Supply house vs other

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jmellc

Senior Member
Location
Durham, NC
Occupation
Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
I have seen a lot of issues on this debate. Some things I can no longer find at supply houses, such as roof flanges, service head clamps (attachment points) and a few other items. This is a big irritation to me.

Price wise, I have noticed that big boxes usually have equal or better prices on full rolls of NM & spools of wire. They are usually higher on cut wire. Individual mc or nm connectors are usually cheaper at supply house. Boxes of connectors are more comparable. Big boxes have smaller rolls of mc or nm also, a good thing when you only need a few feet of something.
 

keith gigabyte

Senior Member
One advantage here with supply house.. I can phone an order in Monday and have it delivered to shop or job site free Tuesday. Much faster than shopping for a job lot quantity of stuff. I do both slowes and home deposit...as well as supply house. Biggest problem with slowes or home deposit. Is if u need oddball items like switch and gfci on same yoke or 3 gang cover 1 switch one duplex one gfci/ Decora. There's no way big box will have it
Like anything pros and cons to both
 

jmellc

Senior Member
Location
Durham, NC
Occupation
Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
One advantage here with supply house.. I can phone an order in Monday and have it delivered to shop or job site free Tuesday. Much faster than shopping for a job lot quantity of stuff. I do both slowes and home deposit...as well as supply house. Biggest problem with slowes or home deposit. Is if u need oddball items like switch and gfci on same yoke or 3 gang cover 1 switch one duplex one gfci/ Decora. There's no way big box will have it
Like anything pros and cons to both

I have seen some specialty items at the boxes. Not sure about the combos you mention. Will check closer next time I go.

Sometimes good too, to be able to get more brands. Supply houses are still brand limited.
 

Dennis Alwon

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Chapel Hill, NC
Occupation
Retired Electrical Contractor
I am also of the school that buys mostly from the supply company. When I really need a good price they will cut it down for me because they know I only go to another supplier when they don't have it or unless I am at that end of town. Occasionally I go to lowes for convenience and for surface mount fluorescents that my suppliers do not stock
 

Glock23gp

Member
Location
United States
Was thinking about this when I walked thru HD yesterday and snapped some pics to compare to the only supply house within an hour of my house. Notice any difference?

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kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
Was thinking about this when I walked thru HD yesterday and snapped some pics to compare to the only supply house within an hour of my house. Notice any difference?

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7750f90a9b2d05be379063044d9829c5.jpg
Don't focus too hard on wire prices, some days it may be the other way around. When copper prices are unstable you can't get anyone to commit to any quote for more then one day out, plus depending on how they set their price it may hold at one level a little longer until more inventory was purchased and then adjusted according to what they had for a purchase.

Also sometimes at the supply house you may see one price online (if they have that available) but go to the store and you might get a different price (likely lower), and even depending on which counter person helps you can sometimes make a difference. There often is a default price that comes up when they punch up an item into an order - but they often have the ability to change the price, if you try to stick to one salesman and get to know him - he is the one that often gives you best price possible majority of the time. Size of your order, quantity of line items, or amount of purchases of same manufacturer items can sometimes even make a difference on what price level you are eligible for.

Buy one receptacle you may get it for $2.00. Buy a full box of 10 and maybe they knock it down to 1.85-1.90. Buy case with 100 in it and maybe you get them for 1.65.
 

stevenje

Senior Member
Location
Yachats Oregon
Was thinking about this when I walked thru HD yesterday and snapped some pics to compare to the only supply house within an hour of my house. Notice any difference?

74124c2128e719880eb60bff3661b781.jpg


7750f90a9b2d05be379063044d9829c5.jpg

I went online this morning to Platt and my price on 1000' of 12-2 (062408) romex was $272.56.

That is a $20.56 difference per 1000' or a little over 2 cents a foot more at Platt.
 

Strathead

Senior Member
Location
Ocala, Florida, USA
Occupation
Electrician/Estimator/Project Manager/Superintendent
I went online this morning to Platt and my price on 1000' of 12-2 (062408) romex was $272.56.

That is a $20.56 difference per 1000' or a little over 2 cents a foot more at Platt.

The law of averages:

First off, it matters a lot what your business model is. If you are a one man shop then you can control every minute of all you employees time since it is you. If not, that changes things. When it is your money you are spending, $22 at the right time is a big deal, when it is the company's money it may not work out over time.

Even if it is you and your helper, and you swing by the Lowes to buy 1000' feet of Romex and it is just a little out of the way. 5 minutes, there, 5 minutes back, 15 minutes in the store, and you have 1/2 hour. That is probably worth $15.00 just for what you paid your helper. Then you still need all the higher priced items delivered or picked up at the supply house so that is two trips anyway. A simple phone call to the supply house, and they will have the material ready for you at the counter or the job site. Need 2 more boxes, they will run them out to you. Donuts for the Friday safety meeting, be a good customer and that is likely.

And heaven help you if you got something wrong from Blue or Orange. That can be an hour of your day.

Don't even think about returns.


I will stick with my supply houses and occasionally pay more. As I am an estimator, it is built in to the cost of a project and I know my estimate is more consistent as I have eliminated one huge variable.
 

stevenje

Senior Member
Location
Yachats Oregon
The law of averages:

First off, it matters a lot what your business model is. If you are a one man shop then you can control every minute of all you employees time since it is you. If not, that changes things. When it is your money you are spending, $22 at the right time is a big deal, when it is the company's money it may not work out over time.

Even if it is you and your helper, and you swing by the Lowes to buy 1000' feet of Romex and it is just a little out of the way. 5 minutes, there, 5 minutes back, 15 minutes in the store, and you have 1/2 hour. That is probably worth $15.00 just for what you paid your helper. Then you still need all the higher priced items delivered or picked up at the supply house so that is two trips anyway. A simple phone call to the supply house, and they will have the material ready for you at the counter or the job site. Need 2 more boxes, they will run them out to you. Donuts for the Friday safety meeting, be a good customer and that is likely.

And heaven help you if you got something wrong from Blue or Orange. That can be an hour of your day.

Don't even think about returns.


I will stick with my supply houses and occasionally pay more. As I am an estimator, it is built in to the cost of a project and I know my estimate is more consistent as I have eliminated one huge variable.

I agree with you. Time is money. Platt is the only supply house in our area. The nearest Orange or Blue is a four hour round trip plus whatever time you spend picking up your material.
 

jmellc

Senior Member
Location
Durham, NC
Occupation
Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
I just wish our supply houses in this area still had roof flanges and service mast clamps. They are not space shuttle kinds of items, are still used a fair amount and I see no reason for supply houses not to have them. I hear excuses of all kinds but none make sense to me.
 

JoeyD74

Senior Member
Location
Boston MA
Occupation
Electrical contractor
I just wish our supply houses in this area still had roof flanges and service mast clamps. They are not space shuttle kinds of items, are still used a fair amount and I see no reason for supply houses not to have them. I hear excuses of all kinds but none make sense to me.
I recently changed all my business to another supplier because of things like that. Those are normal stock items for a electrical supply house.
 

jmellc

Senior Member
Location
Durham, NC
Occupation
Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
I recently changed all my business to another supplier because of things like that. Those are normal stock items for a electrical supply house.

Thing is, none of the supply houses here have these items. Have to go to Big Blue or Big Orange.
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
Maybe when they did have them they did not move much inventory and so they decided not to stock them - most of your competition must be buying them elsewhere. They probably will get you some if you want to make a minimum quantity purchase, probably in whatever unit package they can buy them in.
 
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