- This topic has 5 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 18 years, 10 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
As I read some of the threads I come across names of suppliers I didn’t know existed. I am sure this question has been asked before, but not while i’ve been a member – so who in your opinion is the cheapest trade supplier?
At present I get most of my spares from Qualtex – but can I do better?
Re: cheapest trade supplier?
The short answer is and, I think Dave will back this one up, that there is not a “cheapest supplier” as such.
Just like anything else there are some that are cheaper on some lines than they are on others and that the only way to “win” as it were is to shop about a bit. Using just one supplier is not a good idea IMO, you need access to several to get a decent range of spares, in-stock items and price.
You also have to bear in mind the service and stock levels of the supplier. For example, just read what’s been said on here about Parts Center and SEME about no stock stuff.
Don’t be too put off by getting the occasional carriage charge either, often taking the hit on one item on carriage as it can often be cheaper than ordering other parts from the same supplier just to hit the free carriage limit. Just like the supermarkets BOGOFFs and BOGOHP deals, spares suppliers use the free carriage as a way to get you to spend more with them or to justify the cost of handling a small order. Which is fair enough.
We see the same thing used everywhere now where the prices are sensitive.
K.
Re: cheapest trade supplier?
I agree with Ken you got to shop around for then best prices and availability, bit of a time consuming pain in the ar*e though.
Example. LG door seal last week, Parts Centre £45+, Connect £35+, Seme £16 ish in stock. Seme won the prize! 🙂 Though it does puzzle me why such a variance, I know some wholesalers will get a better price on quantity (as do we) but this door seal example does smack at a bit of profiteering :rolls:
Re: cheapest trade supplier?
Your door seal is but one example Mal, there’s absolutely loads of them. 😉
K.
Re: cheapest trade supplier?
As Mal found, for the Korean stuff, use SEME they are the officially appointed distributor for Samsung and LG, Connect claim to be as well but the prices are a rip off…
Genuine run of the mill spares for the likes of Hotpoint, Indesit, Hoover, Zanussi, take your pick they’re all the same roughly, all the wholesalers get between 40{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} and 45{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} discount and pass that on to trade as 25{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} (ish).
Pattern spares – beat your preferred rep up with a smelly old haddock until they give you a decent deal, they pay pennies for pumps, door boots etc 😉
Dave.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.