What's the {..} deal w/ steel shingles?

[Frugal Farmer]

have been thinking about getting a steel roof (shingles) for 3 yrs now. My asphalt shingle roof leaks now. called this guy (150 miles from here) selling Metalworks (tamko) steel shingles. He comes & throws this 1/2hr sales pitch at me. The steel is not much better than what's on my barn now except it's cut into patterned, nicely painted, steel shingles shape. the final effect is pleasing - before & after pictures in his sales kit. he measures and quotes $670 per SQ (100 sq.ft) installed. As my family picks me up off the floor in midst of a coronary episode, I tell the turkey not let the front door smack his ass on the way out. I called another salesman. He sells canadian dura-loc shingles. very nice. He quotes $720/SQ. Looks like I picked another comedian. Took valium this time - after I gave him a good kick in the ass with my pointy steel cowboy boots.

I fired up the good old box to get the scoop on this steel shingle conspiracy. A simple search "steel shingles" yields well over three dozen small manufacturers across US/Canada. Nope, no monopoly or oligopoly at the mfg tier. What about the distribution channel? Contacted an online distributor. He sells Tamko (metalworks) shingles for $135/SQ on eBay. I like the price. I order - C.O.D. He "requires!!!" full payment in advance. I reached out with my middle finger and rammed it up his ass. messy business. Contacted 2 other onliners. The price wasnt that great ($180-$220/SQ) - payment in full up-front. I have executed my share of dumb mistakes in life but this is wont be one of them - sending $10000 across 7 state lines to some buffoon operating his webshop for less than 2 yrs.

And here I am. Can any of you esteemed DIYselfers share your experience how to negotiate fair DIY price and quaranteed delivery of steel shingles?

Your help - much appreciated. mr. frugal farmer

p.s. onliners: bestbuymetals.com, metalroofingwholesalers.com , metalroofingsource.com p.s.s. mfgs: accelroofing.com, custombiltmetals.com, edcoproducts.com, follansbeeroofing.com, kasselwood.com, kasselandiron.com, kasselandirons.com, metalsales.us.com, decra.com, metroroofproducts.com, metalsusa.com, allmet.com, zappone.com, tamko.com, steeltile.com, met-tile.com, nordmantile.com, interlockroofing.com, futureroof.com, loomismetals.com, paradigmshingles.com, reinkeshakes.com, vailmetal.com, vailmetalshingle.com, permatileroofing.com, westform.com, & manymany more.

[coffee]

I tell the turkey not let the front door smack his ass on the way out. I called another salesman.

Looks like I picked another comedian. Took

*cut for brevity*

You Said:

valium this time - after I gave him a good kick What happens when you find out that the going price is actually about 900 a SQ? You gonna go back to one of the others you pissed off above? If I were them I would charge you 2000 a SQ.

If paying someone an honest price is a problem for you DIY!

When you do, Please video the part where you get the steel shingles on the roof. I want to see it.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

So, you're looking at the cheap stuff. The guy that came to my house was $1400 a square. But if I sign tonight, he'd give me a "special" price. Never told me what that was and I'd have to agree to buy right then before he told me. Sure, goodbye. .

[Poppin Fresh]

There's no results in current listings, or completed listings on eBay, for Tamko Metalworks. If you ever decide to eBay, you always pay first, before you get your merchandise. If you're turned in 3x for non-payment, you get booted off.

If you want credit, become a contractor, and set up a credit-line. No one is going to send you anything, COD. That's how companies get stuck, someone has buyer's remorse and refuses shipment, or they're dishonest, etc, etc. Can you see who gets stuck?

Get used to life in the big city.......Your credit's no good here....Period.

Maybe you can stick one of those middle fingers up your ass, and the other in your mouth...Rotate every 10 seconds.

[janrom]

sure there is, $119/SQ:

But hey, let's not tell coffee from the previous post. He wants to pay $2000/SQ. And -it- thinks the going price is $900/SQ and it is quite a steal (or steel?). I am sure there were enough idiots who bought into the vortex vacuum cleaner miracle and thought paying $1400 for a $150-vacuum was quite a deal. Perhaps coffee bought one of those vortex miracles too.....for $2000?

- no need to become a contractor to get wholesale deals. Credit cards work the same way.

- same as 'never'.

Anyhow, I've done enough shopping on-line to know that majority of reputable sellers ship COD and accept credit cards.

yes, the party that doesnt do their homework

- I dont live in the city...and my credit is good

I'd prefer sharing the joy with you and slide the finger that was up my ass in and out of your mouth.

[janrom]

you must be one that got duped by one of them, didnt you, coffee?

nix, asphalt shingles work for me too.

you can charge whatever you want, nobody's buying.

gimme a break; the mfg. sells them to wholesalers for $100 SQ. Installation guides are available on almost every mfg. website. if you know how to put two pieces of lego together, you know how to put your steel shingles up.

you have my word on that

[janrom]

- there's no cheap stuff. It's pretty much all the same material from the same source. Each mfg just 'invents' their own design/profile (tool&die) and locking mechanism. Some of the shingles just look cheap but the steel/paint is virtually the same. Same goes for stone coated steel.

- same like vacuum cleaner peddlers with their 'vortex' miracle

5-15yrs ago, remember? - now at your local dept. store for $150.

-not if you're 'coffee' from earlier post. S/He or It wants to pay $2000 SQ and thinks it's worth it.

[<h>]

Of course he does. Just use PayPal and put it on your credit card. If the shipment doesn&#39;t arrive or is defective you get all your money back. Sheesh, have you never bought anything online before?

