I went into our local builder's merchant to get a length of drainpipe at
the weekend and walked straight back out again when I discovered they
wanted £11 for a 2m length (and £5 for an outlet shoe). I bought the 2m
of pipe from Homebase in the end for £5.

So how much discount do tradesmen get at builder's merchants? At those
prices I would think it would have to be at least 60% for anyone to even
bother using them.

Martin.

Martin Wiseman wrote:
I went into our local builder's merchant to get a length of drainpipe
at the weekend and walked straight back out again when I discovered
they wanted £11 for a 2m length (and £5 for an outlet shoe). I bought
the 2m of pipe from Homebase in the end for £5.

So how much discount do tradesmen get at builder's merchants? At those
prices I would think it would have to be at least 60% for anyone to
even bother using them.

Martin.

Travis Perkins?
These shower of ****e have different 'discounts' for different areas, the
result is a bag of sand in the St Helens branch is £2.50 while in Warrington
it is close to £4....and in B & Q it's £1.20

Most tradesmen use B&Q for a lot of things unless they have accounts at
BM's, in which case it's about the same price as B&Q but usually less hassle
parking etc.

Martin Wiseman wrote in message
...
I went into our local builder's merchant to get a length of drainpipe at
the weekend and walked straight back out again when I discovered they
wanted £11 for a 2m length (and £5 for an outlet shoe). I bought the 2m
of pipe from Homebase in the end for £5.

So how much discount do tradesmen get at builder's merchants? At those
prices I would think it would have to be at least 60% for anyone to even
bother using them.

Martin.


I assume the £11 was the sticker (list) price, actual price is always
negotiable at the counter, Trade account or not.
Hint a Screwfix catalogue is a handy price reference haggle guide.


-

In article ,
"Phil L" writes:

Travis Perkins?

I went to buy a saw in Travis Perkins (it was near, I needed it quickly).
When I went to pay, I must have reeled backwards at the price, not with
a view of bargining but just with genuine surprise. Anyway, seeing my
reaction, the price instantly got halved.

OTOH, Jewsons wanted £3 for a bag of sand which cost 99p at Wickes.
Again, I was there and needed it. There was no bartering to be had.
I did buy it, but I've never bought anything from them since.

--
Andrew Gabriel

"Phil L" wrote in message
k...
Martin Wiseman wrote:
I went into our local builder's merchant to get a length of drainpipe
at the weekend and walked straight back out again when I discovered
they wanted £11 for a 2m length (and £5 for an outlet shoe). I bought
the 2m of pipe from Homebase in the end for £5.

So how much discount do tradesmen get at builder's merchants? At those
prices I would think it would have to be at least 60% for anyone to
even bother using them.

Martin.

Travis Perkins?
These shower of ****e have different 'discounts' for different areas, the
result is a bag of sand in the St Helens branch is £2.50 while in
Warrington it is close to £4....and in B & Q it's £1.20

Most tradesmen use B&Q for a lot of things unless they have accounts at
BM's, in which case it's about the same price as B&Q but usually less
hassle parking etc.

All the tradesman that I know go to those yards for the credit they get, and
sometimes the choice, but not the price. I do get tradesman discount from
all the local yards, and even with those they are never competitive compared
to what you can find with minimal effort. Any I also compared the prices
that I was given with those given to tradesman friends who buy in much
larger volume. ...and guess what, just as uncompetitive...

One reason the yards get away with it is because you never know the price
you pay until you are already in the queue with a few people behind you
waiting. Not the best time for haggling...

That's my experience anyway.

Martin Wiseman wrote:
I went into our local builder's merchant to get a length of drainpipe at
the weekend and walked straight back out again when I discovered they
wanted £11 for a 2m length (and £5 for an outlet shoe). I bought the 2m
of pipe from Homebase in the end for £5.

So how much discount do tradesmen get at builder's merchants? At those
prices I would think it would have to be at least 60% for anyone to even
bother using them.

Martin.

It varies between products. The discount is anywhere up to 50% but
normally around 30%. They make extra profit from retail which claws
back some of the discount they give to the trade. Even the sheds (B&Q,
Wickes etc) are in on the racket. An item my company sells to B&Q for
£0.58 ends up at £4.50 on their shelves. Ask the price at the
Builders Merchants before buying and tell them to get stuffed if it is
too high. Dont worry about offending them. They are used to it and have
hides like a Rhinoceros.

