[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Grainger. Why? (Page 1 of 3)
Posted: 3/16/2016 10:49:04 PM EDT
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I get to do purchasing now at work. Its pretty sweet. No more asking the boss and hoping the tool I want shows up.
But Grainger... My god what a rape fest. How are they still in business, and/or why do businesses pay their prices? Im looking at a 18v Makita battery right now. Over twice the price of Amazon. I bring this to the attention of management and nobody cares. |
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3 words- Approved Vendors List Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile And a lot of people in corporate aren't as price sensitive when it's not their money. Edit- I've seen several purchasing people new in the job puff out their chest and brag how much better they are than their predecessors. It usually last no more than 6 months before they figure out no one gives a shit if they spend twice as much time to save $50 on a part. |
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Contract pricing for major customers? Fisher Scientific does that. Catalog prices are sky-high, but if you have a contract with them (like a lot of research universities do), prices are much lower. I worked for a university and noticed how high Grainger prices are. I mean, ridiculously high. Maybe they survive by supplying some black federal projects and the catalog business is just a cover. |
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Thats a good point. Stuff usually arrives next day. Quoted:
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Plus their local warehouse will have pretty much every part they list in their catalog in stock so you can get it that day (or one of the surrounding warehouses will). But you'll pay the price for it. Thats a good point. Stuff usually arrives next day. When plant downtime can be measured in 5+ digits per hour, being able to get your part immediately for 10 times the price of online is a deal and a half. |
| I don't know what it's like now as I have been out of that type of business for a while, but I preferred MSC Industrial over Grainger and Mcmaster Carr etc.,.......... The prices were better on most items, shipping was faster and MSC's catalog was a more user friendly to me. |
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I get to do purchasing now at work. Its pretty sweet. No more asking the boss and hoping the tool I want shows up. But Grainger... My god what a rape fest. How are they still in business, and/or why do businesses pay their prices? Im looking at a 18v Makita battery right now. Over twice the price of Amazon. I bring this to the attention of management and nobody cares. Amazon wont put up with 90 day accounts that were due in 10. |
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I don't know what it's like now as I have been out of that type of business for a while, but I preferred MSC Industrial over Grainger and Mcmaster Carr etc.,.......... The prices were better on most items, shipping was faster and MSC's catalog was a more user friendly to me. Thank you for the heads-up on MSC! Been looking for alternate sources for the products they offer. |
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they used to be wholesale only but anyone can go in these days and buy something. sometimes you need the part right now and don;t mind paying the price. you need a funny motor for your a/c and its 110 outside are you gonna order it from amazon? Me, personally? Yeah. 
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sounds like you should keep a motor on hand just in case that happens. Quoted:
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Because I need a 3 phase 1150 rpm 1HP motor with a 143/5TC frame right now or we're going to lose 6 weeks worth of perishable product. sounds like you should keep a motor on hand just in case that happens. and when you use put your backup in the game where do you get a new backup motor stat? |
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Me, personally? Yeah. Quoted:
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they used to be wholesale only but anyone can go in these days and buy something. sometimes you need the part right now and don;t mind paying the price. you need a funny motor for your a/c and its 110 outside are you gonna order it from amazon? Me, personally? Yeah. What if you fix walk in coolers? You can't stock everything. Restaurant owner doesn't care about price. There is the fix it and the fix it today price. You seem short sighted in your rant |
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Kickbacks. Only possible explanation. You're on the right track. They're actually on a rebate program, typically. The company I work for is a supplier to Grainger (and most of their competitors), and for smaller accounts you do get raked over the coals. For high volume accounts they sell only a few percentage points above cost (in some cases they sell well below cost, depends on the account size/corporate agreement) and the manufacturer of the product rebates them back on each transaction to their agreed upon price to make them profitable. It is an accounting nightmare but it is how the industrial supply business works. Thankfully I don't do the accounting 
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What if you fix walk in coolers? You can't stock everything. Restaurant owner doesn't care about price. There is the fix it and the fix it today price. You seem short sighted in your rant Quoted:
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they used to be wholesale only but anyone can go in these days and buy something. sometimes you need the part right now and don;t mind paying the price. you need a funny motor for your a/c and its 110 outside are you gonna order it from amazon? Me, personally? Yeah. What if you fix walk in coolers? You can't stock everything. Restaurant owner doesn't care about price. There is the fix it and the fix it today price. You seem short sighted in your rant I was referring to the AC in my home. But per my OP, I understand now why Grainger charges so much. However, I dont need that Makita battery RFN, and management still doesn't care. Maybe they have a contract with Grainger or something. |
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I get to do purchasing now at work. Its pretty sweet. No more asking the boss and hoping the tool I want shows up. But Grainger... My god what a rape fest. How are they still in business, and/or why do businesses pay their prices? Im looking at a 18v Makita battery right now. Over twice the price of Amazon. I bring this to the attention of management and nobody cares. Because they give kick backs to the corporations who use them regularly. It's how it works with us. |
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I used to spend several hundred k a year with them.
