Home Depot Wire

[laketime]

You have to remember that the electrical supply house deals in fairly small quantities of this kind of commodity, and HD buys it by the truck or train car load.

Electrical supply houses seem to survive off the good old boy network and giving away free coffee and donuts as much as anything else.

The smart ECs long ago figured this out, and have gotten significant price concessions from them. I mean by a lot. Some of you would be shocked at how little some people pay for some products from a typical supply house, versus what others pay. I never cease to be amazed by the wide range in prices paid for the same exact part by different customers of supply houses.

Have you had success getting smaller wire prices lower than HD at your supply house?

 

[renosteinke]

Just a reminder, maybe help us keep things in perspective ....

Search this forum, and you'll find all manner of threads discussing the time wasted and money lost giving 'free' quotes, preparing bids, researching jobs, etc. Now ask yourself: where do you go to get your quotes, special orders, etc.? Not the guy in Aisle 10, I suspect.

I don't mind the supply house making money. Heck, I almost want them to - as I want them to be around for awhile. I don't want to pull into the lot and see a 'gone out of business' sign on their door.

Later on, I want the supplier to feel comfortable shaving his margins for the occasional job that goes into meltdown.

There's a place for the box stores ... I mean, I'm an ELECTRICAL contractor, and don't do enough 'other' work to justify opening accounts with the area lumber, drywall, ceiling tile, and concrete suppliers. There is also some electrical stuff that the box stores carry that you can't often find in the 'real' supply houses- but the supply house is my first stop.

 

[laketime]

Just a reminder, maybe help us keep things in perspective ....

Search this forum, and you'll find all manner of threads discussing the time wasted and money lost giving 'free' quotes, preparing bids, researching jobs, etc. Now ask yourself: where do you go to get your quotes, special orders, etc.? Not the guy in Aisle 10, I suspect.

I don't mind the supply house making money. Heck, I almost want them to - as I want them to be around for awhile. I don't want to pull into the lot and see a 'gone out of business' sign on their door.

Later on, I want the supplier to feel comfortable shaving his margins for the occasional job that goes into meltdown.

There's a place for the box stores ... I mean, I'm an ELECTRICAL contractor, and don't do enough 'other' work to justify opening accounts with the area lumber, drywall, ceiling tile, and concrete suppliers. There is also some electrical stuff that the box stores carry that you can't often find in the 'real' supply houses- but the supply house is my first stop.

Very well put. That is why I give 99% of my business to the wholesale house. They do quotes for me and don't make any money on the time they spend unless i get the job.

 

[btharmy]

Sears hardware in my area bought some wire a couple of years back when it was high. They are still trying to sell 12-2 romex for $124.00 for 250ft. roll. Ouch!

 

[rich9112]

I scoop the small stores

I scoop the small stores

We have several hardware stores that move very little electrical. A while back I was walking through one and noticed their 12-2 was $28 a roll and their 14/2 was $21. I walked out with a shopping cart full of every roll on their shelves.:grin:
Funny thing is I went back through last week and their pricing is now $94 and $77 respectively. I'll bet when they re-ordered they choked.
It does pay to shop ALL the competition on occasion.

 

[LarryFine]

... their 12-2 was $28 a roll and their 14/2 was $21. I walked out with a shopping cart full of every roll on their shelves.:grin:
Funny thing is I went back through last week and their pricing is now $94 and $77 respectively.

Offer to sell them some of yours at a slight discount.

 

[jmellc]

I agree, my time is valuable. However, almost every time I've placed an order for material and had it delivered there was a wrong item shipped or something missing. If you're dealing with someone you know at the counter and he's the one pulling your order you have a pretty good chance that your order will be shipped correctly. On the other hand, if it's a big supply house and he just takes your order and has someone else pick it for you you'll almost invariably get something wrong.

I've seen a lot of that. We had a particular supply house in Durham that never delivered anything without at least 2-3 major errors. Plaster ring instead of an RS cover. PVC LB instead of rigid LB, etc.

 

[jmellc]

Sears hardware in my area bought some wire a couple of years back when it was high. They are still trying to sell 12-2 romex for $124.00 for 250ft. roll. Ouch!

Sears is a joke. I used to deal with them sometimes when I managed a mall video arcade. They have some great long time employees, but a lot of managers from Fantasy Island. I worked 1 place where we did deliveries/hookups for them. Got paid less to install a dishwasher than if we did it on our own & didn't have to deliver & haul the old one away.

 

[petersonra]

Have you had success getting smaller wire prices lower than HD at your supply house?

Yes and no. We use mostly MTW wire and the stores don't stock much of it. They do stock THHN and what little THHN we get is not far off from the prices the supply house charges us. The supply house ships right to our door so the cost might well be a wash because we do not have to send someone to get it.

However, I will say this from experience at comparing pricing. If the store has it, chances are it will be cheaper there, sometimes by a lot. You may be able to use this fact as leverage, but maybe not.

Sometimes places like McMaster are substantially better for certain things. Sometimes not. When I have time and the quantities warrant the expenditure of time, I look around.

Sometimes the price of the same exact part from two different supply houses can vary by a factor of ten. Literally.

It is often possible to get a deal by ordering what they want to sell versus what you think you want to buy. But the quantities have to be enough to make it worth the time to do the foot work. For instance, some times the same strut fitting in painted is more than the galvanized part, and sometimes it is the other way around.

 

[MJW]

This is a little off topic but if you need to buy enough ($2500.00 I think) material from Home Depot you can go to the pro desk and ask to get it quoted through the plan room. Each item is discounted at a different rate but the last couple of times I got about a 20% discount overall. My orders were not exclusively electrical but included everything I needed to rehab an apartment complex. I am not sure how much an exclusively electrical order would be discounted but it might be worth checking in to. Another bonus is you can go to the pro desk for 2 weeks after the initial order and get anything you buy discounted on the spot.

