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Rant: Found out boiler tube sheets cost 3x more if you buy from a middleman
I was pricing out a retube job for an old Cleaver-Brooks last week and compared direct from a mill vs my usual supplier. Markup was 210 bucks more per sheet for the exact same material. Anyone else cut out the supply house for big orders?
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linda11419d ago
Exactly what @lindag33 said about the 30% difference matches a story I heard from an old plant manager who swore by buying direct for anything over a certain dollar amount. He told me most supply houses just tack on 20-40% for the same materials and delivery schedule. Pretty wild how common that markup is once you start looking past the sales guy's smile.
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Ngl, I did the exact same thing last year with a 500hp boiler. Called the mill direct for a set of 3/4 inch tubes and they quoted me 1,300 bucks less than my usual guy. Then I found out the supply house was just slapping their sticker on the same mill shipment. Tbh, once you go direct for a big retube, you never want to pay that middleman markup again. It's like a 30% difference sometimes and that adds up fast.
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williams.sage19d ago
Whoa wait, you found out the supply house was literally just rebranding the same mill shipment? That's wild. I mean, I knew markup existed but actually seeing the same boxes with a new sticker is something else. @linda114 your old plant manager was definitely onto something there. It's like paying extra for nothing but a smile and a fancy logo on the invoice.
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