Big Box store quality vs commercial supply

[M_Six]

My nephew once told me that things like plumbing fixtures and such that are sold in big box stores like Home Depot are inferior to those a home builder can source through their suppliers, even though the two items may appear to be identical. He pointed me to several sites where you could source commercial grade stuff, albeit at a higher price.

Fast forward to today. I had a hot water circulating pump installed and had the plumber supply the pump, which they got through their wholesaler. The pump seems to be top quality. I have no beefs with that. But the cost was roughly double what a seemingly identical pump would cost from Amazon or Home Depot. When I mentioned that to the plumber, he gave me the exact same spiel about commercial grade supplies vs big box store grade.

Is this really a thing? Do the big box places sell inferior stuff from the same manufacturer just so they can keep the prices low?

[cmyx6go]

I was told the same thing many times. The products sold to the big box stores are manufactured using different/cheaper components which make them more affordable.

[M_Six]

There seems to be a good deal of support for this theory. But it sucks that it's so hard to check on some items. The HW circ pump I just had installed has the same part number as the one on Amazon, but there is a different PC: number. I have no way to find out what the PC: means. Could be a different lot number or something. On the manufacturer's site, the same pump (visually anyway) has a totally different part number. And they don't list a price. You have to fill out a form to get a quote. I mean WTF? If there is a difference in build quality, then make it easier to be certain you're getting what you pay for.

[Bc2005]

Many manufacturers make a budget version of a component, and also offer a higher priced version. The important fact to remember is that the two components may look alike, but will definitely have a different part number. If the part number was not different it would be impossible for the manufacturer to maintain any type of reliable repair and warranty program.

Where the confusion comes is that consumers do not always have the exact part number of the plumber-supplied part vs. the big box part, and from the outside the two parts may look identical.

Manufacturers sometimes add to the confusion by selling the same product with multiple parts numbers, often just to know which retailer sold the product. One retailer may then offer a different warranty or repair program.

[tcphoto]

I suspect that the premium price is factored into the pro's providing some type of warranty on their work along with the product.

[M_Six]

I know with faucets and such that you can end up with plastic parts in the big box version vs metal parts in the commercial version. Not sure about this pump, though. Not that I feel the job wasn't worth what I paid. He was here for nearly 3 hours and charged me $250 in labor. Not bad for a pro plumber.

[TheWatchGuy]

Originally Posted by M_Six

My nephew once told me that things like plumbing fixtures and such that are sold in big box stores like Home Depot are inferior to those a home builder can source through their suppliers, even though the two items may appear to be identical. He pointed me to several sites where you could source commercial grade stuff, albeit at a higher price.

Fast forward to today. I had a hot water circulating pump installed and had the plumber supply the pump, which they got through their wholesaler. The pump seems to be top quality. I have no beefs with that. But the cost was roughly double what a seemingly identical pump would cost from Amazon or Home Depot. When I mentioned that to the plumber, he gave me the exact same spiel about commercial grade supplies vs big box store grade.

Is this really a thing? Do the big box places sell inferior stuff from the same manufacturer just so they can keep the prices low?

it honestly, just depends on the product.

i have bought plumbing fixtures equipment from both plumbing supply places and from home depot/lowes for work and my house, and as long as you are buying quality items from the stores in similar price brackets, you are getting similar quality.

Now, if you are looking for something that is meant for commercial use vs residential use, yes, you can buy that at the plumbing supply stores for more costs, but its because they are built to withstand significantly more use than a normal residential product.

For something like a pump, it depends on the amount of use it will get if the commercial grade is worth it. a commercial grade pump may last you 5 years with XXX amount of use per day, where a residential grade pump may still last you 5 years but at X amount of use per day.

if youre curious, i can look up your pump with one of my suppliers to see what exactly the difference is between what you got and what HD/amazon had.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by TheWatchGuy

if youre curious, i can look up your pump with one of my suppliers to see what exactly the difference is between what you got and what HD/amazon had.

I tried that. There appears to be two different part numbers for this pump. One is significantly longer that the other. The manufacturer's website shows the shorter number, as does the Home Depot image. Amazon shows the same longer part number as the one the plumber just installed here, but there is another 4-digit number underneath that is PC: XXXX. Those PC: numbers are different on Amazon than on my pump. Plus I know Amazon will use a manufacturer's image even though they may not send you the exact thing that's in the image. But this goes back to what I was saying about it being sometimes ridiculously difficult to figure out if you got a commercial grade part or a retail grade part.

[allinon72]

Some of this is true but not across the board. Sure you can get higher quality products through a commercial supplier....at a higher cost. Most of the time it's simply an issue of what product line a big box store chooses to offer, and usually that line is the cheaper line unless it's at the top end of the price scale for the store. For 95% of products, the model # tells the story.

[iminhell1]

I've never run into someone at any of those types of mfg facilities. And I'd really like to so I could get a first hand story.

But my feeling is that it's a sham. I can see one mfg producing a better product than another. But I can't see one mfg producing varying levels of quality for different markets. I'm thinking about the staff training, product tracing, tooling changes, shipping changes, etc, etc. To ensure the correct product is being made at the correct time just seems like way more work to sell a assumed inferior product to the real deal. And then you have the company mantras and public opinion to look at. Be proud of what you make.

Now there might be something to do with they are the same but one has gone through some type of testing to ensure it's up to a higher standard. I can see that demanding a higher price.


I don't think anyone will come clean and provide actual truth and documentation.

[DubaiRich]

I look at it like OE vs OEM...same manufacturer with a different part number. As far as price, I'm guessing based on the sheer volume procured by big box stores, would lead to a price difference. The smaller plumber supply would pay more based on that alone

[Maynard]

They used to refer to this as 'Walmartization' and it is very real. Walmart (and probably all the other big boxes by now) would visit factories to show them how to 'improve processes and materials' so as to be able to meet the incredibly tight, perhaps impossible pricing demands of the big box. Suppliers are basically forced into it, as the big box market rules - boycotted by them means obscurity/failure.

I first heard of this waaaay back, when living in Cleveland, and it is the only true first hand I have (but well documented in many areas). This came from a tire factory worker in Ohio who warned me off of the big-box tire deals - originally, the tires all came off the same line, but the Walmart-bound tires did not get the final inspections (because lifetime warranty - customers get to do that for them). Since about 5% of tires fail that, you have the required 'improvement' by skipping that step. Later on they began to 'optimize' materials so there were separate production lines, but all the same branding.

[Reborn_]

It's real. Even big box stores sell residential and commercial grade items - most notably electrical outlets. I have yet to be convinced that I need commercial grade stuff in my residential home.

[spazzz]

PC is production code.
The first two numbers are year and the last two are the week.
I am taking for granted it is a Grundfos pump.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by spazzz

PC is production code.
The first two numbers are year and the last two are the week.
I am taking for granted it is a Grundfos pump.

Yes. And thank you. So those numbers do nothing to tell if it's a better model than the ones at Home Depot or Amazon. Part number is the same. I'm also having a hard time believing Grundfos pulls that dual quality bit.

Although having said that, I see that the pumps available on Amazon or Home Depot all have PC numbers starting with a 1. Like 11 or 18. So maybe they're selling older pumps at that lower price? Mine starts with 23, so it's new. Or are those cheaper places just using old images? HD has one listed that has multiple images, but the part number is different in those images. So who knows.

In any case, it's installed now and working very well. No complaints about the pump itself.

[bucketfoot]

Probably doesn't help you for the pump, but there are YouTube pages that tear apart things like outlets, etc. to show you the differences.