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I just received an email from Livingstone about a there new color coral quartz , a match to Staron glimmer.
Our pricing for Staron is not much more then the Livingstone price per sheet and with shipping it is now cheaper to buy the Staron color, plus we can buy halfs and strips.
We have noticed for some projects it has been more cost effective to buy the origonal manufactures material.LivingStone is less for all colors in California. We do like using Staron though, it is a great product. We can buy halves from our distributor but they no longer offer the strips.
I really like Livingstone and Staron. When material yield works out nicely for full sheets, Livingstone pricing is hard to beat. When yield requires just over a full sheet increments then the availability of 1/2 sheets can really tip the competitive scales away from Livingstone.
Johnny CThe good thing with LivingStone is that the colors are all pretty popular so it is easy to sell the remnants at a later date.
Thanks for the comments. I enjoy and appreciate the unfiltered comments. We are testing half sheets in one area and w about 500 fabricators. We are offering the half sheets to color match the other same color sheets. If it continues to go well, we will likely expand to other parts of the country.
Take care.
Robert
One other question. Would you like us to offer strips? We have considered it.
Any feedback would be welcome.
Robert
Half sheets would make quite a difference with us, Robert. What goes unmentioned here is the worry on the part of a sales person that can’t automatically judge the full sheet situation of a job. Oftentimes splash layout, or even the presence of a cove inlay will make a half sheet necessary when it otherwise might not be. That is difficult for the non-fabricating sales person, so they shy away from the material.
Strips would be nice, but I have yet to see a supplier stay with it. There must be a reason for that.
Tom, I would expect half sheets to be offered starting in 30 days or so in your area provided that no regulatory or legal obstacle presents itself.
We never really utilized the strips but we loved the half sheets.
I must say that once we got control of our inventory, we stopped worrying so much about half sheets. We seem to sell the other half for a vanity.
My focus was not on halfs & strips although all of your points are very valid and when manufactures offer them we do use them. In the Northeast we can get both in the Staron product so it is a plus.
My point is this new color is an additional increase from the other colors in the discover series & once you factor in the shipping it is now more then the Staron brand material. Please dont get me wrong Livingstone is a pleasure to do business with and the service is top notch.
I must also add that our service and product from Staron has also been top notch.
With all things being equal they just made a color that doesnt make sence for me to buy from them because of the price, & that is a first.
An example of a job we just completed in Livingstone was done in Volcanic Ash, a match to LG Tambora. It is also in the disover series. If this color had the additional cost added to it and then shipping, we would have used the LG product.Steve, all of your points are valid. Couple of additional thoughts or comments:
- We have the standard price lists from our competitors. We also have their promotion pricing. We observe two things: their standard prices vary tremendously from area to area, sometimes as much as $125/sheet on the high end colors.
Their promotional pricing is sometimes as much as 30-40% below their standard pricing. While we might be wrong, we don’t believe their promotion pricing is sustainable over the long term and we know it is not utilized in selected channels.
- Our pricing strategy, right or wrong, has been to provide very similar pricing over the long haul and over the entire US. No large swings up or down. We have never run a promotion as USSW. You never say never, but I would doubt we ever will. Does this work for everybody and might we lose some business as a result of not playing the promotional game? Sure. But running promotions increases costs and those ultimately are borne by the customer. We also think many fabricators are tired of filling our numerous forms and/or having to ask for credits just so they can get the price that has been offered to them. Again, we know not every fabricator feels this way.
Additionally and because of some large regional differences in our competitors pricing, we might not offer much or any price savings on selected colors. We do believe that for a large number of fabricators, our materials combined with our service is a good value and does offer saving.
- You mention the shipping fee in your post. I want to make sure that you are aware that we do offer you the option of a price where shipping is included. Please call me on Monday and I will make sure the details are sent to you. About 40% of our customers have chosen this option.
Most of all, thanks for the honest feedback. Believe it or not, we actually listen.
Robert
Andy, one final question. I am hitting the return button to separate the paragraphs, but when I hit submit the paragraphs go away. What am i doing wrong?
From a practical standpoint, I found it was much easier ( tho less used) to offer strips rather than half sheets. Strips are not typically color matched material, while half sheets most always has to be color matched. You wind up with a lot of un matched half sheets which are almost impossible to get rid of. If color matching was not an issue, half sheets would be a no brainer for a distributor/mfg. Hope someone can get this problem worked out.
Posted By Robert Butts on 23 Sep 2012 09:39 AM
Andy, one final question. I am hitting the return button to separate the paragraphs, but when I hit submit the paragraphs go away. What am i doing wrong?
Hey Robert,
What browser are you using to post? Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome…
- We have the standard price lists from our competitors. We also have their promotion pricing. We observe two things: their standard prices vary tremendously from area to area, sometimes as much as $125/sheet on the high end colors.
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