Well it’s all about developing a relationship with the right people in the merchants who you know will look after you whenever you pop in
Said the Victorians... 😂
I go in because I want chipboard, not chinwag.
Seriously, the idea that I need to get all matey with someone just to get a fair price is ridiculous.
Oldschool - Hoghton Timber in the mill at Higher Walton. Wednesdays and Saturday morning for collections and rummaging offcuts. Proper old school cobbled floor and sawdust. They have a new place for the actual big processing (from tree trunks) but can still cut and plane whatever you want at the mill.
Berrys does some sawn hardwood priced by the sq inch in a shed deep in the yard. I've still got a huge chunk of southern yellow pine from there when I needed a bit but was 1m minimum purchase 🙂
you buy 10 sheets you get a better price which is then fixed on your account, so the next time you buy, say 1 sheet, you get the 10 sheet price.
This.
For some reason I get a better price on wedges from a supplier than anyone else we know, 35% of the normal price on some serrated plastic wedges. As such my mates ask me to buy them.
It's really no surprise you get a better price if you're buying lots, be that often or one off. I order my timber through a mate's workshop as he gets a much better price than I do, which is no surprise as I've had an account with them for a year and have ordered three sheets. He orders pallets at a time several times a month. Doesn't even get charged delivery. It works to our benefit as the more we order through him the more he can push the supplier on price.
My time is worth more than any possible saving I would achieve. Not spending a huge amount maybe £100-200 a time. Gravel, concrete, fence posts, that kind of thing.
Click and collect at B&Q or whatever is just easier, my order is done in 5 minutes online and I get a text, can collect it on my way home or the stores are everywhere. £100 at Jewsons would start at £150, then maybe down to £80 or whatever the “discount” happens to be.
By the time I’ve messed around playing the game and/or made an extra trip etc I’ve spent that £20 or more as cost to the company.
I used to work on the software used in builders merchants. Can confirm. The pricing rules are hideously complicated.
My time is worth more than any possible saving I would achieve.
my bet is being called tarquin boosts the price in any builders yard by at least 100%...
you buy 10 sheets you get a better price which is then fixed on your account, so the next time you buy, say 1 sheet, you get the 10 sheet price.
I'd rather there was a fair price available to everyone, then if you're buying in bulk you can negotiate.
I bought several sheets of Ash veneered mdf from a company in Birmingham. Let's call them Davies Timber.
I use them firstly because they list their products online, I can see the price, it's a fair and competitive price and I know exactly what I'm paying and what I'll be charged if I need delivery.
Anyway, I had to have these Ash sheets replaced 3 times. Every time the delivery showed up they were just chucked on the back of a flat bed lorry, along with yesterdays grit, had muddy footprints on them and in the rain with barely a cover too. 😂
The driver looked genuinely scared what I'd say when he turned up each time. I suspect he was the first to get it in the neck.
The manager ended up ringing me after the third time.
I explained that I was making furniture and so I needed the sheets to be undamaged both sides.
He suggested that I should probably go to another supplier in future. 😂
Seemingly their other customers are quite happy paying a lot for damaged materials.
So yeah, they're great on one front in that you know what you're going to pay. I always check prices with them as it's very easy to do.
I won't be buying anything from them again though that can't stand being chucked about in the yard and walked all over.
I don't understand why you are so offended by the idea of going to your local reputable merchant, speaking to the sales manager, discussing your requirements and opening up a cash account with them. You only need to do this once, no further grovelling required. It's just how the system works. They will order in your ash boards at an agreed price and deliver them.
I'm not offended at all.
It’s just how the system works.
I know. I don't really like it.
As I said, this was a one off. I'm not going to go and get the manager a bottle of bubbly and some chocolates so I can get one sheet of mdf at a reasonable cost. 😂
I've had different prices when i've turned up in manky high vis overalls and when wandering in dressed fairly well.
