Why do HVAC/Plumbing wholesalers not sell to the public.

[fastfredracing]

This alway's burns my arse. I put some extra heaters in my shop lasts year, and not one of the local HVAC stores would sell to me. I had to get a plumber buddy to source the stuff for me. Today , I was installing a boiler in our rental house, and I had to drive all over the darn city to get parts, only place I could find that would sell to me, was in the Ghetto.
Do you suppose it is for liability issues, or are they trying to protect their customers , by not letting parts fall in the hands of the DIY'ers.
Any shmuck can walk into Advance auto parts, and buy a fuel pump for his suburban, go home to drop the gas tank to replace it , and risk explosion/fire, but I cannot walk into a plumbing store and buy a water regulator that only holds h20 at 12 lbs. of pressure??.
There are still some people out there who can fix things, but it seems as if they are trying to take us out of the loop .

[Danny_Ocean]

I think it's because they don't want to have to deal with the general public. Yes, you and I know how to install water heaters, valves, etc., but the typical John Q. Public does not. I doubt the local "tradesmen" supply houses want to get involved with the Home Depot crowd.

I have accounts with the local electrical supply houses and every once in a while a "civilian" walks in, asking questions that gets the going from the staff. They would not be doing that guy a service by selling him a breaker he has no clue about installing.

That being said, I'm not an electrician. I walked in off the street and "posed" as an electrician. I didn't ask stupid questions and always asked for parts by part #. They allowed me to open an account. Try that approach with your local HVAC supplier. You've got nothing to lose.

[idontknow]

The reason given by our local HVAC shop is liability and warranty issues.

One of our larger local electrical suppliers will sell to the general public but they cannot give any sort of advise or recommendation about what you're doing.

[lowyder993s]

Originally Posted by Danny_Ocean

I think it's because they don't want to have to deal with the general public.

Yep...RARELY is it a money maker for me to do a 1 off for a guy who wants to know how much its gonna be, can he get it sooner than the work I'm doing for the customer that spends 7 figures a year w/ me. And, will I remake it for free because he didn't know what he wanted. The trade has gotten bad enough. Around here, I make tire racks and ramps for the race car crowd...do it for cost...last rack and ramp combo had to both be remade cuz the guy didn't want to bring his car on the trailer so I could measure everyting. No good deed goes unpunished.

[sammyg2]

Often times, distributors and manufacturers will give a better price to wholesalers as long as they promise not to directly compete with the retailers they supply.
They promise the retailers they won't give any other retailers a better price, which technically they don't.

[drew1]

As far as HVAC, in SC a business licence is required for freon. Also maybe these places don't want to have the hassle of reporting sales tax.

[Danny_Ocean]

Originally Posted by drew1

As far as HVAC, in SC a business licence is required for freon.

A business license will not get you freon. An EPA certificate will get you freon.

[Bill Douglas]

I dress like a plumber, bring a dog biscut for the shop dog, comment on the girls walking past to the ballet school.... Now I even got a 40% discount.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

The local plumbing supply here does sell to the public. When you walk in the public entrance door (tradesmen have their doors and dock) you are greeted with a sign that says something like "we appreciate your business but you may be waiting for some time because tradesmen are our first priority." and I can see why they don't sell to the public.

1 guy in front of me wanted a seal for some valve. counterguy finds it. he then bends the counterguy's ear for 10 minutes on how it should be fitted/fixed/everything. It's a $.50 seal.

I'm next, but an old lady barges in front of me trying to find parts for her hot tub. She takes up the next 5 minutes of his time and leaves when he gives her directions for a store that sells what she needs...brightwork and such. They went to the trouble of printing out a mapquest map for her.

I can see why they don't sell to the public.

[Danny_Ocean]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

I dress like a plumber...

There you go. Visit your local thrift shop and pick up a shirt like this, then have a name embroidered on the patch (Chuck, Wally, Mac, etc.). They won't even blink:

[imcarthur]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

Often times, distributors and manufacturers will give a better price to wholesalers as long as they promise not to directly compete with the retailers they supply.
They promise the retailers they won't give any other retailers a better price, which technically they don't.

Not so. I was in electrical wholesale (with a retail counter) for 7 years. Volume is the only thing that gets you price break.

Ian

[Bill Douglas]

Yes, if it's from the thrift shop it's aleady well broken in, just like a real plumbers shirt

[pksystems]

I bought a single furnace ignitor from a plumbing/heating/cooling wholesale place this week. <$28 .... the big furnace shop with a parts department wanted $60+ for it

[wreckersteve]

Open an account at Grainger. You will find alot of controls there. I used to get alot of stuff there when I was in the business.

[1990C4S]

Most HVAC places here will sell to anyone, but if they don't know you they ask to see your gas-fitters license. I assume it's a liability issue for furnace parts.

Electrical stuff? Never found a place that wouldn't sell to someone off the street.

[unclebilly]

I am building my own house - I am the builder and until last month did everything from the dirt work to the roofing. I am too busy with my day job to finish it before winter so I have brought in some trades to help finish it up (plumbing and electrical - both neighbors). My buddy, a journeyman tin basher and I did the HVAC together. I nneded to get some pcv for the furnace chimney so I went to his supplier which does also sell to the public.

Myself and 3 or 4 tradesman had to wait for 1/2 an hour while they dealt with 2 old east indian immigrants that were trying to negotiate a better deal on a bathtub and then I think went elsewhere.

Dealing with the public is a pain in the arse as has already been pointed out.

[p911dad]

Ditto to 1990C4S. The parts that are hard to get are natural gas related. They don't want any part of house blowing up.

[azasadny]

When we built our addition several years ago we had to hire a licensed HVAC contractor because nobody would sell the components to us. The building inspector wanted his name and number during the inspection.

[Brian 162]

Up here most wholesalers have a sign posted saying you need a gas license to purchase HVAC parts.

[rick-l]

A $25 igniter on the weekend in the winter will cost you $500. If even a third of those service calls went away they would not be happy.