If you do it and "A" finds out, you may not get "A"s best price ever again and if "B" was high you were not getting their best price to begin with. If you want good quotes long before bid time, don't play games with their numbers.
Ethics of sharing competing supply house prices with each other
- Thread starter George Stolz
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If you do it and "A" finds out, you may not get "A"s best price ever again and if "B" was high you were not getting their best price to begin with. If you want good quotes long before bid time, don't play games with their numbers.
i'll give them pricing on commodity items after they quote and we place our order....not to get them to drop their pricing from their quote, but to give them an idea what the problems are...
but we are talking commodity items (12/2 MC, 3/4" EMT fittings, EMT, etc)...not switch gear, lighting, etc....
is it right? i don't know...but my salesmen know that I rarely will give them a phantom quote that is 10-15% less than their quote
but we are talking commodity items (12/2 MC, 3/4" EMT fittings, EMT, etc)...not switch gear, lighting, etc....
is it right? i don't know...but my salesmen know that I rarely will give them a phantom quote that is 10-15% less than their quote
Rewire
Senior Member
- Location
- Lake of the Ozarks
I have a "main" supply house I deal with they get the lions share of my business if I find product at a cheaper price I tell them so they have the chance to match it.
PetrosA
Senior Member
- Location
- Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Maybe I misunderstood. In my previous post I was thinking about regular prices, not bid quotes.
As far as the ethics of it goes, I see no problems whatsoever. Your ultimate loyalty should be to your business and then your customers, not some supply house staff - they're just the middlemen. Fighting for the lowest price is a no-holds barred game. On the other hand, there are alliances to be taken into account...
As far as the ethics of it goes, I see no problems whatsoever. Your ultimate loyalty should be to your business and then your customers, not some supply house staff - they're just the middlemen. Fighting for the lowest price is a no-holds barred game. On the other hand, there are alliances to be taken into account...
bradleyelectric
Senior Member
- Location
- forest hill, md
If your going to talk about me like that, at least do it on a thread I'm not reading!!
Doug S.
Senior Member
- Location
- West Michigan
Hmmm Donuts
LarryFine
Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
- Location
- Henrico County, VA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
I just recently had to price and buy a certain piece of equipment. The supply house that usually gives me the best price quoted me $950 including shipping, after checking with his rep.
Another supplier, where I know the guy I deal with there, quoted about $1250. I told him my other quote, he called the (same) rep, and told me his cost was still higher than my quote.
Obviously, not all suppliers pay the same thing for their gear, just like us. These days, I'm forced to be more loyal to my bottom line than to the suppliers who serve coffee and donuts.
Another supplier, where I know the guy I deal with there, quoted about $1250. I told him my other quote, he called the (same) rep, and told me his cost was still higher than my quote.
Obviously, not all suppliers pay the same thing for their gear, just like us. These days, I'm forced to be more loyal to my bottom line than to the suppliers who serve coffee and donuts.
LarryFine
Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
- Location
- Henrico County, VA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
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kbsparky
Senior Member
- Location
- Delmarva, USA
Price differences on everyday in stock items can vary widely from one supplier to the other.
Recently, we bought some of those underground junction boxes, the type that look like an inverted flower pot, with removable green cover that is installed even with the grass.
We had bought 2 of them from one supplier for about $17 each. During the job, it was determined that we needed an additional one. We went to the nearest supplier (a competitor) and bought one off the self. When the bill came, it was priced out at $42!
Needless to say, we will never buy that item from them again.
OTOH, the place that wanted $42 for the underground splice box has the best deal on other in-stock items. Such as those Arlington meter box mounting blocks, or fluorescent ballasts.
Unless you get quotes in advance you can never tell who has the best price on what. It's also important to remember that no one supplier will have the best deal on everything.
That's why we maintain open accounts at all the local suppliers.
Recently, we bought some of those underground junction boxes, the type that look like an inverted flower pot, with removable green cover that is installed even with the grass.
