Really expensive!

Atlas Knife Company

Atlas Knife Company

Joined
Feb 16, 2010
Messages
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I was out of 1/8 hex caps to build my burners and while I'm waiting for an internet shipment of them to arrive, I happened to sell several burners on eBay. I run to the local hardware store and pick up three caps.

$3.49 each

I'm paying 40¢ each online. I understand that stores have to make a profit, but doesn't that seem a little expensive? I ask the owner if that's the correct price, and she replies that "that's brass" as if that explains everything.

Thanks for listening.
 
Anyone who thinks a $0.40 cost part is expensive at $3.49 doesn't run a retail sales business.
There is a lot more than "brass" in the price over what an internet seller in China charges. There is rent, payroll, taxes, lights, heat, licenses, delivery costs, accountants fees, cash register tape, etc. ... oh, yeah, and at the bottom of the list - profit. In a retail hardware/plumbing business , the actual part cost may only be 10-15% of the final sales price for the business to only make 10% on the sale. That means the local hardware store may have mad a whopping $0.30-$0.35 on that sale.....I don't think the owner is going to book a trip to Aruba on that.
 
Local hardware stores and even big box home improvement stores are always high on nuts/bolts/fittings, etc. I don't know why. If there is a local Fastenal/Mcmastercar, etc close by, they would be cheaper and may be able to get it delivered within 24 hours if they don't have it in stock. just an idea.

randy
 
Another factor that adds to the cost is if the material is a certifiable grade. Ive found alot of cheap hardware on the internet has no one to vouch for the quality of the material. In many cases the quality coming out of China is fine and even possibly exactly the same but for alot of industrial customers they need to know that the product is guaranteed and a certified grade of material. This adds quite a bit to the cost.
 
Actually that is one of the first things you should change out if you buy any machinery from china, the castings are usually really good its just the screws and bolts usually suck so if you change them out it makes the overall quality gets much better.
 
I buy a lot of 1/8 to 1/4" NPT bushings. I bought stainless steel, but every one I got in had to be re-tapped. That was at least two different brands with different markings. I finally found "black iron pipe" bushings that aren't galvanized and are threaded properly. Not as nice to weld as the stainless, but it's better than galvanized.
 
We have to support the local guys when we can because if we don't, they won't be there when we need them in a pinch. When the tables are turned, I appreciate it when others use the local guy - It's me.
 
as one of the guys who makes those 1/8 hex caps for the name brand supplier at my third shift job from time to time I should not tell you what the name brand supplier with their name stamped on one of the flats is being charged for them but it is significantly more than half of what your internet supplier is charging you. Yu can guarantee that there is at least two middlemen keystoning that price before the part gets to the local hardware store after it leaves the plant where I work (the company we make it for whose name is roll stamped on the flat, and the wholesale distributor because the company we make them for does not deal directly with retailers, they have distributors) and there may be if it is a Tru Value or some other franchise the franchise owner who warehouses many of the common items and the franchisees effectively have to purchase through them, so the local guy might be lucky if he has just a keystone markup, the big boxes like Walmart, Lowes and Home Depot may be forcing him to less than full keystone to remain competitive

-Page
 
Good to know, Page. I stumbled across the caps at Lowes, and they were $3.86! Next thing you know, a can of pop will cost $1 at the vending machine. This world has gone crazy!
 
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