Best Trade Discount out there from the large shops?

[wau5]

I have whole house to refurbish completely inside&out and since I'm technically in trade was wondering what are the best discounts available out there which are offered by the large places?
So far I have got 2,
b&q tradepoint - a bit pointless since I hardly ever shop there and their prices are really nothing special anyway.
wickes 10% off - very far from me and I also shop there very rarely since it's not close to me.

what else is out there that I'm missing and is a must-have?

 

[chappers]

Try the builders merchants, but watch the starting prices. Speak to one of the sales guys not the counter guys

 

[r896neo]

You will quickly begin to realise that somethings can be hugely discounted and others not so much. A local merchant and as above speaking to a sales guy not the counter to fix prices for you so they remain the same. No one really does flat discount rates because as I said some things are wildly variable. Drainage is one in particular that I have got up to 60% off the list price on and if you simply turned up at the desk as a member of the public with the same item you pay full whack. Many counter staff at merchants will discount items for non account holders purely based on whether they look and sound like they know what they are doing.

A good relationship and a credit account will bring the best rates usually.

 

[wau5]

You will quickly begin to realise that somethings can be hugely discounted and others not so much. A local merchant and as above speaking to a sales guy not the counter to fix prices for you so they remain the same. No one really does flat discount rates because as I said some things are wildly variable. Drainage is one in particular that I have got up to 60% off the list price on and if you simply turned up at the desk as a member of the public with the same item you pay full whack. Many counter staff at merchants will discount items for non account holders purely based on whether they look and sound like they know what they are doing.

A good relationship and a credit account will bring the best rates usually.

I just hate doing that to be honest.. I have a grudge on all the system that everyone pays a different price for everything and you must haggle on a stupid simple items such as a drainage and a box of screws, Why can't I just simply go in a shop and get a decent price ffs right off the bat like in a normal country..

This whole country and all of the businesses is set-up so that everyone is discouraged to do anything and must hire someone to do even the most basic stuff because sometimes its just cheaper/same price to get someone to buy you the stuff & install it than to do it yourself by going to your local store.
******s...

 

[tomfe]

Even if you are 'trade' you still get widely different prices from the same builders merchant.
A BM near my dads have changed to TP he went in for a bag of cement, talked to the same guy he has always talked to got quoted £8+vat, he used to pay £3.2+vat. They kidnly brought the price down to £6.........

 

[chappers]

I just hate doing that to be honest.. I have a grudge on all the system that everyone pays a different price for everything and you must haggle on a stupid simple items such as a drainage and a box of screws, Why can't I just simply go in a shop and get a decent price ffs right off the bat like in a normal country..

This whole country and all of the businesses is set-up so that everyone is discouraged to do anything and must hire someone to do even the most basic stuff because sometimes its just cheaper/same price to get someone to buy you the stuff & install it than to do it yourself by going to your local store.
******s...

You're not wrong there I'm in the trade and it also bugs the hell out of me, having to check you've been charged the right price arguing with different merchants.
I closed my Jewsons account over a pricing wrangle, not that I used them much, but I will never use them again.
Earlier in the year I was doing a loft conversion and got all my wood from Travis, but needed some machined up, and so had to use Jewsons when the invoice came through I nearly fell over, fair enough there was a machining charge which the guy in the mill did me a real favour on. but they had charged me between 8 an 10 times the amount per metre for the timber than I paid at Travis.
I phoned up and asked if they had charged me correctly and the guy on the phone said they had. When I told him how much I had paid at travis and asked him if he was going to sort the prices he refused and said that was the right price. I will never use the robbing bastards again

 

[wau5]

At least I got a decent timber place nearby,no mind games, their timber is always the same price to everyone, yes you can get some 5-10% discount if you buy loads of it at a time but that's it. Beats any Travis/jewsons on prices by a mile and I don't have to be frustrated every time I go there not knowing what I will actually end up paying. I tried to play the jewsons mind games at first.. after few times I said Fuk it and spent some time to find a decent place,however 90% of the timber yards I visited before also liked to play the price games just like the travis/jewsons do and charge just whatever they decided than and there out of a thin air.

 

[John D v2.0]

Oh dear I thought it's just diyers who they try to pull the wool over , didn't realise it's their general trick!
Personally I use wickes for two reasons, one it's the closest, and 2 it's open decent times on a weekend. Also I get 10% off the marked price but overall I know what I'm going to pay.
It also has a tool station inside, so if I want a tool I'm only going to use once I'm in luck.

 

[tomfe]

Wickes for some stuff can't be beaten on price, they have 18mm osb3 at 11.50 at the moment, I brought 90 bags of cement when it was down at 2.95.
Must be loss leader or over stock.

 

[Nozzle]

It also has a tool station inside, so if I want a tool I'm only going to use once I'm in luck.

Toolstation do like to pedal the silverline rubbish and it doesn't do their otherwise excellent reputation and reliable service any good! I'm very surprised there's one IN your local Wickes though! (They're a child company of Travis Perkins) Wickes do seem pretty desperate for business sometimes though

Nozzle

 

[r896neo]

Don't get me wrong I hate it to but its the way it works.

Do you think that an account customer putting 50 grand through a merchant each year should pay the same price as a one off customer?

To play devils advocate, its the nature of business. E.g a restaurant has a chicken dish at £12 and they make £6 profit on it but then an expensive steak dish is £18 but they only make £3 profit on each one but they must have a steak option as its expected.

Some products will be more profitable and they subsidise the less profitable ones like cement etc if it was totally transparent you'd see this and feel ripped off when in fact you may get ripped off on some things and a great deal on others.

Of course to a one-off customer buying a few bits and bobs this is no use.

 

[tomfe]

Wicks in owned by TP so is Toolstation.
B&Q own screwfix.

The guys who started screwfix, who then sold it to Kingfiners, got this son(I think or brother) to start tool station and then sell it to TP. TP have quite a few different companies - http://www.travisperkinsplc.co.uk/.

 

[tomfe]

Do you think that an account customer putting 50 grand through a merchant each year should pay the same price as a one off customer?

Thing is even if you are putting 50k in a year, you still get quoted different prices depending who you talk to, what day it is and if it's raining.

 

[JohnD]

round my way the Wickes is like a museum. You can wander round the halls with hardly a punter to be seen.

The B&Q is full of DIYers.

Screwfix has enough users to keep the counter staff awake.

I prefer to pre-order for collection, or delivery, saves time.

 

[Nozzle]

Oh, Wickes = TP too! I didn't know that.