Electrical Wholesalers pricing

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BTR

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#175622 6-Jul-2015 13:16

So I popped into my local Radcliffe electrical today to buy a 15amp socket and plug. The socket is a standard PDL 600 series dual 15amp unit so nothing overly special. The unit price was listed at over $80+gst but after discount I was paying $40 +gst.

I was paying as a cash sale but I can't understand why the unit price is so high if they are just going to discount everyone, not that I am complaining but it seems they way they do it creates more work for themselves..

Who in their right mind would pay over $80 for a standard socket?

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#1337838 6-Jul-2015 13:19

JA Russell once tried to charge me $900 for a 100m roll of power cable. Mitre10 sold it for $220. Clicked straight away when the guy asked if I was a sparky that someone was up...

Gotta be careful in those eletrical wholesalers.

Bung

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#1337850 6-Jul-2015 13:39

The game is played so the sparky shows his customer the RRP and gets paid close to that.

linw

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#1337851 6-Jul-2015 13:42

That sounds about right. Bit like getting your car serviced.

mclean

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#1337870 6-Jul-2015 13:59

The online places (Electrical Direct and Kiwisparks) are usually quite competitive, and it saves going to the shop.

mdooher

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#1337886 6-Jul-2015 14:31

BTR: So I popped into my local Radcliffe electrical today to buy a 15amp socket and plug. The socket is a standard PDL 600 series dual 15amp unit so nothing overly special. The unit price was listed at over $80+gst but after discount I was paying $40 +gst.

I was paying as a cash sale but I can't understand why the unit price is so high if they are just going to discount everyone, not that I am complaining but it seems they way they do it creates more work for themselves..

Who in their right mind would pay over $80 for a standard socket?

Just depends who you get behind the counter. Some Radcliffe stores wont even sell to Joe public. Some give reasonable prices, usually you can expect to pay a similar price for fittings as you get at Bunnings. Remember however that the PDL ones you buy at Radcliffe are far better than the older model Clipsal or even worse Arlec brand junk form Bunnings.

No one pays "Retail" for cable, you should get a discount of around 80 to 90% depending on the cable. If you quote the Mitre 10 price they will usually match it. If you have a friendly store they may even let you bring back the unused portion of a roll... try that at mitre 10

Admittedly In my case I have an account but there was a time when I didn't

Matthew

BTR

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#1337893 6-Jul-2015 14:40

Thats exactly my argument why add 80-90% to the cost of the cable, it seems a waste of time just to take if off again. Surely the commerce commission is aware of this, its price gouging.

mdooher

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#1337897 6-Jul-2015 14:47

BTR: Thats exactly my argument why add 80-90% to the cost of the cable, it seems a waste of time just to take if off again. Surely the commerce commission is aware of this, its price gouging.

not really gouging, as no one actually pays or is forced to pay the recommended price.
Even sparkies don't add it back on again, well none that I know would do it. Even if they did they wouldn't stay in business long.

I do remember someone explaining to me why the manufacturer insists on the stupid recommended price thing... it made some sort of sense at the time, but I cant remember the logic (I probably thought it was a bit dodgy and my mind couldn't retain it)

Matthew

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mattwnz

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#1337933 6-Jul-2015 15:11

mdooher:
BTR: Thats exactly my argument why add 80-90% to the cost of the cable, it seems a waste of time just to take if off again. Surely the commerce commission is aware of this, its price gouging.

not really gouging, as no one actually pays or is forced to pay the recommended price.
Even sparkies don't add it back on again, well none that I know would do it. Even if they did they wouldn't stay in business long.

I do remember someone explaining to me why the manufacturer insists on the stupid recommended price thing... it made some sort of sense at the time, but I cant remember the logic (I probably thought it was a bit dodgy and my mind couldn't retain it)

Some charge the rrp, plus a margin of say 15 percent. People often think this is reasonable because on the surface it sounds fair that they make a small margin on the sale, but it doesn't take into account that they are possibly buying at a wholesale price. You find this when builders do quotes. Possibly one reason building in NZ is so expensive. Not too much competition either in the materials market, and many of the competing brands are own by the same foreign owned parent company.

Aredwood

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#1338199 7-Jul-2015 00:14

It would be so if you want to buy just 3m, say of cable they would charge you the full retail price. And also allows them to charge different prices to different companies depending on things like: How much they spend each month, How good they are at paying their account on time. And for some wholesalers - Do they own shares in that wholesaler.

raytaylor

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#1338201 7-Jul-2015 00:33

One of my customers told me
"The first thing you do when you are starting out as a farmer, is you open accounts at various local suppliers...
- farmlands
- Resene
- M10
- Electrical
bla bla bla

Then when you need to get a tradesman out to do some work, such as paint a shed, you ask him to quote for the labour and tell him he can pick up the materials from your chosen supplier who will bill you directly. "

Ideal annoy me because of the way they 'profile' me
If I go in to buy something that i wouldnt normally buy, i dont get much of a discount on it.
They class me as a TV antenna installer, so if say I want something that a TV antenna installer wouldnt need, then I dont get that discount - I have to ask for it and the girls on the weekend cant override pricing, i have to go in on a weekday.

Ray Taylor

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Wade

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#1338222 7-Jul-2015 06:59

Having worked in the cable manufacturing sector i can assure you these wholesalers screw down cable suppliers to single digit or even negative margins so even after discounting 90% they are still probably making more money than those that made the cable. Most of these groups have Australian HO's and are ruthless at best

mdooher

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#1338253 7-Jul-2015 08:28

Wade: Having worked in the cable manufacturing sector i can assure you these wholesalers screw down cable suppliers to single digit or even negative margins so even after discounting 90% they are still probably making more money than those that made the cable. Most of these groups have Australian HO's and are ruthless at best

I have seen the what Radcliffe pay for cable, and I have seen what our local lines company pay for the same cable. Even if they are selling to the lines company at zero profit then they are certainly creaming it with their sales to Radcliffe.

Matthew

mdooher

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#1338255 7-Jul-2015 08:31

raytaylor:

Ideal annoy me because of the way they 'profile' me
If I go in to buy something that i wouldnt normally buy, i dont get much of a discount on it.
They class me as a TV antenna installer, so if say I want something that a TV antenna installer wouldnt need, then I dont get that discount - I have to ask for it and the girls on the weekend cant override pricing, i have to go in on a weekday.

That's why I don't buy from them.
They can override pricing at Ideal. They must first put it against another companies account (with a good discount) then remove it.

Matthew

richms

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#1338377 7-Jul-2015 11:31

It is purely so the document they have from the supplier has the high prices but they get "trade" which they will o lyrics add 10% to for the customer making them only about 300% profit on the cables.

sockets etc are a tough one because they are all ripoff even with the discounts applied. No way that a double GPO should be over $10. But they are. Insane.

Richard rich.ms

Wade

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#1338795 7-Jul-2015 18:06

mdooher:
Wade: Having worked in the cable manufacturing sector i can assure you these wholesalers screw down cable suppliers to single digit or even negative margins so even after discounting 90% they are still probably making more money than those that made the cable. Most of these groups have Australian HO's and are ruthless at best

I have seen the what Radcliffe pay for cable, and I have seen what our local lines company pay for the same cable. Even if they are selling to the lines company at zero profit then they are certainly creaming it with their sales to Radcliffe.

Did Radcliffe's provide you details of the rebate structures paid at support office level as well?

I bet that would change things a fair bit ;)

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