Home Depot doesn't sell conduit up there?

 

Oh they do but the pricing is like $40/stick when I know the big contractor I worked for was paying $8/stick after multiple rounds of price hiking and it used to be $2-3/stick. Just seems like something you'd never buy at HD because it's too expensive. Maybe they have pro pricing per bundle. But if you walk to the shelf and pick up a stick of 3/4" EMT it's 40 bucks for the stick.

 

Small guys have to shop around, no way around it. By now I've learned what to go to the SH for and what to go to HD for. Being small you're pretty much going to pay retail price for items no matter where you go, you don't have any more buying power over a home owner.

 

I use one supply house mostly and they take goodcare of me but they areaware that I do most of my business there.

 

I think it takes time to learn who has what at better prices and it probably won't be the same place for all. Then again, if they have what you need most of the time, your time is valuable. I do a lot of service type stuff and when I'm out and about, I'm not traveling any further than I need to get what I want. The bidding stuff I understand what you're saying.

 

3/4 EMT
$14.50 SH
$12.30 Big box

But my supplier ships and waits 30 days to pay at that price.

 

As a small contractor you have to factor in your time running around to procure materials. Sometimes it's more cost effective to have 1-stop shopping even if some items a a couple bucks more.

I use a supply house almost exclusively. They have almost everything I need, I get one statement at the end of the month and make one payment. Done.

It doesn't hurt the supply house is a block away from the shop.

 

It doesn't hurt the supply house is a block away from the shop.

Nice. It’s like having a warehouse with free rent. 😊

 

That’s what I’ve tried to account for more lately is time spent talking on the phone, the emails and texts, research, shopping. It’s all work related, why am I not account long for the cost of it if usually I can really only be on the tools for roughly six hours. I’m learning.

 

I have pretty well switched to an independent who sells some Chinese rough-in materials but the quality is still pretty good. An iberville 4 X 4 steel stud box can cost up to $11.00 at a regular wholesaler. The Chinese one is $3.45 and has two green screws. The little guy has better EMT pricing and he’s a one stop shop for breakers of any type cheaper than the big guys. He still gets me when I’m not looking but that happens anywhere.

I never used to shop around much but now it’s a necessity.

 

Ya I had to wheel and deal with the wholesalers to get them to give me good pricing as a small guy, you basically have to sell them on the fact you are just going to buy your **** elsewhere if they don't fix your prices and as you grow as a business they won't be where your coming for stuff. They know guys have their preferred spots so if they are a good business they will recognize that if they are good to you they'll be your main supplier if you grow into a bigger contractor

 

As others said you might have to shop around for better pricing on different items. Around here the supply houses are quicker to adjust their prices whether it be up or down while the big box stores might be a month or so behind. You have to get to know which places are cheaper for what items. Don't run around and waste gas either. Also who has a better made product. LED lights at the supply house are better than the same fixture at Home Depot. I also look for items that are marked at the older price. For instance the HD has 200 amp SEU marked at under $10.00 per foot. I have not seen that price at the local SH for 2 years. I questioned it and that is what the sales person said. I replied I need 12 feet. Most supply houses are going to the way of counter jockeys so I try to use an outside sales person who wants to make a sale or an older counter person who has the ability to adjust the price.
Like 99 cents, I have one supply house less than a mile away, a Lowes 1.2 miles away, and a Home Depot 2.5 miles away. Very convenient.

 

Charge Large. I try not to get myself into situations where there are multiple bidders as well.

 

I've worked with a big contractor for most of my career who put in conduit orders for 100k/ft often and seen the PMs/foreman push supply house reps on pricing. They had leverage on pricing, buying in volume and threatening to switch suppliers. Are things like boxes, wire, breakers and fittings priced fair for small contractors? Still much better then going to HD? I think HD beats supply houses on 14-2 but supply houses beat HD on other things?

My boss at a smaller, but still decent sized commercial construction company told me the list price for stud mount octagon boxes was insane at one of the suppliers, but "their" price was well under half the list price. I've browsed list prices on one of the suppliers (anyone can sign up for a cash account, but you need to get vetted as an electrical contractor to get a credit account) and prices seemed ludicrous on many items. Is it a game that hurts little guys going into business, especially if you try and transition from service work to small commercial jobs (where you have to bid against others, buy conduit, etc). I see from HD you cant buy conduit there, it's laughable, and I know what conduit "actually" costs the big guys.

Purchasing is about relationships, If you had a salesman that you knew from your old job, contact them. Let them know you are now in business and if he can help out with pricing until you get better established.

