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[BlackQuill]

I have had bad experiences with some of my local suppliers. The biggest problem being that I don't get material delivered when they say they will. They have mest up some of my orders delivering the wrong products and not delivering when I'm expecting them to. I have my largest job with my largest customer and I ordered some rolls of vinyl, called yesterday and asked to make sure they deliver those rolls because I desperately needed them. They ensured the rolls were on the truck, today I got a call and my sales rep told me that the delivery driver had too many deliveries and was not going to be able to make it to me today. I needed to wait til next week. I always order 2 or 3 extra rolls to keep in stock to avoid this but went through my backups with this large project. I am located in Kansas, if you have any reliable suppliers that deliver on time, please let me know.

 

[visual800]

for vinyl use fellers or sign warehouse or even grimco. if youre not getting good service from local reach out! its possible they are not stocking stuff locally

 

[petepaz]

we have multiple venders we use this way we always have a back up plus certain venders don't carry all the materials we use (don't put all your eggs in one basket)
we use fellers, N. Glantz, tyrrell tech, nazdar, harbor sales and S & F. overall they are all good but between the 6 suppliers we always have an option/back up

 

[BlackQuill]

for vinyl use fellers or sign warehouse or even grimco. if youre not getting good service from local reach out! its possible they are not stocking stuff locally

I havent used fellers, I will have to check with them.

 

[BlackQuill]

we have multiple venders we use this way we always have a back up plus certain venders don't carry all the materials we use (don't put all your eggs in one basket)
we use fellers, N. Glantz, tyrrell tech, nazdar, harbor sales and S & F. overall they are all good but between the 6 suppliers we always have an option/back up

Thank you! I have only used of N Glantz from your list.

 

[Stacey K]

If I order in the morning from Fellers or Glantz, if they have the items in stock at the local warehouse, I get them next day via UPS.

 

[gnubler]

Fellers & Grimco are amazingly fast. Like Stacey said, some items show up in under 24 hours.

 

[Mike Paul]

Usually Fellers but their pricing went up so much since he sold the company………….

 

[EZ Ink]

I have had bad experiences with some of my local suppliers. The biggest problem being that I don't get material delivered when they say they will. They have mest up some of my orders delivering the wrong products and not delivering when I'm expecting them to. I have my largest job with my largest customer and I ordered some rolls of vinyl, called yesterday and asked to make sure they deliver those rolls because I desperately needed them. They ensured the rolls were on the truck, today I got a call and my sales rep told me that the delivery driver had too many deliveries and was not going to be able to make it to me today. I needed to wait til next week. I always order 2 or 3 extra rolls to keep in stock to avoid this but went through my backups with this large project. I am located in Kansas, if you have any reliable suppliers that deliver on time, please let me know.

I use JDS Industries for Sublimation, solventinljet for Mutoh,and Grimco for

I have had bad experiences with some of my local suppliers. The biggest problem being that I don't get material delivered when they say they will. They have mest up some of my orders delivering the wrong products and not delivering when I'm expecting them to. I have my largest job with my largest customer and I ordered some rolls of vinyl, called yesterday and asked to make sure they deliver those rolls because I desperately needed them. They ensured the rolls were on the truck, today I got a call and my sales rep told me that the delivery driver had too many deliveries and was not going to be able to make it to me today. I needed to wait til next week. I always order 2 or 3 extra rolls to keep in stock to avoid this but went through my backups with this large project. I am located in Kansas, if you have any reliable suppliers that deliver on time, please let me know.

I use JDS for Sublimation, Solventinkjet Mutoh, and Grimco for some sign supplies
JDS has free shipping for purchases $99, and $200 Solventinkjet. Solvent is coming out Colorado, so it takes 3 days. Grimco and JDS have warehouses in California so I get it the next day if I order before 3. Hope this helps

 

[ProSignTN]

Usually Fellers but their pricing went up so much since he sold the company………….

He didn't sale it. His wife wound up with in the divorce.

 

[AndersHerp]

We are based out of Wichita, KS. I asked my boss where he orders vinyl from, he told me we predominantly get stuff from GSG or Grimco. Unless it is something special, but that's pretty rare because I cannot remember the last time we were actually waiting on vinyl for a project.

