[Mr Pootle]

I'm the touchy feely type. I like to buy my books and my music from places I can browse in. I don't buy clothes online. If I can't look at it and feel it, I don't want to buy it. I'm prepared to pay more to buy for a bricks and mortar retailer. I hate Amazon because it's putting shops out of business.
That said, I've never needed to get hold of a 55 gallon barrel.

[Lannis]

I'm the touchy feely type. I like to buy my books and my music from places I can browse in. I don't buy clothes online. If I can't look at it and feel it, I don't want to buy it. I'm prepared to pay more to buy for a bricks and mortar retailer. I hate Amazon because it's putting shops out of business.
That said, I've never needed to get hold of a 55 gallon barrel.

For things like clothes, or motorcycle helmets, or other things for which a brick-and-mortar retailer can provide me a service that I need, then I go brick-and-mortar.   

My local bike shop has ordered the same helmet in three different sizes for me, so I could try them all on, and they sold the others on, I suppose.   I love personal service, WHEN I NEED SERVICE. 

But when I go to a book store and ask for a book, and they tell me they can ORDER it for me?   Are they mad?

Lannis

[Guzzer]

When I can, I buy local.  Amazon isn't going to pay school taxes for my grandkids or local ambulance & hospital or senior center support. When my money goes to them, it leaves my community. When I buy from the hardware store or auto parts in town, they pay local people who also pay local taxes and buy things from neighbors and friends.  That said, the attraction, ease, and savings of online shopping draws me in, especially when nothing available locally.

[Lannis]

..... especially when nothing available locally.

.... and that's what got me to where I was ....

I spend beaucoup d'argent in the local Tru-Value hardware, Tractor Supply, veterinarian, home-owned restaurants, the building supply place, Hometown Pharmacy, and barbershop.

The WalMart, 6 fast-food franchises, the Verizon and T-Mobile stores, the scruffy Kroger grocery store, and the cheap-stores don't get any of my business; they just don't have anything I need ....

Lannis

[wrbix]

Ammunition? - not when I've searched on Amazon 

[Lannis]

Ammunition? - not when I've searched on Amazon

Right you are ... that particular item is via "Target Sports USA" online ......

Lannis

[Chuck in Indiana]

Ammunition? - not when I've searched on Amazon

You can buy reloading stuff..
You just might not get the best prices on Amazon, though.. many times I've found something for less elsewhere.

[Moto]

Amazon IS the Robot that will take away all the jobs.

It's a retail store that has a vast selection, has reliable customer reviews of everything on its virtual shelves, has low prices (usually), is open 24/7, doesn't require you to get in your car or even get dressed, and, soon, will deliver within hours via a robotic drone. Resistance is futile.

I shop locally when there is little downside. But frequently the downside determines my choice. Often, I've bought stuff I never would even have known about without Amazon.

People displaced by the Robot will need other forms of support. There is nothing impossible about that.

Just like the loss of other forms of employment over time, the demise of walk-in retail stores (on the whole) may not seem bad at all in a few decades.

I do wonder what will happen after Amazon has driven more other businesses under. It won't keep delivering 50 gallon drums for free, I bet.

Moto

[rtbickel]

You should have gone cruising behind a few strip centers.  I have never needed a 55-gallon drum myself, but when I have inspected properties for my job, I invariably see some.   

[Sheepdog]

I use both Amazon and Target Sports USA. We even set up frequent Amazon purchases (dog food, mostly) to be sent on a monthly basis. I also try to support local merchants, but Amazon has a pretty compelling business model. Access to their video/music catalog is pure lagniappe...

[Tom H]

It's sometimes tough not to buy online. I go to my local Guzzi shop to support him when I can. If he does not have a part I'm looking for, he could order it. But tells it would be quicker for me to order it myself. Funny part is we both get the part from the same place and we both know that.

Online sure makes it much easier to find that whatchamacallit part for an older something that the MFG has not had in stock for years. What the heck did I do before???