 

[Fulthrotl]

Very well put. That is why I give 99% of my business to the wholesale house. They do quotes for me and don't make any money on the time they spend unless i get the job.

i have a smaller wholesale house i buy from exclusively.

they stock a wide variety of everything, and i seldom leave without what
i need. and i don't comparison shop between them and home depot.

i will drive past two home depot's on the way there... just glad that i don't
have to . . . park in a lot that needs a security guard to keep vehicles from
being broken into, have some (person) run a flat cart into the side of my van while i'm inside, and then they will
have everything but for TWO items i need for the install, so i will try to
figure out a way to do it with what they have, give up in disgust after
20 minutes, and go to my wholesale house...

did i mention i despise home depot?

and if the small wholesale houses fold... (i've lost two this year)
then the only place to get stuff will be the large wholesale houses,
and they have pricing from the gougers handbook, unless you spend
$100k a month there.

i did mention i hate home depot, didn't i? wouldn't want to leave that out.


randy

 

[goldstar]

...and i don't comparison shop between them and home depot.

...i will drive past two home depot's on the way there

did i mention i despise home depot?

...they have pricing from the gougers handbook, unless you spend $100k a month there.

try doing commercial work with homer backing you up.

i did mention i hate home depot, didn't i? wouldn't want to leave that out.

Not sure what point you're trying to get across.:roll:

 

[readydave8]

The other day in my local supply house a guy was looking for IMC, they don't carry it, he asked me who sells IMC, I said "any good supply house", the countermen laughed.

He bought rigid.

 

[petersonra]

Very well put. That is why I give 99% of my business to the wholesale house. They do quotes for me and don't make any money on the time they spend unless i get the job.

HD will also do quotes for you. Just give them a list of what you want. You can fax it to them today and pick the stuff up on your way to the jobsite tomorrow.

There are very good reasons why there is an almost constant stream of small contractors coming in and out of HD all day. HD is helping them stay in business and make a profit by helping them control their costs. The HD prices on material help the smaller contractors compete with the huge price discounts the big guys get. Ironically, buying at the "wholesale" place where they will pay more than at the "retail" store, the smaller contractors are actually helping the bigger contractors to put the smaller guys out of business. What a distortion of the economic best interest theory.

I am absolutely convinced that most electrical supply houses live off the free donuts and coffee they put out to lure the unwary into paying more than necessary for the electrical parts they purchase there.

It always amazes me how otherwise bright people will justify poor decision making if there is free coffee and donuts and/or a friendly counter man involved. The supply houses are not stupid. They know a lot of people will base their decisions on loyalty above all else, even when that loyalty is being used against their best interests. And free coffee and donuts is a very cheap way to buy that loyalty.

 

[laketime]

HD will also do quotes for you. Just give them a list of what you want. You can fax it to them today and pick the stuff up on your way to the jobsite tomorrow.

There are very good reasons why there is an almost constant stream of small contractors coming in and out of HD all day. HD is helping them stay in business and make a profit by helping them control their costs. The HD prices on material help the smaller contractors compete with the huge price discounts the big guys get. Ironically, buying at the "wholesale" place where they will pay more than at the "retail" store, the smaller contractors are actually helping the bigger contractors to put the smaller guys out of business. What a distortion of the economic best interest theory.

I am absolutely convinced that most electrical supply houses live off the free donuts and coffee they put out to lure the unwary into paying more than necessary for the electrical parts they purchase there.

It always amazes me how otherwise bright people will justify poor decision making if there is free coffee and donuts and/or a friendly counter man involved. The supply houses are not stupid. They know a lot of people will base their decisions on loyalty above all else, even when that loyalty is being used against their best interests. And free coffee and donuts is a very cheap way to buy that loyalty.

I do not go to my wholesale house for the coffee and the donuts. I have never ordered from HD that way. Do they pull the product and have it waiting for you in the morning as well?

 

[petersonra]

I do not go to my wholesale house for the coffee and the donuts. I have never ordered from HD that way. Do they pull the product and have it waiting for you in the morning as well?

The one here does.

 

[tallgirl]

It always amazes me how otherwise bright people will justify poor decision making if there is free coffee and donuts and/or a friendly counter man involved. The supply houses are not stupid. They know a lot of people will base their decisions on loyalty above all else, even when that loyalty is being used against their best interests. And free coffee and donuts is a very cheap way to buy that loyalty.

There are two small supply houses here in town I buy from. One of them I am patronizing more and more because they have gotten to know who I am and they are a lot more cooperative and interested in whatever it is I'm up to than the other, and a heck of a lot moreso than Orange of Blue.

That said, learn to ask for discounts. They also know that you have a choice and you need to let them know that you know that, too.

 

[petersonra]

That said, learn to ask for discounts. They also know that you have a choice and you need to let them know that you know that, too.

It is amazing what you can get just for asking sometimes.

I am sometimes astounded by the prices some manufacturers will extend on a project basis. And it does not even have to be for all that much. But it seems that those deals are kind of an iffy thing. Maybe dependant on how much stuff the manufacturer has in stock. Or what they want to sell this week or month.

No harm in asking, Even just $5000 worth of stuff is something a lot of places will chase. And it is pretty easy to get to that kind of number.

 

[bpk]

I use to go in a third with two other contractors on buying larger quantities of wire from Home Depot. It was amazing the money you could save. The last we bought was 3 pallets of 14/2 and saved about 10$ a roll. It worked well for us, if your on friendly terms with your competition.