local suppliers

[breezer]

i have to say i have just come back from our local plumbers / builders merchant (NO its not a shed, its called Gibbs & Dandy)
I took with me some "plumbing bits" i wanted to connect to each other (i am making something for "entertinment value") within 4 mins of arriving i was leaving with "just what i needed"

my point is if you need something go to your local (what ever) merchant they are more helpful / knowledgeable (dont know if cheaper) than a shed

 

[masona]

I find the shed price are a total rip off.

Went round to my sister yesterday and replaced a ballcock valve for the toilet, because I didn't have much time, Homebase is just round the corner and they wanted £7.99 and Screwfix selling them for £1.98

I also find the shed plumbing section only just have the basic plumbing bits.

 

[AdamW]

My local plumbers' merchants is no cheaper than the shed, but the quality seems better. E.g. instead of W***** own-brand sealant, which I find shrinks when wet, Dow Corning, for the same price.

And as has been said, the range is far greater. And if they don't stock it they can usually order it in (try that in a shed: "if there isn't any on the shelf, we don't have it.". A colleague of mine went in to the local merchant for a new bath/shower mixer and seemed very pleased at the price he paid for it, considering the quality.

However, my previous experience of Wickes timber has been quite good. My local builders' yard timber is overpriced and generally warps if you leave it to acclimatise for a few days. My local timber merchant is generally surly, presumably the margin on wood isn't that great and they really want the big orders coming through.

The sheds have a place, and that place is if you want to pick up some bits on the way home from work, on a Saturday afternoon or on a Sunday. It isn't cost effective to place an order online for half a dozen bits of brassware that you forgot when ordering the components for a project, and I don't have the opportunity to go to the merchant in the week. So I usually hit the sheds about once a month.

 

[shaggy]

Who can buy a bag of cement cheaper than Wickes price then?

 

[IanDB]

I've always found the local shops better as they know they have to keep their customer base. It's also the personal touch that counts - because they live with the stuff they sell day in day out and are generally in the trade anyway you're always going to get better advice - even if it means saving you money.

Having said all that, I've just been off to buy a relief valve as mine's not seating properly. Bloke at the counter couldn't have been more helpful and even put in a call to the manufacturer to confirm it was the right part. Item wasn't in stock so he is having one sent down from another branch, arriving tomorrow morning. Only downside was that I've since found it on the net at 1/2 price . I'll put that one down to experience, but so long as it's the right part I'll put up with it this time round!

 

[jawsum]

I own a small plumbers merchants ( its where I read this forum from )
and I know for a fact I am cheaper than the local shed which is 5 mins away. I know this because I am always in there comparing prices.

I just wish the general public would realise this.

When I am in there and see someone paying 7.99 for an unbranded c"*p pan connector (3.20 for a mcalpine in my shop ) it makes me cringe.

I should think about employing someone to loiter around the plumbing section who could have a quiet word in poeples ears !!

 

[AdamW]

I know this because I am always in there comparing prices.

Perhaps if you weren't in the shed all the time, people could get into your shop to buy their McAlpine poo pipes!

I think the problem is, people assume "small shop, small range, high prices". Large superstores are assumed to be cheaper and have a better range so they go there.

Of course, the reality is that my local Homebase has a much smaller range of plumbing supplies than any local plumbing suppliers. You can go into a small merchants' and say "I would like a 3/4" lefthand thread to 1/2" BSP with 22mm flange spigot adaptor, chrome plated" and they will either say "sorry mate, just sold the last one", or "I can have one in 2 days". Go into a shed and if they don't have it, you can't get it.

As I said before, only advantage of sheds for this kind of thing is that they have longer opening hours.

Sheds do have nice displays of things, this was an advantage because I was about to buy a Q&B bathroom suite... until I inspected one and noticed how shoddy that particular suite was.

I installed a glass shower screen recently, I went to the Homebase showroom and found a really nice one. £190. Ouch. But it was good, so I found the saleswoman and asked her about it. "Certainly sir, that will be 5 weeks delivery". 5 weeks? So I nipped into Wickes and got a better one on the way home for £80 Different levels of shedness you see

 

[masona]

As you say, shed like Homebase are open longer hours, very well advertise (can afford to do so ) and offer the rip off price some discount now and again I do feel sorry for jawsum but it's not easy getting the message across.

I once sent my wife to a plumbing merchant for bit & bob and she felt very uncomfortable surrounding by men who knew it all and embrassed her, so she walk out & they all laugh including the staff.
So I pop in the very next day and order loads of stuff over £2000 of material all ready for me to take away, then told them I don't want it now. My wife standing in the doorway facing them laughing her head off, so they couldn't say anything

I'm not saying they are all like that but some do try to make you look stupid and this is properly why they go to shed.

Who can buy a bag of cement cheaper than Wickes price then?

I don't class Wickes as shed, they are more like builder merchant with kids running it

 

[shaggy]

Good point about kids, and never go into Wickes on a Sunday or Bank Holiday, but Wickes can be considered a shed because none of the staff have got any knowledge about any of the products.

 

[dingbat]

Masona's last post on the subject is very telling. The 'beauty' of a shed for the uninformed is that they can wander around, not knowing quite what they want, but knowing that they'll know it when they see it. Most wholesalers just have a trade counter and if you don't know the name for the bit you want it can be daunting, not knowing if you're going to get a helpful, brown-overalled, favourite uncle type, an aloof tosspot conducting a conversation with his mate on the phone or a spotty youth who started yesterday and is counting the minutes until closing time.

(And, of course, there are some customers the wholesalers don't want to deal with anyway!)

Sheds do have a place, but I really wish they'd stop selling the public the materials to electrocute themselves or burn the house down!

 

[shaggy]

dingbat:

Sheds do have a place, but I really wish they'd stop selling the public the materials to electrocute themselves or burn the house down!

.......so are you saying they are selling shoddy goods?

 

[dingbat]

Not at all, but if you plonk a consumer unit or a downlighter or a weatherproof socket on the shelf of a do-it-yourself store with no clear warnings or instructions (except the one that says 'should be installed by a qualified electrician' which comes with almost every electrical product and is thrown away with the packaging) you are inviting people to regard electrical installation (and plumbing and power tools...) as having the same level of risk as, say, garden furniture.... with hilarious consequences, as they used to say in any good sit-com precis!

 

[kendor]

It's what is called freedom of choice close or "Ban" all "sheds" as you call them and you'll soon see the prices rise in the local shops, better it's left the way it is with healthy competition, You makes your choice....

 

[shaggy]

Wickes do supply wiring diags for switches & stuff to tell you which wires go where.There's also a note explaining the new colours. This is just a bit of it as the file size was too big to upload.
They do actually say: 'If in doubt on how to proceed consult a qualified electrician'. I think they've done ok.