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Got in touch the Oregon the other day and they sent me to Power Distributors. I chatted with the guy who handles my area, which he lined out all I'd have to do to get set up with them.
Question is, is there much of a real benefit to signing up with them? Other than the OEM parts.
I wasn't real happy with line of credit I have to sign up for initially. And the minimum order I had to make initially.
I'm sure they have their own reasons for doing it. But some weeks I have a hard time meeting the now $150 for free shipping that Sten's has.
I just don't want them to turn into just another thing I have to keep track of, that has no real benefits.

Try to keep track of a Kohler distributor, a Briggs distributor, a MTD, Earthquake, Generac/Dr, Subaru,Hydro-gear distributor, a Honda distributor, Stens, Greenworks, Karcher, Simpson pressure washer distributor. And the Kohler, Briggs, and MTD distributor also distribute Oregon.

That's what I don't to get myself into. How do you have time to work on anything? That sounds like a nightmare.

You have to work your parts orders. Like if I need MTD parts, but also need a cheap Briggs part or Kohler part, My MTD distributor also has OEM Briggs and Kohler parts but you only get like a 10% discount on parts compared to dealer pricing at the correct distributor. It is cheaper to give up some discount sometimes to avoid freight charges.

Now my MTD distributor requires $200 orders to get freight free, only if you order over $4000 in parts per year. PD allows freight free orders over $150 after qualifying with a ,minimum $500 spring order. Kohler distributor allows free freight over $175 only after qualifying $1000 spring order. Complete engines don't qualify for free freight unless they meet certain criteria . I think PD is $1500 on large engines for free freight. So a single Intek twin is $75 freight delivered by tractor trailer or free freight if you order two engines. Small engines have their own qualification but the price of the engine doesn't go toward the minimum order requirement for free freight if you order other items.

You get used to it pretty quick.
I now know which parts to order from what distributor to get the best price
And which distributor to go to for fastest delivery .
It might not sound like much , but $ 2 extra mark up on every oil filter is around $ 600 / year and that is the equivalent to doing 4 full services.
With Stens in particular I add a couple of trade packs to fill out an order if need be so a 20 pack of Briggs air filters and a dozen pack or two of oil filters will bring up the $ 150 minimum really quick and get a better unit price on the parts to boot.
It is good when you go through an invoice with a customer and point out you fitted a USA made Champion filter for less than a Wix from Npatha or a Chinese one from Wallys or HF
Then there are blades.
At least 2 sets of the AYP blades for 42" 44" 50" & 60" decks are handy to have on hand.
Easy to sell a set of blades when you have them in stock, a lot harder when it is "you need new blades they will be here in a day or two"
Ditto for MTD blades, Toro blades & even JD blades.
Currently I have at least 1 full set of blade for 60 different decks and for most of them the belts & idlers as well .
So when some one comes to the gate and asks for parts the answer is usually YES, so that person will keep coming back and tell his neighbours & friends that you have the parts in stock that the dealer didn't .
If you haven't got it then you can't sell it, simple sales rule.
It is a bit easier down here because the mower mafia runs 100% to 200% mark up on parts so I can order 2 , add 150% mark up and end up with a profit & a part for stock.
When I took over the business there were two shadow boards for idler pulleys, probably around 30 all up .
By ordering 2 pulleys every time I needed one there is now 140 idlers in the drawer so when the mower come in for a new belt I can say
"this idler is on it's last legs & if it goes it will take the new belt with it, want me to do the pulley while I am doing the belt "
So wham bam thank you mam, belt, blade set & 2 idler pulleys in place of just a single belt & I still add a single $ 20 fitting fee, which you tell them has saved them $ 40 if they let the pulleys go till they broke & same for the blades.
Customer leaves feeling happy & like he has saved money when he has actually spent 3 times what he was originally going to.

Also by doing a once a week or fourtnight order to replace stock then it is easy to meet free delivery minimums .