In article .com,
Bookworm writes
Martin Wiseman wrote:
I went into our local builder's merchant to get a length of drainpipe at
the weekend and walked straight back out again when I discovered they
wanted £11 for a 2m length (and £5 for an outlet shoe). I bought the 2m
of pipe from Homebase in the end for £5.

So how much discount do tradesmen get at builder's merchants? At those
prices I would think it would have to be at least 60% for anyone to even
bother using them.

Martin.

It varies between products. The discount is anywhere up to 50% but
normally around 30%. They make extra profit from retail which claws
back some of the discount they give to the trade. Even the sheds (B&Q,
Wickes etc) are in on the racket. An item my company sells to B&Q for
£0.58 ends up at £4.50 on their shelves. Ask the price at the
Builders Merchants before buying and tell them to get stuffed if it is
too high. Dont worry about offending them. They are used to it and have
hides like a Rhinoceros.


Yep have a requirement at the moment for a hot water cylinder £125 best
price "won't find cheaper guv" from local plumbing dept of large
merchants, £94 quid from Screwfix!...
--
Tony Sayer

Yep have a requirement at the moment for a hot water cylinder £125 best
price "won't find cheaper guv" from local plumbing dept of large
merchants, £94 quid from Screwfix!...
--
Tony Sayer


Plumbers Merchant probably paid around £50 -£60 for it. Whenever I am
waiting at a Plumbers/Builders Merchants Trade Counter to see the
buyer, my toes curl when I see what they are charging Retail Customers.
I used to sell a Manual Shower Mixing Valve, (Chinese, but never had
one back), for £19. Most Merchants sold it at around £60 - £80.

On 10 Apr 2006 01:39:09 -0700, "Bookworm" wrote:

|
|
| Yep have a requirement at the moment for a hot water cylinder ?125 best
| price "won't find cheaper guv" from local plumbing dept of large
| merchants, ?94 quid from Screwfix!...
| --
| Tony Sayer
|
|
|Plumbers Merchant probably paid around ?50 -?60 for it. Whenever I am
|waiting at a Plumbers/Builders Merchants Trade Counter to see the
|buyer, my toes curl when I see what they are charging Retail Customers.
|I used to sell a Manual Shower Mixing Valve, (Chinese, but never had
|one back), for ?19. Most Merchants sold it at around ?60 - ?80.

Ah Yes, but you can get almost anything (plumbing), in small quantities,
from a plumbers merchant over the counter, complete with advice on how to
use it. The Sheds will just sell you a very restricted selection at a
slightly lower mark up.

Swings and Roundabouts!
--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk Google Groups is IME the *worst*
method of accessing usenet. GG subscribers would be well advised get a
newsreader, say Agent, and a newsserver, say news.individual.net. These
will allow them: to see only *new* posts, a killfile, and other goodies.

Ah Yes, but you can get almost anything (plumbing), in small quantities,
from a plumbers merchant over the counter, complete with advice on how to
use it. The Sheds will just sell you a very restricted selection at a
slightly lower mark up.
My local plumbers merchant is cheaper the B&Q etc for everything I have
bought.
Radiator spanner ? 1 british pound please mate.
B&Q would charge a few quid for such a thing.
However, for baths, taps, basins etc, merchants seem to have some poor
quality stuff at a low price, the other stuff is very expensive.
In general, it seems like the comsumables are cheap, other stuff not
so.
Simon.

Phil L writes
Martin Wiseman wrote:
I went into our local builder's merchant to get a length of drainpipe
at the weekend and walked straight back out again when I discovered
they wanted £11 for a 2m length (and £5 for an outlet shoe).

Travis Perkins?

No, Ridgeons in Cambridge. 15 years ago I didn't think their prices were
too bad, memory says they had comparable prices to the likes of B&Q but
with a better selection.

Then they discovered the DIY market, started staying open on Saturday
afternoons and bumped the prices up.

Martin.

wrote:
Ah Yes, but you can get almost anything (plumbing), in small quantities,
from a plumbers merchant over the counter, complete with advice on how to
use it. The Sheds will just sell you a very restricted selection at a
slightly lower mark up.
My local plumbers merchant is cheaper the B&Q etc for everything I have
bought.
Radiator spanner ? 1 british pound please mate.
B&Q would charge a few quid for such a thing.