A quick google search will beat their price. Every time. Period. Without exception. When the account rep calls to ask why you seldom use them anymore, mention the words "zoro tools". Thats about the end of the conversation. They stay in business because almost every shop in the country has a grainger book. They have a very very very very very expensive yet effective marketint strategy that has saturated the earth. Fastenal is the same way. Want to pay 1000 bucks for a 300 dollar roll of cable? Fastenal has it. A good example. Grainger owns dayton and speedaire. I have a lot of both brands ive sold over the years. I can buy both brands 10 to 20 percent cheaper from zoro than i can from grainger. That says a lot about their margin. Every year my rep gets me a better discount. "Oh fella, I'll give you your old tier back plus 7 percent more off of purchases". "Come down 30 percent more and you will be in the ballpark" 
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Me, personally? Yeah. Quoted:
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they used to be wholesale only but anyone can go in these days and buy something. sometimes you need the part right now and don;t mind paying the price. you need a funny motor for your a/c and its 110 outside are you gonna order it from amazon? Me, personally? Yeah. That's why I have a window at in case my central air goes down  ...nah I bought it during one of our major outages during the summer when my boy was a baby. It was over 100 in the house. 100 bucks for a used one and it will keep the living room, dining room and kitchen comfortable enough to sleep in.
But when I was at fedex I purchased some things through grainger and our pricing was nowhere near list price. |
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Do you need these parts yesterday? How much does it cost to have a team held back because they have a battery handicap? This is a valid point. The only reason i still use them some. 98% of it can be found elsewhere, pay nda shipping and still come out atleast 10 to 15 points lower. Those motherfuckers have some margin. The kind of margin on common everyday items that wet dreams are made of. Truly impressive. Last year my wife asked what i wanted for my birthday. I told her i wanted a time machine to go back in history and corner my industry on distribution like grainger has done with theirs. The mere thought rustles my jimmies. |
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I used to spend several hundred k a year with them. A quick google search will beat their price. Every time. Period. Without exception. When the account rep calls to ask why you seldom use them anymore, mention the words "zoro tools". Thats about the end of the conversation. They stay in business because almost every shop in the country has a grainger book. They have a very very very very very expensive yet effective marketint strategy that has saturated the earth. Fastenal is the same way. Want to pay 1000 bucks for a 300 dollar roll of cable? Fastenal has it. A good example. Grainger owns dayton and speedaire. I have a lot of both brands ive sold over the years. I can buy both brands 10 to 20 percent cheaper from zoro than i can from grainger. That says a lot about their margin. Every year my rep gets me a better discount. "Oh fella, I'll give you your old tier back plus 7 percent more off of purchases". "Come down 30 percent more and you will be in the ballpark"
Isn't Zoro Tools a division of Grainger? |
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Isn't Zoro Tools a division of Grainger? Quoted:
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I used to spend several hundred k a year with them. A quick google search will beat their price. Every time. Period. Without exception. When the account rep calls to ask why you seldom use them anymore, mention the words "zoro tools". Thats about the end of the conversation. They stay in business because almost every shop in the country has a grainger book. They have a very very very very very expensive yet effective marketint strategy that has saturated the earth. Fastenal is the same way. Want to pay 1000 bucks for a 300 dollar roll of cable? Fastenal has it. A good example. Grainger owns dayton and speedaire. I have a lot of both brands ive sold over the years. I can buy both brands 10 to 20 percent cheaper from zoro than i can from grainger. That says a lot about their margin. Every year my rep gets me a better discount. "Oh fella, I'll give you your old tier back plus 7 percent more off of purchases". "Come down 30 percent more and you will be in the ballpark"
Isn't Zoro Tools a division of Grainger? I know it was at one point but ran seperately, i dont think it is anymore but im not sure. The zoro prices beat grainger and can be matched or sometimes beat on google. Automation direct, msc, ebay, are the main ones. Ebay actually has a shitload of cheap industrial. As well as some of the industrial liquidation sites that buy nos. Amazon isnt terrible on some of the oddball air valves and automation controls. Even the small guys like ibt and motion can sell most of that cheaper. |
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Isn't Zoro Tools a division of Grainger? Quoted:
