From:

(Jeffrey J. Kosowsky)

I agree. But, this is a business decision on the part of the supplier
who needs to decide who is customer is and what is the cost of serving
any given customer segment.

Jeff, this is what most supply warehouses do...they sell exclusively to
contractors because it is actually easier...the *average* weekend warrior
*needs* a box stoor like home depot or lowes where as a contractor needs a
supplier...most supply houses are no frill warehouses...they stock materials
and a select list of other items...that contractors use and buy...they don't
need large displays, and they don't need to have a bunch of different things
because the customer want a red tapeline, instead of a yellow one....

having read the entire thread here i still don't understand what the uproar
is over a contractor getting a "contractor's rate" at a supply house....it
doesn't mean you have to hire that contractor....you can do your research on
pricing, then get bids....but i can all but promise you one thing, telling a
contractor that his "price" for materials is too high is not going to have him
scrambling to lower his price to make you happy....in fact most contractors
have three price levels....the price for a turnkey job, the price for the job
if you wanna watch, and then the price(the highest by the way) for the
homeowner that *thinks* they know more about the job than the contractor
does....the third price will be roughly three times more than the first
one...contractors don't really want to do jobs for "problem" customers and will
gladly throw a "kiss-off" bid to them...
-------------------
Chris Perdue
"I'm ever so thankful for the Internet; it has allowed me to keep a finger in
the pie and to make some small contribution to those younger who will carry the
air-cooled legend forward"
Jim Mais
Feb. 2004