Went in the local fastenal one time to buy bolts. One time. That was the craziest price I've ever seen for bolts and nuts. Guess they're magic bolts. I buy my grade 2, grade 5, and grade 8 by the pound at tractor supply. They hold body parts on just fine. $2.29/lb I believe for grade 2. Fastenal can keep their package of 10 for $5.
Never thought of them as anything but a shipper - we still have some great hardware stores here local - Elliot's is one that stocks up some weird stuff that I always need for my projects.
we have Jax's here in Colorado and they have bolts and love going in and they are a Ace hardware dealer so usually have what I need. If not good old Tractor supply isn't far away
I go to the local hardware store here in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. It is the oldest hardware store in the state. The store has 2 store fronts and is about 200 feet deep. If they don't have it, you don't need it. As far as Fastenal is concerned, they should smarten up. As an old timer told me many years ago, " a little piece of pie is better than no pie at all".
I think the issue is paying an employee , time to locate and sell small numbers of hardware . Online you can buy 1 bolt and it’s free shipping . But you can not walk in and buy 1 bolt , at least here you can’t . There is a newer store to me Rural King that is about 25 miles away , I try to stock up on a few needed sizes every time I’m near or make a list of needed fasteners for my project to have ready and waiting . Must automotive fasteners are special , they can easily be replaced with a hardware store bolt , but are the the correct design and grade ? Maybe not .
I have a Fastenal a few miles from me, in the past I'd go in and either find what I wanted or get a staff person to help. That wasn't always successful. Now when I want something I order it on line and pick it up, granted I spent some time leafing through their five year old catalog and then finding it on line but it worked. I haven't bought anything from them for a year, I guess the next time I need something I will find out.
Seriously- just go to Tractor Supply. In addition to the large assortment of bolts, in open bins, by the pound, they have racks of bushings and such that can be the solution to that pesky problem
The Fastenals by me went commercial accounts only about 5 years ago already or maybe even a little bit longer than that. Only thing I use them for now is buying their used trucks online otherwise for buying regular inventory, nope, not anymore, like others we have a Tractor Supply and coincidently it is right next door to Fastenal.
The reason I was going to them would be if I was looking for some oddball thing not available at a hardware store. I still have a commercial account with Grainger from when I had my shop, and have purchased from McMaster Carr too. But it just seems like a strange business decision to turn away customers. Although I will say that I work in retail now, and there are times that I think it would be a great job if it wasn't for the damn customers!
I have had a commercial account for at least 20 years. I use a lot of grade 8 fasteners, the last few years I've been buying them from Farm & Fleet or Tractor Supply by the pound. It ends up a lot cheaper than fastenal, the only downside is I have to pick them up myself.
The Fastenal we have around the corner from work is pretty much useless , so is the brafasco and bolts plus . there is 2 independent places close to my work that actually know what your talking about and have a ton of stock on just about anything tools , hardware etc. And there is no minimum orders, I went in on Friday and needed 2 M5 by 0.8 thread ! Wtf ? I only needed 2 and I got 2 for no charge , but I did buy 150 bucks worth of loctite red and anaerobic flange sealer !! Lol. tje grainier by us used to stick a ton of stuff , now it’s all has to be ordered in next day, the brafasco by me stocks nothing metric , nothing fine thread and other then hammer drills and masonry bits there tool selection is garbage. seems they like the big “ accounts “ over walk-in customers. I know our monthly stock orders for the shop are well over a grand every month , stock hardware , rags , fluids , drill bits , tools etc . All placed by me and the parts manager and no rush for them to get it to us, as long as we get it with a week we’re ok. So why deal with some dud at the counter looking for a couple bucks in hardware. stupid business model is you ask me be greed amd laziness seem to be taking over.
Their main focus is an always has been supplying manufacturing and construction. That is usually with bulk stock orders. I dealt with Fasteners a PNW company that Fastenal bought out a few years back when I was buying for the maintenance department in a large fruit juice and apple sauce plant. Normally a 500 or so dollar restock order every week. A good part of the order was stainless bolts and I think they supplied the cut disks and drill bits. Those of us who only need a hand full of a certain size of bolt aren't their main focus.
Both local Fastenal and Grainger (now closed) were Business To Business only for the last few years. Fortunately theres two fastener supply houses here that will sell 1 or a 1000..Both have public Customer Counters. All grades , usually in 1/4" length increments, Nuts ,washers ,etc... I take a written list of lengths ,thread pitch ,details and just leave it and go to lunch/errands.. The counter guys love it and I always get a good price ,much better than T/Supply or Ace..
Rainbow Bolt and Supply in Riverside, CA. They service all of SoCal. No commercial only BS. https://rainbowboltsupply.com/
Our local Fastenal went full commercial a couple years ago (before covid ever hit). A few months before that, they required you to buy full boxes of what ever you needed, where you could buy one or two of something you needed one or two of. Their full box price was way out of line. the day I opened the door, and they told me "Commercial customers only", was the day I turned around and left. If they don't want my business, I don't need them either.
I just placed an online order with Fastenal. Everything is coming from their warehouse in Indiana. Shipping is free but I have to pick up the order at my local store. I don't have a commercial account, it's just a tiny order- a few specific nuts & bolts that aren't available at Ace, Tractor Supply, etc. Hope this helps.
I haven't been to the local Fastenal in months but need a box of truck deck screws so I guess I'll find out what they say in the next week or so. The guys there have always treated me good since they combined with the Fasteners store chain here.
A Fastenel opened in Kingston (5min away from me} a long time ago, I had my business then, I was never impressed with the stock or salesperson. It seemed to me and I may be wrong but they only sold full boxes not just a 3/8" bolt. There is a place in Poughkeepsie (20 min away} Sarjo's that is like McMasters you can buy one bolt or boxes, one #42 drill bit or a bagful. About everything a nut and bolt hardware store could have. Pat
You do know that a Fastenal has between 300 to 500 thousand dollars invested in every store. With about 3 to 5 employees. Do you think they can make a profit selling 6 bolts at a time. It`s called economics. Went to Ace to get a chrome button headed allan bolt that cost 8 bucks. I needed it. Hardware stores sell a lower grade of hardware to keep the cost down. Think about that when putting you car together. I go to Fastenal all the time. If the store has a good manager, service is good. Stop buying cheap crap.
Why bother with Fastenal when McMaster Carr is available on line? They carry much more than Fastenal and only charge the actual shipping cost and usually you receive your order the next day.
Our fastenal has been like that for several years but we bought through our business. That being said i have seen their service continue to get worse and worse and then they closed the showroom with Covid and still actually haven't opened it back up. Bunch of young staff that don't know anything and could care less. sign o the times sad to say
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