I do not fit genuine anything if I can avoid it because Briggs demanded that I keep a $ 30,000 inventory in order to qualify for a trade account & Kohler wanted $ 25,000.
When I need genuine Briggs parts I order them through JD dealer and I get the Kohler parts through him as well so I get 20% off retail and than also means 20% of GST ( sales tax ) as well.
When the $ ( aus) goes over 70¢ ( USA ) then I send the order to Jack Small Engines.
I have an order for them of around $ 300 at the moment, again replacing stock items .

Mr Haark who I bought the business from, would send an order in for almost every job so he would do a diagnosis ,place an order then on to the next job so he might place more than a dozen orders in a single week.
He would also add a $ 20 delivery fee to every job that was needed to be done urgently .
I am only putting in one or two orders a month to each supplier because most of what I need I have in stock .

I have yet to run into anything I couldn't get from Stens, Jacks, Ereplacement (which is turtle slow with their shipping and delivery) and/or Amazon/Ebay.

So the benefits I'm looking for with PD, in just the few replies, I'm not seeing.

@bertsmobile1, I'm with you on the ordering more than you need. I've only had two jobs in the 3 weeks this shop has been open, that i had what the customer needed. It's nice having what I need in stock, getting the job done and calling the customer that same say and telling them it's ready.
Especially since the other shops in town are about 2 months out.
Obvious, when I start getting enough business to get a while behind, it's going to be even more important to have what I need in stock.

Things are slower this than last year here too. I am currently running at 50% of last revenue at the time frame.

Hmmm, Strange PD want you to have a credit line. When I signed up all I needed was $300 initial order; but of course, I used my CC for purchases. Now thier policy may have changed since I signed up.

I don't order thru them much as I have a better Oregon distributor currently and another Briggs distributor that has a better discount the PD trade discount. For Kohler I have two good distributors; one out Oregon and Gardner. Most my Husqvarna and MTD stuff comes from Gardner. At least Gardner is multi distributor of parts which helps.

As said IL said above you got to play the shipping game. Yes sometimes others a slightly higher but have free shipping which in the end cost less overall. Something comes into play and that is how quick you need something. For Gardner is one day out. PD, A&I, Stens, and RBI are usually two days out. The exception is A&I when I am ordering Briggs parts then it is 3 days (used to be 2 days when they were Sunbelt) where PD is two days.

Now I do know Jack's do have a commercial account available if you apply for one. Gives you a small discount over their online prices when you order while logged into your account.

Even though these distributors have timely deliveries it is still best have some commonly used parts on hand so you can place restocking order instead small ones. Definitely don't want to place small orders with A&I. They eat you alive on shipping. On the last orders I placed would cost $45 in shipping if it wasn't for me adding a universal pull rope kit to the order so it was $200.25. Even a $100 order cost me $25 in shipping from them.

I think your problem currently is the volume that you can do. When I first started it was nearly impossible to sign up for accounts with discounts. As you gain business and volume you can revist these distributors and reapply. It took me nearly 9 nine year before I could get in with Gardner and RBI. But when I did get in I became a lot more competative to the local shops.

Oregon sent me to PD. Which made me think they were an Oregon dealer. That's all I was looking for, was to buy from Oregon.

I'm taking baby steps. Not wanting to end up like @ILENGINE. I'm not sure my brain could keep track of all those different distributors. Especially if it was just over a few bucks savings from one.
Obviously, I don't wanna just throw away money. As has been mentioned, a few bucks here and a few there, adds up.
Oregon is/was going to be used to fill in what Stens does have. So I wouldn't have to buy from Amazon/Ebay.

PTmowerMech said:

Oregon sent me to PD. Which made me think they were an Oregon dealer. That's all I was looking for, was to buy from Oregon.

I'm taking baby steps. Not wanting to end up like @ILENGINE. I'm not sure my brain could keep track of all those different distributors. Especially if it was just over a few bucks savings from one.
Obviously, I don't wanna just throw away money. As has been mentioned, a few bucks here and a few there, adds up.
Oregon is/was going to be used to fill in what Stens does have. So I wouldn't have to buy from Amazon/Ebay.