Tom

[ITSec]

My goodness, Lannis, next you'll be telling me my typewriter is obsolete!

How did you get that thing connected to the Interwebs? 

[Testarossa]

I do support the local folks when they have the item in stock. Buying paint etc in the local yards, and found a nice new microwave at Ace Hardware yesterday.  But for stuff they don't have on hand, it's now Amazon. I need a tile saw tomorrow and an electric hoist on Saturday. Harbor Freight charges shipping and can't guarantee quick delivery -- and their brick/mortar store is 90 minutes away. Amazon was cheaper, with "free" two-day delivery, so I ordered last night and UPS will deliver tomorrow.

What does it mean for the future of local retail?  I think the local businesses are gradually focusing on consumables -- stuff people need often and right now. Food, toilet paper, paint, nails, printer paper. No more locally-owned appliance stores except to the extent that the hardware store stocks small appliances -- a need-it-right-now replacement market since there's no longer a repair shop in town or anywhere.

Gail went to Home Depot last week, an hour away, to buy tile for her new kitchen. She couldn't get anyone to help her find what she wanted, and waited an hour for a high school kid to help load the tile into the car. Visit took two hours for a half hour of transaction time and she was away four hours. Who will tolerate that repeatedly? If Amazon can out-service HD and HF, that's fine by me.

[Penderic]

I cant wait until they get their flying delivery ovens working with enough range, to cover the local San Juan islands.


Hot Food Faster! No tipping please.

[blackcat]

Amazon prices will also change for the same item at different times of the day. High traffic times during the evenings and weekends are higher priced. I checked this out a few times and it wasn't a major difference in price.

[Rough Edge racing]

 The local dimly lit cluttered auto parts store owner told me Rock Auto sells parts for less than he pays for them....I just ordered two 02 sensors for my 03 Chevy truck from Amazon, 22 bucks each shipped, Bosch brand...Rock auto wanted 28 each ,same brand and part number...I didn't check at the parts store...But I do try and buy from the parts store and a genuine hardware store...
  My race bikes are at least 50 percent Ebay bought parts...
  Me or the wife go in a Walmart/ Target  type store maybe once a year....We still have a K Mart..

  This area is the home of Wegmans supermarkets, an excellent place than in some ways caused the demise of small town grocery stores ...Wegmans used to have a few home improvement stores called Chase Pitkin...When a Lowe's was built near here, Wegman's bitched it would run their Chase Pitkin out of town...Never mind that Chase Pitkin ran smaller home improvement joints out of business years before....
 It's an endless chain of changes, learn to adapt or perish....
 

[Lannis]

 It's an endless chain of changes, learn to adapt or perish....
 

Always been that way.

Someone mentioned "Rock Auto".   Seems to me that the lyrics from "Rock Island" (the recitation of the salesmen on the train in "The Music Man") lays out exactly the same thing, but from 100 years ago ...


Cash for the merchandise.
Cash for the buttonhooks.

Cash for the cotton goods.
Cash for the hard goods.

Cash for the soft goods
Cash for the fancy goods.

Cash for the noggins, and the piggins, and the firkins.

Cash for the hogshead, cask and demijohn.
Cash for the crackers, and the pickles, and the flypaper.

Look, what do you talk?
What do you talk?
What do you talk?
What do you talk?

Where do you get it?

What do you talk?

You can talk, you can talk, you can bicker,
You can talk. You can bicker, bicker, bicker, you can talk
You can talk. You can talk, talk, talk, talk, bicker, bicker, bicker.
You can talk all you wanna, but it's different than it was.

No it ain't, no it ain't, but you gotta know the territory!

Well, it's the Model T Ford made the trouble,
Made the people wanna go, wanna get, wanna get, wanna get up and go.
7,8,9,10,12,14, 22, 23 miles to the county seat.

Who's gonna patronize a little 2 by 4 kind of store anymore?

