Not too impressed with Topps/Exeter

H

harty

Hi there

After reading all your various posts, i bought 8 10 kg bags of BAL Rapidflex adhesive and 2 bags of BAL grey grout from Topps at Exeter for £236!!! I did ask i could get some form of discount due to the volume, but after reading further posts about trade prices, it seems that I was diddled!

I may not be in the trade or a tiler, but some discount would have been fair.

I'll be avoiding Topps in the future for my other future projects.

cheers

Mark Hart - Devon
 
It's horses for courses init.

Someone like me that most probably buys a fraction of materials compared to others find Topps just on the mark for trade price when Im only buying for one job at a time, where-as someone who needs to buy propper bulk will never bother with a retail outlet like Topps.

As for harty.... in an ideal world, everywhere we went to buy from in any form, we'd be given discount, but we don't.
Just because you bought a few bags of gear for one home DIY project dosen't automatically grant you trade rates or discount, and then for them to not see you for who knows how long.

If you went into a cafe with the wife or whatever and paid one price for coffees, dosent mean going in with a few friends will get some coffees for free.

It's exactly the same as that, and to start slagging off a retailer for not giving you discount for one project your doing is unrealistic and unfair, and spending just over £200 isn't much in a tile shop to shock them into dropping prices for you.

Go in with an order for £2000 and you might get something off then.
 
Topps in my town are great,good discount,good service.

Builder went in asking for a good tiler and they gave him my card,they knew the builder was shop fitting a new bathroom showroom and that the owners would supply their own materials so they'd get nothing out of it.I now have to work 16 hour days for 2 weeks to get the showroom finished ££££££££
:rockon:
 
Topps in my town are great,good discount,good service.

Builder went in asking for a good tiler and they gave him my card,they knew the builder was shop fitting a new bathroom showroom and that the owners would supply their own materials so they'd get nothing out of it.I now have to work 16 hour days for 2 weeks to get the showroom finished ££££££££
:rockon:
enjoy spending it.lol:grin: :grin: :grin:
 
I have a good working relationship with my local Topps (Inverness), though they are more expensive even to the trade - and they no longer keep White Star in stock, though they can get it for me!

Grumpy
 
I have used Topps stores all around the north east (Sunderland, Durham and Stockton) and never had anything other than great service from any of them. Think the trade prices are up there with the best i've seen.

The reason tile shops give trade discount will be for two reasons as far as I can see:

1. The tiler is likely to be buying thousands of pounds worth of gear per year, so better to keep them buying from you than going to the shop across the street.

2. The tiler will refer customers to the store, which in return may result in the store making thousands on the tiles, which is where the store makes the bulk of their profit.

So the question is Harty...would you have been doing any of the above for the store to give you any form of discount?
 
As a bit of a side issue, any sign of Topps coming to Ireland, North or South. No sign of them over here and there is a gap in the market for a big tile shop in Belfast!
Onto the main thread, i get 40% at my two local tile shops but then as you say i push alot of clients their way. They hand my cards out so its a win win.
Im not that bothered what stuff costs, I price the tiling and tell them to get adhesive, grout, trim etc anything else I need then I charge the client what I pay.
 

Advertisement

Which tile adhesive brand did you use most this year?

  • Palace

    Votes: 9 5.2%
  • Kerakoll

    Votes: 17 9.9%
  • Ardex

    Votes: 12 7.0%
  • Mapei

    Votes: 49 28.5%
  • Ultra Tile

    Votes: 21 12.2%
  • BAL

    Votes: 40 23.3%
  • Wedi

    Votes: 4 2.3%
  • Benfer

    Votes: 5 2.9%
  • Tilemaster

    Votes: 24 14.0%
  • Weber

    Votes: 19 11.0%
  • Other (any other brand not listed)

    Votes: 17 9.9%
  • Nicobond

    Votes: 8 4.7%
  • Norcros

    Votes: 2 1.2%
  • Kelmore

    Votes: 5 2.9%
Back
Top