Was repairing an old UK built amp today and noticed one of the rubber feet was missing. It was held in place by a self tapper - a bit like a small seat buffer. Perhaps a 1/2" in diameter.
So had a look in B&Q to see if they had something similar. They had, but self adhesive. And 3.68 for four. For four small pieces of plastic. Perhaps people don't look at what things cost these days - relying on a fair pricing policy?
I didn't buy them.
A lot of their stuff is a total rip off. Homebase seem the worst for overcharging though.
Although they have a more limited stock the quality and price of the stuff at Wickes isn't bad.
Industrial suppliers are best generally, and they will adjust their prices when mutually beneficial.
Having said that, Homebase do on occasions come out with ridiculous offers. These are restricted to a few branches and come out of the blue. Over the last year I have bought a jigsaw, lighting equipment and loft insulation at a fraction of their normal retail price.
All are short term and dictated by "head office".
Maybe there is a method to their madness though, as the opportunity for a bargain keeps me dropping in and I always end up coming out with some grossly overpriced trinket.
Come to think of it that sums up my shopping technique with Aldi and Lidl too.
Perhaps it's a tools/ hardware thing.
Oh BTW
Try tap washers and superglue. This has the advantage that the amp now contains a source of plumbing consumbles [as long as you dont overdo the superglue]
HN
There is a lot of things that annoy me about B&Q. At one time they sold electrical cable off the roll. Now they just sell rolls at fixed lengths which usually means having to buy far more than you actually need.
TLC will sell cut lengths of cable - and its cheaper than B&Q.
B&Q 6 x 20 cross dowel £7.68 for 5 - £1.53 each
Screwfix 6 x 20 cross dowel £4.69 (1-5) for 50 - 9p each
From emeory up until recently the screwfix dowels were around £2.80 for 50
michael adams
...
(factor of 17)
I wanted some of those pressed metal picture hooks (where the little nail goes through two sides of a triangle at the top). In an 'antique' shade, because I wanted them to blend in (only used occasionally).
B&Q - £7.68 for 10.
Local hardware shop - £0.45 for 10.
Same factor of 17!
Screwfix and B&Q are both owned by Kingfisher. Screwfix tends to be cheaper but there are exceptions
Their stablemate is Focus DIY and I have seen some of Wickes prices in there. They also do a nice discount card for those over a certain age.
Maplin have stick-on feet for 1.09 for four. Still a lot for a little bit of rubber but a lot better than 3.68.
Couldn't agree more. Total rip off prices.
A bit better, but nowhere near the internet sellers. Now Toolstation will deliver over £10 free I buy loads from them.
The B&Q Tradepoint Card baffles me. I have 2 B&Q normal stores & a massive B&Q depot in the area. The 2 small B&Q's accept the Tradepoint card & sometimes I get a discount, other times not.
It depends on whether or not the item is on the Tradepoint catalogue or not, but there is no indication of the shelves as to which is & which isn't.
Bit of a lottery.
Wanted a tube of white silicone t'other day, they had 3 makes all at silly prices. Had to find a Tradepoint catalouge & look to see which was in there.
Had a chat with the store manager & I'm not alone. He has had loads of similar questions and wants the price label to have a TP symbol on it, but his area manager says it won't happen.
off. ;-)
Got some 'chair buffers' in Homebase for a more reasonable 1.49 for four including self tappers.
When I wanted some door stops SF was much less than B&Q but I didn't want 50 and SF's are hard plastic and B%Q'a are rubber. Paid about 60% of SF's price for 6 stops but got what I wanted (and didn't have to find a use for 44 door stops!).
And if you had gone to Toolstation you'd have got something even rougher for a bit less.
Toolstation IMHO has a clear strategy of going for two audiences. One is brand names (amongst it some very high quality stuff) at a decent but not exceptional discount. I'll buy that stuff from them.
Then there's the rest, all of which seems to be aimed at meeting a price point which is lower than elsewhere. I've tried that a few times but its always been well...
Screwfix's prices have gone north, and on a lot of things is absurd, but their own-brand quality seems a lot better to me.
I'd agree some of the stuff is dodgy, mainly the 'Silverline' brand - there seems to be some connection?
Overall, I'm more than happy with Toolstation.
Certainly agree on the prices, but still much cheaper than B&Q/Wickes/Homobase.
Most of the cheap stuff I've had is Silverline. No problems with any of it yet. Simon.
Silverline are independent (of Toolstation) I think, they have their own web site and quite a few dealers sell their stuff. I think they're basically just importers of the standard Chinese stuff that becomes all of the cheap brand names like Challenge (Argos), etc.
I have some Silverline tools and they're OK, e.g. their 2kw hot air gun works fine (not much to be wrong about something like this I guess).
Wilkinsons are slowly sliding downhill towards being Woolworths - and sadly they'll probably suffer the same fate as a result.
In the meantime, however, they still sell cut cable.
What they need is online order and collect at the branch.
Conclude with that. The few times I've been to tool station I've been pleasantly surprised at how cheap they are whereas Screwfix seems to my mind means lets see if we can screw you;!.. Don't go there anymore as I don't also like there catalogue look up and queue for your stuff either!..
Toolstation? You can *but* it's not a "live" system. ie you can't do an online order then drop down to the local branch an hour or so later and collect. The order is made up centrally then sent to the local branch for you to collect the next (working) day. Pretty sure that is what they did have...
Looks in latest catalog (39 - Apr '11) if you login to their site you can check stock at any branch, via the basket, wether you can send the basket to the local branch for picking before you arrive I donno.
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