# Lowe's copper pipe pricing



## Dontbitenails (Oct 16, 2020)

Local Lowe's here sells 1/2" X 10' M copper pipe for 16.58$ and 1/2" X 10' L for 11.63$. Been this way for a while . Menards , Home Depot, Ace Hardware ,wholesale houses all charge more for L . I think it's a snafu way up the line . Bring it up to management and they tell me the same thing . Price is what the price is. How can they sell L for less ? Never seen that in my life . Half tempted to notify Attorney General of price gouging.


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## ShtRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

Dontbitenails said:


> Local Lowe's here sells 1/2" X 10' M copper pipe for 16.58$ and 1/2" X 10' L for 11.63$. Been this way for a while . Menards , Home Depot, Ace Hardware ,wholesale houses all charge more for L . I think it's a snafu way up the line . Bring it up to management and they tell me the same thing . Price is what the price is. How can they sell L for less ? Never seen that in my life . Half tempted to notify Attorney General of price gouging.


what do the others charge for L?


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## Dontbitenails (Oct 16, 2020)

Opposite what Lowe's charges. M usually runs around 10 and L usually goes for 15


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## ShtRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

Dontbitenails said:


> Opposite what Lowe's charges. M usually runs around 10 and L usually goes for 15


then buy a schit load of L from lowes and screw them on the cheap price...its a gift and you want to kill it..


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

Dontbitenails said:


> ............ Half tempted to notify Attorney General of price gouging.


I don't think you understand what price gouging is......

It's probably a "loss leader". The low price pipe gets you in the door and then you spend a bunch of money on all the fittings. They may be trying to get more of the proffesional customers that those other stores get. Lowes is often seen as being for the diy and not the pros. Just like you saw, other pros would be tempted to shop there if the price is that much better.


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## SchmitzPlumbing (May 5, 2014)

buy all the L. its cheaper than m from fergie


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## Dontbitenails (Oct 16, 2020)

Yes , sort of devils advocate as that is a good price for L but 16.58 for M is almost twice as high as anyone else. Illinois code only calls for L underground or commercial. M can be used in residential. L can be harder to work with and could be considered overkill in many circles. M will outlast me and meets code minimum. Was in there today and needed a couple sticks of 1/2" . Bought the L where all I needed was the M . Usually they are very competitive on price and charged what the others were charging. All of a sudden it changed. Common sense would say thicker , heavier material should cost more , not the other way around . Good value for knowledgeable pros , Harry the Homeowner get screwed.


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

Dontbitenails said:


> Yes , sort of devils advocate as that is a good price for L but 16.58 for M is almost twice as high as anyone else. Illinois code only calls for L underground or commercial. M can be used in residential. L can be harder to work with and could be considered overkill in many circles. M will outlast me and meets code minimum. Was in there today and needed a couple sticks of 1/2" . Bought the L where all I needed was the M . Usually they are very competitive on price and charged what the others were charging. All of a sudden it changed. Common sense would say thicker , heavier material should cost more , not the other way around . Good value for knowledgeable pros , Harry the Homeowner get screwed.


I know scrap copper prices are way down right now,maybe that has something to do with it???


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## RichardBull (Jan 7, 2021)

Dontbitenails said:


> Local Lowe's here sells 1/2" X 10' M copper pipe for 16.58$ and 1/2" X 10' L for 11.63$. Been this way for a while . Menards , Home Depot, Ace Hardware ,wholesale houses all charge more for L . I think it's a snafu way up the line . Bring it up to management and they tell me the same thing . Price is what the price is. How can they sell L for less ? Never seen that in my life . Half tempted to notify Attorney General of price gouging.


What’s your legal definition of price gouging ? It’s obviously different than mine.


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## Dontbitenails (Oct 16, 2020)

Agree probably doesn't meet legal requirements. Just trying to make sense of it all . Just can't understand why the price of M jumped so high , just at Lowe's. I can understand lowering the price of L to get people in the store, but then why double the price of M . Still convinced a mistake was made by people that have no clue what M or L even stand for. Would everyone on here agree that L has more value than M . Takes a lot more copper to make L than M


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## RichardBull (Jan 7, 2021)

Dontbitenails said:


> Agree probably doesn't meet legal requirements. Just trying to make sense of it all . Just can't understand why the price of M jumped so high , just at Lowe's. I can understand lowering the price of L to get people in the store, but then why double the price of M . Still convinced a mistake was made by people that have no clue what M or L even stand for. Would everyone on here agree that L has more value than M . Takes a lot more copper to make L than M


I agree, someone priced them backwards. It’s a mistake, make them pay 😬


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## SC Plumbing Repair (Dec 7, 2020)

I typically buy materials from plumbing supplier, not Lowes but there was a time a while back when Lowes had the Moen 1222 cartridge listed for $19.00 when supplier was charging $48.00. I think sometimes they just get a really good deal on something and share the savings. Or like Skoro said, it's a loss leader.
Either way, take advantage of it and stock up.


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## Sstratton6175 (Jan 10, 2021)

I buy copper tubing from the home centers every once and a while. I always buy a whole bundle, I typically look for the dumbest looking teenage kid working a register and sometimes you get lucky and they scan one barcode and only charged for 10’ haha.


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## RichardBull (Jan 7, 2021)

Sstratton6175 said:


> I buy copper tubing from the home centers every once and a while. I always buy a whole bundle, I typically look for the dumbest looking teenage kid working a register and sometimes you get lucky and they scan one barcode and only charged for 10’ haha.


I did that with .22 ammo. The guy was very rude when he handed me the whole brick. Well it wasn’t in their system to be sold by the brick. So it charged me fir one box for 3.50. 

Normally I would have said that’s the wrong price but I felt like they deserved it.


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

RichardBull said:


> I did that with .22 ammo. The guy was very rude when he handed me the whole brick. Well it wasn’t in their system to be sold by the brick. So it charged me fir one box for 3.50.
> 
> Normally I would have said that’s the wrong price but I felt like they deserved it.


This happened to me decades ago. 70+ yr old lunch lady went to work at the hardware store. Charged me a couple bucks for one 1"x20" sanding belt instead of charging me for the whole pack of 10. Didn't realize until I left the hardware store. That same hardware store is overpriced on so many things. They've been getting my business for years even when they price gouge so I'm not worried about it.


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## Tango (Jan 13, 2018)

I was a 1st year apprentice and the crew went to eat at a restaurant for lunch, the waitress was so mean to me and she tossed my plate in front of me with food splatting over. Anyway I handed 20$ and she returned with my change, it didn't feel right and I just shoved it in my pockets. Later I checked the wad and it was something like 140$. Ok.


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## RichardBull (Jan 7, 2021)

Tango said:


> I was a 1st year apprentice and the crew went to eat at a restaurant for lunch, the waitress was so mean to me and she tossed my plate in front of me with food splatting over. Anyway I handed 20$ and she returned with my change, it didn't feel right and I just shoved it in my pockets. Later I checked the wad and it was something like 140$. Ok.


Sounds like she liked you but didn’t know how to express it.


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## ShtRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

RichardBull said:


> Sounds like she liked you but didn’t know how to express it.


she was the local dominatrix so she liked it rough and tough....


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