Why does a metal box cost so much?!?!?

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The only thing my supply house is cheapest on is THWN AL. Everything else is cheaper at Menards, Home Depot or just Googling the part and having it on your door in a couple days.

I was pricing out Unistrut and clamps last night. Menards is $30 a 10' length, supply house was almost twice that.
 
VirutalElectrician said:
The only thing my supply house is cheapest on is THWN AL. Everything else is cheaper at Menards, Home Depot or just Googling the part and having it on your door in a couple days.

I was pricing out Unistrut and clamps last night. Menards is $30 a 10' length, supply house was almost twice that.
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That means negotiate. Non of the SH prices are set in ink like the HD ones are
 
hillbilly1 said:
Actually if you get a pro account at Depot, and do enough business with them, they will cut the prices some, but only on certain items. I done $30,000 with them last year.
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Yes they do that but for some items like cover plates, heaters, ultra specialized breakers, and even arlington products they are over priced vs the suppliers I use. I do like that they have such a variety of brands though and Halex is far from the worst manufacturer of parts. Last time I bought nail plates from HD it was 4 times the price as my electrical supply house and these were the cheap little 3 inch ones in a plastic box. Supply house had a cardboard box and even if I wanted just 1 it was the same price.
 
letgomywago said:
Yes they do that but for some items like cover plates, heaters, ultra specialized breakers, and even arlington products they are over priced vs the suppliers I use. I do like that they have such a variety of brands though and Halex is far from the worst manufacturer of parts. Last time I bought nail plates from HD it was 4 times the price as my electrical supply house and these were the cheap little 3 inch ones in a plastic box. Supply house had a cardboard box and even if I wanted just 1 it was the same price.
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Yeah. You have to shop around, the two supply houses around here can vary widely on their prices. Depot has price leaders that are below their cost, hoping you will buy the over priced accompanying merchandise.
 
hillbilly1 said:
Yeah. You have to shop around, the two supply houses around here can vary widely on their prices. Depot has price leaders that are below their cost, hoping you will buy the over priced accompanying merchandise.
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They sell packs of replacement cover plate screws. You can buy cover plates, take out the screws, throw away the cover plates and be money ahead!
 
I was thinking of this as well while I order supplies for the company. If the same material was being used in any other product it would not cost this much. Many automotive parts use much more material in metal such as starters for cars and weigh more but cost way less
 
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