I bought one this very weekend for 42p in my local B&Q Whorehouse.

"Neil Jones" wrote in message
ups.com...

wrote:
Ah Yes, but you can get almost anything (plumbing), in small quantities,
from a plumbers merchant over the counter, complete with advice on how
to
use it. The Sheds will just sell you a very restricted selection at a
slightly lower mark up.
My local plumbers merchant is cheaper the B&Q etc for everything I have
bought.
Radiator spanner ? 1 british pound please mate.
B&Q would charge a few quid for such a thing.

I bought one this very weekend for 42p in my local B&Q Whorehouse.


"B&Q Whorehouse" LOL!

ETV

I've never seen a japanese hornet wasp, but I've been stung badly by Travis Perkins.
NEVER again!!

--
For full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/uk-diy...et-351569-.htm

On Sunday, April 9, 2006 at 11:26:05 PM UTC+1, Martin Wiseman wrote:
I went into our local builder's merchant to get a length of drainpipe at
the weekend and walked straight back out again when I discovered they
wanted �11 for a 2m length (and �5 for an outlet shoe). I bought the 2m
of pipe from Homebase in the end for �5.
So how much discount do tradesmen get at builder's merchants? At those
prices I would think it would have to be at least 60% for anyone to even
bother using them.
Martin.
A few years ago when we were doing a lot of work here, I went to our local builder's merchant three times in a week to buy sand (among other things) and was charged a different price for the sand each time.

Jonathan

On 22/04/2021 14:33, Jonathan wrote:
On Sunday, April 9, 2006 at 11:26:05 PM UTC+1, Martin Wiseman wrote:
I went into our local builder's merchant to get a length of drainpipe at
the weekend and walked straight back out again when I discovered they
wanted �11 for a 2m length (and �5 for an outlet shoe). I bought the 2m
of pipe from Homebase in the end for �5.
So how much discount do tradesmen get at builder's merchants? At those
prices I would think it would have to be at least 60% for anyone to even
bother using them.
Martin.
A few years ago when we were doing a lot of work here, I went to our local builder's merchant three times in a week to buy sand (among other things) and was charged a different price for the sand each time.

Jonathan


Did you not know? Sand is silicon dioxide which is mined, and is traded
on commodity markets, so the price you pay is tied to the spot price on
the commodity markets on the day? :-)


I have the same issue when sellign scrap metal to scrap dealers, teh
price they pay me is tied ot the spot prices on the London Metal
Exchaneg in London..


Its the same with buying currency through a foriegn exchange......

On Thursday, April 22, 2021 at 2:38:57 PM UTC+1, SH wrote:
On 22/04/2021 14:33, Jonathan wrote:
On Sunday, April 9, 2006 at 11:26:05 PM UTC+1, Martin Wiseman wrote:
I went into our local builder's merchant to get a length of drainpipe at
the weekend and walked straight back out again when I discovered they
wanted �11 for a 2m length (and �5 for an outlet shoe). I bought the 2m
of pipe from Homebase in the end for �5.
So how much discount do tradesmen get at builder's merchants? At those
prices I would think it would have to be at least 60% for anyone to even
bother using them.
Martin.
A few years ago when we were doing a lot of work here, I went to our local builder's merchant three times in a week to buy sand (among other things) and was charged a different price for the sand each time.

Jonathan

Did you not know? Sand is silicon dioxide which is mined, and is traded
on commodity markets, so the price you pay is tied to the spot price on
the commodity markets on the day? :-)


I have the same issue when sellign scrap metal to scrap dealers, teh
price they pay me is tied ot the spot prices on the London Metal
Exchaneg in London..


Its the same with buying currency through a foriegn exchange......
Discounts depend a lot on who you are and on your purchasing power. Many years ago I was sent to make an unusual across the counter purchase of some electric equipment for a LA, normally these things are done through a requisition order and therefore you never see the cost. On this occasion I did and the discount on the retail price was 80% that is some mark up for Joe Public, and I am sure the distributor still made a profit on the transaction.

