Lighting priced from national account

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James L

Senior Member
Location
Kansas Cty, Mo, USA
Occupation
Electrician
I'm putting together a bid and have a first for me....

"Lighting shall be obtained from [client's] national account with Joe-Schmoe Lighting"

They sent me a quote for the lighting and controls, and it looks to be almost double what I can get it from other sources.

Their controls price is $12,xxx whereas I shopped the exact parts on Amazon and came up with $6,800

I haven't looked into the lighting much, but the number just looks really high there, too.
($25,000 for 130 basic Metalux troffers, 15 wall packs, 35 exit/emer lights, and misc)

I'm really curious about this. I've bid jobs that the client provides their own fixtures, etc, but none where it is dictated where the contractor buys from.

???
 
It’s very typical for national chains. (O’Riellly’s, McDonald’s, Dollar General, etc..) Pricing is normally very good because of the volume, but it also gives them consistent product and a dedicated team of sales people handling the product.
 
Who is the customer and who is the account serviced by?

The majority of fixtures we buy are through national accounts. Almost none of them will let you go outside that. You might be paying more, but the customer has a single source for warranty claims instead of chasing contractors across the country. And they’re very likely getting rebates back after the job is done.


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Can you provide an example of the lighting controls that Amazon is less expensive? Amazon doesn't even sell most commercial lighting controls that need to be run through a manufactures rep.

I have never seen an electrical item on Amazon that is less expensive than what my wholesalers can offer me. I have occasionally purchased electrical items I need ASAP from Amazon if none of my suppliers have stock and amazon has it in their inventory.
 
Who is the customer and who is the account serviced by?

The majority of fixtures we buy are through national accounts. Almost none of them will let you go outside that. You might be paying more, but the customer has a single source for warranty claims instead of chasing contractors across the country. And they’re very likely getting rebates back after the job is done.


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Goddard School
Suburban Wholesale Lighting

That's a good point about streamlining the warranty process and rebates
 
Can you provide an example of the lighting controls that Amazon is less expensive? Amazon doesn't even sell most commercial lighting controls that need to be run through a manufactures rep.

I have never seen an electrical item on Amazon that is less expensive than what my wholesalers can offer me. I have occasionally purchased electrical items I need ASAP from Amazon if none of my suppliers have stock and amazon has it in their inventory.
I don't have specific examples because the lighting wholesaler didn't itemize.

Wattstopper:
PW100
TS-400
LMSW-101

there's a few more item numbers, all Wattstopper. Only 2 of them were completely unavailable from Amazon, one being a lighting panel. Some didn't have full quantity.

A couple of items I looked up on Platt Supply and got price there. Looks like, shopping it I can get it all for about $8,800

SWL package bid is $12,800 without tax. Shipping is vague, not sure if they include that.
 
Goddard School
Suburban Wholesale Lighting

That's a good point about streamlining the warranty process and rebates

Haven’t done any of those. But if it’s specified to buy from the national account, that’s what you need to do. Everyone you bid against will have the same price.

I’ve built for a few dozen nationwide brands that use lighting & gear accounts; I can think of only two that allows us to price outside the national account, and it was for franchisee stores only; not corporate, and only for gear.

Many of those I buy for write joint checks for the national account supplies, so there’s no going around it. COVID has altered this somewhat with material shortages and I’ve gone outside the national accounts to meet a deadline, but that is not typical at all.

You can offer a subject-to-approval alternate if you think it’s worthwhile, but they’ll probably no.

You’re very likely not the only trade buying from a national account. Plumbing fixtures, tile, flooring, HVAC, etc, are probably all purchasing through national accounts.


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Just offer a discount as an option in the bid.

National accounts are usually not what they are cracked up to be.

At one time Amazon was a low price competitor. So was Walmart. Both now offer convenience and have dropped the low price sales pitch. Platt is just a supply house chain that built a web site. We get similar pricing if not better from our local supply houses and I’ve been burned several times when Platts listed item is a stale listing and it turns into bait and switch. Graybar too.

Internet sales sometimes works, sometimes not. As an example around here the popular name brand PLC by far is AB. The most popular discounted ones are the various Toyo/Automation Direct line. They make those themselves so they are competitive. But on push buttons,!contactors, breakers, and other stuff where they are just distributing I can equal or beat them elsewhere.
 
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