 

This is good advice. Hook up with the big reputable supply house and meet the inside sales guy. Open an account. You won't ever get better pricing with no account. You use electrical suppliers, because they have sources the big box stores do not. They deliver, have direct access to electrical manufacturers. Most times the people working there have been in the business for decades. Use that vendor for EVERYTHING electrical until you establish a good relationship. Have materials delivered. I step foot in a supply house maybe three times a year. We get everything delivered to job or shop.
Than open accounts at all the electrical vendors. Doesn't take much to open an account. How big of an area to you work? The area I work in has over 8million people. So we have accounts with everyone.

 

Buy some from each and see who gives you best pricing.

 

I consider myself a small purchaser, and I have contracts in place with the SH. If you don't ask, you won't get anything. As was said earlier, I don't mind paying a bit more for the service I get at the SH. Regardless there are still things less expensive at Canadian Tire, Home Depot, etc... light fixtures is one of them. The SH maybe buy 150K of them CT buy 1.5 million... you know who is getting the better deal.

Cheers
John

 

When I was coming up through the ranks from small to medium size. I found creating a relationship with your salesman was key. If he is not stopping by once a week your doing something wrong.
First do you have the big pricing book? If not please do not tell me that your asking for pricing for every job.
If you have the pricing book, then ask your salesmen for a discount sheet off end book, based on no more than 20 common items you buy a lot. All of the salesmen.
By now you should know not to call house A for conduit because they are always high or house b for boxes.
This does not apply to switch gear. Have all gear quoted with all the breakers and all the disconnects WITH FUSES. Have all light fixtures quoted with lamps.

Graybar once gave me a price for a job, $400 grand for the fixtures. They did not include the lamps. I had another house quote me $405 grand with the lamps. When Graybar showed up for the PO I explained they had not done it right and the order went to another house. God were they pissed. Never made that mistake again from the quoting department. Unfortunately all of my competitors got this benny because of what I had done.

Lastly find a new small house and try and work out a deal with them for as much as you can buy from them. Time and volume are the keys

 

When I was coming up through the ranks from small to medium size. I found creating a relationship with your salesman was key. If he is not stopping by once a week your doing something wrong.
First do you have the big pricing book? If not please do not tell me that your asking for pricing for every job.
If you have the pricing book, then ask your salesmen for a discount sheet off end book, based on no more than 20 common items you buy a lot. All of the salesmen.
By now you should know not to call house A for conduit because they are always high or house b for boxes.
This does not apply to switch gear. Have all gear quoted with all the breakers and all the disconnects WITH FUSES. Have all light fixtures quoted with lamps.

Graybar once gave me a price for a job, $400 grand for the fixtures. They did not include the lamps. I had another house quote me $405 grand with the lamps. When Graybar showed up for the PO I explained they had not done it right and the order went to another house. God were they pissed. Never made that mistake again from the quoting department. Unfortunately all of my competitors got this benny because of what I had done.

Lastly find a new small house and try and work out a deal with them for as much as you can buy from them. Time and volume are the keys

My new, small house goes out of their way to keep customers happy. I needed 100’ of 1” ENT and they were out of stock. Their pricing was good. They delivered it to me within two hours. I don’t know where they got it from but it’s hard not to give someone like that more business. Hopefully they maintain this level of service and the bean counters stay out of the way.

 

Mine is close and the owners give me business too. I need them all from time to time including big retail and online, because no one has it all, all the time and it’s ok. I pick my own orders. I leave them a list so I don’t have to wait. They are good to me.

 

I had a great experience with one salesman at Graybar. After a couple of years he left and so did I.

 

Have any of you tried giving HD a chance at a larger order? Like getting a quote below shelf prices.

 

Before the pandemic I had a person at the local pro desk, they'd get me free delivery without a question for orders of $1000 or more and might help if they knew a coupon code or something, sometimes they could price match advertised prices, but no actual negotiated pricing.

 

I'm a small guy, under $200K in material per year.
I get quotes from Electrical wholesalers on certain items. I commit to buying for one year - all my panels, breakers, meter sockets, recessed lights, exhaust fans etc. I get better pricing but don't buy it all at once. I buy it as I need it. Each year I get new quotes.

 

I think knowing who has what brands and roughly what in stock or having someone you can call who does is invaluable.

 

Yep. And as obscure as you think a part is, chances are the seasoned SH guy has sourced it for someone else before.

 

I buy my lighting products in bulk from one supplier, wire/devices/panels from another, and the odd connectors or fittings from home depot as my stock runs low.

I've found building good working relationships with the people pulling your product will get your order pulled sooner, sometimes within the hour. Time is money after all.

