Saving Money on Granite Countertops - Granite Shorts Ep.22 - www.marble.com

[stoneadvisor]

"... Wholesalers typically put a 100% profit margin on the slabs." That is not a correct statement and you know it. While I like your attempt to educate the public using videos , etc., please do not air on the side of misleading info like what you have said above."

[GraniteShorts]

@stoneadvisor You know what.. You're right. It's been a few years since we've shot this and I'm pretty sure nowadays warehouses are eating into their profits to get customers through the door. Still, their markup has got to be substantial (75%+). I'm not sure if you have a vested interest in protecting their business, but you can't argue that any logically thinking customer knows that middlemen have to get their share to survive. Why use one when you don't have to?

[stoneadvisor]

The fact of the matter is, if you are in the market to buy countertops then, go find the material that you desire and have it bid out to more than one fabricator. This is the way to get what you want and get a reasonable price. Always get references from the fabricator that you finally choose before giving a deposit.

[GraniteShorts]

@stoneadvisor Agreed! Always go after what you love. These tops will last forever so better be sure they're what you like.

[stoneadvisor]

Good advise with one major discrepancy. He has suggested that you should only go to a large fabricator to choose your materials and not a wholesaler because "you should expect the prices to be higher". This is not completely correct.. A wholesaler typically imports much larger quantities than a fabricator and therefore they will have better purchasing power. Also, the material costs are typically only 25 to 30% of the finished project.

[GraniteShorts]

@stoneadvisor While I'll agree with the fact that in most cases wholesalers will get the stone at lower pricing, we're not talking about a huge difference in price... 10%-15% maybe? What counts is that wholesalers typically put a 100% profit margin on the slabs. A fabricator with their own stock (imported from a quarry, not bought from a wholesaler), will have way more room for bargaining than one who has to purchase slabs for a specific job.

[Bouchaneusmc]

Great videos!

[Bouchaneusmc]

Something not provided in this video that is essential is this. 3cm MUST be in the kitchen (or atleast that think) reason of ... many people sit on the countertops and you can't have it cracking and breaking, someone could get hurt. 2cm is OK in a bathroom but NOT in a kitchen. 3cm is an inch and a quarter in THICKNESS. best wishes folks! compare apples to apples :)

[Bouchaneusmc]

@Bouchaneusmc (or atleast that thick)****

[GraniteShorts]

@Bouchaneusmc Absolutely agreed! Anything less than 3cm in a kitchen is sub-standard. Thanks for the comments Bouchane!

[Bouchaneusmc]

Having a fabricator send you to a warehouse is not a bad idea. You get to see more stones.  You just need to be careful at the warehouse because you will be like a "kid in a candy store" and get bent on getting an exotic. Pick five or so stones you want to look at while you are at the importer. Remember all the stones come from the same areas of the earth. Brazil, India, China and Italy mostly. All the places get the same stone. Its all about how the price and SEAMS are done.

[GraniteShorts]

@Bouchaneusmc Why spend the extra time (and money) at the warehouse? Find a fabricator large enough to have their own inventory. They'll usually be cheaper (or at least have more room for negotiation) and you can be sure that should anything bad happen to the slabs during production or transport, they can re-cut the piece right away.

[Bouchaneusmc]

@GraniteShorts Most Fabs do have a good sized inventory but its hard for lots of the fabs to have huge inventories in this economy. The company I do granite/marble with etc gets all the granite from the suppliers so the customers love to be able to go pick the specific stone they want if they couldn't find it in our yard. We generally have around 400-1k slabs and around 1-1.5k remnants

[Bouchaneusmc]

What ever you do don't make your own template. Its the honest truth. This video has some good information for sure but this is bad. Companies SHOULDN'T charge for a template and LET the pro do the job... after all the guys who are doing the template are the ones cutting the stone. They need to see it for better know how.

[GraniteShorts]

@Bouchaneusmc Note that we did say this was for a small vanity, not a kitchen countertop. We do not recommend doing large or complicated projects based on the customer's templates.

[Bouchaneusmc]

@GraniteShorts In that sense I agree 100%

[CreativeInternetRich]

Nike gives the best money advice...Just Do It.