supplyhouse.com

Fred

Wow, based on this discussion, it's clear there are capable Licensed Pros, less capable ones, Capable DIY'ers, less Capable ones. So what, as it relates to where you buy. These Supply houses , either on-line or local are in the business to make money by selling their wares. It is not their job to police who buys what. Nor is it their job to decide that some customers deserve better treatment than others. They should decide how much effort/time/expertise they will offer a customer, any customer, and then apply that fairly to anyone who comes through the door. Money is money, for both the customer and/or the Supply house.
The bottom line is, Pros (most I hope) are trying to do a good job and do so with a cost that makes them successful and most DIY'ers are doing it themselves to try and save a few bucks, usually because they can't afford to hire a Pro but need the repair/install. I just bought a new commercial riding mower, on line, that cost me $11K. I tried to buy locally but the best price I could get locally was $4K more. Give me a break! I'd love to hire someone to cut the grass every week but the bottom line is I have to do it myself and I need that additional $4K for other things and when it was delivered, I went to the manufacturer's website, registered the model #, serial #, purchase date and got my confirmation of my 3 year warranty. When it needs service, I have a long standing relationship with a local service company that will do the repairs, at a fair price, that I trust, and who will honor the warranty. As a matter of fact, I had the new mower delivered to them (dock delivery required) and they set it up and trucked it out to me for a very reasonable price.

ChrisJ

@Ironman the internet ones I've dealt with online always ask for my EPA license. Who have you found that doesn't? Speaking of that I used to go to Johnstone supply and was always treated like dirt EPA card or not. I bought my yellowjacket brute IIs and my fluke 179 from them and was still treated terrible so I stopped going.

Ironman

ChrisJ said:

@Ironman the internet ones I've dealt with online always ask for my EPA license. Who have you found that doesn't?

If you want, I'll give you the name privately, but I'm not gonna post it here as that would only help to direct more unlicensed DIYers to them. And there are more than one.

Ironman

I just this minute purchased (and cancelled) a Goodman condensing unit and they never asked for any license or EPA certification.

Harvey Ramer

Supply House accounts for 12% of my "cost of goods sold". Mostly valves, fittings and hydronic components that the local suppliers would rather die than stock. It's a good chunk of change they miss out on.

Supply house is usually fast and convenient with mostly decent pricing.

ChrisJ

Ironman said:

I just this minute purchased (and cancelled) a Goodman condensing unit and they never asked for any license or EPA certification.

"You are required to have an EPA Section 608 Type II or Universal certification license to handle R-410A but no license is legally necessary for purchase. A refrigeration supply house may have its own rules regarding who they are willing to sell R-410A to (they will typically require Section 608 Type II even though the EPA doesn’t require it for safety and liability reasons). "

They're following the law.

Aaron_in_Maine

I use both. I usually know what I want and my local guys don't have it or want to carry it. Like the expansion tank brackets. I wouldn't buy boilers or electronics online just pipe and fittings. It also saves me quite a bit. One supply house up here does a pricing structure that drives me crazy! I can go in get a roll of copper gas line and one of their better customers can go in and pay $35 less than me on the the same roll of copper.

wogpa67

I use them for hydronics stuff. Case today 12 yo supervent not working. Found no leaks but the head is all jacked up. It'll be at my shop tuesday. It would be a week or more and twice the price through my local guys.

SlamDunk

I bought my IN-5 from them, as well as vaporstat and gorton vents. Not a licensed contractor nor am I trying to run an illegal business. But I am technically capable and more than happy doing business with them.

FranklinD

As a homeowner, SupplyHouse has been great. No one (and I mean NO ONE) local stocked hot water type radiator valves. Or a spud wrench, 90* radiator unions, etc. I ordered these things as needed and never had a problem.

I do wish there was an actual plumbing and heating supply in town that carried a selection of this type of thing...the few we have can order the stuff, but that's about it, and that's usually at a premium price plus shipping.

Fortunately the local Menards is starting to carry more and more individual hydronic components. The quality on some of the stuff is questionable, and the name-brand stuff is usually ridiculously overpriced...but it's there in an emergency.

Next time around, I won't have any qualms about ordering my new boiler and necessary bits and pieces through their site. Mainly because next time I'll be doing it myself, rather than redoing someone else's work a month later.

Bob Bona_4

Guess I'm fortunate to have at least 10 or more different supply houses in a 20 minute radius here in southern ct. And at least 5 electrical supply. If one doesn't carry what I need, no huge deal. Spoiled I guess

BigRob

As far as I'm concerned people in this country have lost their ability to do things for themselves, and it will/has had a tremendous negative impact on the value of goods and services for the consumer. It's allowed contractors (and Monsanto, Cat, others with black box strategies) to charge whatever they want. No more black box product strategies. There needs to be competition, even if that means pros need to compete with homeowners. In addition, its sick how many resources are wasted because you can't replace a simple part and have to buy a whole new assembly. Anyway, the internet retailers are providing a service that levels the playing field in some ways. The suggestions that a pro always gets it right, or a homeowner always butchers a job are recokulous. My condo building was completely ripped off by some "pros." Before that, some "pros" butchered the maintenance of our hydronic system. If Supplyhouse helps drive those hacks back to jiffylube, I'm all for it. Obviously, plumbing gas and things like that need to be regulated, and they are. Now with pro-press, laying copper doesn't require fire, and that is great for everybody. All these new technologies and new business models are a great thing for an industry that hasn't needed to change much. The next boom in copper prices will drive innovation even more.

