Today i wanted to talk about what items temporally increase in price and why?
1) Rock salt:- Simple one really, if it snows you need rock salt, everyone needs rock salt, the companies know this and put the price up as soon as the word hits that snow is coming, the marketing department process Point of sale banners and so it starts.
Solution:- Buy in the summer months, store it in your garage, chances are you will only need 5-10 bags but what would you rather pay £15-£30 or £50-£75 for the salt you need?
2) Fence Panels:- Like the rock salt this is mostly weather orientated, get a very windy spell in your area and you can bet a lot of fence panels are going to fall like domino's, if it's in a localised area the price doesn't fluctuate to much but if it's national and it's lasting a few days then the prices will fly through the roof, this is mostly down to main suppliers being unable to cope with demand.
Solution:- This may sound drastic but if you know the wind is coming buy as many fence panels that you can store, if your merchant runs out and you have 15 stored in your lock up/garage and a customer rings you and another builder/landscaper saying that they can see every garden down a terrace street and they need it doing as fast as possible. who gets the job if the other builder can't source the materials for 2-3 weeks? who is to stop you once you have finished the job posting a card through every door down that street saying your in the area and are able to replace fence panels?
3) Timber Lengths & Grades:- First off it doesn't matter when you buy the goods the price increases when you go over 6.4m lengths it's a universal rule, it's a lot harder for your supplier to source these lengths and longer, now forgive me as i only know the grades in the uk but I'm sure that if it was translated to your own location the same rule would apply, when your job requires a higher grade of timber (C24) it's going to cost more.
Solution:- unfortunately unless you join the timbers to make the length you need you will pay an excess charge it's not a great deal but if it's in large quantities it will sting a little, as for a higher grade of timber ask your merchant if they have it in stock, now some merchants actually have C24 timber buried in with the C16 packs, it's down to there supplier not separating it but it's good news for you.
4) Lead:- The rollar coaster item, the price for this rises and falls almost on a monthly basis, always ask the price before you buy, with the recent trend of criminals stealing this off churches and your roof top, it's a simple case of supply and demand.
Solution:- There's only one thing i can think of.....Don't buy lead! there are numerous companies now who do an equivalent, it's cheaper, lighter and people for some reason don't want to steal it, if your dead set on buying lead there is also a 50% tin based version but my comments here aren't promoting this item, it's an alternative if you wanted to look into it.
To summarise it's all down to supply and demand, timing is an important factor along with organisation and please refer to previous posts for more hints and tips on how to get the best price.
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