I think what mike was saying is that Continental Sport/SUV tires are only sold in Wal-Mart while the dealer sells Continental Contitrac/SUV tires. Which is the same thing I was getting at ealier with the dollar store batteries.
Regarding the plumbing supplies-it has been mentioned that most of these places (plumbing supply houses) don’t sell to the public. This is true-and when you DO try to buy from them, they charge you an absurd high price! Meanwhile, the plumber gets 50% off(tradesmans discount)-what the heck is this all about? I guess the distributor makes most of their money in financing the tradesmsn-what do they typically charge on the unpaid balance?
Anyway, you do see aLOT of plumbers buying stuff at H-D…and for cash! Which leads me to believe that most of this work is untaxed,unaccounted for (part of the “underground economy”).
For tyres (tires) I have seen that the model names are simialr but different between Walmarts and real tyre shops. Thus the activity is nasty and missleading but not as bad as the situation that seems might be happening where items with identical model names but differing qualities are being sold at different vendors.
As for Rick’s objection that they would need to have different model names/designations. I don’t think this holds up, since the lower quality versions would be made in different factories most likely and would all be shipped to Walmart or HD and so would never need to be in the same facility as the high quality product of the same name.
Essentially I am wondering if manufacturers are producing ‘fake’ versions of their own products for distribution to the knock down price retailers. And if this happens, how best for us customers to avoid being caught out.
And what would prevent some of the smaller distributors from getting these inferior products and selling them at the same price as the better versions of the same model? Hell, if I were a small plumbing shop I’d get all my 885x toilets from HD for $290 and sell them in my shop for $350. Probably paid $300 to Standard for the 885x (non-cheap version) anyway. If this is true. Which is why I don’t see it happening. If this WERE the case the word would spread around the campfire pretty quickly.
Example A would be illegal in my state. Plumbing components have to be approved for use in this state and such approvals are done based upon the specs provided to the Plumbing Code Committee. If a manufacturer, distributor or retailer is providing product different that the what was actually approved it would be an unapproved product and thus illegal for use here.
I think Example B happens all the time and with all sorts of products.
A corrolary to Example B. Retailer offers “Low Price Guarantee” or 110% back if you find a lower price. However, manufacturer provides otherwise identical products to different manufacturers that differ only in model number or name. Thus Sears sells the Kaputnick XL 2000 while Circuit City sells the exact same box as the Kaputnick Rocket IV. Sorry, different product – no refund.
I think there is one point thats been missed here
in manufacturing it is common for different comapnies to have different quality standards that they will accept.
company a requires a product with very high standards,
company b requires lower standards but sells the same product
the manufacturer will happily supply both, and if some of company a’s product is of to low a standard it simply gets sold to company b
…not sure what happened there, I was typing and suddenly posted mid sentence.
anyway what I described above happens every single day at the manufacturer level. so while the products are the same company b will have a lower average product than company a.
of course I fail to see how this would happen with some products, its easy with stuff like toys and pillows and other low end products, T.v’s and the like I would have a problem seeing that happen.
Right, but I don’t think the manufacturer makes different levels of quality for the exact same model on purpose. These items that don’t pass the quality inspection for the A type business may or may not make it for the B type business but this isn’t done intentionally. You might see this with glass items, plastic molded items, and other ‘seconds’ type of product that aren’t perfect but someone may still want to buy, so there is a market for these, you just don’t want to be paying full price for the stuff.
Regarding “loe-end’ merchandise; there are many jobbers who will take this stuff and re-sell it. That’s how the 'dollar stores” get most of the stuff they sell. They also get most of the stuff that doesn’t make it in the regular stores-the odd sizes, odd colors, or styles that nobody wants.
What if the manufactuer has been farming out some units of that model to somoene else? (See Tuckerfan’s Pete Puma rants.)
Ah, and that farmed stuff would be of lesser quality but still the same model.
Sure, I could see that.
So, in danceswithcats toilet example this might be going on. Two different factories making the ‘same’ model but with lower standards and quality control. Then we have to assume that Standard doesn’t think anyone will notice this and that it won’t affect their company image. Or they don’t care.
In the toilet example the company doing the farmed work may ‘miss’ the glazing in the trap. These models get shipped directly to HD and such.
Since they may get shipped directly from the Farmed Manufacturer we may be able to say that Standard is unaware of some of the flaws since it can’t police every item in every store and the Farmed Manufacturer is trying to make a buck too (by cutting corners).
I beg to differ. The Dollar Stores get exactly what they want. Cheap from the get-go shiite. In whatever color, style, and size they want. The stuff is designed from the start to be cheap and intended to be made for the dollar stores. There is no accident there.
‘and such’ would include plumbing supply stores, so that doesn’t really support the theory that HD gets a lower quality, same model toilet.
Unless they’re doing something akin to what Ferret Herder said.
Nor I. My dad’s a contractor and buys from the big boxes all the time, for primarily the same reason everybody else does: It’s convenient, and you can get a good deal. He prices out the materials, the customer tells him what he wants, and he buys it. If he buys the item, part # xyz666-69, it thus-far has mattered jack and squat who he buys it from. He buys from who sells it for the least amount. And, as mentioned above, the lumber is very high quality. I Personally can’t stand Home Despot from a small-time consumer’s standpoint, primarily for their abysmal customer service, but there are no product quality issues. The OP is full of shit.
Well, not if the farmed work is ONLY shipped to HD distribution centers.
I am NOT saying this happens, nor have I witnessed it, but I can see how it could happen.
Theres an urban legend that AMD/Intel ship thier not-so-overclockable CPU’s to big box manufacturers and reserve the especially overclockable ones for the retail channel because nobody with a big box machine can or will overclock it.
I knew a guy who did his own little version of this once. He would get an order for say, 100 Celeron 366 machines. He would by 130 366’s, test overclock all of them and put the 100 lowest rated ones in the machines as 366’s. The rest, he sold as premium “probably will make 550, but I don’t guarentee it” to the hobbyist crowd and made a nice amount on the side doing this.
Many replies-I’m not going to quote you.
Regarding my distaste for big boxes, it’s true, but I won’t resort to lies in an effort to build my case. They do enough damage to themselves.
Regarding professionals being served first, we’re in business to make money. Our time is precious, which is why we should not have to wait for someone who wants a part for a piece of equipment for which they cannot name the make or model number. Home Despot makes a fraud of “Pro Checkout” when you stand behind some putz who says, “My kid will be here shortly-I sent him for duct tape. I forgot it.”
Regarding exact numbering, you’ve raised a good point. I’ll check my American Standard and Kohler product CDs for popular items, and see if they’re identically numbered in the big box store.
Trade discount covers many things. Before the big boxes helped to destroy the concept, there was the notion of “markup on materials” which covered my product expertise, time to fetch the goods and deliver them, as well as warranty relief and technical service. My customers are offered a choice: If I supply material, I’ll warrant it along with workmanship. If the customer supplies material, workmanship only is warranted. People still don’t get this, though. When I was a mechanic years ago, the boss had a sign in the garage: It showed a fellow with a pig under one arm and a chicken under the other. The question below was: Do you bring your own ham and eggs to the diner? Don’t bring your parts into this shop.
Thanks, I would be interested in what you find.
I KNEW it! I use the same stuff and what I bought at Target was definitely different than what I usually buy in the salon for $10 more. And here I thought I was just crazy…