Wholesaler prices lately.

[nicebutdim]

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.

I'm not sure why you think they're trying to shaft you. CEF are one of the most well known nationally, and I'm not exactly a fan of their pricing or often lengthy wait at their counters, but they advertise all prices on a website.

Independents and just as the name suggests and free to price goods as they see fit. National wholesalers will have policies, to which staff are obliged to adhere. You and I might not understand or appreciate those policies, but it's likely that they benefit the business. Perhaps they feel it's only worthwhile taking the time to deal with small orders at list price, whereas sizeable accounts are profitable enough to warrant decent discounts? I honestly don't know but, at the risk of repeating the same points, they have significantly higher overheads than online operations and can't hope to match the buying power of large retail chains.

Spend your money where you see fit and don't think too much about how other business owners choose to run their operations.

We buy groceries in Lidl and Asda. I couldn't care less about the prices in more expensive supermarkets.

 

[oscar21]

I'm not sure why you think they're trying to shaft you. CEF are one of the most well known nationally, and I'm not exactly a fan of their pricing or often lengthy wait at their counters, but they advertise all prices on a website.

Independents and just as the name suggests and free to price goods as they see fit. National wholesalers will have policies, to which staff are obliged to adhere. You and I might not understand or appreciate those policies, but it's likely that they benefit the business. Perhaps they feel it's only worthwhile taking the time to deal with small orders at list price, whereas sizeable accounts are profitable enough to warrant decent discounts? I honestly don't know but, at the risk of repeating the same points, they have significantly higher overheads than online operations and can't hope to match the buying power of large retail chains.

Spend your money where you see fit and don't think too much about how other business owners choose to run their operations.

We buy groceries in Lidl and Asda. I couldn't care less about the prices in more expensive supermarkets.

Its because wholesalers should (and used to be) the go to place to get your stuff. If you were a DIY'er you went to B&Q or more recently screwfix/toolstaiton, if you were in the trade you went to a wholesaler and got things cheaper than the DIYer or householder so you could make a markup on it which paid for the time and effort of sourcing it and getting it.

Nowadays wholesalers are just a retail outlet trying to maximise their proffits in any way they can.

 

[pirate]

Starbucks and Costa...best example ever. There's a book about it, and it makes interesting reading. I am fortunate with my occasional work, so I don't have the hassles of wholesalers and 30 or 60 day credit, however I well remember the collapse of a huge contractor in Scotland who just went bust owing hundreds of small businesses lots of money...the Laff**ty group killed so many small guys, and nothing could be done. Rule One: Do not put all your eggs in that one basket.
Rule two: If you do occasional stuff, get paid for materials up-front...or at least before they are installed.
My local jobs are for a few clients. They ask for a quote, I give it, and if they accept it I bill them for the materials, and once that's paid I do the work. They always pay me my labour costs promptly because nothing works until I am paid...I have the "key".
The beauty of this model is that they know I will do the job properly, so they don't fek about when it comes to paying.
Thus, wherever I buy the cable or other accessories, the cost, without uplift, is the price I have paid to the supplier, which is important to the client, particularly when the customer is a charity.
The only possible points of contention are:
1. The supplies might be cheaper elsewhere
2. I am too expensive
Given these are small jobs, point 1 is not really significant, so if they want me to leave them with the last 5m of a drum of t&e, so be it. It may come in handy for the next job on their site. They've paid for it, so it's theirs.
As for point 2...well, it's their choice...as my jobs are usually small ones, they either take my price or leave it. £200 or £300, it's nothing really.
I fully appreciate my situation isn't the most common one, but thought it might be worth mentioning it, because as a model for business, it suits me very well and may suit those who are not working 24/7 to support a family, such as a retired bloke like me who does it for fun.
I go to Screwfix and pick up the cable and accessories...ok, it's £20 more than last week...but it's only £20 on the bill.
For those who do huge contracts, that's a big problem. If you are buying 10 drums of 2.5mm, or 100 drums even, there's a huge cost differential. If you stick to small jobs, the cost isn't too significant.
Small is beautiful!

 

[nicebutdim]

Its because wholesalers should (and used to be) the go to place to get your stuff. If you were a DIY'er you went to B&Q or more recently screwfix/toolstaiton, if you were in the trade you went to a wholesaler and got things cheaper than the DIYer or householder so you could make a markup on it which paid for the time and effort of sourcing it and getting it.

Nowadays wholesalers are just a retail outlet trying to maximise their proffits in any way they can.

