# Ferguson



## heaan (Oct 23, 2012)

I spent over $450k with ferguson last year. Spent all year fighting to get my pricing down.
I got a new nursing home coming up so i decided to shop pricing

For 4"abs pipe ferguson sells it to me for $2.71 per foot and tells me thats their cost and they make their profit at end of year on a kickback from the manufacturer.

After my 5% lowes discount and discount for large orders it costs me $2.11 per foot.

I told ferguson and lowered their price to $1.59 per foot and everytime i go in or order i have to tell them to check pricing its wastes my time

Im not going to waste my time going over every invoice i get from them crying over prices. Im just going to lowes for all my abs.

Even cast iron is $1 foot cheaper at lowes

I needed 36 zurn roof drains. Ferguson quoted me $225 each. Fd supply online sells them for $99 each and free shipping. Its same for all zurn products. Over half price

I needed 2 ao smith water heaters think they were bth199 ferguson want $7000 each online free shipping is $5000 each. Guess im going to save $4000

Point is i dont mind using local suppliers but its costing me thousands to do so. I cant see why ferguson cant compete without me crying everytime i place an order


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## Eddy k (Jan 30, 2015)

We have 8 suppliers in alb, ferguson, Winnelson, Winnelson west, Dahl, Keenan, perry, doc savage and Morrison. I use to be loyal to Winnelson and I am still am to a degree. Large quantity order I get pricing from everybody, Winnelson is low sometimes, still my go to place, usually there as they are opening the gates at 545 am. Saved a lot of money for shopping around.


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## Plumbducky (Jun 12, 2010)

That is exactly why I limit what I purchase from them. 

Pricing has gotten so out of line from them.

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## Eddy k (Jan 30, 2015)

Ferguson still gets a good share of my business, they have to crunch the numbers to get it, they are the lowest in town for 50 gallon natural.


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## Qplumb (Dec 19, 2015)

We have several supply houses and Ferguson is always the most expensive. They always take the longest to get what I need also. I only use them as a last resort


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## KoleckeINC (Oct 22, 2011)

I paid 60$ for a box of oakum there ONCE.


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## Eddy k (Jan 30, 2015)

Our 2 privately owned stores are most expensive.


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## ShtRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

I only buy at the supply house what I need now for an emergency , and or what I cant get online much cheaper...lots of $$ saved..and no stupid homeowners in front of you asking a million questions about a part then walk out..


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## Shoot'N'Plumber (Apr 27, 2013)

The thing is I believe ferguson provides a service I can't get at lowes or Home Depot. Don't get me wrong, my cost for 4" abs is $3.30/ft vs $2.40 at Home Depot (I can save 20% at Home Depot when buying 100' or more). However, I service a large area (like 90 square miles) and I'm an OMS so for me I know where all the stores are located and I have a good relationship with many of the managers. I can check stock status on my phone at any location on a single page, they have 24 hour commercial water heater delivery. And the BIG BIG plus for me is I'm only a 30 min drive from a major distribution center where i have never, not once, not a single time been unable to drive and pick up that one particular part or tool that would normally be shipped. That DC store is gold for a service plumber: 

In the end, ferguson is what you make of it. Do I shop exclusively with them? No, but I do purchase a lot. You get out of ferguson what you want.


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## Debo22 (Feb 15, 2015)

With Fergusons you need to have a sales guy, mine will always work my numbers and change them in the computer saying even if I go to the counter it should be the same. I think corporate switches them back because he has to do it every few months.


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## gear junkie (Jun 20, 2008)

Here's a crazy one. I was looking for a 4" street wye. Shootnplumber deals alot with fergusons and has an online account with them, he tells me my local store has 4 in stock. He also tells me the price. 

Now I have an account with them, cash only and hardly ever go in there. I bought 1 time from them last year, spent $139 total with them for 2015. So anyway the wyes...going off memory but I bought them for almost a dollar cheaper then Shootn gets them for. 

How's that for customer loyalty?


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## Plumbus (Aug 4, 2008)

Buying, like selling is a game where you wish to maximize what's left in your pocket, just like your wholesalers. My favorite apropos quote is from a dearly departed friend.
_We screw the other guy and bring the savings to you.

_


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## jnaas2 (Dec 6, 2012)

Sent a customer to Fergusons to pick out tub and fixtures for bathroom remodel, Might as well sent them to a big box store because there tub was the biggest piece of junk Ive seen in a while. Never again


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## justme (Jul 4, 2012)

heaan said:


> I spent over $450k with ferguson last year. Spent all year fighting to get my pricing down.
> I got a new nursing home coming up so i decided to shop pricing
> 
> For 4"abs pipe ferguson sells it to me for $2.71 per foot and tells me thats their cost and they make their profit at end of year on a kickback from the manufacturer.
> ...


