When do you stop buying a full roll and do cut lengths for locally stocked wire

[readydave8]

I usually don't show itemized materials nowadays, but use bigbox cut prices as guideline for what I should be charging

 

[letgomywago]

I usually don't show itemized materials nowadays, but use bigbox cut prices as guideline for what I should be charging

It costs a lot to drive that roll of 10 awg anything when you only need a few feet here and there.

 

[kwired]

Usually won't buy bulk roll on anything above #12 NM, just won't go through a large enough amount on any single job of the larger sizes.
My question would be does anyone compare big box prices to supply house when charging customers?
Usually my supply house gives me a better price than big box. And customers baulk about a price markup much above the price at big box, but I can usually markup to the smallest quantity per unit price from big box to get my markup.
Big box will charge way more per unit for a 25ft roll than for a 250ft roll. Interesting thing I've seen at big box is that they charge more for the 1000ft than for a 250ft roll NM per unit.

That's when you ask them if they would go to a steakhouse but bring their own steak and ask if they will cook it for them?

If they want to outright buy something "over the counter" from you they can price shop and if they find a better deal elsewhere so be it. If they want you to install it some of your mark up helps cover warranty issues should there be an issue. But when you install it you are selling an installation not a retail item. You very well might have items on your invoice they won't find a better deal individually at the big box store, but they tend to only focus on line items that have higher dollar figures in them and for dwellings that is usually wire/cable and those AFCI breakers as well. The labor line gets some dispute sometimes as well. For several years I have just put a labor total and not any hours figures. Haven't really had any complaints on labor charges since I been doing that. They have no problem paying $500 but do have a problem paying 5 hours at $100 per hour for some reason.

 

[kwired]

Big blue current pricing per ft for 12/2 NM-B at my local.
1000ft $.428/ft
250ft $.432/ft
100ft $.80/ft
50ft $1.28/ft
15ft $2.73/ft

my supply house
1000ft $.401/ft

I haven't done much for recent comparisons but in past had found that big box is usually only going to have much chance of having a better price on 12-2 and 14-2 AWG NM maybe 14-3 but only in the 250 and 1000 foot quantities. Is the only items they sell in high enough volume to be able to be very competitive on price is my guess. One day supply house may cost less next day big box may cost less but are usually pretty close to one another.

 

[kwired]

Glad that I'm retired after seeing to what appears to still be high price. Never purchase anything under 250' for #14 to #10 but charging $41 for 15' of 12/2 is a crime. Sure all the big box stores that sell cuts under 250' are cut & wrapped by a fairly fast machine. My brother in law worked at a large refrigeration supply house that had over a dozen branches. They hired a person to just bag & tag hardware & small fittings. Told me they made a fortune selling small overpriced items.

Go to hardware section and buy a package of maybe 5 screws for a lot more per piece than they would be if you purchased a package of 100. But you maybe purchase it anyway if you don't anticipate needing those particular screws in the near future. If it is something you do use often is kind of no brainer to get the 100 pack. Most big box you can't even purchase a single screw unless maybe it is a rather large one. They will be packaged in quantities of 2, 3, maybe 5. They need a package with a bar code on it for the cashier to have something to scan. Local hardware store here does have pretty wide selection of fasteners, most can be individually purchased but at a pretty high price per piece compared to full packages of usually at least 50 or 100 for smaller items anyway. They kind of go by the honor system and you tell the cashier price per item so there likely is some that cheat at times. I usually give them the right figure though. If I been looking around at other items I may forget, then I just give them a number that I either think is correct or is at least fair based on what prices tend to be there not going to hold up a line of customers or myself for a price check on a 10 -20 cent item.

 

[garbo]

Go to hardware section and buy a package of maybe 5 screws for a lot more per piece than they would be if you purchased a package of 100. But you maybe purchase it anyway if you don't anticipate needing those particular screws in the near future. If it is something you do use often is kind of no brainer to get the 100 pack. Most big box you can't even purchase a single screw unless maybe it is a rather large one. They will be packaged in quantities of 2, 3, maybe 5. They need a package with a bar code on it for the cashier to have something to scan. Local hardware store here does have pretty wide selection of fasteners, most can be individually purchased but at a pretty high price per piece compared to full packages of usually at least 50 or 100 for smaller items anyway. They kind of go by the honor system and you tell the cashier price per item so there likely is some that cheat at times. I usually give them the right figure though. If I been looking around at other items I may forget, then I just give them a number that I either think is correct or is at least fair based on what prices tend to be there not going to hold up a line of customers or myself for a price check on a 10 -20 cent item.

I always hated paying thru the nose for say 5 screws when for a few $ more purchase a box of 100. I must have 40 containers in my garage that each came with 100 screws that I purchased 40 years ago. Lucky to have one great local hardware store that maintained a large hardware inventory. I always went there first if I needed a few stainless steel cap screws & nuts. Glad that I have quality made in USA hardware in stock. Had a lot of bad threads & extra thin flat washers that were made in cheating china.

 

[Rick 0920]

I never thought it was the right thing to do, but I understand that it's just "business" I always got a lower price at supply houses than other contractors because I bought in such large quantities and spent a lot more per month than they did. When the big box stores became a competitor to them, I would check them periodically but it was really only to keep my suppliers honest. I would buy 4/0 AL SER by the 1000' spools. Same with 6-3. 6-2, 8-2, 10-3, and 10-2. My guys would measure their cuts in the field and call them in to the shop if they would do the rough-in in one day. If it was a bigger house, they would cut their wire the next morning. It just worked out to be more efficient for how I operated. When I expanded to larger commercial jobs, different story. I would call in wire cuts for feeders and panels originating from the MDP. The supply house that I used would crimp pulling fingers on the conductors and put them all on one spool so when it was delivered to the job, I just needed to have a rope in the pipe with the tugger set up. the extra money I paid for that was worth the labor of handling different spools and making the heads for the pull.