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http://www.woodworkingparts.com/ #Awesome


Dave Monk

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This company deserves a pat on the back from me. 

Last week I ordered some clocks from them. I received them in two or three days. Two of the clocks had gold bezels and I wanted black. I took a picture of the order and sent them an email and explained to them that I really wanted the black bezel clocks. I also told them that I forgot to order a few things and that I would keep and pay for the ones they sent, order what I forgot and order two more clocks with black bezels if they would pay for the shipping.  I got an email next morning stating apologizing and stated that two black bezel clocks were in the mail. I received them in two days.

They sure won my business.

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I did a lot of business with these guys when mom and dad ran the place in WI.. When they retired and the kids took over ( still awesome people and service ) they moved it to FL.. and started inching up the prices. I still do business with them but the prices started taking my interest elsewhere.. I moved to sloans.. another awesome place to deal withand about $3 cheaper per clock.. same manufacture.. Then i found the actual manufacture and buy direct.. clocks are $2 each and I custom order them with metal cases and better motors for higher quality.. Downfall to direct is ordering several hundred at a time.. but I typically sell a few to a woodworker guy down the street and some on eBay etc to not have them setting around here forever going bad.. Thought about becoming a retailer for clock parts.. You can't even buy the quality clocks that I get here in the USA anyway.. all of them here are plastic..

 

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5-6  years ago when I first started using them the clocks was $5.05.. from woodworkingparts no quantity discounts.. everyone else was $6.35+ with the exception of Sloans unless you buy 30 or more.. then sloans was cheaper.. at the time I was only dealing with people that took online orders and paypal payments.. before I really started my business.. now woodworkingparts sells the clocks at $8.. and sloans is $6.. unless you buy quantity.. then you can get them as low as $5.25.. BUT, you're still getting a cheap made clock.. they are good clocks as far as motors running and keeping time etc. Or at least was (see below about this )  But my experience with the plastic housings is they clips get brittle and crack / break off.. I'm sure there might be a supplier of the metal ones somewhere online.. but I've never found them so I went on a hunt to buy a quality made clock.. turned out.. I get them cheaper than I can buy the cheapo ones for anywhere.. 

As a hobbyist, I'd still be dealing with woodworking parts. as they do have good service and as a hobbyist.. I liked buying my stuff online..anytime of the day /night.. sloans is hard for me to remember to take a minute out of my day to call in my order.. which is inconvenient to me.. For me I'd pay more for the convenience of online ordering. 

As for the Quality of clocks.. My experience has been most all clocks are made from the same company or supplier.. you just choose the price point and the service from whom you buy from... BUT.. use to be most all the clocks run the same PC21S movement ( basically a seiko watch moveent ) but now there are a Chinese movement also available.. and a lower priced clock.. I ran out of clocks for a bit last year and needed more before my supplier could get them to me.. so i ordered a small amount from Sloans.. These I received was packaged differently while the plastic case and dial looked the same.. Pretty sure the movement is different.. and I suspect they maybe selling the cheaper Chinese made movement clocks now.. I never did look to see for sure so I don't know.. I only ended up selling one to a customer then my neighbor came for some more clocks to buy and I sold those to him as I wasn't going to use the plastic ones any more than I had too..

If I thought the interest would be high enough.. I'd get myself a retail sales licence and become a supplier for the better made metal cased clocks.. I do sell a few here and there but if interest was there I'd start another business.. I think I could really be a competitor of these suppliers that are ripping people for a plastic clock case and now maybe switching over to the cheap movements.. But then.. suppliers stopped buying the metal ones because of price.. so.. who knows maybe its a dying business and these suppliers just buying the cheapest they can to hang on to the business.. I can't see spending hours to make a beautiful clock only to put a junk insert in it, LOL   But whatever..   

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1 hour ago, NC Scroller said:

I have used them many times. Never had any issues. I think their prices are reasonable but their shipping cost I think is a bit high.

Shipping is not bad if you're ordering 100 pcs at a time.. but yeah I agree if your just ordering 1-5 clocks.. then definitely a bit high.. then again they do have shipping materials to buy and if you're only buying a couple clocks.. it's costing them more for shipping materials than they make on the clocks.. so I see both sides of the coin.. 

If they are buying them at the same cost as I do $2 each.. and they sell to you at $6 each and you only buy 2-5 clocks.. they have to take a loss on the shipping box and bubble wrap.. unless they get a free priority mail box which in turn the cheapest priority mail box now days is like $8.. If they buy boxes they can get a box at about $.50 each and mail first class which would be around $3 - 4 shipping.. so they don't make a killing on this unless they charge higher shipping shipping.. I'm betting most clock orders are only 5-10 pcs at a time.. take time out of the day to package the order and it shows you really don't make a lot of money on them.. which I'm sure is why they keep cheapening up the clocks..  

