# Prices of Plumbing Materials



## DUNBAR PLUMBING (Sep 11, 2008)

*Vendor Average Amount of Increase As Stated By The Manufacturer*


*Turbo Torch 4% Plumbers Torches and Accessories 11/09/10*

*Jones Stephes 3% Selected Items 12/01/10 *

*Appolo Valves 5% Valves 12/06/10 *

*IPS Corp 4-7% Wash Machine boxes 01/01/11 *

*Oatey 5-8% Oatey / Hercules Brands 01/01/11 *

*Omega Flex - Trac Pipe 5% General Price Increase 01/01/11 *

*IPS Corp 4-7% General Price Increase 01/01/11 *

*Zurn 8% General Price Increase 01/01/11 *

*Starite 4% Selected Pumps 01/03/11 *

*Hydromatic 3-5% Pumps & Accessories 01/03/11 *

*Wilkins 4-7% Watter Regulation 01/03/11 *

*Wilkins 4-15% General Price Increase 01/03/11 *

*Sloan Valve Co. 10% General Price Increase 02/01/11*


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## Phat Cat (Apr 1, 2009)

Price increases on materials are not a big deal . . . they are passed right along to the end user. Price increases are nothing new.


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## LEAD INGOT (Jul 15, 2009)

My problem is, prices in material are going up, while quality and customer service are sharply going down. This is becoming more than a trend. And that worries me.


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## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

*adapt to the changeing times*



LEAD INGOT said:


> My problem is, prices in material are going up, while quality and customer service are sharply going down. This is becoming more than a trend. And that worries me.


 
We are a service industry...and must adapt to the changeing times or simply go and die off like the auto industries.... but you wont get that big bail out.....

you simply have to pass on the increases to the customer, in one way or another,,, if you cant pass them on , * then you have to find a better class of customer...*:yes:

I think that you must try to focus on finding more of the upper end customers 350k homes and up,..... instead of working in trailer parks, and other.... low end ....no-win dead end situations.....:yes:

that is exactly what the *angies list* salesman are trying to tell me right now.........they want me to advertise with them because they claim that their clinets are in the 250k++ a year income.....

the idea seems sound , but I just dont care for Angies list and paying them for the right to service their customer base...

I have a freind that advertises on Angies list site and does only water softeners in this area and 
claims that they work great for him...

its a ......pay to play game...

either prospect for higher end customers, 
 or hang your name with little tear off tags in the grocery stores and hope for the best....:laughing:


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## nhmaster3015 (Aug 5, 2008)

Materials go up, tools go up, taxes go up, overhead goes up my base rate goes up. Viva flat rate :thumbup:


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

I remember when 40 gal elec. W/H's were $ 114.00. That was around the year 2000. Now they've doubled. You gotta roll with the punches.


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## rocksteady (Oct 8, 2008)

Tommy plumber said:


> I remember when 40 gal elec. W/H's were $ 114.00. That was around the year 2000. Now they've doubled. You gotta roll with the punches.


I think we got $185 for a FGR40 in around 2000. 

One thing that bothers me is these price increases probably aren't equally distributed. Ferguson may pay 7% more on Wilkins and Zurn products and pass it on by raising my prices on those same products 8% across the board. I will bet you that HD and Lowes aren't seeing that same 7% price raise.




Paul


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## stillaround (Mar 11, 2009)

Do the price increases these companies put out each year reflect an increase in their costs or a habit of grabbing for more profit......


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## DUNBAR PLUMBING (Sep 11, 2008)

I haven't seen a year where prices of materials didn't go up.

I'm just sayin' 


That and somebody is losing a bass boat. This is sad.


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## plumbpro (Mar 10, 2010)

Looks like I'm in with the majority of others. I just pass on the cost of materials to the customer. I wish labor rates increased at least with inflation.


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## suzie (Sep 1, 2010)

Of course you pass it on to the consumer. If we absorbed the cost every time something went up in price we'd be out of business.


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## bjones (Sep 6, 2010)

suzie said:


> Of course you pass it on to the consumer. If we absorbed the cost every time something went up in price we'd be out of business.


ROTFLMAO :laughing:

Makes ya wonder don't it?

duh!!!!!!!!!!!


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## DownHill (Oct 15, 2010)

Just a reflection of inflation in correlation to the consumer pricing index. 

You are _supposed_ to increase _your_ prices (i.e. labor rates) annually 3%-5% to have the same buying power per dollar as the year before. In short, this increase does NOT make you more money. It only keeps you even. And that's if you do it _annually._

You can increase your labor say...2% and then attempt to decrease costs 2% also if necessary to stay "even" & competitive. 

Careful though. Better to go up.


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## plumbpro (Mar 10, 2010)

suzie said:


> Of course you pass it on to the consumer. If we absorbed the cost every time something went up in price we'd be out of business.


