A buying consortium for contractor? What do you think?

[rolyberkin]

Personally I think the concept is flawed unless you only offer one style of everything or you keep changing the manufacturer and type to get keen prices, you will not be able to negotiate such good rates unless you are buying in massive quantities and then it is all has to be one make. Most people on here will prefer different makes, one person will choose Legrand over MK etc. If you are buying one style of consumer unit you cannot guarantee the volume and therefore the discount. Sometimes the convenience of picking something up locally cannot be underestimated. My local supplier will send out in a van to my door the next day for £2.50 or free if over £50

Buying for a single project on bulk is different to having to negotiate various stock levels for a bunch of fussy buggers. I think you will always struggle when people like Electricfix and other local wholesalers are buying in such massive quantities and can offer such a diverse range of suppliers.

 

[amlu]

i have a home made spreadsheet, just type in whats needed for the job, how many, amounts, go online and compare the prices see wheres the best deal (combination of screwfix, toolstation, tlc, cpc, rs, two local places), order, job done.
I stay away from places that keep their prices secret. (got online account at the Big Wholesaler, but never found it competitive with others.
took couple of evenings making spreadsheet but does the job. no need for a middle man.

 

[davesparks]

Based on the price you pay to your local supplier. for example say,

GU10 3w lamps, you pay at £7.99 + VAT for 5 lamps equals to £1.60 + VAT a lamp. The true cost is only £0.90 + VAT.

5w GU10, you pay for about £3.00 each + VAT, The cost for them is about £1.69 + VAT

50W LED floodlight, you pay for about £30-35 each + VAT, the cost for them is about £19-24 + VAT

LED 600x600 panel, you pay for about £30 - 35 each + VAT, the cost for them is about £18-25 + VAT


RCBO, you pay for about £18-23 + VAT, the cost for them is about £9 - £11 + VAT

MCB, you pay about £2.50, the cost for them is about £1.30-1.60 + VAT.

there are more examples I can show. This is how you could save money with the business I am planning.

You might have better luck trying to get big contracting companies to sign up than people on here, most of us are either self employed, small companies or on the cards employees.

From my point of view your service sounds like a terrible idea. It's rare for a week to go by when I don't just go and have a rummage around my wholesalers warehouse to see what I can find to get over the latest entertaining little problem.
Will I be able to phone you up at five minutes before closing on a Friday and beg a favour for you to stay open an extra 20mins so that I can get something I need for an emergency?
What happens if I forget something on an order, will I be able to phone you on the morning it's big delivered and get you to put the extra stuff on the van?
What will you do about returns? Excess materials due to over-ordering or last minutes changes of plan?
Will you give me a bottle of wine and a diary at Christmas?
Will you hire things like crimpers, benders, cable jacks free of charge to regular customers?
Will you cut my order of SWA into the individual lengths I require?

 

[Octopus]

Based on the price you pay to your local supplier. for example say,

GU10 3w lamps, you pay at £7.99 + VAT for 5 lamps equals to £1.60 + VAT a lamp. The true cost is only £0.90 + VAT.

5w GU10, you pay for about £3.00 each + VAT, The cost for them is about £1.69 + VAT

50W LED floodlight, you pay for about £30-35 each + VAT, the cost for them is about £19-24 + VAT

LED 600x600 panel, you pay for about £30 - 35 each + VAT, the cost for them is about £18-25 + VAT


RCBO, you pay for about £18-23 + VAT, the cost for them is about £9 - £11 + VAT

MCB, you pay about £2.50, the cost for them is about £1.30-1.60 + VAT.

there are more examples I can show. This is how you could save money with the business I am planning.

so what?

as I previously stated, you are not on my patch, you don't deliver at short notice. There is more to a successful business than this weeks lowest priced deal