material cost

[SpartanKen]

Since I am new at this, I have little to base pricing off of. I got the following quote from a distributor (Alro) here in Michigan. I inquiring here to see if this is par for the course with what you are paying.


3 - 4x8 sheets of 16GA Hot Rolled $227 delivered. That includes fuel and delivery charge. So $75 a sheet.

Ken

[jimcolt]

That is a good price if delivery is included. I pick mine up and pay about $67 per sheet currently.

Jim Colt

Since I am new at this, I have little to base pricing off of. I got the following quote from a distributor (Alro) here in Michigan. I inquiring here to see if this is par for the course with what you are paying.


3 - 4x8 sheets of 16GA Hot Rolled $227 delivered. That includes fuel and delivery charge. So $75 a sheet.

Ken

[drakus]

WOW... I get mine for $53.20 per sheet & $25 delivery.

Than again, I'm 15 miles from Burns Harbor by Gary, IN.

[Marty]

southern californa
14 GA $53.00 to $60.00 per sheet, CR, delivered, plus tax tho
I try to buy at least 1000 lbs at at time to get the $53.00/sheet price...the more u buy, the cheaper the rate

16 GA I really have no history, last time I bought just 1 sheet of 16GA 18 months ago, it was $70.00

Keep a spreadsheet of all material orders, with dates, quantities, vendor etc etc......this way you can check a phone quote VS history when you order......my spreadsheet breaks it into $cost/sqft...so I can plug that number into the materials cost of a seperate job estimating spreadsheet....I know exact cost of every square inch of steel/aluminum, every ounce of coating (paint,dye,clearcoat etc), cost of flap wheels, shop supplies used, every material and all the time needed to do each job....you have to know if you are covering material costs and markup on materials.......

Marty

[vmax549]

Here a 4x8 16ga HR is $48 +tax picked up, Delivery is $15 per load 1 or 100 sheets.

Florida, (;-) TP

[SpartanKen]

Alro told me there would be a discount over 200lbs, but did not go into how much of a discount.

I'm sure there are other sources around here, I just need to seek them out.

When I envisioned the cost, I figured about $50 to $55... I'll keep searching.

Ken

[kbenz]

where are you located ken?

[SpartanKen]

Just outside of Lansing, Webberville.

I called them back and said their terminal (Lansing) would do around $50 a sheet if I picked it up. Feeling a little better about profit margins... lol

Ken

[Stout]

I just picked up three 3/8", one 1/4", and one 1/2" and it was all $.42/lb. It was 2,451 lbs and the bill was $1,111.68. A 4x8 sheet of 16 gauge weighs 80 lbs. That makes 16 guage about $34 a sheet in San Antonio. I'd call to verify but it's after 6 PM here.

[Stout]

I just checked on the price. 4x8' 16 g is $43 each.

[pete4477]

Often times, steel suppliers rate their prices on how much you buy from them. A large shop who orders 500,000#/year will get a much better deal than a one man shop who only buys a couple thousand pounds.

[BrianMick]

We are selling it for 40.00 4x8 sheet a36 hot roll. 50.00cwt so yeah that seems a bit steep.
Brian

[Marty]

Hey Brian

You pricing is great!

Please send over 25 sheets, COD, via UPS overnight,
F.O.B. Destination, freight prepaid

Thanks

Marty

[drakus]

alro gives discounts by the sheet. find a local fabricator or shop in your area and order from them. u will get cheaper prices from them.

I am not sure where they get their steel from, but some of the quality does suck at times.

Try to find some one that buys from pittsburg or gary, in area. you might get it cheaper.

Steel works off of tonnage like some one had said. the more weight the cheaper it gets, except in transportation the heavier the more expensive, but than again LTL can get pricey as well.

[BrianMick]

Hey Brian

You pricing is great!

Please send over 25 sheets, COD, via UPS overnight,
F.O.B. Destination, freight prepaid

Thanks

Marty

[tirediron]

Where do you folks that are in the DFW area buy your metal? I recently bought a 4x10 piece of CR 14 gauge for $94.73 (including tax). I do the pickup on the metal so there is no delivery charge. Looking at what some of you pay for material this seems quite high, but I really don't have room to store a bunch of metal and besides the cash flow needs to improve prior to ordering to get a discount.

Thanks

[HammerDownJustin]

Where do you folks that are in the DFW area buy your metal? I recently bought a 4x10 piece of CR 14 gauge for $94.73 (including tax). I do the pickup on the metal so there is no delivery charge. Looking at what some of you pay for material this seems quite high, but I really don't have room to store a bunch of metal and besides the cash flow needs to improve prior to ordering to get a discount.