If you're spending a half a million dollars with one supply house why don't you have someone in your office checking every invoice to get the prices down, that is a part of doing business. You should be beating all your suppliers up over their prices, if you don't check them and put them in their place every once in awhile their prices will creep back up. Do you not have one dedicated sales person through Ferguson? If not go down there in the morning and ask for one, that way you're dealing with one sales guy for all your orders and all you have to do is call him/her and say hey the prices are looking a little high lately. You could easily be letting 75k slip through your fingers every year if you're not watching the tickets.


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## heaan (Oct 23, 2012)

I do have a salesman. I personally check all pick tickets. My point is that its sucks that i have to work to keep my prices right. Easier just to buy from box stores. I dont wanna haggle and beg i just wanna pay fair pricing


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## heaan (Oct 23, 2012)

Although ferguson did send me to vegas to drive nascars. richard petty expierence


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## justme (Jul 4, 2012)

heaan said:


> I do have a salesman. I personally check all pick tickets. My point is that its sucks that i have to work to keep my prices right. Easier just to buy from box stores. I dont wanna haggle and beg i just wanna pay fair pricing


Time for a new salesman.


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## PLUMB TIME (Feb 2, 2009)

I just cancelled an order for two cases of Fluidmaster ballcocks from my independent supplier (26 branches). 
There best price was $9.05 per, I got them from Menards,delivered, for $5.64 per.
Menards also is stocking cases of Nibco pvc fittings for 40-60% less than my supplier.

They also started stocking Sioux Chief expansion fittings and pipe, although I'm not ready for that yet.


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## Phat Cat (Apr 1, 2009)

I think they all raise their prices when they think you are not checking. The excuse is always the same, the discount mysteriously changed in the computer.

Funny how it is always in their favor.

Same with insurance - pays to check rates and keep them honest.


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## Plumber (Jan 18, 2009)

I have two suppliers within 50 miles of me: Ferg and a place called Keller. Two, 2....try dealing with that!

Ferg and the rest are feeling Internet pain. I just got 10 Deltas delivered at 50% off, free two day shipping, no tax.

My big thing is PVC. They want 22.00 for a 4" combi, but I can get it for 11.00 from the internet, delivered in 2 days. No tax on the internet buy.

Same with faucets, pex parts, on and on. I'll go to the internet before i go to the supplier.

In business, loyalty is a profit vampire and supply houses are zombies.


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## Letterrip (Jul 28, 2013)

Plumber said:


> I have two suppliers within 50 miles of me: Ferg and a place called Keller. Two, 2....try dealing with that!.



Ouch!! That's a tough spot.


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## ShtRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

If you think plumbing materials is the only thing being gouged by the sellers, read this...
*Bravo Costco & Steve Wilson, Detroit. *
*Also in Canada!*

*WOW… AN EYE OPENER !*








Verified -snopes.com: Generic Drugs 









Let's hear it for Costco!! (This is just mind-boggling!) Make sure you
read all the way past the list of the drugs. The woman that signed
below is a Budget Analyst out of federal Washington , DC offices.


Did you ever wonder how much it costs a drug company for the active
ingredient in prescription medications? Some people think it must cost
a lot, since many drugs sell for more than $2.00 per tablet. We did a
search of offshore chemical synthesizers that supply the active
ingredients found in drugs approved by the FDA. As we have revealed in
past issues of Life Extension, a significant percentage of drugs sold
in the United States contain active ingredients made in other
countries. In our independent investigation of how much profit drug
companies really make, we obtained the actual price of active
ingredients used in some of the most popular drugs sold in America .
The data below speaks for itself.


Celebrex: 100 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $130.27
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.60
Percent markup: 21,712%


Claritin: 10 mg
Consumer Price (100 tablets): $215.17
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.71
Percent markup: 30,306%


Keflex: 250 mg
Consumer Price (100 tablets): $157.39
Cost of general active ingredients: $1.88
Percent markup: 8,372%


Lipitor:20 mg
Consumer Price (100 tablets): $272.37
Cost of general active ingredients: $5.80
Percent markup: 4,696%


Norvasc:10 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $188.29
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.14
Percent markup: 134,493%


Paxil: 20 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $220.27
Cost of general active ingredients: $7.60
Percent markup: 2,898%


Prevacid:30 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $44.77
Cost of general active ingredients: $1.01
Percent markup: 34,136%


Prilosec:20 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $360.97
Cost of general active ingredients $0.52
Percent markup: 69,417%


Prozac:20 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets) : $247.47
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.11
Percent markup: 224,973%


Tenormin:50 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $104.47
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.13
Percent markup: 80,362%


Vasotec: 10 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $102.37
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.20
Percent markup: 51,185%


Xanax: 1 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets) : $136.79
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.024
Percent markup: 569,958%


Zestril:20 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets) $89.89
Cost of general active ingredients $3.20
Percent markup: 2,809%


Zithromax:600 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $1,482.19
Cost of general active ingredients: $18.78
Percent markup: 7,892%


Zocor:40 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $350.27
Cost of general active ingredients: $8.63
Percent markup: 4,059%


