Buying Chemicals Together w/ another Company

[Mike 64]

I've read various post on here about companys having problems buying chemicals at a reasonable price. It seems in order to get a good deal and save on shipping cost the best way to buy is in bulk, but who has a loading dock or storage building in thier back yard? I would say not alot of us probably.

I also saw comments about networking, which is ALWAYS a good idea it seems. I was wondering if there are some of you out there that have got together with other companys (whether its a pool company, a hardware company or another PW company) and worked out some kind of deal so you can buy your chemicals together and save money together as well.

What are the Pros and Cons of this?

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

YES. If you get together with other local companies you can save money. Get enough to get a quantity discount and also to bring it in via truck. Trucks will meet you places like grocery store parking lots if you make the arrangements with them and they can't get into your residential area.

Take the cost of the freight, divide it by the number of items for example, and you have a per package cost for freight. You can also figure it by the pound, and charge that way if the items vary.

Hope this helps.

Beth