Grow Shop Rip Off

As I am rebuilding my grow room I decided to redesign my ventilation system and replace the ducting which is now getting rather worn I made a list of what was needed, 2 x 10mtrs lengths of ducting, 4 x reducers and 4 x fast clamps. Down to the local grow shop with my list all the items were in stock which makes a change then came the body blow £119 needless to say I left without the items. A bit of internet research I found a local supplier of all things to do with ventilation a quick phone call and I was back in the car the items were ready to collect complete with invoice the total cost £64 a saving of £55 it pays to shop around. This led me to think there must be other non hydroponic suppliers selling suitable equipment that could be much cheaper than your local grow shop any input would be appreciated.

Yeah, i know what u mean man - for most accessory stuff like pots, trays, thermometers, plant supports/netting, oscillating fans, etc i find hardware shops, big supermarkets or cheapo budget stores stock them all at same quality but lower price than grow shops.

The only thing i buy from specific grow shops (and i tend to ebay/online growshop most of it now anyway, tbh) is bulbs, nutes, soil & any specialised growing equipment such as reflectors, etc. Certainly if u kitted out whole growroom from a grow shop it'd work out bit more pricey. But then any specialist retailer will always be abit more expensive than a multi-trade retailer as u should, in theory, be paying abit more for their specific expertise.

wal mart and amazon are my grow shops....

ii dP ii said:

wal mart and amazon are my grow shops....

Click to expand...

That is funny mine to. And if your a Prime Member on Amazon I search for only prime FBA fulfilled items. Ships to my door in 2 days.

To bad all internet traffic is logged. The way I look at it. If im not spending thousands on grow equipment. No one is gonna look at me unless I give them a reason to.

Oh yeah and both have everything you need to grow.

Agreed a normal old person garden store is way cheaper and has way more selection then my hydro shop. My hydro shoo wants 50 dollars for 8inchx25ft of just flex ducting. I believe thats the length. home depot and lowes sells insulated 8inchx25ft or 50ft for 30 and all my ducting is insulated keeps everything nice and quiet so x3 with above on alot of things etc on amazon but be weary some amazon stuff is expensive or junk. I did buy my hoods bulbs and flood tabled from hydro store for warranty purpose and shiooing etc was same as local shop

Yes some of the stuff on Amazon is cheap. But like I always say read reviews and see what people are say about them before you buy. Feedback is a crazy help.

Dr Strangegrow said:

As I am rebuilding my grow room I decided to redesign my ventilation system and replace the ducting which is now getting rather worn I made a list of what was needed, 2 x 10mtrs lengths of ducting, 4 x reducers and 4 x fast clamps. Down to the local grow shop with my list all the items were in stock which makes a change then came the body blow £119 needless to say I left without the items. A bit of internet research I found a local supplier of all things to do with ventilation a quick phone call and I was back in the car the items were ready to collect complete with invoice the total cost £64 a saving of £55 it pays to shop around. This led me to think there must be other non hydroponic suppliers selling suitable equipment that could be much cheaper than your local grow shop any input would be appreciated.

Click to expand...

You're just now figuring this out?

Then they try to get you to buy the fancy soils and boutique nutes. Sucks. I work cheap - home improvement stores, Amazon, the Mart, etc... Oh - and rainwater.

I don't mind spending more for the most part. The crew at my hydro store are exceptionally helpful, always willing and able to answer questions and give advice, they know exactly what I'm doing and make very valid recommendations, cut me amazing deals periodically, give me free up-to-date quality magazines (High Times, Rosebud etc), allow me to test out new big-ticket items for free for a month at a time (even if I don't end up purchasing), give me large samples of different nutes and I support keeping a local grow shop and business open in my community (my most important reason).

That said, I'm not an idiot; I'm fine to pay a reasonable amount more for the most part (15-25%) because of the positives listed above, but if they're 30-50% overpriced, I'll go in and make them aware of that. Almost always they've cut the price down to something far more reasonable, simply based on my word that I saw the items somewhere else for a ridiculously reduced price.

Some stuff I still buy online (eBay, Amazon), but that's typically smaller stuff that isn't worth driving all the way across the city for.

-spek

Think of any shop not just hydro shops. Most mom and pop shops are always more expensive compared to the chains or ones who are more financially stable. It isnt just hydro shops that are more. Some are rip offs while other know that people have money problems.

Then there are the other shops that know they are the only ones around. And peopel dont have a choice but to drive a great distance, buy online, or are forced to buy from them.

I despise big box stores and chains. I avoid them as much as I can.

