Opinions/Experience Online welding suppliers

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Anyone have any opinions (good or bad) on some of the online welding suppliers. Thinking mainly of consumables and accessories, etc. and not the boxes themselves.
Reply:I bought a miller elite helmet and some other stuff from Indiana Oxygen Company (they have listings on ebay) and got a great deal and no hassles.in fact I got the helmet for $190 which is usually $280-320 for the camo locally. In fact I had a problem with the lens and called miller and it was under warranty without showing a reciept (they did it by the serial #), so they must have done their part with the manuf.
Reply:Shipping can be a killer.  Sometimes the price on the site looks good, but with shipping it's the same, or more, as what you pay locally.  Plus, there's nothin' like lookin' at it in person before you buy it.I buy some machine tooling online because it's cheaper that goin' to Tulsa to buy it, what with the price of gas.  I've been pretty happy with the stuff.Use a credit card, on a secure site, and you have some recourse if you get ripped off.  Money orders are a bad deal.  At least with a credit card you can contest the payment."Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Originally Posted by crawler30I bought a miller elite helmet and some other stuff from Indiana Oxygen Company (they have listings on ebay) and got a great deal and no hassles.in fact I got the helmet for $190 which is usually $280-320 for the camo locally. In fact I had a problem with the lens and called miller and it was under warranty without showing a reciept (they did it by the serial #), so they must have done their part with the manuf.
Reply:If the item is heavy I would buy it locally otherwise I would buy through my company. I buy tips, cups, flex heads, guns rollers and things like that from the guy who sells my company their equipment and I get the company discount so it saves me a lot. Stuff like those green sleeves, kevlars sleeves, kevlar hoods and helmets I buy them online and except for helmets I buy them in bulk to save a few bucs.
Reply:Originally Posted by crawler30I bought a miller elite helmet and some other stuff from Indiana Oxygen Company (they have listings on ebay) and got a great deal and no hassles.in fact I got the helmet for $190 which is usually $280-320 for the camo locally. In fact I had a problem with the lens and called miller and it was under warranty without showing a reciept (they did it by the serial #), so they must have done their part with the manuf.
Reply:I've bought most of my stuff from online vendors.  The LWS doesn't carry anything.  The old guy that runs it is extremely nice.  Anytime I special order something odds are he'll forget and it'll never get ordered.  "It'll be in next week".  When you visit next week, it's not  in, and he doesn't even remember ordering it.  Kind of sad actually.I've ended up only buying gas and common stuff like rods locally.  I've never had any problems with fraud from online welding vendors.  On machines you usually don't have to pay shipping.  I think they're drop shipped from the manufacturer.  Another plus is there's no sales tax.  Prices are usually good and it's easy to sit in your chair and comparision shop.  Overall I'm happy with online storesDynasty200DX w/coolmate1MM210MM VintageESAB miniarc161ltsLincoln AC225Victor O/A, Smith AW1ACutmaster 81IR 2475N7.5FPRage3Jancy USA1019" SBAEAD-200LE
Reply:Ive bought from cyber weld and had no problems. Shipping is pretty fast and free on orders over 25.00. Also they got very very good customer service. They also sent me some free cyberweld stickers too!
Reply:http://www.arc-zone.com/http://www.brweldingsupplies.com/par...ndex.cfm?ID=60http://www.weldingsuppliesfromioc.co...let/StoreFrontIOC is kinda weird as they have different prices between their Store Front and E-bay storehttp://stores.ebay.com/Welding-Supplies-from-IOCNever the less I bought my Passport from them-  and recently some Rodguard Rod Holders- no problemsPurchased the Lincoln at my LWS but they couldn't come close to the on-line price of the Passport- but I have recently noticed that they have dropped their prices on machines.Last edited by Broccoli1; 11-16-2008 at 01:01 AM.Ed Conleyhttp://www.screamingbroccoli.com/MM252MM211 (Sold)Passport Plus & Spool gunLincoln SP135 Plus- (Gone to a good home)Klutch 120v Plasma cutterSO 2020 benderBeer in the fridge
Reply:Just purchased a Miller invision 350 mpa and aluma pro feeder and gun from my LWS. Told him I wasn't going to pay more than the internet. It arrived two days later direct from Miller. The machine is used as part of the manufacturing process so  it was tax exempt. The sad part is I asked him a price on wire and I'm still waiting for his quote.Bob
Reply:If they have items on display that I can pick and handle I might be willing to spend a bit more. If all they can do is shove a catalog in my face well then I can pull up just about anybody's catalog on the computer.Tough as nails and damn near as smart
Reply:I have bought a bunch of little stuff (lenses, hose, tips, etc...) from www.weldingdepot.com with good results.Disclaimer; "I am just an a$$hole welder, don't take it personally ."
Reply:I use http://weldingsupply.com for all Lincoln OEM consumables and normal accessories. My LWS does not carry many OEM consumables, he has knock offs, some are good some are not so good. I can buy OEM Lincoln for less including shipping at WS.com.Would rather keep business in my home town/state but that is how old generation (me) feel. Used to be if you kept loyal to your distributor he’d take car of you personally. Not like that too much anymore.
Reply:My LWS is Indiana Oxygen. I get their best price, and my customer service experience has been great, so I don't shop around too much.I have used Welding Depot, and Ram, but not all that often.  I was perfectly happy with them also.As a side note... My materials makes up way more of my operating expenses than my machines and supplies.  Find a great online supplier of metals!The best things in life all come on a stick!