Wholesaler prices lately.

[Dustydazzler]

You make my point very well if your 'usual supplier' works for you.

As an aside; that supplier sounds very much like an electrical wholesaler, albeit one that operates online and eschews the costs associated with stockholding in multiple locations.

I rarely buy from wholesalers, preferring instead to be well organised and well stocked, but that's easy for me as my own work is mainly domestic for which materials are readily available at low cost. The contractor I mostly work for could never hope to operate in the same manner, due to the huge lists of material that someone would need to spend countless hours pouring through to find the best options.

Maybe it's different over here, where delivery of large and heavy goods can be more problematic, but I struggle to imagine many sizeable industrial jobs being organised on the basis of materials sourced from multiple online stockists or ebay and it's precisely this sort of work in which wholesalers excel.

On large commercial jobs / industrial jobs I don't think the price of materials is such an issue as it is in Domestic where customers are counting every penny ?
I do some work for a sports centre and I reckon I could bill them £100 for a metal clad double socket on the materials part of my final invoice and they wouldn't bat an eyelid and just pay it.
Trying charging a home owner the same and they would start checking the price on Screwfix website

 

[Rockingit]

You make my point very well if your 'usual supplier' works for you.

As an aside; that supplier sounds very much like an electrical wholesaler, albeit one that operates online and eschews the costs associated with stockholding in multiple locations.

Exactly. All that's happened is that the independants have upped their game online. That, and quite often manufacturers will hold stock at themselves rather ship out to the middleman - so if I want to sell cable clips and I reckon I can shift a million of them a year at 2p each, I buy a million clips from the factory at 1p (or a factored promise to buy) except the factory keeps them and each day I have a system that tells the factory where to ship a thousand clips at a time to. I have no warehousing or staffing costs in that process and still make 50% profit.

 

[nicebutdim]

On large commercial jobs / industrial jobs I don't think the price of materials is such an issue as it is in Domestic where customers are counting every penny ?
I do some work for a sports centre and I reckon I could bill them £100 for a metal clad double socket on the materials part of my final invoice and they wouldn't bat an eyelid and just pay it.
Trying charging a home owner the same and they would start checking the price on Screwfix website

I get what you're saying and agree that such an extra would be trivial in the grand scheme of things, but price of materials will be critical in terms of winning quotes and making profit.

Quote for the wrong cable spec and you might find youself going from making a decent profit to weeks of work at a loss.

 

[nicebutdim]

Exactly. All that's happened is that the independants have upped their game online. That, and quite often manufacturers will hold stock at themselves rather ship out to the middleman - so if I want to sell cable clips and I reckon I can shift a million of them a year at 2p each, I buy a million clips from the factory at 1p (or a factored promise to buy) except the factory keeps them and each day I have a system that tells the factory where to ship a thousand clips at a time to. I have no warehousing or staffing costs in that process and still make 50% profit.

I first encounted a similar situation, several decades back, in a different industry. The company I worked for provided engineering services and was also a wholesale distributor. They were sole distributors for some very desirable brand names, but also stocked a range of better priced options and no competitor could ever manage to break their market dominance.

Finally a competitor began making some real progress and we couldn't understand how they were managing to offer such keen prices. Turned out they struck distribution agreements with several manufacturers that allowed them to work on the basis of 5% commission. In order to make it work, stock was held locally and the manufacturers retained title of goods. What the local distributor hadn't factored was how much warehouse space they'd have to dedicate to large, low volume goods and also how much skill was required to maintain reasonable levels of stock when dealing with the perpetual holiday situation that is Italian manufacturing.

 

[LukeD]

I wonder how many small /medium suppliers will just give up? I have one near me (BEM , North London) What keeps them going is mainly accounts .The account holders need that "credit period" so dont mind paying a bit more in some cases .I dont want credit and never had a proper account .I always pay as needed .Its a lot easier and less riskier ?

 

[ipf]

I wonder how many small /medium suppliers will just give up? I have one near me (BEM , North London) What keeps them going is mainly accounts .The account holders need that "credit period" so dont mind paying a bit more in some cases .I dont want credit and never had a proper account .I always pay as needed .Its a lot easier and less riskier ?

I understand your reasoning.
In commercial and industrial, it's generally a case of waiting for money coming through, though. It's a bleedin pain, alright.
It's Ok saying 'Oh, I don't work unless paid immediately', but in industry it just doesn't work that way. That's why wholesaler accounts with payment after a couple months are a must.
Working on a one to one basis with payment on the spot is great for any small domestic business, especially those who aren't VAT registered.

 

[LukeD]

I much preferer a McCafe Latte over Starbuck , Costa , Nero anyday

Blank Street Coffee - https://www.blankstreet.com/ If ever you get up to London .

 

[oscar21]

The funny thing is, I work in a few different areas and its the independent type wholesalers that are usually the best with pricing, I walk into them with a fear that I'm going to get shafted but they always seem to treat you great, I managed to get a Crabtree shower pull from an independant the other week and it was the cheapest one I've ever bought. Its the "chain" type wholesalers that always try to shaft me even though some of them already have my details as I use other branches so its not as if I'm a stranger to them.

 

[ipf]

I much preferer a McCafe Latte over Starbuck , Costa , Nero anyday

Is that because you get free ketchup with it?

 

[DPG]

I much preferer a McCafe Latte over Starbuck , Costa , Nero anyday

Now Starbucks and Costa - that's profiteering!!