I was just saying who cares if prices go up, they go up for everybody. I don't absorb a cost increase on my end and still mark up materials. :yes:


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## DIZ (Nov 17, 2010)

*FORCE MAJEURE (act of god)*

http://plasticsnews.com/headlines2.html?id=18072

Some wholesalers advised of impending rate increases of 20%, same thing happened with pex fittings several months prior.

put a force majeure clause in your quote!


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## DUNBAR PLUMBING (Sep 11, 2008)

This might be a whole other subject completely, but has anyone guessed the value of a product once purchased, uninstalled in your posession?


It's pretty darn low until it is installed. 

This is why I've changed my spending habits completely when it comes to buying more than what I need. Instead of a case, I buy 3-6.


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## evilcyrus (Apr 27, 2009)

yes but dont forget if u get in a pinch ...... all the big box stores buy in bulk and @ a set price its a contact for 1yr so i've heard on alot of pipe stuff. so if prices do go up and u've quoted that might help.. i know i know i dont like to support em i like supporting my supplier , but my suppliers cant compete sometimes $200 difference on a HWT apples and apples .....


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## Pipe Rat (Apr 5, 2009)

What is an HWT :blink:


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## Phat Cat (Apr 1, 2009)

HWT - Hot water tank


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

DIZ said:


> http://plasticsnews.com/headlines2.html?id=18072
> 
> Some wholesalers advised of impending rate increases of 20%, same thing happened with pex fittings several months prior.
> 
> put a force majeure clause in your quote!


 
My proposals state that my price is good for 30 days. In fact it's standard in most if not all construction contracts that if a contractor's material costs go up, then he has no choice but to raise his price.


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## DIZ (Nov 17, 2010)

Tommy plumber said:


> My proposals state that my price is good for 30 days. In fact it's standard in most if not all construction contracts that if a contractor's material costs go up, then he has no choice but to raise his price.


I get the standard 30 days, but im talking about radical price increases that may need to be justified to the end user or moreover, the developer for a larger project. Im not in the big leagues, but i know guys who are and they need to prove change of price.


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## DUNBAR PLUMBING (Sep 11, 2008)

*To everyone that doesn't care about more price increases*

Oatey5-12%Selected Items04/01/11Turbo Torch5%General Price Increase04/01/11American Water Heaters3-6%General Price Increase04/01/11Gerber Faucets & Fittings4.80%General Price Increase04/01/11Zoeller Pump Co.2.90%General Price Increase04/01/11Moen Faucets3.90%General Price Increase05/01/11CFG Cleveland Faucet Group 2.90%General Price Increase05/01/11Brass Craft2-5%General Price Increase05/01/11IPS Corp4-12%General Price Increase05/01/11American Saw (Lenox)5%General Price Increase05/01/11Cherne Brand / Oatey5-15%General Price Increase05/01/11American Plumber Filters3%General Price Increase05/01/11Keeney Mfg. Co. 5-10%General Price Increase05/02/11Delta-Brizo3-1/2%General Price Increase05/15/11


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## DUNBAR PLUMBING (Sep 11, 2008)

Why did the prices go up before the end of the 2nd quarter?



FUEL SURCHARGES




GOOD LUCK


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## bkplumber (Jan 24, 2011)

DUNBAR PLUMBING said:


> Why did the prices go up before the end of the 2nd quarter?
> 
> FUEL SURCHARGES
> 
> GOOD LUCK


Gas prices


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## PeckPlumbing (Mar 19, 2011)

DUNBAR PLUMBING said:


> This might be a whole other subject completely, but has anyone guessed the value of a product once purchased, uninstalled in your posession?
> 
> 
> It's pretty darn low until it is installed.
> ...


What about prediction of price increases? If oil is going up, you know ABS and materials like that will follow afterwards.


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## DUNBAR PLUMBING (Sep 11, 2008)

PeckPlumbing said:


> What about prediction of price increases? If oil is going up, you know ABS and materials like that will follow afterwards.


 
That "can" happen, but majority of companies always mark up their product by default. 


What I meant by those statements:


If I go into my shop, look at the 5 all brass gerber tub waste and overflow kits, not a thing wrong with them...


If I contacted you and you was local, and I needed to sell. 


You might give me $30 for all 5, maybe. You probably use SCH40 kits like I do now, and interchanging to brass is something out of the mix of normal plumbing when 100% of new construction is comprised of plastic piping systems.

If I ebay or craigslist them, might get $20 from cl, $40 from ebay but the effort will be tough. 

Same goes for a bag of 5/16" closet bolts. Nothing wrong with them. Plumbers buy them weekly but no one will pay full price to me for those. They'll expect maybe $5-$15 even though I might of paid $30-$50.

Grouped with tons of other products not used daily, you see where I'm getting at. 


I've got 3/4" male dielectric unions, maybe 30 of them and ever since they factory install dielectric nipples in the water heaters, no need for the product. 

I almost cannot give them away at this point, even though I believe I paid $3 a piece for them at one point. But, that's business on a lot of items.


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