Richard

On 22/04/2021 15:03, Tricky Dicky wrote:
On Thursday, April 22, 2021 at 2:38:57 PM UTC+1, SH wrote:
On 22/04/2021 14:33, Jonathan wrote:
On Sunday, April 9, 2006 at 11:26:05 PM UTC+1, Martin Wiseman wrote:
I went into our local builder's merchant to get a length of drainpipe at
the weekend and walked straight back out again when I discovered they
wanted �11 for a 2m length (and �5 for an outlet shoe). I bought the 2m
of pipe from Homebase in the end for �5.
So how much discount do tradesmen get at builder's merchants? At those
prices I would think it would have to be at least 60% for anyone to even
bother using them.
Martin.
A few years ago when we were doing a lot of work here, I went to our local builder's merchant three times in a week to buy sand (among other things) and was charged a different price for the sand each time.

Jonathan

Did you not know? Sand is silicon dioxide which is mined, and is traded
on commodity markets, so the price you pay is tied to the spot price on
the commodity markets on the day? :-)


I have the same issue when sellign scrap metal to scrap dealers, teh
price they pay me is tied ot the spot prices on the London Metal
Exchaneg in London..


Its the same with buying currency through a foriegn exchange......
Discounts depend a lot on who you are and on your purchasing power. Many years ago I was sent to make an unusual across the counter purchase of some electric equipment for a LA, normally these things are done through a requisition order and therefore you never see the cost. On this occasion I did and the discount on the retail price was 80% that is some mark up for Joe Public, and I am sure the distributor still made a profit on the transaction.

Richard



Funnily enough, I'm interested in know who the major distributors are
for satellite and TV gear, I already know about Solutions group and Vanjak.

S.

On 22/04/2021 15:03, Tricky Dicky wrote:
On Thursday, April 22, 2021 at 2:38:57 PM UTC+1, SH wrote:
On 22/04/2021 14:33, Jonathan wrote:



Discounts depend a lot on who you are and on your purchasing power. Many years ago I was sent to make an unusual across the counter purchase of some electric equipment for a LA, normally these things are done through a requisition order and therefore you never see the cost. On this occasion I did and the discount on the retail price was 80% that is some mark up for Joe Public, and I am sure the distributor still made a profit on the transaction.

Richard


Agreed. Forty plus years ago many "trade" counters would not serve the
general public at all. I worked for the CEGB and my site purchasing
department would, on request, give you a "trade note" that said
something like "Supply goods as requested for cash payment". The
discount on their "book" price was typically 35%. But their book price
was usually better than the sheds of the day too. More recently a mate
of mine had a Radiospares account for his business. IIRC his discount
was also 35% on their catalogue price.

On 22/04/2021 20:32, newshound wrote:


Agreed. Forty plus years ago many "trade" counters would not serve the
general public at all. I worked for the CEGB and my site purchasing
department would, on request, give you a "trade note" that said
something like "Supply goods as requested for cash payment". The
discount on their "book" price was typically 35%. But their book price
was usually better than the sheds of the day too. More recently a mate
of mine had a Radiospares account for his business. IIRC his discount
was also 35% on their catalogue price.


I considered RS to be expensive in the first place but for a business
prompt next days delivery can be very important.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 22/04/2021 14:15, Landyman wrote:
I've never seen a japanese hornet wasp, but I've been stung badly by
Travis Perkins.
NEVER again!!


For once I found Travis Perkins to be reasonable for a recent project
when factoring the "free delivery" for multiple bulky items (order value
was £190 incl VAT)

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 22/04/2021 22:17, alan_m wrote:
On 22/04/2021 20:32, newshound wrote:


Agreed. Forty plus years ago many "trade" counters would not serve the
general public at all. I worked for the CEGB and my site purchasing
department would, on request, give you a "trade note" that said
something like "Supply goods as requested for cash payment". The
discount on their "book" price was typically 35%. But their book price
was usually better than the sheds of the day too. More recently a mate
of mine had a Radiospares account for his business. IIRC his discount
was also 35% on their catalogue price.


I considered RS to be expensive in the first place but for a business
prompt next days delivery can be very important.

Next day? I once paid (on expenses) £25 for a timer relay from R.S. and
£90 for delivery, by a motorcycle courier, within an hour. A bakery
production line was shut down waiting for it!

alan_m wrote:

I considered RS to be expensive in the first place but for a business
prompt next days delivery can be very important.