Zoloft: 50 mg
Consumer price: $206.87
Cost of general active ingredients: $1.75
Percent markup: 11,821%


Since the cost of prescription drugs is so outrageous, I thought
everyone should know about this. Please read the following and pass it
on. It pays to shop around. This helps to solve the mystery as to why
they can afford to put a Walgreen's on every corner.On Monday night,
Steve Wilson, an investigative reporter for Channel 7 News in Detroit,
did a story on generic drug price gouging by pharmacies. He found in
his investigation, that some of these generic drugs were marked up as
much as 3,000% or more. Yes, that's not a typo: three thousand
percent! So often, we blame the drug companies for the high cost of
drugs, and usually rightfully so. But in this case, the fault clearly
lies with the pharmacies themselves.For example, if you had to buy a
prescription drug, and bought the name brand, you might pay $100 for
100 pills.


The pharmacist might tell you that if you get the generic equivalent,
they would only cost $80, making you think you are 'saving' $20. What
the pharmacist is not telling you is that those 100 generic pills may
have only cost him $10!


At the end of the report, one of the anchors asked Mr. Wilson whether,
or not there were any pharmacies that did not adhere to this practice,
and he said that Costco consistently charged little over their cost
for the generic drugs.


*I went to the Costco site, where you can look up any drug, and get its
online price. It says that the in-store prices are consistent with the
online prices. I was appalled.Just to give you one example from my own
experience, I had to use the drug, Compazine, which helps prevent
nausea in chemo patients.*


*I used the generic equivalent, which cost $54.99 for 60 pills at CVS.
I checked the price at Costco, and I could have bought 100 pills for
$19.89. For 145 of my pain pills, I paid $72.57. I could have got 150
at Costco for $28.08.*


*I would like to mention, that although Costco is a 'membership' type store, you do NOT have to be a member to buy prescriptions there, as it is a federally regulated substance. You just tell them at the door that you wish to use the pharmacy, and they will let you in. (This is true)*


*This is true in Canada, too. I went there this past Thursday and asked them.*


*I am asking each of you to please help me by copying this letter, and passing it into your own e-mail, and send it to everyone you know with an e-mail address.*


*Sharon L. Davis
Budget Analyst
U.S. Department of Commerce*


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## Letterrip (Jul 28, 2013)

In fairness to the drug companies (not defending them, I promise), that is an unfair assessment. You are paying for extensive R&D, testing for FDA, likely a few bribes, distribution, regulatory issues, and then comes the unreasonable profits!! 

If one looks at the price we pay for a flapper, and then sees the selling price including installation, a similar argument could be made. 


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## ShtRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

that is true, but to a point, the price of all that should reasonable be added into the cost, but many times the prices they charge are astronomical, and yes they should be able to make a good profit as with any business, but they gouge like no tomorrow and you wonder why medical insurance is so high..


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## newyorkcity (Nov 25, 2010)

The drug companies need to charge more to cover the resulting class action lawsuits from the pesky side effect of said drug commonly known as "death".


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

heaan said:


> Although ferguson did send me to vegas to drive nascars. richard petty expierence












They may have sent you, but you paid for the trip.


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## Eddy k (Jan 30, 2015)

Been on plenty of supply house trips, always have to do a percentage higher the next year to get the next trip. I have downsized and not gone in a few years. Yes we pay for the trips. But do not know if I would have went on an Alaskan cruise on my own.


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## Plumber (Jan 18, 2009)

So if I raise my prices 50-75% more than market, but offer a trip to the highest dollar customer, that will get me loyalty?


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## Phat Cat (Apr 1, 2009)

Plumber said:


> So if I raise my prices 50-75% more than market, but offer a trip to the highest dollar customer, that will get me loyalty?


How about testing it out and letting us know how it goes? :laughing:


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## ShtRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

all you need is a gimmick and people will flock to it...just look at the dollar shaving commercials to get you to buy razors online...


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## Redvvood (Apr 9, 2016)

Greedy corporations.....


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## TheOfficeGirl (Dec 28, 2016)

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-problem-with-prescription-drug-prices/

This is a current example of how corrupt the pharmacutical companies are. A drug that cost $40/vial in 2001 is now $40,000/vial (thats right, fourty thousand) after the drug company purchased the competition and shelved it. Dirty dirty dirty!


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## JohnnieSqueeze (Mar 23, 2016)

44 dollars for a 4” shielded clay to ci coupling........................
forgetuson. 


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## hroark2112 (Apr 16, 2011)

If you're spending over half a mil a year on materials, hire a purchasing guy. Have ALL purchases go through that person except absolute emergencies. I'll bet you dinner if they do their job, they will save you way more than they cost you.

My old boss did it. No one bought anything except the purchasing guy...that guy made salary plus a commission on what he saved the company over the course of the year. 

I'm sure his bonus made that Richard Petty deal look like a bag of peanuts.


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