We had bought 2 of them from one supplier for about $17 each. During the job, it was determined that we needed an additional one. We went to the nearest supplier (a competitor) and bought one off the self. When the bill came, it was priced out at $42!
Needless to say, we will never buy that item from them again.
OTOH, the place that wanted $42 for the underground splice box has the best deal on other in-stock items. Such as those Arlington meter box mounting blocks, or fluorescent ballasts.
Unless you get quotes in advance you can never tell who has the best price on what. It's also important to remember that no one supplier will have the best deal on everything.
That's why we maintain open accounts at all the local suppliers.
Rewire
Senior Member
- Location
- Lake of the Ozarks
Quasi Box? What was stamped on the top of the $17.00 box did it say electric or was it stamped sprinkler?
petersonra
Senior Member
- Location
- Northern illinois
- Occupation
- engineer
The place I used to work we used a lot of MCCs. Mostly AB because they were the lowest priced units. I got to where I could guess fairly accurately what the AB price was going to come back as but now and then we would get a shocker.
I would call the AB guy (there actually was an AB guy then) and he would agree the price was out of line over the phone and knock it back to something close to what was expected. Most often this was at least 50%. It happened enough that I figured it was part of the game.
Ironically, a guy I ran across later on, had similar experiences with Square D on their MCCs.
A lot of times pricing is related to a decision by a manufacturer that they want the business from either a particular entity or market segment. AB wanted us and Square D wanted the other guy so they made the price attractive enough.
On some things you can do well pricing wise by ordering in chunks the manufacturer wants to sell in. A lot of companies do not want to do it this way because they want to only buy what they need for a project, but sometimes the price difference is so substantial it is worth buying more than you really need. If you buy 10% extra and get it for 20% less, it is a no brainer.
dduffee260
Senior Member
- Location
- Texas
check this out. About 4 months ago we priced out 5000 Arlington 38AST MC Connectors. One price from a local supply house the other from Sunstar Lighting. They were both the exact same price down to the penny. Somewhere around $2200 if I remember right. Who woulda thought?
jaylectricity
Senior Member
- Location
- Massachusetts
- Occupation
- licensed journeyman electrician
If you do that for them, maybe they should let you shop from their distributors. Why pay the middleman?
kbsparky
Senior Member
- Location
- Delmarva, USA
You could either get one stamped "electric" or blank. Same price, either way. They didn't carry any with "Sprinkler" on `em.
For one thing, they don't know what price point you get at the other house, although I guess they could figure you get the best pricing if you are a regular.
Second, I would also guess that this is a way for them to see if they are "taking too much off" the top, and who knows, they may even have a deal with the other guy, and need to check up on it, although that is illegal.
But checking to see if they can get away with charging you a couple percent more would be my take on it. Why help them do that?
Second, I would also guess that this is a way for them to see if they are "taking too much off" the top, and who knows, they may even have a deal with the other guy, and need to check up on it, although that is illegal.
But checking to see if they can get away with charging you a couple percent more would be my take on it. Why help them do that?
LJSMITH1
Senior Member
- Location
- Stratford, CT
This is exactly why MANY manufacturers are forced to manufacture overseas. Constant downward pricing. As a result, much of the product quality gets worse and worse.
Nowadays its all about price, and the people buying typically don't care about quality and consistency. Since their customers keep purchasing what they stock, I guess that most shouldn't bitch and moan when they work with sub-quality, offshore materials.... The behavior is self-perpetuating.
Nowadays its all about price, and the people buying typically don't care about quality and consistency. Since their customers keep purchasing what they stock, I guess that most shouldn't bitch and moan when they work with sub-quality, offshore materials....
The behavior is self-perpetuating.
weressl
Esteemed Member
Only public works are required to have price disclosure. Any other pricing can be considered confidential matter. Sarbanes-Oxley had tightened up on this.
Would you want anybody know what your pricing structure is? It discloses to your competitior whare you're weka and where you're strong.
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