Wholesalers....

[Lister1987]

...off the back of the latest CJR video thread it now has me wondering; What/Who class as wholesalers?

I was of the impression that the likes of Screwfix/Toolstation were trade wholesalers? With the likes of B&Q, Wickes etc being "Big Shed" retailers and at the bottom of the pile you have the High Street/Supermarkets; Wilko, ASDA, Tesco etc

Stupid idea coming up; To go alongside the Spark Directory; A wholesaler/retail directory with your well-known sources and any hidden local gems at what you would deem good/reasonable prices

 

[GBDamo]

Agree, i got mk mcbs 1.50 ea and rcds for under £13 this week to populate an empty board.

I have found denmans to be cheapest of late. They asked me for some prices of my regular items and knocked upwards of 20% off the rivals.

Denmans are now part of the Rexel group so makes you wonder who they are competing against.

 

[Deleted member 105166]

TLC are so cheap nowadays, they're often a good benchmark to check your regular wholesaler/s against. Obviously it's not always about the cheapest price and important to remember the added value help and favours your regular wholesaler gives, which you'll never get from a shed.

 

[littlespark]

Wholesalers have a coffee machine and bacon rolls on a Friday. Cant see B&Q doing that

Correction "Should" have a coffee machine. My local CEF doesn't, even though they advertise as having one in every branch.

 

[GBDamo]

TLC are so cheap nowadays, they're often a good benchmark to check your regular wholesaler/s against. Obviously it's not always about the cheapest price and important to remember the added value help and favours your regular wholesaler gives, which you'll never get from a shed.

Agree with this, dispite corporate bigwigs wanting everything to go online, i can call my Wholesaler up and utter some complete gibberish which they translate into the components i require and get the whole lot delivered to site.

Good to just drop in a coffee and natter, don't get that at screwfix.

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

Despite being part of the same Rexel Group I have seen the main Rexel store under cutting Denmans by say £2 on a light fitting to get the sale and as the Denmans manager said himself its stupid and a race to the bottom as they are the same company. much better to be well priced across the board than do stupid pricing on a hit and miss basis.

In Bath we have KEW 2 doors down from CEF
200m along the Road we have Denmans.
200m other direction is Edmundsons and Toolstation. On my doorstep is Screwfix, Rexel and over the road Homebase.
There are a lot of sparks in Bath for its size andI have found Kew to be a bit pricey of late, they are great at getting random bits for me though so havent severed the links.
There is a lot of marketing and promotions going on and under cutting of prices.

Not a lot of people know but if you take a materials list into screwifx on the trade counter and it will they will give you a quote and will in my experience match if not beat wholesalers and if they cant will give you discount off other stuff you might want like tools.

 

[baldelectrician]

I try not to use Screwfix for most things (I did buy a T-Stak box last week and a Triton Shower)
I prefer wholesalers for most things- if I am looking for unusual bits for consumer units I can get it at my wholesaler

Screwfix is more like Argos for tradespeople rather than a wholesaler.
Try asking for something from a manufacturer known to them but not in the catalouge (such as an Aico 3000 range detector)

 

[AJshep]

My local wholesaler (Kew) are pretty good, the guys behind the counter know the difference between a contactor and a relay, and are good for a laugh. Their price is about the same as TLC, some items are slightly cheaper, some are more expensive, but they treat me well, and they do go out of their way to help.
Next week they are taking a few of us out to an annual Pool night they hold every year which includes free drinks and buffet, something screwfix would never do !!
I only really use screwfix for the odd tool or drill bit, the service and experience is completely different.

 

[davesparks]

Not a lot of people know but if you take a materials list into screwifx on the trade counter and it will they will give you a quote and will in my experience match if not beat wholesalers and if they cant will give you discount off other stuff you might want like tools.

I know they claim to do this, but it is still limited to the contents of their catalogue so they cant really match a wholesaler.
And i really cant be bothered to buy small cable from screwfix, big cable elsewhere etc etc