 

Prices are typically all over the place no matter where you look. Plus if you set up an account even HD gives you a small discount. Some will compete with better rates. Both are dealing with typically 7% margins average for all customers so 5% lower is a big deal. Plus you are marking up 15% to customer. What does it matter if you get it cheaper elsewhere? When I did estimating for capital requests I often used the most expensive bid then used a cheaper one to do the job. I was held to 10% contingency which was often too low.

 

I see from HD you cant buy conduit there, it's laughable, and I know what conduit "actually" costs the big guys.

I'd love to hear how much less you're seeing conduit selling to the big guys, but to be honest, I wouldn't believe you unless you're the guy that pays the bills. If a supply house is coming in significantly under the big boxes on conduit, I think they are probably counting on making it up with something else, i.e. if you spend $200,000 on switch gear at a huge margin you might get conduit at a really low price, but don't think you're getting a deal, the low cost conduit is the free undercoating when you pay sticker price for a car.

There was a thread about this a while back ...

https://www.electriciantalk.com/threads/conduit-supply-house-vs-big-box.276400/

 

I've worked with a big contractor for most of my career who put in conduit orders for 100k/ft often and seen the PMs/foreman push supply house reps on pricing. They had leverage on pricing, buying in volume and threatening to switch suppliers. Are things like boxes, wire, breakers and fittings priced fair for small contractors? Still much better then going to HD? I think HD beats supply houses on 14-2 but supply houses beat HD on other things?

My boss at a smaller, but still decent sized commercial construction company told me the list price for stud mount octagon boxes was insane at one of the suppliers, but "their" price was well under half the list price. I've browsed list prices on one of the suppliers (anyone can sign up for a cash account, but you need to get vetted as an electrical contractor to get a credit account) and prices seemed ludicrous on many items. Is it a game that hurts little guys going into business, especially if you try and transition from service work to small commercial jobs (where you have to bid against others, buy conduit, etc). I see from HD you cant buy conduit there, it's laughable, and I know what conduit "actually" costs the big guys.

After being a small distributor for almost 40 years I gotta say this. Pick 2 supply houses you like and feed them, nothing hacks us off worse than a small contractor getting prices on the same things every day and having a daily auction. It WILL work against you I guarantee. Develop a relationship with an inside sales guy you like and get your pricing set up then leave it alone!! The time you spend nickel and dimeing material is not worth it! We don't like it when we have to price down every locknut and bushing on a $500 order over and over, we have plenty of other customers that we would rather sell it to. Distributors carry your account interest free, deliver for free, carry a minimum of $1million in stock that we pay interest on every month.

We can save your ass and treat you like a million dollar account if you're good to us, if you're not we cringe when you walk in.

This doesn't sound very friendly, LOL, but some contractors use the "threaten to buy elsewhere" approach way too much and we see right through it.

 

After being a small distributor for almost 40 years I gotta say this. Pick 2 supply houses you like and feed them, nothing hacks us off worse than a small contractor getting prices on the same things every day and having a daily auction. It WILL work against you I guarantee. Develop a relationship with an inside sales guy you like and get your pricing set up then leave it alone!! The time you spend nickel and dimeing material is not worth it! We don't like it when we have to price down every locknut and bushing on a $500 order over and over, we have plenty of other customers that we would rather sell it to. Distributors carry your account interest free, deliver for free, carry a minimum of $1million in stock that we pay interest on every month.

We can save your ass and treat you like a million dollar account if you're good to us, if you're not we cringe when you walk in.

This doesn't sound very friendly, LOL, but some contractors use the "threaten to buy elsewhere" approach way too much and we see right through it.

i am a contractor and that is exactly what i do
forget the box stores
years ago , it only took a month for me to realize there is no way im coming out ahead with them if i counted all my time to compare pricing, make the bid, and then get material on the job

 

As a contractor you have to look at prices in general but also coverage. At least in my case often the SH I use is based on which one is in town. That might be a local feed and seed, plumbing supply, or Lowes. Some towns have only 1 or 2 SH. And the big problem is this. So I walked into a SH that we have an account with and said I need 100 feet of 350 MCM. The guy was confused and asked what type of cable. I said THHN or THWN or whatever they call it. He said they have 12 or 14 and did I decide if I need 100 or 350 feet. I said 100 feet, 350 MCM. He said never heard of it. Another guy smirked and said it’s KCMIL. Then he said they don’t have anything that large. Mind you it’s a port town. I had to spend another 15 minutes calling until I located the “industrial” SH. That’s usually how it goes…in big cities they have just one industrial SH. It’s not all the same company so we have to use pretty much all of them to get things done. But we do try to direct most of our business towards just a couple.

 

I think contractors that do residential work in any trade have to deal with Home Depot or Lowe’s on some level and can never only deal with supply houses.