Buying Carpet Online
Buying Carpet Online From A Discount Carpet Wholesaler
Buying carpet online can save you money and most online discount carpet wholesalers
can help you find a local carpet installer, who is properly trained and certified.
Many Dalton, Georgia discount carpet wholesalers are more knowledgeable about
carpet construction and performance because they are based in the carpet manufacturer
hub.
Shopping for carpet online and eventually buying
carpet online should not be the scary proposition that it initially appears
to be. Every online carpet wholesaler that participates in this forum is a registered
Georgia (or other State in very few cases) corporation. All wholesalers have
business fronts, retail locations, and most have hundreds of rolls of inventory.
Unlike many carpet retailers around the country, discount carpet
wholesalers have significant financial investments in their business. As
a manufacturers representative in the 1980's - 90's, I quickly learned in trying
to secure credit lines for my carpet retail customers, many retail store owners
own the building they occupy and lease the building back to the retail store
to limit financial liability. I found this out the hard way, when a large retailer
with 57 store locations went bankrupt and opened up the next day under another
business name. The owner of the business owned the buildings under a separate
corporate name and leased the buildings back to the Miami-based retail corporation.
My carpet mill took losses in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and I had
to repay sales commissions in the tens of thousands of dollars based on the
default.
Many smart wholesalers probably use this same strategy, but the difference
in many retailers and the wholesalers listed here is the significant amount
of inventory investment that a wholesaler must maintain. Many of these wholesalers
maintain hundreds of rolls in-stock with investments of $150,000 to $200,000
dollars and more. Some large Dalton, Georgia
carpet wholesalers routinely carry in-stock inventories of $1,000,0000 and
more.
These wholesalers sell to retailers and consumers alike. They deal in volume
and do not work on a standard retail mark-up. When I built my house, seven years
ago, I purchased a high quality Berber for my family room. As a rep, my retailers
sold it for $25-$28 dollars. I purchased this style for about $14.00 per yard.
Recently, my father and uncle came to Dalton to purchase new carpet. We found
two styles which I had sold to retailers for $12.99 per yard and retailed for
$22.00 to $26.00 per yard. The rolls were irregulars (off-goods) and were priced
at $5.99 per yard. As we examined the two 150 ft rolls, we found the defect
near the end of the roll. We purchased 110 ft and 125 ft off the other end of
the roll, paid $1.00 a yard more for the cut and purchased what was essentially
first quality material. These two purchases amounted to savings of more than
$4400.00 from normal retail and more than offset the 250-mile cost of travel
to Dalton.
Since these wholesalers are all located within about 15 miles of all the major
carpet manufacturers, they are very savvy buyers and have a good understanding
of the costs involved in manufacturing carpet products. Since they deal in such
high volume, many of these single location wholesalers are listed as some of
the largest selling single unit carpet sellers in the world. This high volume
rates them a better purchase price from carpet manufacturers. Also, these wholesalers
are willing to take a chance on selling trial color runs, off-shades, dropped
styles etc. This frees up the inventories of manufacturers and actually acts
as a service for the manufacturers and helps the wholesaler get these better
prices. These wholesalers may have to inventory these goods for a year or more
until they are sold, but manufacturers see this as a service since they do not
have to inventory the merchandise themselves.
Recently (in June 2004), I purchased a 70-ounce Stainmaster nylon trackless
carpet for my new office for $1.99 a yard. Normally, the piece would retail
for $30 a yard or more. When I installed the piece the back-stamp had a manufacturing
date of 1990. I was able to "steal" this high-end, first quality piece
because the retailer had inventoried the product for 14 years. The product was
new and unblemished.
There are numerous other reasons why these wholesalers have the ability to
sell goods cheaply, but a primary reason is the availability of off-goods and
irregulars. This is known as "plunder" in the carpet industry. Retailers
around the country love to get their hands on this merchandise, because it can
be purchased for $0.10 to $0.50 on the dollar as compared to normal prices.
Unfortunately, you have to able to accept large "packages" of goods
at a time, so you must have excellent credit, and you must be in the "right
place at the right time." They must be able to take immediate delivery
and you must have a sales contact within the mill. I had a number of retailers
in the Indianapolis area that would make regular trips to Dalton in 24-foot
trucks to haul this plunder back to their store. In many cases, they purchased
these goods from wholesalers because of the large selection.
How to buy from a Carpet Wholesaler
If you plan to buy carpet from a wholesaler, try shopping in your own hometown
first. Identify a style and manufacturer that you like and comparison shop for
price. Once you get all the pertinent information, enter the information into
our price checker "Request Form". The submit button will email your
request to all the wholesalers who participate in this forum. They will prepare
a quote and send via return email a price quote. Evaluate the price difference
and make the decision whether it is worth the price difference.
If the price difference is worth it, place an order with the wholesaler, using
a credit card. This gives you specific legal rights. Contact your card issuer
for the details. In the past, I have had no trouble reversing charges on credit
card purchases when expectations were unfulfilled.
Next, check our links under carpet installation
to find a carpet installer. If one is not available in your area, ask the carpet
wholesaler if he can recommend one. All Dalton Carpet wholesalers subscriber
to a National Network of certified carpet installers.
If you decide to purchase carpet from a wholesaler, the seller will find the
best shipping rate based on contracts they have established with common carriers.
In some areas of the country this can be as little as $.35 a yard. While freight
charges have escalated recently, your local carpet retailer pays these same
rates to ship carpet from Dalton GA to their showroom.
If you are still unsure about buying carpet
online or over the phone, consider using the Carpet Price Quote function
to establish whether it is worth a family trip to Dalton. See Rock City, Ruby
Falls, and visit nearby Chattanooga while you're here and visit the showrooms
of these wholesalers. This way you also can inspect any irregular goods that
may be available and even save substantially more. In many cases, we have been
told that the difference in price paid for the family trip and vacation and
left additional pocket money. Most wholesalers are open Monday through Friday
8:00 to 5:00 or 6:00.
Either way, the good news is you'll probably save money
Article by Michael Hilton of carpetbuyershandbook.com - the Largest Online
Source for Unbiased Carpet Information (http://carpetbuyershandbook.com)
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