A Plumbers Price For Fixtures

Most common question:

Why am I being charged $ 285.00 for the Kitchen Faucet I want, when I can get the same Kitchen faucet at my local home store for less than that, and still charge me an additional amount for the installation?

A:

Plumbers usually purchase supplies from a plumbing supply company. The plumbing supply store sells at a wholesale contractor's price, and has a list price at what the item sells for retail. The plumber purchases at the wholesale price and sells it to you at the list (retail) price. The price difference covers for time, purchasing and delivering the fixture. That's not mentioning if for some reason the item has to be returned because the customer decided on another style or color.

It's quite simple, Home store chains buy their fixtures in very large quantities and get a huge discount from the manufacturers and distributors, therefore they can pass on some of the savings to you. There are times when the home store prices will be lower than the contractors price at the plumbing supply store.

When I get calls like this, I often recommend to the customer that he/she buy the fixture and supplies for the new installation themselves, they could be saving more money this way. However, if this sounds like a good idea, use caution, make sure your buying the right fixture and the supplies necessary for the new installation. You might want to call the Plumber before buying the fixtures and supplies, just to make sure your not buying the wrong items, or you might just loose your savings by making two or three trips back and forth to and from the Home store.