Todays Price Comparison

DavidC

We had a small sheetrock order from a local yard delivered today with a boom truck through a second floor window. Nothing special, just for one room. The invoice showed a fuel surcharge of $15, no other delivery charge, just the materials.

Among those was:

1/2"x4x8 @ $5.99
1/2"x4x10 @ 7.59

There was also some 14' and 16' but I couldn't compare those today.

After unloading I went downstairs and noticed todays Home Depot flyer on the recycle pile so I thumbed through it.

Sheetrock:

1/2"x4x8 @ $6.77
1/2"x4x10 @ 9.98

They offered 12' but no 14' or 16'.

I know their delivery fee to be $80 to the village we are working in and they don't have a boom truck.

When you consider that so many people will flock to the big boxes to save money on their purchases you have to wonder about their marketing plan. If you really want to know how to compete profitably, thats worth a discussion.

Good Luck
Dave

mdshunk

Other than a very few select items, I can get all my electrical supplies cheaper at an electrical supply house than at Lowe's or Home Depot. Business is business. I could care less where other people shop. I know where I shop, and I know the reasons why.

concretemasonry

David -

I just hope your supplier can stay in business with those prices.

Dick

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Dick

Engineer, designer and consultant recently active domestically and internationally on construction and design in about 35 countries.

DavidC

This supplier was the areas largest with 4 locations. First Lowes and then Home Depot came to town so now they are number 3. The prices fluctuate everytime they buy their stock. The reason we shopped there today was the boom truck, our favorite supplier's truck was down.

But the real question is what do they (the boxes) do to make people flock to them believing they will save money when they actually drive right past the better deal.

My point is that customers percieve a better deal then others that are available, when it's not necessarily true. Contractors who do the quality work at a fair price often lose the bid to seemingly lower price that often times ends up costing more in the long run for a variety of reasons.

I used this example to point out that people percieve the boxes as a better value when it is not always true. A number of 'how do I compete/sell/start...' questions are surfacing lately. I think that the basic answer is marketing and these guys are masters at pulling that off. What lessons are there for the learning?

Good Luck
Dave

send_it_all

Although I do more shopping at the big orange than I would like, I believe the value shows when you need sheetrock......and electrical boxes, and a toilet, and a case of caulk, and a bag of rags, and some 2x4s, and 3 sticks of door casing.

One stop shopping comes in handy....especially when my job site is 40 miles from home and you can't swing a dead cat around without hitting a Home Depot store.

ODDBALLS

I think one waythat big blue and orange make money is that the homeowner thinks/knows that you have to be a contractor/electricin/plumber in order to go to the supply warehouse. Plus you cant turn on the radio/tv without hearing/seeing a add for them. You don't hear about Joes supply house on the radio/tv.

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xkv8r

When you have a slew of investors , hd and lowes have a ton of financial backing, so that means a ton of advertising. Just like walmart ,advertise 1 product cheap in an ad and raise your prices on everything else.They came in with a ton of buying power ,trying to put the local lumberyards out of business,then once that happened they started raising prices and quality of lumber went down hill.They are a joke just like menards, all the menards here all sell groceries.They are a novelty for the do it yourselfer.

Tscarborough

Home Depot is advertising 8" CMU for 6% less than I will sell them for. That is the ONLY item they are cheaper than me on (no counting power tools), though.

When people call me and ask me to match the price, I tell them they should buy them from HD. However, when they call me back to get the specials and the cement, they will pay my highest price tier, plus delivery. I don't make anything on 8" CMU delivered, so I KNOW they are breaking even, at best.

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