The biggest B&Q markup... ever?

Firstly, we all know B&Q can be a tad pricey sometimes however this is often offset by the convenience of opening times, ability to thoroughly inspect potential purchases without pressure, practically no-quibble returns policy etc... Having said that whilst I may have 3 giant B&Q warehouses here in Bristol to choose from I've also got Screwfix and Toolstation trade counters on my doorstep offering similar benefits.

However, today I think I may have stumbled across the biggest price difference yet... I popped in to a B&Q on my way home from work to pick up a 10-pack of hammer fixings... Price £6.48. How much?! I've not used them before and so at this price I thought it best to check what SF/TS sell them for - half that possibly? I dug the Toolstation catalogue out of the car and found they were 56p! (here they are:

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I asked a member of staff whether they'd price-match Toolstation and they seemingly-reluctantly said they would... until they discovered the £6.48 vs 56p price differential! At that point the manager was called over who tried to wriggle out of the 'price promise' by claiming that Toolstation didn't sell to the public and that they were 56p *each*, and with VAT on top. I got him to call them where he was set straight - he took the opportunity to check stock levels... they had thousands.

He finally gave in and matched the price, along with knocking an extra 10% off as per the promise.

Luckily I do have morals - otherwise I'd now be buying them by the dozen at the low price and taking them back to other stores without a receipt and claiming £6 odd in vouchers per pack... I wonder how many do this?

Bizarrely, whilst I'd got them at a lower price I still felt like I'd be ripped off... it must've been the realisation that I very nearly had.

Mathew

Reply to
Mathew J. Newton
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============================= You're lucky enough to have local access to Toolstation and Screwfix. For most people Mail order for the same item would be £6.67 (Screwfix) and £5.56 (Toolstation) unless you placed an order for more than £40-00. I agree that the B&Q markup is a lot compared with the others but we do have to pay for the service and convenience offered by B&Q etc. who offer service 7 days a week.

Cic.

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Reply to
Cicero

As do the Screwfix and Toolstation trade counters. I'm not fortunate enough to have a Toolstation Trade Counter near me, but I do have a Screwfix one and Sunday opening is very useful.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

========================= That's very useful if you're lucky enough to live close to either a Screwfix or a Toolsation trade counter. Maybe they should open more outlets to compete with the virtual monopoly enjoyed by B & Q. The fact is that most of us who complain about B & Q prices are quite happy to be able to use them in an emergency or for small orders.

Personally, I often buy more than my immediate needs from both Screwfix and Toolstation just to get the benefit of their prices and free delivery, but B & Q are always there for browsing and the occasional one-off item.

B & Q apparently have more than 300 outlets scattered across the UK whereas Screwfix and Toolstation have only about 20 between them so they're not really competing in the same market.

Cic.

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Reply to
Cicero

IMO B&Q could do worse than copying Tesco and open local B&Q Express selling just the fast moving range of products. I don't really want to have to treck across town to get to a 'Warehouse' just because I need a pack of nails or something.

Roger

Reply to
Roger R

Indeed. I imagine that they can keep costs low by expecting each counter to cover a much larger geographic area. If they had a branch in every tiny market town, then prices would have to rise.

However, I don't care. There's one near me, so I'm alright!

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

B&Q and Screwfix are, however, the same company.

Reply to
michaelrmgreen

The message from "Roger R" contains these words:

I'd like a socking big DIY barn in Telford. We've got a midsized B&Q, Focus, Homebase etc, and they're all expensive compared to B&Q Depot. B&Q considered opening one here but couldn't get Telford and Wrekin council to agree not to give permission to any competing stores (quite rightly, too) so they took their ball away.

Reply to
Guy King

Cicero wrote: [snip]

This doesn't make sense, this isn't an E-mail. It doesn't give one much faith in SPAMfighter whatever that is.

Reply to
tinnews

The message from snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.co.uk contains these words:

No, they're both owned by Kingfisher.

Reply to
Guy King

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Reply to
Cicero

Actually not - both are part of the Kingfisher Group.

This is not a reason why the same products or same prices should be available from both - they have completely cost structures and business models

Reply to
Andy Hall

====================== You're lucky to have those stores there. When I wanted to build a garage for my new house in Telford about 30 years ago every builders' merchant in the area refused to sell me anything without a 'trade card'. I finally found one in Stafford Park which would only deliver on condition that the goods (bricks etc.) appeared to be delivered as 'trade'.

We complain about B & Q and their various precursors but they helped considerably in opening up the DIY market. And I doubt if you will find many plumbers' / builders' merchants etc. today which have a 'trade only' policy. They know which side their bread is buttered.

Cic.

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Reply to
Cicero

The message from "Cicero" contains these words:

True. However, I needed a gas control valve for my boiler a few years ago and the bloked looked me up and down and said

"Trade?" "Of course, what makes you think otherwise?" "The baby under your arm".

Still let me have it, though.

Reply to
Guy King

Digressing I know, but I use google-mail as a spam filter. Just forward your spam-infested email to a google-mail account, let it filter out the spam and then set this google mail account to automatically forward the filtered stuff out to your real email address (wot is different from your spam infested address). Not too tricky to setup, but it fairly filters the crap out. If anyone needs a gmail address just drop me a line...

Mungo

Reply to
Mungo

I could start ranting about the joys of trying to get a spare part for my hob - the spark generator thingy had died. I phoned up the parts people and asked them for a new one. "sorry, can't sell you one, corgi rules, blah blah". "But I've got the old one in front of me - I've already dismantled the hob, that's why I could tell you what the part number was, and anyway it's not on mains gas". (repeat discussion. I think I may have given up and got through to a different guy who eventually decided he could sell me one).

cheers, clive

Reply to
Clive George

Getting out the platinum card is a dead give away as well.

The secret is to wear tatty jeans that are two sizes too loose in order to reveal the ubiquitous "fundamental crack" at the rear. Then a roll of 20s in the pocket, and finally change your name by deed poll to "Mate" . Everybody in builders and plumbers merchants is called Mate.

Reply to
Andy Hall

The message from Andy Hall contains these words:

Wish I could find jeans two sizes too loose!

Reply to
Guy King

I know. They suffer terribly from shrinking....

Reply to
Andy Hall

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I too used to use OE/SF, however, the above resolved all that admirably.

Reply to
Mike Dodd

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