WalMart Parts.

Thread Starter

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,617
Looking for some components on the WEB, Some came up sold by Wall-Mart, they ship to you direct, or to a local store with free shipping .
Most not available in-store.
Max..
 

SamR

Joined Mar 19, 2019
5,031
My take... Wally World wants to become Amazon so they list items not available in-store to ship to your house (along with store items). They have even less of a clue as to what they are selling as compared to Amazon. Limited availability so very few options are available to choose from. Sloooooow shipping in comparison although free if over $50? Good luck with returns or poor quality item refunds. Almost always cheaper somewhere else. Walmart buys cheap merchandise for resale. Sometimes last year's models being reduced for sale by the manufacturer and end up on Walmart shelves. They have a very long way to go to get even close to Amazon, if ever. Very poor quality of sales representatives who have very little, if any, clue as to what they are selling both in-store or online. YMMV
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
Are you sure it is sold and shipped by Walmart. Here's one example from Walmart's Marketplace:

1594404481091.png

I agree on slow shipping.

Marketplace Returns
Although the returns policies for Marketplace Sellers may be different from Walmart return policies, we have set up certain minimum return standards to ensure a consistent customer experience. Review the following guidelines to confirm your return is eligible.
Direct at Juried:
1594404917282.png
Sockets are different, but "due to differences in packing" the shipped item may not be identical to the pictured item.

Returns are subject to Juried's policires. Hard to find what they actually are for products is sells through Walmart. It also sells through Amazona and Ebay. No assurance return policies are the same.
 

Thread Starter

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,617
My take... Wally World wants to become Amazon so they list items not available in-store to ship to your house (along with store items). They have even less of a clue as to what they are selling as compared to Amazon. Limited availability so very few options are available to choose from. Sloooooow shipping in comparison although free if over $50?
Tried a $7.00 order for a test, name brand, , The Wall-Mart store is just down the road from me, so I will pick it up there, free shipping.
I don't think Amazon themselves have a clue as to the item details, they are shipped in from all over the world, the last electronic Item I got from them, came from the UK!
Max.
 

SamR

Joined Mar 19, 2019
5,031
Last time I did an in-store pickup I sent my wife. It was a disaster. Apparently the store was "new" to the idea and had no idea of what it was all about. Took them nearly an hour to figure out what was going on and find the in-store pickup package. Good Luck! After that fiasco I had them deliver it to the house instead. From what I hear, Costco is much better at it and will deliver it to your car in their lot so you don't have to go inside. My daughter and her family are having all their groceries delivered to their house in Pittsburgh by Amazon now.
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
Well, maybe Walmart's in Canada are different. My experience parallels @SamR . Pick-ups have never gone smoothly. You sign in and a display shows your name and indicates you are next to be served. Thirty minutes later an "associate" appears and asked what I was waiting for.

It was particularly frustrating as I ordered on line to save shopping time. The thing was in stock and on the shelves.
 

MrSoftware

Joined Oct 29, 2013
2,188
Many items are probably not "sold by" Walmart. Similar to how Amazon works. When you shop, look for the "Sold by" and "shipped by" entries on the screen. Some items are indeed sold by and shipped by Walmart, or Amazon, but other items are sold and often shipped by a 3rd party, just using the Walmart or Amazon store front. I sell on Amazon, so in my case I'm a 3rd party selling on Amazon. I have the option to ship it myself (seller fulfilled), and/or to send it to an Amazon warehouse where it becomes FBA (fulfilled by Amazon). I use the FBA route, they take a bigger chunk of the sale but then they handle all of the shipping and returns related work. So my products say "Sold by [my brand] and fulfilled by Amazon". This is probably what Walmart is doing as well.
 

SamR

Joined Mar 19, 2019
5,031
I did the in-store pickup for a 12V battery for my boat. I picked the size and type particulars out from their selection that I needed and paid for it online. The idea being that I could have the wife or my son do a quick pick-up and they wouldn't have to spend time trying to find exactly what I wanted in the store. It would have been faster for them to find it in the store than do the pickup.
 

