I know prices have gone up, but...

I asked screwfix about the high price and according to screwfix, the BG and appleby ones,

"The two items have different specifications and suitabilities. Therefore, this is reflected in the price: "
ROFLMAO

But not an unexpected response, when contacting a large company your chances of getting someone who really knows what is going on and is authorised to talk about it is essentially zero.

I'm still going with the explanation that this is a botched implementation of "dropshipping", where they didn't have any easy way to handle shipping/handling charges for third party warehouses, so they just slapped a steep shipping charge on every product.
 
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I'm still going with the explanation that this is a botched implementation of "dropshipping", where they didn't have any easy way to handle shipping/handling charges for third party warehouses, so they just slapped a steep shipping charge on every product.
A theoretically credible explanation, but I doubt that it applies in this case...

(a)... Screwfix sell a large numnber of BG accessories, usually at expected 9or low) prices, so one might expect themn to hold stocks of something with as big a market as the backbox we're talking about.

(b)... Despite what Screwfix have apparently said in an attempt to justify the price, I suspect it's just 'wrong' (typo or whatever). For a start, virtually all their BG backboxes are pretty (or very) cheap, However, more to the point, whilst, per the OP, they are offering one of the boxes in question for £12.49, one can have 10 of them for £25.99 (i.e. 2.60 each) ...
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Kind Regards, John
 
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(a)... Screwfix sell a large numnber of BG accessories,
It's not uncommon for a supplier to carry some of a manufacturer's products as stock items, while offering others on a "dropshipped" basis, to increase the apparent range of products offered. If done well this can offer a faster and potentially more economical service to the customer than the alternative of special ordering products into the suppliers own warehouses and shipping them on to customers.

This example has clearly not been done well. Maybe a few clueless or desperate customers will pay what is essentially £10 per item shipping and handling but I doubt it will be very many.

so one might expect themn to hold stocks of something with as big a market as the backbox we're talking about.
Screwfix traditionally struck me as a place with low prices but limited choice.

I doubt many people care about the particular brand of flush box (with surface boxes, visual match of accessory to box can be a concern but that is not really any issue with flush boxes), so it makes sense for them to only stock one brand in most configurations.

(b)... Despite what Screwfix have apparently said in an attempt to justify the price, I suspect it's just 'wrong' (typo or whatever). For a start, virtually all their BG backboxes are pretty (or very) cheap,
When I look at BG backboxes on screwfix, most (but not all) of the surface ones are reasonablly priced and stocked by screwfix but a few are "delivered by our approved supplier" and over £10. The flush ones (both metal and dryline) are all "Delivered by our approved supplier" and over £10.
 
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Yes, maybe - but I still don't understand why they don't have them 'in stock'.

Kind Regards, John
They don't sell enough... Guess why...
This is typical Shed mentality. Stock everything to start with - then look at where most of the income comes from and drop the rest.
I remember in early B&Q days, they stocked a shelving system and had every part needed. After three months they dropped the parts that didn't make so much money - it might have been shelf supports, I can't remember. So the system stopped making money for them, so they dropped it altogether. (Obviously B&Q and Screwfix are both Kingfisher.)
 
They don't sell enough... Guess why...
Sure, but it's surely a vicious circle, isn't it? They don't stock it because they don't sell enough, and the reason they don't sell enough is because of the ridiculous price (for the end-user) that results from their not stocking it. We know that if they did stock them, a viable retail price would be less than £2.60, quite possibly appreciably less, and therefore quite possibly comparable with, maybe even lower than, the retail price of a comparable product of a brand which they did stock.

If they sell an appreciable number, I would be surprised if the bulk wholesale price for BG boxes was appreciably different from anyone else's.

If I were BG, I would be pretty unhappy about this situation, because it could put some people off their products.

Kind Regards, John
 
Sure, but it's surely a vicious circle, isn't it?
Of course. That's the point. You don't think that the programmers at Screwfix are interested in looking at the reasonableness of their pricing? It is the same mentality that resulted in the book 'The Making of a Fly' being offered for $23,698,655.93 on Amazon.
 
It's not uncommon for a supplier to carry some of a manufacturer's products as stock items, while offering others on a "dropshipped" basis, to increase the apparent range of products offered.
Fair enough, but if it also gives them a reputation for offering some products at ridiculous prices, that might not be so much of an 'advantage'
Screwfix traditionally struck me as a place with low prices but limited choice.
I agree - so, as above, they might perhaps prefer not to gain a reputation for selling some products at ridiculously high prices. In particular, it would mean that some customers wanting to buy products for which there was little/no choice of brand might wonder whether the price they were being offered was 'low' or 'ridiculously high'.
When I look at BG backboxes on screwfix, most (but not all) of the surface ones are reasonablly priced and stocked by screwfix but a few are "delivered by our approved supplier" and over £10. The flush ones (both metal and dryline) are all "Delivered by our approved supplier" and over £10.
Indeed. Ironically, about the only BG metal boxes that they do appear to stock are 47mm ones, which I would have thought had the smallest market of all!

Kind Regards, John
 
Of course. That's the point. You don't think that the programmers at Screwfix are interested in looking at the reasonableness of their pricing?
I doubt whether 'the programmers' care a jot, but the commercial folk might prefer to avoid a situation in which their company became known to be selling some products at ridiculously high prices.

If they maintain an across-the-board image/reputation (per plugwash) of "low price but limited choice", customers would always know what they were dealing with. However, if it became known that some of their prices were (for whatever reason) 'ridiculously high', customers who were not inclined to 'look/shop around' might be hesitant to buy anything from them, mightn't they?

Kind Regards, John
 
The only BG metal box I see stocked by screwfix themselves is a special box for large AV combination plates (the type with two double sockets plus space for Euro modules all on the same plate). Presumably since those boxes are non-standard and they carry the combination plates they have to carry the corresponding boxes.
 
but the commercial folk might prefer to avoid a situation in which their company became known to be selling some products at ridiculously high prices.
It's been heading that way for some years now, so they clearly don't care, or have no mechanism to find out. Maybe you should offer your services :).
They only had good prices while trying to become established and get a reputation. When I first looked they had say wc innards at 1/5th of the price at their B&Q outlet, but the same item cost slightly more than B&Q the last the I looked. Toolstation are still fighting for market share so have some competitive prices, but even they are starting to go the same way.
 
It's been heading that way for some years now, so they clearly don't care, or have no mechanism to find out. Maybe you should offer your services :).
Well, assuming that they have at least some employees who can read and do very simple arithmetic, they ought to have at least as much relevant in-house expertise as any service I could offer :)
They only had good prices while trying to become established and get a reputation.
I suppose it depends to some extent on what the competitors are up to, but gaining, and then maintaining, a reputation for "everything is cheap" seems to have a lot to be said for it, since customers then don't even have to 'think' about the pricing of individual products. It's a business model that seemed to work well for Woolworths for decades, and it's even possible that it was their drifting away from that model which resulted in their eventual demise. Currently Aldi and Lidl seem to be adopting that model, seemingly with considerable success.

Kind Regards, John
 

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