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Not as many distributors as it sounds. Medart is Kohler, Tecumseh, Oregon. PD is Briggs, Brute, Murray, Oregon, Oscar Wilson is MTD Craftsman, Troybilt, , Generac/DR, Hydro-gear, Poulan Pro, Oregon, Earthquake, but are also a trade account for Briggs, Kohler, Honda, Toro, Swisher, Tecumseh. Pace is Honda, and Gardner Dixie Sales is Karcher, Greenworks, Simpson. And then Stens.

How some of that comes about is due to say MTD requires Briggs, Kohler, Hydrogear, Honda to qualify for their dealership. New dealers are also required to have Engine Service Association qualifications in 2 cycle, 4 cycle and hydraulics.

I hear ya. Most distributors don't want to deal with the really small time operators like me and i understand that. Stens seems to be the least aggressive distributor. If i can't get it from stens I just order from an online source (jack's, pat's) I don't stock a lot of inventory other than carb stuff and general maintenance items. Haveing a distributor to work with for Oregon and Rotary would be nice, but not happenibg so far. Shipping charges just get passed along to the customer. If a customer wants OEM i get OEM as long as they know i am basically buying retail and i am marking up the parts. Do you really want that John Deere Kawasaki air cleaner $56 my cost from dealer or one half that from Stens?

Hammermechanicman said:

I hear ya. Most distributors don't want to deal with the really small time operators like me and i understand that. Stens seems to be the least aggressive distributor. If i can't get it from stens I just order from an online source (jack's, pat's) I don't stock a lot of inventory other than carb stuff and general maintenance items. Haveing a distributor to work with for Oregon and Rotary would be nice, but not happenibg so far. Shipping charges just get passed along to the customer. If a customer wants OEM i get OEM as long as they know i am basically buying retail and i am marking up the parts. Do you really want that John Deere Kawasaki air cleaner $56 my cost from dealer or one half that from Stens?

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I'm in the same boat. I just want good parts cheat and delivered fast. I could care less where or who I get them from. Except from Amazon. But even then, I know Amazon/Ebay is just the platform sellers use to sell their products. So even that's not so bad.
Stens is not only the least aggressive. But they're not very restrictive either. Prices are good enough to make a decent profit off of and still not get price complaints from customers. And as long as I order by 1pm, the parts are usually here the next day.

The thing with PD, I have to go through someone else, just to get Oregon parts. I'd like to just go through Oregon.


I'm gonna get in touch with Rotary and Primeline to see what they got going.

Considering what Stens want for Kawasaki 11013-2213. I would use the Stens 102-182 filer combo.

Have you asked Prime Line for an account ?
When I took over we had accounts with RGS ( Oregon, Rotary, Victa, some Briggs & Walbro ) , Bynorm ( Stens & local brands ) , Prime Line ( PL, Warner ) & Jackmax ( Farmer Tech , Pix , Carlton & Chinese parts )
All of them just did a credit check so I was good to go .The Jack Max rep came around & was pissed that I had few JM parts in stock and none on display so he closed the account as I was supposed to have a "retail Presence" accoording to the terms & conditions.
This ended up being a blessing as the only parts I had problems with were theirs, but loosing access to Carlton was a bummer as the other suppliers stocked no name Chinese saw chain & Oregon was too expensive for my cheapskate customers.
Next to go was Prime Line, they lost the supply contracts with local auto industry so closed down as OZ is a tiny market and since deregulation & the lifting of import quotas we end up with every brand in the world selling 5 mowers each thus volumes are too small to be profitable .
The financial reprocussions of Bynorm paying $ 2,000,000 for exclusive distribution of Tecumseh in OZ finally came home & Bynorm collapsed to be taken over by Stens who used Bynorm to relaunch Ariens & Gravely mowers.
Stens could not turn a big enough profit, because USA companies do not understand the Aust market and found a new agent ( Allpower) then exited .
Allpower took 3 years to go bankrupt and the Stens distribution was taken up by Masport
Thus in the past 8 years I have spent more time filling out credit applications than ordering parts.
Mr Haark used to mark up parts substantially till many were more expensive than buying retail from a dealer and charged very little for labour.
HE also used a lot of second hand parts.
As I was working 2 jobs when I kicked off , I just followed suit but this got me into grief when mowers were taking a week or more to repair but there was only a 1/2 hour labour showing on the invoice .
So I changed things to using scheduled service times , increasing the hourly rate & dropping the parts price to 10% less than parity with the local on line retailers.
This served me really well.
The other thing I have started to do is upping the labour rate for while they wait repairs 50% to $ 90 Hr.
Also nothing is ever returned same day
Everyone gets quoted "about a week depending upon parts availibility " then if it is a one day fix, I leave it at least 2 days before I call them back .
That makes it look like you are both busy & quick .