I offer to help get the materials to help the guys out, lets me quickly sort through timber to get rid of the bendy split crap.
I felt like i had had my pants pulled down by Jewsons the other week.
I ordered a stack of scaffold boards from a timber merchant, to use as decking, but had miscacluated and ordered one short. 17 quid each they were.
I only needed 1m off the end of one so wasn't going to drag southern timbers lorry out for something i could get myself.
25 quid in B&Q, but they didnt have any
£27 in wickes, but then i was collecting the van from its MOT and was passing Jewsons so thought i would swing in and grab one.
Took them 20 minutes to get a forklift to get one down, so i was getting to be "late". Chopped it in half to get it in the van (i only needed 1m off it)
40 F'ING QUID! If i wasnt late and hadnt just cut it in half i would have unloaded it, but i was stuffed by then.
Paid getting on for 20 quid for a 6 quid bag of OPC in Bradfords once.
and i don't even bother going into Travis any more, their prices are crackers if you're not on a well negotiated account.
The funny thing is that SOME lines will be cheaper, and others will be vastly overpriced depending on who you are, and what your account has been negotiated at for each line.
My old work negotiated great rates on the stuff we knew we would need (Bulk materials, sheet timber, etc), but when you needed to thrown on a drill bit or a a tool that you hadn't expected to they made their money back. I think thats part of the model.
In more recent news, You can now click and collect from Jewsons, so you can compare the prices to the ususal DIY stores, and then have it ready for collection and paid for before you go and get it.
chickenman
Full Member
Quote
Well it’s all about developing a relationship with the right people in the merchants who you know will look after you whenever you pop in. At my local independent merchant I have a personal quote that I can refer to for all the stuff I’ve ever ordered and there is a large stock of fixings and other consumables so I almost never go to Screwfix as I dislike the whole experience of shopping there.
6 of one, half a doz of the other.
Some people like to think they're getting personalized service and a "best" price on something. It's why even tool station has free tea/coffee.
It's how Euro Car Parts work. Naive people think they're getting 60% off, nope, check the invoice it was "up to 60% off", that battery was probably +/-50p the same price all year. If you have an account then you just get the default lower price anyway. All the discount code really does is incentivizes people to click and collect rather than needing multiple staff at the counter trying to work out which filer fits your car.
Screwfix and toolstation are great, I can walk into a branch anywhere in the country, wherever I'm working and get the same stuff for a decent price. And not have to learn a new funny handshake for a local shop on each job, I haven't got enough time in my day for that crap. I just want to turn up, pay, load the van, take my free cup of coffee (is Screwfix actually the Waitrose of trade counters?) and get back to work.
Both are good examples of inelastic demand, I need a few hundred meters of trunking, or a car clutch, or whatever, as long as the price is reasonable then my demand for that product doesn't really change. Charge me £110, or £120 for the clutch and I won't really care. Quote me £300 unless I give you a funny handshake and I'll just go somewhere else.
Tyre and exhausts are as bad as builders merchants eg Kwik fit
Same as anywhere else really, although if you book on line they're never more than a couple of quid off black circles etc, so any in-branch inflated price is purely a convenience thing for people incapable of checking their own tires aren't balled before taking the car for it's MOT.
Ah, Euro car parts "Sales".
Always thought the regular 50/50/60% off sales a bit fake.
Anyway last week urgently needed new battery for wife's car, guessed about £50 before I started looking. ECP cheapest £95, and premium brands £125. No way I thought, must be pre-sale price hike period. Ebay £40 to £60 roughly, local motor factor quoted £63 on the phone, but didn't bother to tell me their trade counter was closed for drop-ins as I found out when I called there later. (I'd been to screwfix a few doors away, so not totally wasted journey).
Ordered on Ebay, premium Yuasa for just under £60. Delivered about 20 hours later!
That’s why Builder Depot is so busy. (London only). Just one really competitive price for everyone. I never go to Jewsons ever. They are a joke!