With that said, Cal-Ply in CA has been great to me.

BigRob

ChrisJ said:

Ironman said:

I just this minute purchased (and cancelled) a Goodman condensing unit and they never asked for any license or EPA certification.

"You are required to have an EPA Section 608 Type II or Universal certification license to handle R-410A but no license is legally necessary for purchase. A refrigeration supply house may have its own rules regarding who they are willing to sell R-410A to (they will typically require Section 608 Type II even though the EPA doesn’t require it for safety and liability reasons). "

They're following the law.

It's time we switch to Carbon Dioxide so we can just drop all these silly regulations.

hvacfreak2

The plumbing suppliers in my area have just let me down too many times. It seems that the counter people are separate from inside sales as far as commission money so if I don't call and order from inside sales I pay retail. Sometimes I need to stare at some fittings to figure out what the heck I need , or browse and figure it out. So then I call and go to voicemail , not. Internet for me from here on out for my personal stuff. I wish I had bought my boiler online to be honest.

bob_46

"There is no right or wrong but thinking makes it so." When I started in the trade in 1960 WHOLESALE houses wouldn't even sell to pros . You had to have an account which wasn't easy to open. My first employer marched me into the supply house and introduced me to the counter staff " this is Bob he can buy on my account if you sell to him direct I will fire him and close my account". What do you tell your customer when they call and say Bob , I went on line and I could have bought that pump for half of what you charged me. Times have changed.

SWEI

BigRob said:

It's time we switch to Carbon Dioxide so we can just drop all these silly regulations.

There you go again, threatening the chemical monopolists business model...

SlamDunk

there is a world of products that we , as homeowners, will never have access to online or even locally. First of all, you have to know what to ask for. Not to say that a pro never ask for help, but a pro brings in more money than a h.o. who , by comparison, is a one and done.

BobC

If you want a look at that world look at a McMaster-Carr catalog, one good thing is you will then know what to ask for. I used to order all kinds of stuff from them 25 years ago and still do place the occasional order.

Bob

BigRob

BobC said:

If you want a look at that world look at a McMaster-Carr catalog, one good thing is you will then know what to ask for. I used to order all kinds of stuff from them 25 years ago and still do place the occasional order.

Bob

Those guys really know how to take your money. What a well oiled money taking machine.

Fred

SlamDunk said:

there is a world of products that we , as homeowners, will never have access to online or even locally. First of all, you have to know what to ask for. Not to say that a pro never ask for help, but a pro brings in more money than a h.o. who , by comparison, is a one and done.

I don't know if that's true?? We can probably get just about anything we want/need either on the internet or from our local suppliers. It's not hard to figure out what to ask for. Most things have some kind of product ID or you can source a parts/service manual. While the Pro's individually spend a lot more with suppliers, the ratio of HO's to Pros is huge, even though many HO's buy cheap and at Big Box stores. It would be interesting to know what the % of revenue (Pro vs HO )might be for local suppliers, internet suppliers. I'm sure it varies significantly by trade.
Anyway, I haven't run into any situations where I can't get what I might need from some source, yet.

SlamDunk

nah. you may get circuit breakers,wire and light bulbs from home depot, but you wont get a lutron light mgt system, switch gear, or crac unit.

I guess my point is, the money is in commercial and industrial applications. Residential, is small potatoes. Unless your customer is in the 1% or better.

Fred

Yea, I'd tend to agree with that. I thought you were specifically talking about the residential/consumer market.

SlamDunk

In a way, I was.

I think the number of homeowners who would tackle big projects are small and they (we) are resourceful enough to find an outfit like supplyhouse.com but smart enough to know when to back off. There are exceptions, just like there are amongst professionals.

I'd like to know how much money HD makes from home owners in electrical sales. Probably not much. The customer is left to his own device because store employees are useless. But then again, it makes sense for a homeowner to be able to replace an outlet, light switch or socket because not many electricians will do that.

As far as local supply houses go, they will always be needed by pro's. I don't believe for a second that internet businesses will put them out of work.

ChrisJ

If you're doing electrical work you better be able to do it without help from someone selling the stuff.

Abracadabra

SlamDunk said:

nah. you may get circuit breakers,wire and light bulbs from home depot, but you wont get a lutron light mgt system, switch gear, or crac unit.

I guess my point is, the money is in commercial and industrial applications. Residential, is small potatoes. Unless your customer is in the 1% or better.

Don't tell that to Home Depot. Stock price up about 300% in 5 years.