[Frugal Farmer]

yeah, ...sounds good on paper. once ordered, he reneged and insisted on wire transfer or bank draft before shipping. sheesh, have you ever tried to dispute credit card charges if product defective, wrong grade, missing parts, etc..?

not like this. not $10000 worth. have you..?

[hallerb]

i have on a 3 grand purchase and the credit appeared immediately, and was no trouble.

If a merchant doesnt cooperate on a credit card sale rules they lose the ability to take cards forever.

Thats why I like paypal, it gives me security when buying stuff on line.

dont use western union, if a e bay seller demands it complain to e bay they will be de listed

[dpb]

If it&#39;s on eBay and the seller accepts PayPal, he&#39;s bound by the rules eBay sets up. I don&#39;t recall the limit of the buyer protection under PayPal directly, but the Federal law limits liability of any disputed amount on a credit card which trumps anything else.

The largest purchase I&#39;ve made via eBay is something over $5k, it was done via bank draft. But, before committing, I looked into the seller&#39;s reputation very carefully and contacted him personally.

If there&#39;s any question at all in my mind, I won&#39;t deal with an individual on eBay. I looked at the Reinke shingles some time ago when deciding what to use on the barn here. No idea where you are, but Reinke is a near-local manufacturer of sprinkler irrigation systems with a very good reputation. They started the shingles after doing some for themselves as a sideline. At that point, they were roughly $180/sq plus shipping direct. I&#39;d suggest contacting them directly and see who they have as a distributor in the area if you&#39;re anywhere close.

--

[Harry K]

The quoted price &#39;appears&#39; to be the installed price. If you are installing yourself, check with your local building supply store and see what they are charging per square.

Harry K

[Frugal Farmer]

- heard of paypal. dont have one. will get me one paypal. thanks.

- there is a twist with this guy on ebay; he completes deals off line

[Frugal Farmer]

I did the same after I ordered since the shingles he sells on ebay are just 1/2 the order. the roof is an assembly of shingles, valleys, gables, starter strips, etc. and all needs to be color and type coordinated. once off-line, he completes the order with accessories and demands western union payment. he know the shingles are no good without the trims that go with it.

- I couldnt trust him after he asked for WU/bank draft. I guess I&#39;ll keep looking and pay a little more to somebody who can give me some assurance of credibility. I feel bad for those poor souls, like user &#39;coffee&#39; above, who paid $900/SQ.

- I did too. their shingles are aluminum, thus, more expensive and their interest in selling to DIY was nil. I didnt pursue any further.

[<h>]

eBay does NOT allow wire transfers/Western Union, so report him and/or do not do business with him.

heesh, have you ever

Yep, several times, and the charges were reversed immediately. You can dispute the charges online and it takes about 2 minutes.

Yep, I regularly place orders for my business of $15,000 and up, and I order almost everything online. Just use a credit card and you&#39;ll be fine. If he won&#39;t take a card, use PayPal and your bank account. PayPal is a pitt bull if there&#39;s a problem with an eBay purchase. Relax, you&#39;re covered.

[Frugal Farmer]

the price consists of shingles (i.e. 50SQ x $135) + accessories (valleys, gables, starter trims, fasteners,..) + taxes,..

none of the big/small brick&mortar stores sell steel shingles. while the installation of steel shingles is super-easy, people dont know they can DIY; thus, there is no demand for this product via brick&mortar stores. and that&#39;s how these door-to-door shysters can get away charging people like &#39;coffee&#39; in previous posts $900/SQ.

[Frugal Farmer]

does this apply even to split orders? i.e., there&#39;s no point buying shingles w/o the matching trim. so, since he doesnt sell the complete assembly on ebay, the deal (assembly) needs to be completed off-line (WU/bank draft). the best scenario I see is that he delivers shingles via ebay and then I still need to look for matching accessories at whatever price elsewhere - which makes it tricky. is that the case?

- I am glad there&#39;s somebody out there that actually has done this - at least that takes most of my doubts away

[dpb]

...

That doesn&#39;t sound at all like Reinke (well, yes, they are Al, but to whom did you actually speak/contact?).

They&#39;re currently $190/sq plus a variable shipping from 5-9% depending on location relative to Hebron, NE.

They sell direct to anybody. Yes, you will need to pay upfront, but I&#39;m attesting to the soundness of the firm. Again, depending on where you are and what your needs are, I suspect if you were to call and talk directly, you _might_ work out something else. This is a family business.

Now, you may not want the Al; your choice. I&#39;m simply saying that Reinke Shakes is a quality outfit and will treat you fairly.

[Frugal Farmer]

- I can feel the flamethrowers warming up but stay with me for a second. all of you have your paypals and know how to use them. I dont. Yet. Look at this link:

seller accepts paypal, but the item is covered only up to $200. What does that mean? Shingles for an average size roof would be $5000+. Also, look at the clever disclaimer "contact is needed for accessories and freight estimates" and that is when everybody finds out "cash in the bank first, buddy" - no credit card or paypal (my experience). Question for those of you who are ebay savvy: how do I purchase the whole assembly from this guy and make sure he plays by ebay rules?

[Jim Elbrecht]

-snip-

It means Paypal would leave you on the hook for most of your order.

Check with your credit card company and see what their coverage is if you use them to purchase through Paypal.

-snip-

I&#39;m a bit of a gambler- but there is no way on God&#39;s green earth that I&#39;d spend 10K with a guy who hasn&#39;t made a sale yet, and has only bought 10 things on Ebay in 2 years.

7 day returns? On shingles?

Jim [thanks for posting this though- I wasn&#39;t aware of metal shingles and there is a new roof in my future.]