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A dollar saved is worth 2 earned. 1. Make the call. Paint companies have reps. Some are hungry for your business. Compare prices annually and negotiate more favourable terms. Make it an annual thing - blame the calendar ("I'm making my annual call to all my suppliers to review my pricing for 2016"). Some companies will go as far as they need to in order to win your business. If you buy a decent amount of paint, you will have some leverage. Of course, price should not be your only concern when choosing a supplier. And everyone needs to make a living. A good supplier is like an ally to your business. A good price is important to your bottom line, but so is service, knowledge, stock levels, amount of locations, product range, quality, and so on. Weigh out all the factors, but don't assume you are currently getting the best price you may qualify for. Don't overpay for loyalty and convenience. If you buy $10,000/year in paint and can negotiate 5% savings, that is $500! 2. Consider switching to a lower quality line. With all the advancements in paint technology, you may not need to pay $40+/gallon for zero VOC, good quality paint. Shop around and learn about the latest offerings available. A newer, cheaper paint might preform better than your older, more expensive 'premium' paint. If you buy 2 gallons per day, saving $5/gallon might add up to $2400!... 3. Ask about discontinued lines for projects that are on a tight budget. This may be perfectly good paint that is now redundant due to new lines or other business/marketing reasons. 4. Check the mis-tint pile. Stores may run at around 1% of gallons mist-tinted. This means they have a steady flow of perfectly good paint available for as little as $4/gallon. For the odd garage/rental/friend's place - it might keep $200 in your pocket next year. New staff generally increases the volume of mis-tints - so if your store has lots of new staff, check the stash regularly. 5. Rinse your cans. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a $40 can laying in the trash pile with 5% or more of the paint still in it! That is $2 of paint thrown out with every can - not to mention that a little rinse will stretch the whole gallon further, preventing you from having to occasionally buy a whole other gallon to finish a job. Estimated savings: $750. 6. Box left over gallons of neutral colours into a fiver. Use for base coats or projects where exact colour is not as important as hitting a budget. Or, sell unused full gallons at garage sales for $5. 7. Call in your paint orders. If you do nothing else, consider applying this simple strategy. 15 mins waiting at the paint store drinking stale coffee each day could add up to $40+/week of lost income. That is $2000/year!!! 8. Keep a close eye on your receipts. Make sure you were billed on your account pricing. Check that your quoted pricing is still in effect. Verify that your pricing on a paint line is consistent across all bases and sheens. Check that retail sales promotions aren't actually lower than your account pricing. Verify that everything was entered correctly. 9. Consider getting a rewards credit card that will give you points for your purchases. Not only will it give you some more flex with cash flow, but the odd free flight or hotel stay will add free money to your family's budget. What ways have you found to save money on your paint purchases? If you appreciate the free content on MicroContractor Blog, please share with a link and click the article sponsor's ad:
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