Suppliers - do you go for service quality or price?

[pcollins]

There have been several threads about suppliers recently, thought I'd start up a new post.

We've used several suppliers now with varying suppliers and it generally seems that the bigger the supplier the harder they are to work with but the price is more competitive.

So who goes for the savings of a few quid and puts up with any possible stock/delivery issues and who would rather pay a little more for a local supplier that you can trust to deliver?

And is anybody lucky enough to have both?!

 

[MarkieSparkie]

Use the market to your advantage mate. Have accounts with half a dozen suppliers and get them all to quote for your material requirements. On any paperwork you send them tabulate a circulation list so they know who they're competing with. They tend to be much keener to get your custom and keep it when they know they have real competition. You will be amazed at the "special discounts" that suddenly seem to be available to you.

 

[Surboy]

For me it is always about good product choice, competitive price and good service. You can always find cheaper material if you shop around but I have noticed that some of the suppliers with the lowest prices have no stock nor provide any technical support. I guess it's like everything in life, we all have different shopping habits and ultimately buy from the people we like!

 

[Phil]

There are 2 main ones I use when ordering stock. got a real good rapport with both and if I needed it there is one that would open up on a sunday for nits for me and there are not many who would do that.

the main one i use i would pay a couple of quid more from him as i know that he genuinely gives me the best price he can as he is not bothered to show you the cost price to him and his mark up.
what matters to me when i order is quality and the phone call that tells you the bits are there rather than having to chase them

 

[Octopus]

Its a combination of proximity (why drives miles to save a few quid), availability (understand what they hold in stock) and most importantly recognise each vendors short comings.

Loyalty at one of my suppliers brings me about 3 enquires per month too!

 

[dansk]

Same - People buy from People - and i would rather spend a couple of quid more and have the comfort of service. Thats me though and i go through life not choosing the cheapest, but not choosing the most expensive (unless ive got trouble and strife with me)

 

[ejw161106]

I think that they could all do with a bit of a shake, but the industry is new and a lot of these companies are still finding their feet. I have had a mixed bag with all performing at varying degrees of success. I have to double check everything that I do and that they send me. I dread next year if they don't get it together.

 

[Richard Burns]

My main supplier is local and gives reasonable pricing, friendly, helpful, I trust them so I will use them.
They sell a range of quality and will get things in for me.
Other than that use a few other suppliers with reasonable pricing (for reasonable materials)
Other suppliers are not knowledgeable and will do you on price, which I hate, I had one supplier sell me lamps I could get cheaper in any DIY store!

 

[Marvo]

We use a combination of several suppliers depending what parts we're ordering.

Suppliers often have very similar prices on the bread and butter stuff such as cable and MCB's etc. Where some of them nail you with massive markups is on the sundries and smalls such as cable straps, hardware etc so it's worth keeping an eye on them.

Sometimes we'll completely sacrifice price for service especially for one-off items for prototyping. We can get components imported to our doorstep in Cape Town by RS Components from the UK faster than a Johannesburg supplier can get them to our local branch on many occasions. We'll end up paying double but you can't fault their service and their products are usually good quality with complete documentation and technical support so sometimes it's worth it.