How Do I Get Material Wholesalers To Sell To Me Direct

Question

Hi there,

I've been renovating a condo and have learned a lot in the process. I have been doing some of the work myself and hiring subs for the professional tasks. I ran into a roadblock when dealing with replacement window installers (the top rated Angie's List companies in my area). Long story short, I found that these companies were making killer profits by essentially connecting a window fabricator/wholesaler and an installer. I started to realize that if I could be the person to connect a window wholesaler/fabricator and an installer I could save myself a good deal of money and that's exactly what I did (after running into many dead ends). While I was getting quoted between $3,000-$4,000 for low end replacement windows (8 total) I will end up paying about $1500 for a much better mid range window and $1000 for install. This is because I found a company who would play ball and a contractor who didn't give me the "we only install windows that we buy ourselves" line. The whole system seems created to keep the average Joe in the dark.

Anyways I'm having the same problem now with granite/quartz slabs. I've found a fabricator and they want to sell me their quartz slab for what I'm sure is a reasonable price ($1110), but I suspect they're getting it from a wholesaler nearby and if I could just buy the slab myself I could probably save myself several hundred dollars. But these guys definitely don't want to play ball. They only give pricing to fabricators. Has anybody found a way around this or would you advise me to give up and go with my already well priced fabricator? For what it's worth, I would advise you to be extremely diligent about purchasing replacement windows, and not fall for the dozens of scams purported by that particular industry. Thanks for any help.

-Justin

Darwin Crawford · Answer

Re: granite/quartz.  the only way i've found to save money has been this:  Buy a slab from some yard directly, with cash, and negotiate it down.

Cutting - have them fork it in the back of your truck (if you don't own a truck, this whole post is pointless) and take it to a local water-jet shop for cutting and shaping.  You'll need PRECISE measurements, and will have to give their CAD guy a few bucks for setting up the machine.

They can cut stone typically up to 3" thick with the new 94K machines, so you're good to go.

then, pick up the pieces, tote them in, and glue them down.

All in all, probably not worth it on granite.  too competitive and cheap, especially in charleston where half the city is in RE/construction.

Christina McManaway · Answer

Most manufacturers don't hold seller permits (collect tax and file with each state) therefore they will not sell directly to the public.  I hold a sellers permit as part of my interior design business.  When it comes to certain things manufacturers will only sell directly to certain installers that meet their requirements.  Your best bet is to find a interior design who is transparent in their pricing so you know their markup.  But just so you know most granite fabricators don't mark up the granite all the cost is in fabrication.

Justin Smith · Answer

Thank you for the advice. I will follow it. I saved about $1000 on the Windows for 2 hours of work which was very surprising, but I'll let the granite/quartz go. I appreciate your input!

Jake Thomas · Answer

Windows are one thing, granite/quartz is a completely different game. I would just suck it up and find the best price from all the installers. You can spend hours trying to save a few bucks here and there but eventually some parts of the rehab process are not worth the hassle. I am like you always looking to save some money but hard surface counter tops are the one thing that is hard to get around.

Hugh Ayles · Answer

Some things you can buy direct, other things are not a good idea.

Do you have the equipment and knowledge to cut stone and put a desired edge on it?

Do you have equipment to unload the slab from a truck?

Do you have another use for the fall off?

Stone countertops are not sold like the p.lam. countertops you see at Home Depot.  They are sold in big "sheets" for a lack of better terms.