Wholesalers haven't changed, but you have and so has the world. Wholesalers are doing what they have always done.

 

[LukeD]

Wholesalers haven't changed, but you have and so has the world. Wholesalers are doing what they have always done.

UK should be like certain parts of the world .where many items cannot be sold to members of the public as id has to be shown .mainly gas, water and electrical stuff . And should a client ever pull out a screwfix etc catalogue out and question a quote it would be 'Have it all here the day before I start work .None of it will carry any form of warrantee from me and anything missing or wrong needs to be sorted out by you and if necessary a hourly rate will be charged if it slows down the job."


You dont take your own meat and veg to a restaurant !

 

[DPG]

UK should be like certain parts of the world .where many items cannot be sold to members of the public as id has to be shown .mainly gas, water and electrical stuff . And should a client ever pull out a screwfix etc catalogue out and question a quote it would be 'Have it all here the day before I start work .None of it will carry any form of warrantee from me and anything missing or wrong needs to be sorted out by you and if necessary a hourly rate will be charged if it slows down the job."


You dont take your own meat and veg to a restaurant !

I get your point. But don't you think I should be allowed to repair the brakes on my car as I have for many years? It's only the same thing.

 

[oscar21]

Wholesalers haven't changed, but you have and so has the world. Wholesalers are doing what they have always done.

They have changed, do you not remember years ago, the manufacturer would send a rep round to the wholesalers or even retail outlet and had a price list, one one page was the price list you could buy stuff from the manufacturer for, and on the next page was the price list for what you could sell it for, you had to adhere to these prices otherwise the manufacturer wouldn't deal with you. It stopped loads of undercutting and driving other business's out of existence just for pure proffitt.

 

[Dustydazzler]

There is no way the sale of cable and pipe will be restricted , not a chance

 

[nicebutdim]

UK should be like certain parts of the world .where many items cannot be sold to members of the public as id has to be shown .mainly gas, water and electrical stuff . And should a client ever pull out a screwfix etc catalogue out and question a quote it would be 'Have it all here the day before I start work .None of it will carry any form of warrantee from me and anything missing or wrong needs to be sorted out by you and if necessary a hourly rate will be charged if it slows down the job."


You dont take your own meat and veg to a restaurant !

While you raise a valid point about gas, electric and water, I don't like the idea of regulation for this reason and the argument is somewhat undermined when you go on to clarify the actual objection to be one based on profit.

There are plenty of tradespeople who are happy for customers buy materials as it helps ensure their turnover remains below vat threshold and, perhaps cynically, places onus on customer where warranty of materials is concerned.

In days gone by, a system (similar to that which you describe) existed and was self-regulating. Wholesalers only discounted prices to proven trade customers and only discounted by a significant margin where large accounts were concerned. This served wholesalers well as small customers went to a convenient distributor and availed of the same prices, while ensuring wholesale trade counter wasn't overburdened with small orders. Those distributors made a profit and appreciated that the wholesaler stuck rigidly to this model and allowed the distributor to make a profit. Small trade customers were happy as they received a discount, but...

those small trade customers were paying through the nose. In many instances, a manufacturing customer or distributor received huge discounts of anything from 25%-80% (depending on product range in question), while the little guys received maybe 5%-20%. Retail customers paid list price and it is important to acknowledge who set these list prices - the wholesaler.

You often make the point that you choose who to work for and who to avoid, well that's often what wholesalers do. The only difference being they don't decline your business, but accept it at a price they deem to be agreeable. I find it incredible to learn that, instead of being happy with the huge range of options now available in terms of suppliers, anyone might wish to return to the days when few options existed for the procurement of goods.

 

[nicebutdim]

They have changed, do you not remember years ago, the manufacturer would send a rep round to the wholesalers or even retail outlet and had a price list, one one page was the price list you could buy stuff from the manufacturer for, and on the next page was the price list for what you could sell it for, you had to adhere to these prices otherwise the manufacturer wouldn't deal with you. It stopped loads of undercutting and driving other business's out of existence just for pure proffitt.

So your issue is with manufacturers no longer fixing prices (now illegal) and other oulets selling too cheaply?

Forgive my confusion, but you initially stated that wholesalers should sell to you at lower prices and now lament the demise of the days when they had to sell at a minimum price.

If you're worried about 'loads of undercutting and driving other business's out of existence just for pure profit. then surely you'd want to support the wholesalers who are hammered on price by large DIY chains?