They also had an interesting policy: if you ordered and there was
no stock, that was the end of it, they wouldn't schedule
subsequent delivery, they simply cancelled the order.

This meant that whilst they were very handy for getting stuff for
immediate use, we were banned from ever using them for production
orders.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK
@ChrisJDixon1

Plant amazing Acers.

On 23/04/2021 07:52, Chris J Dixon wrote:
alan_m wrote:

I considered RS to be expensive in the first place but for a business
prompt next days delivery can be very important.

They also had an interesting policy: if you ordered and there was
no stock, that was the end of it, they wouldn't schedule
subsequent delivery, they simply cancelled the order.

This meant that whilst they were very handy for getting stuff for
immediate use, we were banned from ever using them for production
orders.

Chris



I worked for a Marconi company who were notorious for not paying bills
until the last moment (plus some) and while Radio Spares were good for
immediate delivery in a development environment when the bills were
overdue all shipments stopped for a week or more. I do wonder how much
money this actually cost the company with design engineers being more
idle than necessary due to the lack of components, and with no prior
warning about delays.

There was a time when we referred to Radio Spares as Reject Spares when
when they over-wrote the manufactures identity and part number on the
top of ICs with their own code number. Although their code number could
be removed with a solvent cleaner it showed that the same RS part was
assigned to chips from different manufacturers and with different
specifications (speeds etc.) and in one case to the "same" generic IC
from two different manufactures only one of which had a known bug with a
documented work around.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

alan_m wrote:
On 22/04/2021 20:32, newshound wrote:


Agreed. Forty plus years ago many "trade" counters would not serve the
general public at all. I worked for the CEGB and my site purchasing
department would, on request, give you a "trade note" that said
something like "Supply goods as requested for cash payment". The
discount on their "book" price was typically 35%. But their book price
was usually better than the sheds of the day too. More recently a mate
of mine had a Radiospares account for his business. IIRC his discount
was also 35% on their catalogue price.

I considered RS to be expensive in the first place but for a business
prompt next days delivery can be very important.

RS used to be stupidly expensive, especially for small quantities and
non-trade users (originally they wouldn't sell to retail customers).

However I think the likes of CPC, Rapid-Recall, Farnell (yes, I know
they own CPC) and even Maplin forced RS to become cheaper and more
'user friendly'.

They're still usually a bit more expensive than the others but not
always, for example they were cheapest for a Dymo Rhino label maker
(some years ago now).

--
Chris Green
·

Maybe it was 2006 sand to start with, but newer as each lot was purchased.
grin....
Brian

--

This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"Jonathan" wrote in message
...
On Sunday, April 9, 2006 at 11:26:05 PM UTC+1, Martin Wiseman wrote:
I went into our local builder's merchant to get a length of drainpipe at
the weekend and walked straight back out again when I discovered they
wanted L11 for a 2m length (and L5 for an outlet shoe). I bought the 2m
of pipe from Homebase in the end for L5.
So how much discount do tradesmen get at builder's merchants? At those
prices I would think it would have to be at least 60% for anyone to even
bother using them.
Martin.
A few years ago when we were doing a lot of work here, I went to our local
builder's merchant three times in a week to buy sand (among other things)
and was charged a different price for the sand each time.

Jonathan

On 22/04/2021 14:15, Landyman wrote:
I've never seen a japanese hornet wasp, but I've been stung badly by
Travis Perkins.
NEVER again!!


A lot has changed in the 15 years since the original post (Read the
date before replying).

80% markup seems typical for car parts too if my ex-MOT tester
neighbour is anything to go by.

Chris Green wrote:
RS used to be stupidly expensive, especially for small quantities and
non-trade users (originally they wouldn't sell to retail customers).

However I think the likes of CPC, Rapid-Recall, Farnell (yes, I know
they own CPC) and even Maplin forced RS to become cheaper and more
'user friendly'.

It is worth going via Topcashback, which can have quite generous cashback
for the likes of RS, Farnell, CPC, etc.

We get a consortium discount on Farnell/CPC (it varies by line), but the
cashback seems to work out at roughly the same discount for normal people
making cash orders.

Theo