Isn't Zoro Tools a division of Grainger? correct. https://www.internetretailer.com/2014/02/10/graingers-ceo-spots-endless-opportunities-e-commerce Jim Ryan, CEO of industrial supplies retailer W.W. Grainger, says e-commerce will help it reach more small businesses in North America. Already, more than one-third of its business comes from the web, and more than 10% of web traffic comes from mobile devices. With one-third of total annual sales—more than $3 billion—coming from the web, W. W. Grainger Inc. is just beginning to harness the potential of e-commerce and m-commerce, CEO Jim Ryan said today at the Grainger Show 2014 in Orlando. “The opportunities are almost endless,” he said. For one thing, e-commerce will be critical in growing Grainger’s customer base among North American small businesses, Ryan said. The self-service nature of a web site makes it easy for a customer to begin browsing and buying without first discussing contract terms with a field salesperson, for example. Although most businesses are small in size, more than 75% of Grainger’s North American customers are large corporations or government entities, Ryan said, “So that’s an untapped area.” Grainger has been wooing small businesses through e-commerce rather than more traditional channels with its subsidiary Zoro Tools Inc., which launched in 2011, Ryan said. The retailer created the tools site ZoroTools.com by combining e-commerce elements from Grainger.com and MonotaRO Co. Ltd., a web-only Japanese industrial supplies retailer focused on small to mid-sized businesses in which Grainger owns a 52% stake. “That business is small, but it has been extraordinarily successful,” far exceeding Grainger’s expectations, Ryan said. ... |
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1. consumable item prices at Grainger are much better than pricing on durable items like tools. 2. Grainger has lots of industrial items in stock if it is needed now. 3. Purchaser needs to talk to someone in sales at Grainger to get the best level of discount from them. 4. Most purchases should be planned and procured from the cheapest source. |
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I need 5 hazmat suits, 3 bulletproof vests, a ladder, two lockout boxes, a tube of axle grease, and a caulk gun. I need it all inside of an hour or a plant goes down for a week costing millions and forcing a nationwide rescheduling of production. Guess who you call in that scenario? |
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I get to do purchasing now at work. Its pretty sweet. No more asking the boss and hoping the tool I want shows up. But Grainger... My god what a rape fest. How are they still in business, and/or why do businesses pay their prices? Im looking at a 18v Makita battery right now. Over twice the price of Amazon. I bring this to the attention of management and nobody cares. I wanted a manhole ladder for use in the fire cells of the boiler house I run. I found it at Lowes for $374 for two sections including the feet. Graingers price was $352 a section plus $52 for the feet. I said,hey just use the company CC, I'll go pick it up at Lowes and save the company all that money? "No we'd have to fill out paperwork and it'd be just a PITA". I enjoy showing my $850 ladder to all my boilerhouse visitors. 
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OP, a few of the reasons mentioned are why they are high priced and some customers don't care, or rather, can't complain - all valid.
As for your situation of trying to save the company money, as you saw, no one gives a fuck. Corporations are great at throwing away money on the back end, but then cutting personnel, pay, benefits, etc. to try and make up some of that wasted money on the front end. Just continue the status quo and don't try to be a hero, why fucking care when they don't? They're all in it for themselves anyway, why shouldn't you be? Collect your pay check and always have a plan B for when they run the company into the ground. |
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and when you use put your backup in the game where do you get a new backup motor stat? Quoted:
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Because I need a 3 phase 1150 rpm 1HP motor with a 143/5TC frame right now or we're going to lose 6 weeks worth of perishable product. sounds like you should keep a motor on hand just in case that happens. and when you use put your backup in the game where do you get a new backup motor stat? 2 is 1 and 1 is none
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Quoted: 3 words- Approved Vendors List Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile A recent Grainger order for a DeWalt air compressor was fucked. It looked like it fell up the stairs about three times and was upside down in the double box it came in. Grainger sent another one, via next day air. They didn't want the beaten air compressor back. It actually worked fine, but there was no way I could install it at the price they had to pay. Every customer ends up paying for that............. |
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Not sure about the rest of the Marine Corps but out here on the West Coast, Grainger now has the contract for "servemart". Basically the place you go for things you wouldn't procure though the normal supply system such as highlighters, push carts, paper shredders, lockers, ect, ect.
I'm sure they're sitting fat and happy from that little contract.
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Plus their local warehouse will have pretty much every part they list in their catalog in stock so you can get it that day (or one of the surrounding warehouses will). But you'll pay the price for it. This is pretty much the answer as to why people shop Grainer. I hate them, but if I really really really need something, they probably got it, right now. I just have to pay right now prices. J-I-T inventory is cheap J-I-C Inventory is not. |