DannyP posted:ACE hardware = unnecessarily expensive
I prefer a local mom and pop fastener place. Not Fastenal either, they are expensive as well.
What I walked away with for ten bucks would have been $50 at Ace.
I'm not trying to be a smart-alec, just to understand your world. What, exactly, is a "mom and pop fastener place"? Is that not a locally owned hardware store?
They're priced a bit higher, but my local Ace has a better stock of weird hardware than any big-box, and often better than Fastenal (where I won't shop unless I absolutely have to). If Ace doesn't have it, I've gotta' order from McMaster/Carr (who has absolutely everything) up in Chicago. I will often throw a dollar on the counter at Ace, rather than pay $.34 (or whatever) for the weird screws I've got in my little bag. I'm just delighted they have them and that I can get them without paying $14 in shipping.
I'm this close to buying an enormous nut and bolt storehouse in both SAE and Metric, but I know it won't have half of what I need (M10x1.5 x 20mm flat-head socket drive bolts and whatnot), so that keeps me from it.
Hardware is a real problem. Having a real hardware store makes it worth whatever it costs to stay open.