Christopher Karr wrote:
Hello Matt, Everyone, I recommend not buying from SwordandTreasure because their copper prices are not in the range that I would consider acceptable in today's market. They have gone beyond trying to make a profit to the point of ripping people off. You can buy a large spool of essex wire directly from the company for $100, which is about what most of their current prices are, and you will, obviously, get a better deal from the manufacturer than you are from a distributor.
au contraire... most manufacturers protect their distribution chain by charging more for "factory direct" sales than those from their distributors. Otherwise, everyone would go around the distributors and retailers, who form the public face of the company.
The retailers and distributors provide customer support, extend credit to customers, etc. In order to do that, they need to make a profit. Partly this comes from the mfr selling to the distributor at a price under retail (e.g. the distributor and retailer each have some markup).
Obviously, it depends on the commodity, and how competitive the market is, but if you depend on distribution for the bulk of your sales, you're not going to be interested in selling retail at a discount, unless someone is ordering enormous quantities (in which case, they're more like a distributor)
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