They provide below living wages, they do not care about their employees, they don't care about their communities (they say they do, and they do half assed projects in communities, but their only motivator is financial for shareholders).

The money does not stay within the community, they typically drive other businesses out of business, hurting more than helping the communities they are in.

-spek

Red1966 said:

You're just now figuring this out?

Click to expand...

No I am not just figuring it out, I usually buy online but needed this in a hurry so went to the local grow shop I was prepared to pay a small premium but not an extra £55 I know they are more expensive but that markup 46% is just taking the piss when you consider that the company that I bought the stuff from is making a profit out of the £65. So they really are rip off merchants even the grow shops on e bay are a lot cheaper which is where I priced it up before going there expecting to pay around £75 - £80

its called a business for a reason. yes there all over rated and over priced but in order to run a business and pay for your overhead.. not to open a business to give it away for the same price you pay for it.. its called a profit and its why they open to begin with.. yes you can buy things at other stores for a smaller price but as stated in other post.. but if i had a business and people paid three times the price as they could and have to drive several miles or wait several days it would be the same as paying for gas to drive 30 miles out of your way to get to home depot or lowes, walmart or any other retail store.. so its all the choice of having at your finger tips.. online,driving or walking down the street.. everyone sells for profit..

Everyone does sell for profit but when your trying to cut heads off with outrageous prices then you deserve to struggle. If you charged less more people would come In buy more and thats how to make bigger profits without ripoing off. I would rather make 200 dollars a day charging normal prices then 400 every 2 or 3 days . Yes I no 200 a day and 400 every other day is the same. But the cheaper equals more people daily which would increase profit then the more word a mouth takes effect the more income all the way around

oh no doubt about it, this is why i only buy the things i need and make the things i can.. most of my trips are for nutes thats only if i run out before i can re-order from the cheapest internet store available,, just stating the obvious on the hydro rip off

anzohaze said:

Everyone does sell for profit but when your trying to cut heads off with outrageous prices then you deserve to struggle. If you charged less more people would come In buy more and thats how to make bigger profits without ripoing off. I would rather make 200 dollars a day charging normal prices then 400 every 2 or 3 days . Yes I no 200 a day and 400 every other day is the same. But the cheaper equals more people daily which would increase profit then the more word a mouth takes effect the more income all the way around

Click to expand...

They must not be struggling to much or they would drop prices. There are many different retail business models, all designed to make profit.

If you wanna bitch gripe and moan, aim it at sales taxes. Its stupid to pay income tax and then get taxed again for spending.

Ammastor said:

Yes some of the stuff on Amazon is cheap. But like I always say read reviews and see what people are say about them before you buy. Feedback is a crazy help.

Click to expand...

This is so true with Amazon. Even if it has 4 stars average look and see what the few 1 star reviews say so you know what to expect.

Dr Strangegrow said:

No I am not just figuring it out, I usually buy online but needed this in a hurry so went to the local grow shop I was prepared to pay a small premium but not an extra £55 I know they are more expensive but that markup 46% is just taking the piss when you consider that the company that I bought the stuff from is making a profit out of the £65. So they really are rip off merchants even the grow shops on e bay are a lot cheaper which is where I priced it up before going there expecting to pay around £75 - £80

Click to expand...

Of course a shop that specializes in ventilation is going to be cheaper than a hydro store. That specialized store buys in much greater bulk which means lower cost for them and that means lower cost to the consumer. They might even be able to cut out the distributor and lower their cost even more, that's something hydro stores can't do they have to use distributors.

And of course ebay is going to be cheaper than a traditional "brick and mortar" store. They don't have a storefront and all of the extra overhead costs that come with it. They don't have to worry about insurance or anything like that either. Business licenses or other fees? Nope. They'll have less employees, if any. All of these things bring the cost down which means they can offer a lower price.

I went to lowes for some pots since its closer to my house than the hydro shop. They wanted $10 a pot. The hydro shop wanted $5.50... City prices at lowes. ARUBA GI JOES

stak said:

Of course a shop that specializes in ventilation is going to be cheaper than a hydro store. That specialized store buys in much greater bulk which means lower cost for them and that means lower cost to the consumer. They might even be able to cut out the distributor and lower their cost even more, that's something hydro stores can't do they have to use distributors.

And of course ebay is going to be cheaper than a traditional "brick and mortar" store. They don't have a storefront and all of the extra overhead costs that come with it. They don't have to worry about insurance or anything like that either. Business licenses or other fees? Nope. They'll have less employees, if any. All of these things bring the cost down which means they can offer a lower price.

Click to expand...

Economics 101