If I were to sell clocks.. they'd be pricey for the orders of 1-10 clocks but with quantity they'd get much lower cost.. due to the shipping cost..  Sloans and other places do offer quantity discounts.. woodworkingparts do not..

 

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I agree that they fixed their mistake very quickly and that is to be commended.

However, I often read threads like this and wonder about them.  I would highly recommend a company that does not make a mistake in the first place.  I have dealt with a couple of places that are right the first time and that is my expectation.

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You make it sound as though you've never made a mistake before so no one else should either, LOL 

They are human and mistakes happen.. easy to get mixed up when your packing several orders a day... that said.. I don't do business with companies that have messed up more than 2- 3 times for me either.. Leslies Patterns comes to mind when I say that.. Also hate doing business with companies that have poor communication.... If I email them and they take more than three days to reply back.. etc.. 

I've got about 3500 orders I've done over the years.. and all 5 star rated and positive feedback.. My first mistake was last Christmas time.. same lady did two orders but one with a different address.. and I sent both to the wrong address.. as I got them mixed p backwards, LOL but they went to the same person just wrong address's.. I right away mailed out both orders to the correct places and told them to keep or donate the others to their favorite charity..  

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Excuse me.....but I never said anything like this..please do not make assumptions about what you think I am saying.

55 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

You make it sound as though you've never made a mistake before so no one else should either, LOL 

What I said is that I am more impressed with a company that does not make a mistake.  If I order something and a mistake is made, I give them a chance to make it right.  If they do, I may order from them again depending on how they respond to the problem.  If they do it again, I am buying from someone else.  

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How do you know a company does not make a mistake??  They may have never made a mistake on your order but others they may have. The size of a company plays a roll too. When handling more orders than the next guy can produce more mistakes. What impress me is not the lack of mistakes but how they are handled if it does happen and the speed of which it was handled. That is what a stand-up company is all about. 

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This is quite interesting.  There are at least two viewpoints.  One is from the sellers and another of the buyer.  As a buyer, I do not want to deal with the hassle of getting a wrong order, having to make phone calls or emails, and then waiting to get the corrected order.  A seller wants to make as few mistakes as possible for them and not to get a bad reputation.

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On 2/8/2019 at 4:11 PM, Sycamore67 said:

This is quite interesting.  There are at least two viewpoints.  One is from the sellers and another of the buyer.  As a buyer, I do not want to deal with the hassle of getting a wrong order, having to make phone calls or emails, and then waiting to get the corrected order.  A seller wants to make as few mistakes as possible for them and not to get a bad reputation.

Just FYI.. as a seller on Amazon.. I would say that Amazon rules for the seller is quite stiff.. they don't put up with any BS.. The payment process for items I sell on there.. They hold the payment from the sellers for 2-4 weeks in case they have to refund the customer.. IF I mail out a order past the time frame they allow.. even one day.. they dock the payout to me for the late fee.. They also allow a customer like 30-60 days to return the item for a refund.. I have to abide to these rules.. They have a thing called seller account health.. If you get complaints, returns, late shipping etc etc.. then they can simply remove your selling privileges.. 

On the flip side.. in the selling world.. some customers will claim they didn't get the item.. and many times ( all other selling venues ) the seller is required to send out another one or refund the money. BUT.. on Amazon as a seller.. if this happens.. as long as you buy shipping through Amazons shipping feature.. If the tracking shows the item was delivered.. as a customer.. you're SOL because the tracking shows it was delivered..Mail people now carry a GPS and can look up the address where the carrier scanned the item for drop off.. This can happen quite a lot.. package thieves.. as a seller on etsy I loose out on the money and the items.. I actually had seen a situation in the seller forums on etsy that a customer did receive a item but claimed it never showed up.. seller had to refund the money but she found proof that the lady actually did get the items buy looking her up on FB and seen her pictures of the item she had made her on her FB page LOL..

I would say that the safest place to be a buyer is on Amazon.. because they do have stiff rules.. I've seen them remove seller privileges from sellers that was a situation that really could have not been the sellers fault, LOL.. To be able to offer your products to Amazon prime you have to have like 300 orders under your belt and a 100% seller health status on all those orders.. I gained that status just before the holidays.. but I didn't accept doing it because they really are tough on the Prime orders.. You have to ship same day or first thing next day..

Being both a seller and a buyer.. I've sort of learned the ins and outs of shipping.. how to offer the best customer service.. Doesn't take much for me to see how important I am of some sellers.. as a customer I should be very important to them as I am helping them make money..  and by judging that makes me realize who I will do business with and whom I don't based on the service they offer.. both in communication, shipping times, and shipping charges..

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