Thanks

Sounds like your shopping at discount steel in Saginaw..try Norton there cheaper but a hour wait sucks..I will stick with Discount

[Marty]

Maybe we could start a nationwide steel buying co-op and pool together our steel purchases , make one single huge buy order on the 15 th of each month, and get our steel El Cheapo......and then of course, the scrap/recyle co-op would be a natural follow on.....

We could call it ASSBITE (Associated Spider Steel Buyers In The Extreme).........All seriousness aside, since the steel component of the bill of of materials used to produce a job represents maybe only 4% % of the sale price of the job, then a change of the cost of steel plus or minus let's say 20% due to regional or quantity price swings, will have an impact of less than 1% on the profit margin of the finished product.

On a $100.00 job, steel cost is $3.30 (14 ga , 1.78 sqft needed to make a 13? X 19.75? wall art, steel for a 4x8 sheet $59.20)

If I have to pay instead $84.00 for 14 ga 4x8 sheet, the steel cost on this job goes to $4.68, an increase of $1.38 which equates to 1.38% of the finished product sale price

So if you cannot buy the steel at the cheaper price, do not sweat it??or use it as an excuse for not being able to make a profit?.unless you sell on price alone, and your competitor beat you out by $1.38???This math will hold up to any size job, because the cost of the materials as a percentage will remain constant

The total cost of materials on this job is $25.88 I will break it down: Abrasives $ 1.78, Paint $5.35, Clear coat $6.45, Hardware $5.00, General shop supplies, solvent, rags etc $4.00, STEEL $3.30

I mark up my material costs, calculate labor for design, grinding and painting time, and arrive at a sale price of $100.00 and I get that without too much fuss

We are in the business of "adding value" to the cost of materials used in producing a product........we can easier control the value we add with our creativity and design time, and the efficiency we have in cutting the steel at the table, grinding , sanding, painting , and clear coating?..add in some basic ?Sales and Marketing 101? and you will do fine

Those that sell plasma cut steel as a commodity (mass produced, un finished parts, and brackets etc) definitely are in an entirely different ball game?the cost of steel sheet as a % of their sale price is going to be higher than when producing custom art?..so if you are quoting a job that entails hundreds of copies of the same item, un finished, the cost of steel and your ability to be efficient becomes VERY important

Marty

[trucutcnc]

Here's what we're paying in Jackson TN delivered to our dock....

16ga HR, 4x8: $33.60
18ga CR, 4x10: $40.00
12ga HR, 4x8: $58.80

[JEd]

Here's what we're paying in Jackson TN delivered to our dock....

16ga HR, 4x8: $33.60
18ga CR, 4x10: $40.00
12ga HR, 4x8: $58.80

What kind of quantity?

[trucutcnc]

Here's what we're paying in Jackson TN delivered to our dock....

16ga HR, 4x8: $33.60
18ga CR, 4x10: $40.00
12ga HR, 4x8: $58.80

What kind of quantity?

Usually anywhere from 5 - 10 sheets at a time, but we buy A LOT of steel which may have a bearing on our per sheet pricing. If we buy pallet loads of one gauge we can do better.

[dunnmfg]

Where do you folks that are in the DFW area buy your metal? I recently bought a 4x10 piece of CR 14 gauge for $94.73 (including tax). I do the pickup on the metal so there is no delivery charge. Looking at what some of you pay for material this seems quite high, but I really don't have room to store a bunch of metal and besides the cash flow needs to improve prior to ordering to get a discount.

Thanks

Curtis Steel in Grand Praire @ 972-206-2211

4x8 11 ga. cold roll = $78.32
4x8 10 ga. cold roll = $88.11
4x8 16 ga. cold roll = $39.16
4x8 14 ga. cold roll = $48.95

These are all tax free to me and delivered

[jmsrbrt]

I just checked on the price. 4x8' 16 g is $43 each.

Who is your supplier? Alamo? I'm paying about $50-$55 for a 4x8 sheet of 16 ga. and that's no tax, and I pick it up. If I could save $10, I'd buy elsewhere. Bob.

[jmsrbrt]

So if you cannot buy the steel at the cheaper price, do not sweat it??
Marty

Even though it's PENNIES, if I can save $10, it's $10 saved for other things, like my pocket.

Bob

[beefy]

That's a fair comment, providing we don't use up an extra $11 worth of our time and effort to save $10.

I've fell into that trap a few times. I've also seen one or two businesses go down when they focussed more on saving a few dollars, than on getting hundreds of dollars extra with more business.

Keith.