Sticker shock or sexual abuse ?

[Boucher]

After 35 years in the rural water well business I was accustomed to the old ranchers that wanted you to work on windmills and pumps for 1935 labor rates. After retiring in 2003, I guess that I am now on the other side of the fence. I went to the welding supply and picked up a new electrode holder and some Tweco cable connectors etc. The $152 bill kind of surprised me. Later I was in Tractor Supply killing time waiting on the wife. They had Hobart brand electrode holders 200 amp for $16, 300 amp for $19. Got my bill out and found that I had just paid $37 for a Tweco 200 amp. Is this sticker shock or did I just get had ?

[davidh]

there is something to be said about tractor supply and farm & fleet stores. they have terrific buying power. your local weld shop if its part of a franchise (air gas.etc) they seem to have different prices for off street buyers compared to the "big" customers. again, buying power. . .

bring back and buy the less expensive.

[Mcgyver]

they seem to have different prices for off street buyers compared to the "big" customers. again, buying power. . .

more than "seem", the are open about it. phone an industrial supplier or steel service centre and the first they ask where are you calling from. Makes me mental but haven't got a work around yet....chatting up the odd guy at the counter suggests we're probably paying 40% more than we should be.

how about a home shop coop or club? 10,000 people throw in $x.xx to cover admin and you get best pricing at all the big industrial supply, even retailers like home despot etc.....there may not be 10k home shop machinists, but there's many times that of weekend warriors. Heck we'll even throw in a cool ball cap and key chain. Post your nominations for who's to get it off the ground and run it, I can't, being conflicted as the proposer of the idea

[Ries]

Sounds to me like you paid a high price.
Depends on the model of Tweco, but online, they run more like $25.

https://weldingsupply.securesites.com/cgi-bin/einstein.pl?Next::39:UNDEF::::PA

I find that my welding supply place gives me deals on most everything- that is, below retail. How much below depends on what their actual price is, and how much I am buying.
But I have a monthly account, and spend $200 to $500 a month, not counting equipment purchases, which are well over $10k in the last fifteen years.

So, sure, they have a reason to be nice to me.

I have found that going to the same welding supply store, even if you dont buy a lot, and getting to know the guys, means I usually get discounts and better treatment than the walk in once every five years guys get.

[torker]

I get the same treatment that Ries gets from my local PraxAir dealer.
I dropped about $15,000 in their laps, in one shot for a bunch of new welding equipment about 5 years ago.
I also average about $800 (or more) there a month.
They treat me really good there now.
Once in awhile I phone check with the Liquide Air dealer to see what they'd charge for what I want. They're a least 25% higher than PraxAir.... because I'm not a regular customer.
The walk in guy...he just won't get as good a deal.
Russ

[gnm109]

Airgas saves their highest prices for home hobby people like me. It does make me feel special...if you enjoy paying double for everything. They are intransigent, as well. They won't give you a discount under any circumstances.

That's the good part. The bad part is that they have a monopoly since they bought out all of the Mom and Pop Stores in my area.

.

[Boucher]

Well it is somewhat comforting that we are mostly in the same boat. Praxair bought out this local mom & pop welding supply. I drilled their water well and was one of their earliest accounts when they came to town back in the early 1970's. I was not a big account I did buy several machines from them and a fair amount of supplies. I also wrote them a check promptly when I got their bill. So I probably got a better price than those who bought more but were a problem or slow to collect from. Thanks for the replies.

[davidh]

liek any other business, bottom line is most important.
the money to be made in the supply shop business is in the gas itself.


i was look to buy some liquid nitro a while back. it works great for freezin off small warts or fooot corns.


i needed the containter to carry it (they would not let me put it in a thermos with a small hole in the cap)

the jug that they sell to the clinics actually cost less than a buck for the product. if memory serves, they sell if for 50 or more. . . . . .


anyway i couldn;t get it. . .

[lazlo]

Sounds to me like you paid a high price.
Depends on the model of Tweco, but online, they run more like $25.

I've had a similar experience with the big two (Praxair and Airgas) in Austin -- they sell everything for retail price.
Seems like I can get much better deals at independently owned shops like Alamo Welding Supply -- as least they're willing to bargain down some from retail price.

But it's almost impossible for a brick and mortar store to come anywhere close to online prices, which are not a heck of a lot more than wholesale.

Another way to get welding gear for a huge discount is to buy it from MSC during their 30% off sales, which seem to be weekly now.

[lazlo]

i was look to buy some liquid nitro a while back. it works great for freezin off small warts or fooot corns.

i needed the containter to carry it (they would not let me put it in a thermos with a small hole in the cap).

That brings up a completely off-topic question -- where do you buy liquid nitrogen? I need to add a collet shaft to a precision air spindle, there's no way I'm going to heat-up the female part (part of the air bearing), so I need to try a freeze fit for the first time, and if I'm doing the COE calculations correctly, I need liquid nitrogen.

[macona]

The containers are called Dewars. Contact you local weld shop. They can get a dewar for you with the LN2. There may be a deposit on the dewar if you dont have an account though.

Use whats left over to make liquid nitrogen ice cream.

[lazlo]

So how much is a pint (or quart) of liquid NO2? Is it cost-effective for a single shrink-fit job? My other option is dry-ice and alcohol, but I don't think that's going to work nearly as well...

[macona]

Actually, its dry ice and acetone.

I want to say it was about $45 for a small dewar of LN2. But thats been a while.

Some places will fill up a thermos for you, some wont. Its just depends on who you talk to.