A False Economy
- 11 hours ago
- 5 min read
I had an experience recently that brought into sharp relief two realities about home maintenance and upgrades:
Materials are really expensive and add significantly to the cost of your project (this is not news though, right?), and
2. Shopping at the big green warehouse will cost you a convenience tax. It’s easier, but it is not cheaper.
Or is it?
This client project had me evaluating whether not buying from Australia’s ‘favourite’ hardware store was a false economy. Let me explain what I mean.
Yes, I got the products cheaper by shopping around. The battens I bought were literally almost half the price at a timber supplier ($4.35/m versus $8.05/m).
But I also did a lot of my materials planning & researching online. This job was as Project Partner, but those hours are still charged to my client.
Plus, I was forced to shop online for a certain product to get the best price, and to do Click & Collect – at different stores, 30mins drive apart!
Delivery would have costed about $110/load, and although I collected them, the time spent doing so was also charged to my client.
So while it was easier for my client to leverage my tradie/insider knowledge to source and purchase cheaper materials (I passed on the savings to her), and to use the #SheCanVan to collect them and bring them to site,
did it actually save any money? Or is it a false economy?
Bunnings have scale. They’re everywhere – literally everywhere! There are about 315 warehouses across Australia, plus they own other chain stores selling specialist products. Their range is enormous - other retailers simply cannot compete, online suppliers have suspect quality and slow delivery (or premium shipping costs).
At the same time, did you know that:
Often items are sold out, you can’t find what you’re after, and they frequently discontinue stock
So you need to go store-to-store anyhow – once when I was in Queensland, I literally visited 5 stores from Toowoomba, the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane to find a regular ‘in-store’ (not special order) product! Luckily this was for my mum and I wasn’t charging for the massive time waste.
Pricing is different at different stores. This isn’t a regional versus urban divide.
It’s what they can get away with in the local area. No competition = higher prices for consumers. And we all know competition is disappearing, because….sausages.
Their massive buying power does NOT translate to lower prices than their competitors.
The 10% price promise thing is basically a scam (see this episode of Four Corners). But I can promise the above example with timber battens is not the first time I have found the same product significantly cheaper elsewhere.
Products are often not good quality.
Despite servicing trade, their products are rarely trade quality, and especially not for things a D-I-Yer will be buying. And the timber? Good luck finding lengths that are not a banana (ie: actually straight).
As for tools, this is the LAST place to shop!
The manufacturers of quality tools (like Makita) produce different product lines for Bunnings. Look at the tool code – they’re not the same as other tool shops. They are however the exclusive distributor of Ryobi - that baby is all stitched up!
As you can see, I have a love hate relationship with them. Don’t get me wrong, I shop there alllllllll the time. I love that they’re always just down the road from my jobs. I love that their liberal refund policy means I can essentially utilise them as personal inventory management for my business (buy several items ‘just in case’, and very easily return it if I don’t end up needing it). I love that it’s basically a one stop shop for most of my jobs that saves me running around (time I don’t really get paid for). I love Powerpass and being able to digitally store my receipts for my records.
But I hate that we have so little competition in this country that our biggest hardware chain can charge what they want, make squillions in profits that aren’t invested back into service or lower prices, that we all pay more, that my trade account gets me 5% discount maybe, sometimes.
The thing I hate the most though, is that not using Bunnings is a false economy because time is also money.
This client bought almost $1000 worth of new materials, and I saved her about $300 in total. I got some good deals, and sourced some higher quality products. But when it all came out in the wash, I’m not sure she saved much at all for my endeavours because she was also paying me.
What about a run-of-the-mill tradie?
You may not be paying them hourly, but if they’re sourcing materials, believe me that you’re paying a margin (sometimes 25% or more) on top of their true cost. Are they also shopping at the usual haunts (ever been to Bunnings at 7am?), or do they utilise trade suppliers and receive specialist pricing? Don’t worry, they’ll never tell you either way!
What if you buy your own materials?
Even you, dear reader, need to account for your time when/if you shop around. As much as I adore Facebook Marketplace for the bargains and freebies, you need to have loads of time and the energy to spend trawling for what you need (and dealing with the crazies and time wasters on there!). I think I spent 9 months getting everything I needed for my renovation. And I had to have a place to store them.
What about doing the project D-I-Y?
D-I-Y isn’t necessarily a way to save money. In big ways and small, you will end up paying to do it yourself. I firmly believe it’s an investment. In yourself – your skills, your confidence, your feelings of accomplishment. In the idea of self-sufficiency and empowerment.
But....
But between the learning curve, the tools you need to buy, the time you spend shopping around for the materials, perhaps the workshops/courses you take, and of course the extra time you may (or may not) spend fixing it when you don’t get it right first go –
You probably won't save money. Not in the short term, at least. Believing that it is a way to save, is to trust in a false economy.
But as I sit in my living room, looking around at all the items I bought around at the second hand renovators' store, the stuff I pulled out from demolitions, rescuing other people’s discards, and knowing I did almost all of it myself with my own two hands, I’m at peace with the fact I didn’t just buy it all from a big box retailer, and that I did the reno D-I-Y. At the end of the day, it may be a false economy, but it’s the economy I chose. And I would choose it again.
Have I told you I plan to build a tiny house out of rescued and upcycled materials?? :)
