wound up in one of those orange stores...(a rant)

[LarryFine]

Sometimes you have a general plan but there may be several different ways to accomplish your goal and it's nice to look at the options, see what will fit and how much it will cost. It's too hard to explain that to a counter guy at the supply house.

It's like in the movie Apollo 13, when they dumped a box of stuff on the table and said "They have to make this filter work with only what's in this box."

 

[mtfallsmikey]

I can tell everyone that you can buy any kind of brand name faucet (A/S, Kohler, Delta) cheaper at a box store than I can get it wholesale. Same deal with let's say...a Fluidmaster toilet fill valve, or any electric hot water heater.

 

[SAC]

Two levels of quality control are actually fairly easy to achieve.

Say a machine makes items that are 99% perfect at a rate of 200/hour, and if the machine is sped up to 300/hour the quality drops to 95%. Same machine, same parts, and same quality check, but a different allowance for the number bad parts.

I'm not suggesting that this is done in this case, but multiple levels of quality control are often used as a money saver. There are generally manufacturing tolerances that need to be met for a given level of quality control. Some # of the parts manufactured may meet a stringent set of tolerances, and some don't. Instead of having to throw away those that "failed", they can be re-tested at a less stringent set of tolerances that might not be as "good", but are still acceptable for a lower priced item. Then those parts can be sold instead of needing to dispose of or recycle them. You know how they have those computers with the same kind of CPU but at different speeds - that's because they test the CPUs and "bin" them depending on how fast they can run. They lower speed ones are cheeper because even the faster ones can run slow, but the slower ones can't run fast. So getting a good supply of slow ones is easy, but only so many of them can run fast.

 

[flashlight]

In these times I try to support the supply houses that have been good to me over the years. If they don't have it, I will endure the orange.

Not sure about electrical parts, but I am convinced that there are different quality levels for name brand tools bought at big box stores compared to at other outlets. The big boxes are relentless on their downward price pressure toward suppliers--larger, lower quality runs are the suppliers' response.

The big box near me suddenly pulled all Greenlee tools and replaced with Klein.

 

[c2500]

This suggests that the manufacturer has two quality control departments, or varies it's quality control for different clients. This is so unlikely...it's ridiculous.

No, they have one department. They send out the items with a wide variation to the big boxes, and the narrow variation to the supply houses. I don't know what you know about tile, but the colors are literally fluid. I can show you a tile from 5 years ago, with the exact same name as one produced today that is totally different from what you get today.
Installers want batches that are as close as possible in color.

c2500

 

[c2500]

As an add on comment...

I had lunch today with a buddy. He was complaining about the prices at Hughes plumbing...now HD supply (they have gone up on him). He said the "tract pack" valves he used to buy were different from the big boxes. Aside from being in a clear plastic bag, they had an all metal body in the piece where the sink sprayer rested. The big boxes packaging is cardboard, with a plastic body for the sprayer to rest in. Trivial, but packaging costs money.

Currently, it is cheaper to buy drywall mud in a 5 gallon plastic "bag in a box." The bucket of mud is $3-$4 more than the box.

c2500

 

[ItsHot]

Walmart!

Walmart!

Welcome to Walmart Electric!:roll:

 

[tshea]

Some packages have CP at the end--Consumer Pack. This is meant for retail sale.

 

[quinn77]

I just so happen to love those blue and orange stores...and their "wiring simplified" books. It keeps those of us in the service industry pretty busy!

 

[DavidA]

For us it really depends on location and order size. All the supply houses are on the south side of town and most of the job sites are on the north side...usually within sight of a Lowe's or HD. For small odds and ends its the box stores all the way. If it needs a flatbed to get it to a job it'll be from a supply house. Some prices are great though at the box stores. For a while I was getting 500' rolls of #12 THHN for $35.

 

[wireguru]

i think the C at the end of the p/n is clamshell package. That p/n is obsolete and replaced by HOM115GFICP. They also have HOM115GFI as a current product.

 

[goldstar]

We bought sp homeline breakers for $2.10 ea, at the oranage store. I perfer to buy from my local suppliers because when I need help with something they come thru with good customer service.

I used to be committed to buy at the supply houses for the same reason until one day I purchased Sq-D service upgrade material from a local dealer. As I was driving up the road looking at a relatively high bill I realized that the cost of the GFI breakers that I purchased seemed a bit out of line. So, I stopped at Big Orange and purchased all the same material for about $100 less. Needless to say, I don't buy from that supplier unless I'm desparate.

 

[goldstar]

One of the key things you should remember when buying from a big box store is to inspect all the packages. If any box looks like it was previously opened or re-taped closed - don't buy it. If you're buying Halo recessed cans and the box of 6 is sealed or stapled closed just like it came from the supplier then, in all probability, your buying the cans as they were manufactured. On the other hand, if there's an open box and you just want one or two cans make sure you inspect each one in its entirety. The people at the returns desk have no idea what to inspect for when items are returned.

I once had a customer purchase a half dozen duplex receptacles. She came back with them individually boxed. When I went to install them they had the feed-thru tabs broken off. But they looked like new inside the box.

 

[ty]

Lower-back tattoo?

The song 'Tics' by Brad Paisley comes to mind


I used to Work part time at HD years ago. I put every penny I was allowed into the Employee Sock Purchase Program, and gaind quite a bit of stock (back when it was doing good and would split 3/2). I've sold some then, to help pay for some large costs, such as a $5000 transmission rebuild. I still own quite a few shares (which are not worth nearly what they were pre 9-11)
I could give alot of insite in the inner store workings, but it is irrelevant here.


I agree that some of their items are marked so that one couldn't return it to a supply house after purchasing it at the box store.

Another example is a Cutler Hammer A/C disconnect. I am a CH installer. The part number at HD has an adder in the part number and HD's price for one is far better than my break price at supply house.
And HD carries only a few Cutler Hammer items now.

For me, NM 14/2 and 12/2 are the only wire that is less expensive to purchase than at my supply house, and typically it is @ $3 per thousand respectively.
HD does not change their wire pricing daily, as my supplier does.

 

[petey_c]

I needed to replace 5 motion detectors on the second floor of a house. I stopped by HD to pick them up. A 30 minute drive to the job. When I got there 4 of the 5 were used. Someone had installed the new ones and returned the old ones in the new boxes. The folks at the return desk didn't even bother to check. I almost always check the packages before I put them on the cart. Usually when I don't is the time I get stuck with missing or old parts. pete

 

[ty]

What sucks about that is the associate in the department is supposed to check all returns before putting them back on the shelf.
If there is a problem with it, they could also do an RTV, or a write down and destroy(depending on the vendor).
So, the return person either didn't know, or didn't check, and the associate was just plain lazy.

 

[jaylectricity]

I just saved almost $5 on 250' of 14-3 romex because they had two spaces in the same area to stock. The one on the floor had a higher price, but I didn't notice that one. I noticed the ones on the third shelf and they were marked $58.31. Apparently they raised the price to $62.30 on the floor but didn't notice there was another price tag reflecting the old price.

I was taking the scenic route home anyway, so I didn't mind the extra 5 minutes at the service desk to get it right. If only I could get a $1 a minute to stand around all day.