Thread Starter

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,617
My latest experience with Fed-Ex.
After placing an order with Digi-key I got the usual next day delivery advice for the 5 Jan.
Casually looking at the tracking No it reported being in Memphis Tenn.
This in spite of Digikey being a 2 hour drive across the border for me!
Apparently it is still there! o_O
Max.
 

Hymie

Joined Mar 30, 2018
1,277
You can buy one hundred 555 timers for less than $6 (including shipping) on ebay from a seller in China – Walmart looks expensive to me.
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
This in spite of Digikey being a 2 hour drive across the border for me!
Not unusual. I have had things go from Twinsburg, OH to Detroit, MI and back to me. (Twinsburg is slightly SE of Cleveland.) I have been disappointed with FedEx recently. It used to be my preferred shipper, but even USPS is usually better.

Of course, the drive from Canada to the US exposes you to a bunch of gun toting Americans. Stay home. Stay safe. :)
 

Audioguru again

Joined Oct 21, 2019
6,672
The staff at my local WalMart say the store will be gone within 5 years due to lots more things being online.
I need Ni-MH rechargeable batteries but four AA cells cost $17.97 in the store so I looked online and saw a price that is $43.65 which is a crazy mistake.

Right now I am laughing at the riot in Washington DC.
 

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Thread Starter

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,617
You can buy one hundred 555 timers for less than $6 (including shipping) on ebay from a seller in China – Walmart looks expensive to me.
Wall-Mart is out for me, as far as components.
But I don't mind paying a little more to get them next day for $8.00 via DigiKey.
As long as they don't go to Memphis!!
Max.
 

MrSoftware

Joined Oct 29, 2013
2,188
The shipping companies are having trouble these days, especially those that use the USPS for any leg of the travel. This just justifies the genius behind Amazon building their own last mile delivery service. I wonder how long until they are competing with FedEx and UPS for contract delivery, just as they are competing (quite successfully) with companies like Microsoft in providing cloud services, also born from their own need.

I hear that the USA has run out of morgues for the Covid-19 victims so they are using ice-cream trucks.
I'm not sure about ice-cream trucks specifically, but yes many cities are using refrigerated tractor trailers to store bodies. It's really quite the mess.
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
The staff at my local WalMart say the store will be gone within 5 years due to lots more things being online.
I am on American Medicare -- and had no choice. In my area, Walmart and CVS are "in plan." If Walmart plans to survive with its online business, it has a huge way to go before it even competes with eBay, much less Amazon. For non-pharmacy items, you order, get a message in about 2 days or more that your item is ready for pick-up, go to the store and wait 15 to 20 minutes for some sleepyhead to bring it to you. The alternative: Drive to the same Walmart, go into the store, get the item, check out, and be on the way home in 5 minutes or so. That was my experience at the Oberlin, OH Walmart.

Their pharmacy is no better. Last week, I had to pick up a prescription. The parking lot had a few new spaces labeled: Pharmacy Pick Up. I thought, hey, that's nice, so I pulled into a space next to another car with a man in it. Some nice young lady in a mask came out to tell me that was for pharmacy pick-up only. I said, "That's what I am here for." She pointed to a sign with a phone number on it. I informed her that I didn't have a cell phone (true). She said , "You can't park here then." ): I moved my car. Went into the store, picked up my prescription from the same young lady, paid, bought some other item , walked back and got back into my car, and the gentleman in the other car was still waiting.
 

Audioguru again

Joined Oct 21, 2019
6,672
I went to a WalMart store for their Christmas sale but the item I wanted was on sale beginning at the time the store closed, 6;00 PM Dec 24.
In the store they only had a few which would probably be purchased by the few people at the beginning of the lineup whenever the store opens.
So I ordered the item online at half price with free delivery and it was delivered a few minutes ago.
They said I would get an email saying it was "on delivery" but I did not get one.
 

MrSoftware

Joined Oct 29, 2013
2,188
Walmart's model depends on people accepting a lower level of service in exchange for lower prices. Enough people go along that they're making money at it. I'm fortunate enough at this time to be able to take my business elsewhere most of the time (pay a little more for better service), but who knows what the future holds.
 
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