outrageous pricing

allen levine

Member
Messages
12,340
Location
new york city burbs
Today, 8-9-11
Galvanized lag screw, 3/8 by 3 inch

Lowes-$1.40 each, $1.12 if you purchase box of 50
Ace Hardware-85 cents each, no discount for quantity
McFeeleys-50 cents each.

It really pays to shop around even for the smallest thing.
 
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If someone with the authority will strike my email address from the records of this site I'll be gone.
 
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There's a fastener specialty store about 75 minutes drive from me. They sell fasteners by the pound, including lag bolts, all sorts of machine bolts, stainless, nuts, you name it. I try to get there once or twice a year just to stock up on the various hardware I'm likely to need. Unfortunately, I probably spend more maintaining an inventory, than I would buying individual bolts, but I hate to spend a buck for a single bolt at the borg...

Torx head deck screws there cost about $6 a pound, instead of over $10.

And yes, McFeely's is where I go for almost all of my smaller woodworking screws, great quality and very fair prices.
 
I dont think its a matter of where its made John. This is a pet peeve for me. Our Home Depot thinks we are a captive market and look to make margins on the bolt and screws that are obscene. Its their version of what convenience shopping costs.
We have a group here called Brafasco and i go down to their store and do what Ken does stock up. They supply the serious contractors and the quality of their stuff beats the borg junk in my view and at much reduced prices.
If i want convenience i support my local small hardware guy. i would rather pay his premiums and help keep him going.

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Lot of factors go into pricing. But it really boils down to free enterprise.
A business owner invested and risked his money to make profit and income for himself and family. I see nothing wrong with charging whatever the market will bear. If he is overpriced customers will go elsewhere and he will go broke.
I literally have a couple buckets of screws and 'stuff' I have never used. In many cases it is more economical to pay the high single item price than purchase quantities on-line at lower per unit prices and have 998 screws, or whatever, left over when the project is completed.
I just got back from a local hardware store with a few needed items. I probably paid more than from a BORG but I got what I needed with friendly service. To me, that has value.
 
Id like to state, that I do not have any problems with the Lowes in Garden City NY. I believe their service is top notch, and I always can get help within a minute.
their appliance dept is top notch and they deliver as promised next day and their prices are always inline with everyone else.(Ive always found their appliances less expensive)
This is what suprised me so much with the bolts.
(and they have a great inventory and I usually find what I want there.)
 
Lot of factors go into pricing. But it really boils down to free enterprise.
A business owner invested and risked his money to make profit and income for himself and family. I see nothing wrong with charging whatever the market will bear. If he is overpriced customers will go elsewhere and he will go broke.
I literally have a couple buckets of screws and 'stuff' I have never used. In many cases it is more economical to pay the high single item price than purchase quantities on-line at lower per unit prices and have 998 screws, or whatever, left over when the project is completed.
I just got back from a local hardware store with a few needed items. I probably paid more than from a BORG but I got what I needed with friendly service. To me, that has value.


I totally agree Frank. If someones prices are too high go somewhere else. Everyone has a right to a profit.
I needed about 20 #10 x 1 1/2" screws for the bed rail fasteners on the bed I'm making. The local hardware store sold them for .28 each but had a box of 65 for $3.99. HD was about $5.00 for 25.
 
There likely is a difference in quality, but perhaps not what you think based on price. Most reviews find rather small differences among things tested, but not a review a few years back, I think by Woodworking Magazine (since combined with Popular Woodworking.)

They tested 3" screws by screwing them into hard maple without a pilot hole, admittedly an unreasonable task but a good test of strength. 100% of the BORG screws failed. 0% of the Mcfeely's screws failed, and they were the lowest cost option. Other screws like Spax also survived.
 
There likely is a difference in quality, but perhaps not what you think based on price. Most reviews find rather small differences among things tested, but not a review a few years back, I think by Woodworking Magazine (since combined with Popular Woodworking.)

They tested 3" screws by screwing them into hard maple without a pilot hole, admittedly an unreasonable task but a good test of strength. 100% of the BORG screws failed. 0% of the Mcfeely's screws failed, and they were the lowest cost option. Other screws like Spax also survived.

Interesting and impressive. However, for those of us who don't use a box a year buying bulk is not a good option.
 
I work part time at a Do It Best hardware in my little town. (Pop. >1800) and a box of 100 3/8 x 3 lag screws is $24.99 + tax or 27 cents each if bought in smaller quantities. :wave:
 
Fastenal doesn't have great hours, m-f, around 8-5pm, but they have stores all over and have decent pricing. I looked up a 3/8" lag bolt, they range .26-.31 wholesale, or .43-.52 retail.
 
I work part time at a Do It Best hardware in my little town. (Pop. >1800) and a box of 100 3/8 x 3 lag screws is $24.99 + tax or 27 cents each if bought in smaller quantities. :wave:

We have a Do-It Center (no Best on the sign, but the same chain) in our neighborhood on the edge of LA. I know the hardware bins like an employee. One of the few remaining places I know around here where you can pick and choose your way though loose nuts, bolts and screws and bag your own quantities. I give them as much business as I can (not only in the hardware department), because I want them to be able to stay in the neighborhood. :thumb:
 
OSH is our other neighborhood home improvement center, and I shop there a lot, too. They don't have the hardware selection Do-It does, though.

Side story about neighborhood home improvement centers...

The little corner of LA I live in doesn't have a lot in the way of shopping. A lot of auto repair places, liquor stores, dollar stores, and mom & pop shops. The only major chain stores are grocery markets. We're only 15-20 minutes from Pasadena, Glendale, or Burbank, and those cities have all the bases covered for general merchandise. The only general merchandise store we had around here was a K-Mart, and it closed about 10 years ago. A couple of years after K-Mart closed, Home Depot bought the property and announced they were opening a store. A large majority of the local population didn't want or need another home improvement store. We already have three Home Depot stores and a couple of Lowe's within 10 miles. OSH, Do-It, three or four True Value stores, and a couple of lumberyards are even closer than that. What we wanted another general merchandise store. Target would have been a good fit for the neighborhood. So the neighborhood rallied together and convinced the city to re-evaluate the approval for the new Home Depot. Long story short, after years of legal wrangling with zoning and building code enforcement, and with a neighborhood strongly against them being here, Home Depot finally packed it in and gave up on opening a store here. So now the empty K-Mart sits vacant and fenced, with 24-hour security parked in front of the store to keep the homeless guys out.
 
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