Supply house Vs The orange store

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There's great value in busting through the door of a real supply house, calling out "three 4-11's, 6 feet of 3/4 flex, and a T-101", having it on the counter in about two minutes, scribbling your name on the slip, and driving off in your truck the next minute.
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Just two minutes! How about 30. They are very slow around here. Heck, if you don't call it in, you can forget it!
 
I have found big boxes to be cheaper on wire...roll wire (romex). In fact, I have a friend at big orange who lets me know what cost is. Often times they are selling at or below cost. Cut wire they gouge you on. Wire nuts, slightly cheaper than supply houses.

The supply house I usually deal with (locally owned) tends to be higher, but they have it in stock most of the time. (They buy their romex at depot, it is cheaper than they can buy it after shipping)

Another supply house that is regionial has better prices on breakers and stocks more items. (You have to know the right counter guy though)

Lowes was the cheapest around here with CH Panel value packs. Unfortunately, they did a reset and dropped them. I did get a deal on some they still had on the shelf though.

c2500
 
Supply house vs The orange store

Supply house vs The orange store

For someone that doesn't tell where he is from and is as much a staple on this form as I-wire, I have to say it scares me to agree so much with Marc as I do but I agree with his logic and do the same.
I have a good relationship with Rexel and get good prices although if working with romax Home Depot is cheaper but all around price is more
I like giving people business that I like and enjoy seeing me come around

I do miss the days when the Supply Houses gave out knives, pencils, nail pouches, screw drivers, small tools from time to time.
Always a hot cup of coffee, doughnuts and if you were lucky about once a week a ham biscuit.

Semper Fi Buddy
 
we split it up...

we split it up...

We're mostly in communications and security, but...

HD gets the business when they are conveniently located to the site and we're in a hurry.

Electrical wholesalers are great for planned purchases or electrical items HD doesn't carry.

ADI and other LV specialty suppliers get most of the planned electronics purchases. These are the relationships we actively cultivate, since it is the profit center of our business. A single camera or digital handset costs as much as a basic security alarm system, so the cost of parts really matters. This is also where we spend most of our purchasing money.

We have a couple of specialty telecom suppliers we use for things like generic jacks, wall plates, network switches, racks, etc. Unbeatable pricing on import stuff. 6' Cat5e patch cords: $1.50. These guys also supply us with name-brand datacom stuff for certified projects at really competitive prices.

We buy wire from specialty wire wholesalers and directly from manufacturers [by the skid]. The latter is for larger or long-term planned purchases. We save a lot of money on those purchases, when they are practical.
Finally, there is a surprising amount of overlap in the range of products all the above are trying to sell us, and an equally surprising range of best deals available at each from time to time.

Effective, intentional purchasing is a significant economic input for our business, and we take it pretty seriously. Relationships with our key suppliers are a priority for us, and we generally get 'best available pricing' from them.

Hope that helps.
 
Doesn't it come down to what type of relationship you have with the supply house. Don't they have a city counter price verses other.
I've heard this before ...Thoughts ?
 
HO/Lowes gets our business when they are convenient, other wise I prefer to give my business to a local supply house.
 
cadpoint said:
Doesn't it come down to what type of relationship you have with the supply house. Don't they have a city counter price verses other.
I've heard this before ...Thoughts ?
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I'm not sure what you're saying, exactly, but it's absolutely true that most supply houses charge each contractor a different price for the same item. It's a variation on matrix pricing, mostly based on how much you buy in a year, or how much you're buying of one certain item in one large purchase, or both.
 
emahler said:
.......Supply houses are about relationships, big box is about lowest price. How can you expect to convince your customers to look beyond price to service & quality, if you can't convince yourself?
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I'm not much for ditto posts, but I'm dittoing this one. I couldn't have said it much better myself.
 
Supply house vs The orange store

Supply house vs The orange store

They do charge different prices depending on who waits on you as to which column they charge you out of
By keeping a good relationship with the counter help I usually get as good of pricing as big companies who deal mostly with salesman
In other words they respect us little guys
By me buying most of my material there instead of Home Depot or Lowe's they give me a better break than someone that shops around
Like I think Marc said you waste more time and money by shopping around
Semper Fi Buddy
 
Brady Electric said:
...said you waste more time and money by shopping around
Semper Fi Buddy
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Welcome to WWW. if your not on a hot sheet release to some firms that provide this service, well I guess you'll don't need it.
If you don't fax to multi-houses, well , OK ...

Gezz the whole story here is to know your price in the market, period. Yes a supply house will provide a service if your not into the self service, well OK... buyer beware.

I respect alot of the voices here, I don't think the expressions reflect the exact nature of how to do business, and how they do business.

Every one that posted that is in the know, knows their exact dollor valve of a product or item from their supplier/dealer if you don't there's no reason to go to that counter, come on don't kid me...

It's business know your bottom line, Everywhere!
Better yet a devloped relationship, let me know the ratio ...
 
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Although I have this nagging thing in my head about material prices I make a real effort to think about my time involvement in acquiring the materials. For time involvement I can't beat calling a local supplier at 4:30pm & having the materials sitting at the shop at 6am the following day. Besides, when you mark up your materials, you make more when the materials cost more.

Dave
 
emahler said:
Big box will never buy me lunch:D

Nor will they send a truck on a special delivery w/ $20 worth of material so we can finish a project on time.

Nor will they ship multiple orders, packed separately to 3 locations on the same jobsite so we don't have to

Nor will they special order parts and get them to me in a reasonable time


If you are a contractor, find a local supply house (whether national or local) that you like to deal with. Get to know the counter guys. They will make you more money than any added expense you may find.

Pay your supply house bills with amex, then use your points around christmas time to get the counter guys amex gift checks. They will love you.

Supply houses are about relationships, big box is about lowest price. How can you expect to convince your customers to look beyond price to service & quality, if you can't convince yourself?
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I agree. I can live with a little bit of give and take at my favorite supply house. They stock the stuff I like to use and I appericate the service and fast delivery. I tell them where I need to be on some pricing and they do their best to get as close as they can.
 
Brady Electric said:
For someone that doesn't tell where he is from and is as much a staple on this form as I-wire, I have to say it scares me to agree so much with Marc as I do but I agree with his logic and do the same.
I have a good relationship with Rexel and get good prices although if working with romax Home Depot is cheaper but all around price is more
I like giving people business that I like and enjoy seeing me come around

I do miss the days when the Supply Houses gave out knives, pencils, nail pouches, screw drivers, small tools from time to time.
Always a hot cup of coffee, doughnuts and if you were lucky about once a week a ham biscuit.

Semper Fi Buddy
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i deal with united electric supply 90% of time in and out in 5 minutes or less rexal about half hour and thats if i have on will call
 
cadpoint said:
Every one that posted that is in the know, knows their exact dollor valve of a product or item from their supplier/dealer if you don't there's no reason to go to that counter, come on don't kid me...
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No! Right back at you. Are you kidding ME? Surely you know that the cost of driving to another supply house versus the closest one during a service call situation will far, far exceed any savings you might have realized? Contract work, totally different story. I have nearly 700 part numbers on the truck, and many thousands in the database. If you think I know (or even care) what each supply house charges for each one when I need it now, you've gone nuts. I have the ability to pull up what I've paid for these items in the past, and can pull a file on quotations on many of these items from other supply houses. This information is only pondered when an estimate for larger work is prepared, and not for day-to-day work. I have no interest AT ALL in maintaining the latest prices for every item I'm likely to use from all the possible places I might buy it from.
 
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