It's not the Model T at all,
Take a gander at the store,
At the modern store,
At the present day store
At the present day, modern,
Departmentalized grocery store.

You can bicker, bicker, bicker.
You can talk all you wanna,
But it's different than it was.

No, it ain't, but you gotta know the territory.

Why, it's the U-needa biscuit
Made the trouble
U-needa, U-needa,
Put the crackers in a package, in a package,
The U-needa biscuit
In an air-tight sanitary package
Made the cracker barrel obsolete, obsolete

Obsolete, obsolete, obsolete

Cracker barrel went out the window
with the Mail Pouch cut plug chawin' by the stove
Changed the approach of a travelin' salesman
Made it pretty hard.

No it didn't, but ya gotta know the territory.

Gone, Gone

Gone with the hogshead, cask and demijohn. Gone with the sugar barrel, pickle barrel, milk pan,
gone with the tub and the pail and the till.

....

 

I mean, it was exactly the same thing happening.   Packaging changed, they started putting crackers in cellophane, people had cars to drive to town ... and there aren't any more traveling salesmen.   I don't think anyone regrets that ... And the salesmen found something else to do.

Lannis

[ITSec]

I mean, it was exactly the same thing happening.   Packaging changed, they started putting crackers in cellophane, people had cars to drive to town ... and there aren't any more traveling salesmen.   I don't think anyone regrets that ... And the salesmen found something else to do.

Lannis

But Lannis, what about those poor lonely farmers' daughters? 

[Testarossa]

Lannis got it. The only constant is change. When affected, it's no use complaining, there's no going back. Find another path.

When I started in publishing we used linotype machines. The highly-skilled linotype compositors lost their jobs when we went to cold type. Then the typists lost their jobs when we went to computerized typesetting from floppy disks. Then the layout/paste-up artists lost their jobs when art directors got wysiwyg publishing software. Then magazine staffs lost their jobs when we went to online publishing and social media.

Now steelworkers, auto workers and coal miners have lost their jobs to automation.

Lesson to the young: Don't get boxed in. Have versatile skills and a flexible lifestyle. Be ready to move to where the work is.

[ITSec]

Lannis got it. The only constant is change. When affected, it's no use complaining, there's no going back. Find another path.

When I started in publishing we used linotype machines. The highly-skilled linotype compositors lost their jobs when we went to cold type. Then the typists lost their jobs when we went to computerized typesetting from floppy disks. Then the layout/paste-up artists lost their jobs when art directors got wysiwyg publishing software. Then magazine staffs lost their jobs when we went to online publishing and social media.

Now steelworkers, auto workers and coal miners have lost their jobs to automation.

Lesson to the young: Don't get boxed in. Have versatile skills and a flexible lifestyle. Be ready to move to where the work is.

I was trained in hot-lead typesetting at 17 - the Linotype was like a cross between a steel mill and a pipe organ. No wonder they called it a 'type foundry'!

While in university, I learned early photo-typesetting on machines like the AB Dick that used two separate parts - an entry device that created a punch tape, and the film and paper device that exposed the photo paper to create the columns of type - lots of spinning disks or ribbons of type images, and xenon flashes). Later, I worked on the first fully digital machines that used a cathode ray tube (such as the CRTronic from Mergenthaler-Linotype), floppy drives and eventually hard drives. By then I'd gotten into computers, so I experimented with ways to use the CRTronic linked to CP/M-based word processors, mainframes, and (gasp!) early PCs, XTs and ATs.

I tested a pre-production Apple Lisa, worked on the pre-release beta of the first generation of PostScript, and messed around with a bunch of pre-press RIPs.

By then, I'd gotten into networking, and that led to security, privacy and access control - and the rest of a career so far.

You live and learn - but the most important thing is to learn how to learn, and keep doing it.

[mainelytriumph]

Hey Lannis, come to Maine. We have thousands of those 55 gallon barrells but they might be a little smelly. The local craigslist has some for $25.