 

[DL Signs]

Never rely on just one vendor. Set up accounts with several.
We have a couple of main vendors that we use for most orders, one for stuff like vinyls, lamps, sign parts, sheet stock, etc, we're on their delivery route, they deliver every Tuesday, the other is a about 200 miles from us, so we get everything overnight if we get an order in early enough. We're all Mimaki here, that one is a dealer too, so inks & stuff are always here when we need em'. When we call in for something, if these main two don't have it in stock, we go down a list of others till we find one that does, and can get it to us quickest. If a vendor's price is higher, or they don't provide good service, the further down the list they go, so we're always calling the most reliable, and economical ones first. If we have too many problems with any, they're off the list unless they have something we can only get through them. Set up accounts with several vendors, even if they're cash accounts, once you're in their system you'll get jobber pricing and usually better service.

 

[cwinmadison]

Far From Normal is pretty good. Whenever I am looking for a new material, chances are very good that FFN will have it, and at a cheaper price/faster delivery than where I originally found it.

 

[victor bogdanov]

Does your supplier offer pickup? sometimes when I have something urgent and have to be sure I get the material when I need it I drive and pick up

You say local suppliers so shouldn't be too far away...

I've picked up many times 30 minutes after placing an order from gsg grimco and fellers

 

[SightLine]

Usually Fellers but their pricing went up so much since he sold the company………….

You dont just accept the pricing on their website do you??? I hope not anyways..... for materials you regularly use you need to ask your sales rep for better pricing.

 

[DL Signs]

for materials you regularly use you need to ask your sales rep for better pricing.

Right on the money.
This is the biggest thing.... Our vendors aren't grocery stores with fixed prices, you can negotiate on materials, especially the ones you use most often, and the price gets lower if they know they can count on you for a certain volume.

 

[JBurton]

Most distributor pricing follows this model
pleb (website ordering, no contact)
squeaky wheel (pleb that has called, no prior orders necessary)
regular wheel (someone who orders fair amounts, and has asked about pricing)
big wheel (the folks whose orders make the whole truck delivery worthwhile, consistently good pricing, occasional near cost pricing)
shiny wheel (the 20% of the 80/20 rule for the distributors. They get whatever they want whenever they want, their pricing is barely over cost, the next distribution center location may even be selected based on their location)

 

[MarkSnelling]

I've spent most of my career selling through distributors...now I am one. I've always preferred the stronger regional distributors as they have people who actually know what's in the box and how it should or shouldn't be used. A good one is Schillers in St. Louis. Try Derek Arnell over there. He knows his stuff. You should still be a one-day ship point.

 

[Sign Pro Salina]

I have had bad experiences with some of my local suppliers. The biggest problem being that I don't get material delivered when they say they will. They have mest up some of my orders delivering the wrong products and not delivering when I'm expecting them to. I have my largest job with my largest customer and I ordered some rolls of vinyl, called yesterday and asked to make sure they deliver those rolls because I desperately needed them. They ensured the rolls were on the truck, today I got a call and my sales rep told me that the delivery driver had too many deliveries and was not going to be able to make it to me today. I needed to wait til next week. I always order 2 or 3 extra rolls to keep in stock to avoid this but went through my backups with this large project. I am located in Kansas, if you have any reliable suppliers that deliver on time, please let me know.

We are located in the middle of KS. We primarily use Fellers & have for decades. The KC branch is our "local" one. 1 day ship time via UPS for most items. We are also 1 day ship from at least 2 other Fellers warehouses. Used to be 1 day from their headquarters in Tulsa until a few years ago, now it's a 2 day ship time. As was stated already, you have to ask for better pricing from your sales rep. Never accept catalog pricing. Also, having backup suppliers is a good thing. You can also get Fellers to price match if someone comes to you with a better price, not often but does happen and I ask for them to match it. We also have N Glantz that delivers to us out of their KC branch once a week, and then Far From Normal has a branch in Wichita that delivers to us weekly or is a 1 day ship time.