Search Tips
Our search engine is designed so that you can find the items you want fast. The following tips will enable you to get the most out of your time with Business Supply.
If you are unable to locate an item or have any questions, please contact us 1.800.676.0180 or support@business-supply.com. We are here to help!
When searching for products, enter any the following:
Item number
Business Supply's product number format is based on a three-digit prefix for the manufacturer, e.g. "HEW" for Hewlett Packard, followed by the manufacturer's item number for the product.
To provide the quickest search possible, a simplified format is used to eliminate the need to put spaces and dashes in product numbers.
For example:
Instead of "HEW C-4127X", type "HEWC4127X" to provide the most accurate results.
Manufacturer
For example: "Canon", "Smead", "Sanford"...if you know the manufacturer, adding it to your search query will narrow your results and help you get to the item you seek, faster.
To find the three-digit item number prefix for a manufacturer, simply type the manufacturer name into the Search Box and view the results.
Product Name
"Sharpie", "Wite-Out", "Maxwell House", etc.
Keyword
The more descriptive, the narrower the results. But if you have too few results, try some more generic terms.
For example:
If you type "Pen" you will get a large number of results. Narrow it down with any combination of "rollerball", "retractable", "gel", "ballpoint", etc.
"Toner" will have a huge number of results. "laser toner" narrows the results, "laser printer toner" even better, and combined with Manufacturer and/or Product Names you can refine even further e.g. "Apple LaserWriter laser printer toner".
Search by partial name or number using the asterisk wildcard, for example:
Type "Pen*" and click on the GO button. This returns pens, pencils, ballpoint pens etc.
The search is not case-sensitive, so feel free to use ALL CAPS or no caps or AnyThing in BeTween.
Sorting the Results
Try sorting the results to locate products faster. Check an option in the "Re-Sort by:" field and click the "Go" button. You may re-sort by:- Lowest prices first
- Highest prices first
- Manufacturer names, in alphabetical order
Full Description Search" Toggle Box
The default setting excludes full product description text from the search, to limit the number of potentially irrelevant results from common "noise" words. If you have not been able to find your specific item using the default setting, try the same search with this box checked.NEW!
To give you the best intuitive, simple tools to find what you need, we separate your results into "Departments matching your query" and "Products matching your query". If the Product matches are close but do not have the exact item you seek, try using the Department results to easily navigate to the section of our site most closely related to your search.
We hope you'll welcome this new flexibility we've added to our search results page, but as always, we are here to help if you are having any problems locating the products you need. We also carry or source countless hard-to-find items that may not be listed in our online catalog. Please contact us at 1.800.676.0180 or support@business-supply.com with any questions or to inquire regarding availability.
Our contact information and support hours can be found here.
