Internet shopping can really be a pain. Sellers want you to buy their items but are too lazy to properly describe them; some won't even put up much more than a title.
Recently our twenty plus year old rotary brush cutter (a bush hog to us old timers) needed some repairs. Simple, nothing complicated, just slung a blade out the back and new ones were the correct fix.
Went to the local chain tractor parts store, which is poorly stocked at best, and found one blade and a couple of bolts without nuts marked as a kit and price liked they were gold plated. Since two matched blades are best when running a machine that chops up three inch trees while being drug behind a tractor, I didn't purchase the single blade and as money is tight, didn't get the bolts either. As a shopper who likes to support local businesses, I did offer a fair price for them, but they refused my offer because they said they are a "kit". I asked them what was in the kit as there were no nuts or lock washers with the bolts and they couldn't tell me and had no way to find out. $19.99 per "kit" wasn't even close to a good deal when no one could say if the "kit" was complete.
Another local tractor supply, this one not a chain, did have blades that might have worked but I wasn't buying a new car, just brush hog blades. They also did not have bolts, lock washers and nuts in kit or other form.
Having struck out twice and being pressed for time that day, I gave up my quest for local suppliers and went home to a cold one and the internet. Therein lies my dilemma as stated in my opening sentence, lazy sellers who won't describe their products. If you are the least bit mechanically inclined and repair things yourself, you know that all hardware has specifications that the manufacturer provides to vendors so that they will know what they are selling and can properly stock it on their shelves or in their bins. This information, this data is CRITICAL to the end user, especially to someone who is working on an older piece of equipment that the original manufacturer has discontinued producing or who could have closed up shop and ceased to exist.
Even if the company that built your piece of equipment has disappeared from the face of the planet, that doesn't mean someone out there doesn't have the piece you need, might be second hand or they may have been making that exact same part for 150 years, it's available somewhere, you just have to be able to find it. A good product description, listed with the part is how you can differentiate one similar part from another that looks almost the same. This is a simple thing for the seller to do when they list the item in their database, probably most already have it listed, they just need to link it to the online listing so that the customer can access that tidbit of information.
Here's an example of a poorly described bolt: steel, threaded. Unless that description is pre-faced by a category listing, namely it is contained under the heading: 316 stainless steel, 3/8 inch, 16 threads per inch, 2 inches long, the "steel, threaded" means very little. Even using proper abbreviations or symbols is better than nothing, (316 SS, 3/8", 16TPI, 2") The customer can decide if this is the correct item without making phone calls or sending emails, neither of which get results at 0230 on a Saturday morning.
If rewriting a sellers database was the issue, my request would be dismissed because it would cost many dollars in man-hours, since the data is already in the database, it is only a small thing to change the web sites page that lists the item, many already have "Item Description" or "Specifications" as a selection when you call up the item's page. That's all I would like to see, the proper use of this data so that the customer can better identify the item being sold and possibly find the exact thing they need. Sure it will mean some cost to the seller, but the time savings for the customer and the ability to actually find an exact replacement part for their equipment would reduce their stress levels by half, at least for me.
After a few tries, I did locate suitable blades and bolts, or at least I thought they were by the poor descriptions provided. Had to cross reference the blades with another web sites table of blades that contained proper dimensions so knew they would work, but the bolts were a dead end for proper dimensions. Had to order them by their appearance, which doesn't mean much just that they looked like they would work. After they arrived, I had to modify the bolts because they were too long. Another glitch was the nuts I ordered were the wrong diameter due to no specifications listed with the product online. I needed 1 1/8", 12TPI and the ones they sent were 1", 14TPI. I even requested that the seller verify that the nuts would fit the bolts but they must have ignored that request as they sent them anyway, maybe the sale was just more important than a satisfied customer. 20 minutes with a grinder and the bolts were shortened to the correct length and a search of our bolt and nut bin turned up two slightly used nuts that will do the job.
So how about it you internet sellers out there? Can you help your customers out a little bit and really provide an accurate description of your product? Just a little bit goes a long way.