UK price of European oak

[cliffp]

(they weren't very happy about it).

After I had selected the wood, the guys in the warehouse took it to be priced up. They came up with a figure of over £400 for the wood I had selected (can't remember exactly how much). I then told them I had been quoted around £1600 per cubic metre (I don't know how many cubic metres it was but the price was clearly higher than I had been quoted). The person serving then told me they would let me have it for £1800 per cubic metre. I said I wanted it for the price quoted so she grudgingly worked it out using that price (it ended up costing £290). She went on about how I was getting it for trade price and said that she would normally expect a much higher quantity to be bought for that price to be agreed to.

I was definitely made to feel like a "persona non grata"

 

[mattfc]

(they weren't very happy about it).

After I had selected the wood, the guys in the warehouse took it to be priced up. They came up with a figure of over £400 for the wood I had selected (can't remember exactly how much). I then told them I had been quoted around £1600 per cubic metre (I don't know how many cubic metres it was but the price was clearly higher than I had been quoted). The person serving then told me they would let me have it for £1800 per cubic metre. I said I wanted it for the price quoted so she grudgingly worked it out using that price (it ended up costing £290). She went on about how I was getting it for trade price and said that she would normally expect a much higher quantity to be bought for that price to be agreed to.

I was definitely made to feel like a "persona non grata"

I always give local suppliers a chance to match the best price I can find something for, often means getting 40% or standard retail prices. I never feel bad about it, I prefer to support local businesses but am not a charity, so I do them the favour of giving them a chance to compete. If its not worth their while, they can always decline, but that has never happened yet, they may grumble but at the end of they day they make a bit vs. having made nothing

Well done on negotiating, you can make it up to them by repeat business with the same repeat discount [big grin]

 

[Davej]

Give them a case of beer at Christmas.  Works wonders at getting better deals,  I've been doing it  for years with my local suppliers and I always get the best price they can give me and the lads appreciate the thought.
Dave