"Karen Wheless" wrote in message
m...
FWIW, it really pays to buy cookware "in person" especially if you are
not familiar with the specific product line. It is hard to tell quality
from a picture. There is nothing like hefting the pan, feeling the
handles in your hand, checking the fit of the lid, etc.

If you don't already have a nice 2-quart or 3-quart saucepan, and you
can get a good buy on the stockpot, you might consider a saucepan too.
That's much better for reheating (less clean-up, won't lose so much
water) a few portions of soup or pasta sauce than a big stockpot.

Thanks for the help - I'm leaning toward the Williams-Sonoma one right
now, if I don't find anything better. I've been frustrated with the
selection in local stores - everything is either very expensive or very
cheap. I don't think availability on ebay really means anything - you
find plenty of excellent brands on ebay. I miss Costco - I dropped my
membership for financial reasons but sometimes they had great things
that aren't available elsewhere. But their cookware selection had
become pretty limited by the time I left, at least at our local store.

WS lists their disk bottom 8 qt. stock pot at $49 with $10 shipping. HSN
lists the WP 8qt. multipot with bonus pasta spoon at $30 with $7 shipping.
You could just about pay for a Costco membership with the difference in
price between the two items.