Metal supplier question

[90blackcrx]

Just wondering if its normal for the same piece of metal, same size ( lets just say a piece of 2x2 square tubing) , to fluctuate in price ? One week its 6 dollars a foot, the next week its 3 dollars a foot ?

Also do you ever here the excuse, we need to order the metal special so its going to cost a lot more ( talking about $70 bucks for 4ft of crew tubing about 8mm wide ) since its not a regular item.

[MMW]

Yes metal prices fluctuate but it should not go from $6 to $3 in a few weeks.
Yes metal costs more if it is a special order & especially if you are buying a cut to size piece & not a full length.---MMW---

[fun4now]

whenever possible stick to what they have excess of, it will save you big time anything thay have to get special for you will be big $$$ as they can even end up charging you to get it shipped to them it's best if you can be a bit flexible when looking for steel.

[Fishy Jim]

My yard has LOTS of drops that are over 10' sticks. Not only do I not have to cut them to get them in the blazer, but they're cheap and easy to maneuver around in the house. It's cheaper for me to buy a full length drop than it is to have them cut the drop for me down to the length I need (in most cases).

Find a yard that does cut to order for lots of other businesses. I've been getting what's in essence 21' prime lengths pre-cut to fit in the truck for .40/lb (if buy two ). They're thrilled I make the stuff go away, and I have only had to buy real prime steel for special projects using 3/8" square bar (they have a whole pile of it in scrap round though).

[90blackcrx]

The place I found does cut to order. And some of the pieces I use , well I have to basically use them for the project.

Looking over receipts, it seems like they charged me 3 dollars a foot ( bought 3 feet ) July, then in August they charged me 7 dollars a foot ( bought 2 feet ).

[fun4now]

thats some prity scary priceing you might want to look for another place to shop.

[90blackcrx]

thats some prity scary priceing you might want to look for another place to shop.

Yeah I'm doing so.

[stinkinlincoln]

most of us in the steel industry are all too familiar with the fact that china is buying all our scrap and all the price and availability paranoia that generated. it seems that the worst of that is over. At the worst point ( about two years ago) our local supplier told us he had a building contractor call him from Las Vegas (1200 miles away) willing to pay whatever he wanted for rebar and send a truck to pick it up!!! We still encounter times when we get a quote on thursday and by next tuesday the price is 50% more. Besides all that crap, at our local supplier that doesn't have any real local competition it depends on who you are what price you will get. It also depends on which of the greasy thieves you talk to. I know all about the special order routine too. They order from an honest source at the same price you could get it for at the same shipping cost and then add a ridiculous markup for taking it out of the box ( so you don't know where they got it from). At our local place the best account prices are about 60% of their cash price. Try calling larger cities in the area for better prices then get a group together with a truck trailer and sizable order. Get your own account. Lots of good advice on this board for online suppliers of specialty stuff. Hope I helped a little. At least I got to scream about those robbers for a little while. Good luck