A trick we learned running the local transport company, quote 2 hours & deliver in 1.5 and you are a hero
Quote about an hour & deliver in the same 1.5 hours and you are a lazy lieing bastard .

StarTech said:

Considering what Stens want for Kawasaki 11013-2213. I would use the Stens 102-182 filer combo.

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And a lot of those filters can be ordered in 10 packs which makes the unit price even better.
If any thing I want can be bought in a "trade pack" then that is the way I order them.
By virtue of them being sold in bulk packs they are either really cheap parts where logistics is more than the selling price ( walbro diaphrgm packs for example ) or fast moving parts like air, fuel & oil filters .

I buy champion spark plugs in 24 shop packs, some air filters in shop packs, odd ball ones 2 at a time, oil filters in shop packs. Fuel filters a dozen or 2 at a time. These are my money makers. Next are the packs of walbro and zama diaphragms and gaskets and a dozen different sizes of fuel line. I stock a few other things like fuel pumps and recoil rope. I don't stock belts, blades or spindles. My customers know i am not a parts warehouse and i order most everything. Less tied up capital and time maintaining inventory. Hasn't hurt business. Ethanol is my friend.

I have to be tax exempt, it seems, before I can get any more distributors. I'll check on that next week.
I really don't like the idea of giving any government any more paperwork.
Wished Stens had all I needed and Partstree didn't screw up so many of my orders.
The last thing I ordered from Ereplacement, Friday before last, still hasn't showed up.

Well that have been part of doing legal business as long as I been in business. When you are selling by suggested list price and the paying of sales taxes on orders just eats into your bottom line. Currently I owe $456 in sales tax to both the state and county which gets paid the first of July. Meanwhile I use it as part of operating capital as a loan that must be paid back by the of the quarter. When I get to certain level they will switch me to monthly payments. Anyways that is taxes that I not paying a second time.

Covid-19 is part of the problem on shipping delays. Several of my distributors are taking longer to ship too. I haven't used Partstree or Ereplacements in a while so I can't answer about them but all my sources are still fairly timely on deliveries as long as UPS don't screw up and send them all over the state of Tennessee which they have done. UPS even lost a few packages doing this.

If you got a tracking number then used it to where the package is. No tracking info usually means the vendor hasn't shipped the package. I recently had this problem with an eBay vendor that gave an estimated arrival time and didn't even bother to ship until a week and half later. After a week I requested a cancel and he within two hours gave me a tracking number but still didn't brother to ship the parts until four days later. By the time the package I had already got the air filters in from my regular distributor so refused the package and demanded a refund. I would have kept the parts if the vendor haven't intentionally try to pull one over on me. When I order parts and is given a delivery window I expect the parts to be here by the end of that window.

I think worst delivery time so far this was a HFT order that took a month to get. Even they subbed a screw set as it was to have left hand drill bits but the one I got had right hand drill bits. Not going to fight when them as I requested a cancellation and they shipped two weeks later anyway so there goes the Insider's Club membership. It up for renewal this month and I am not renewing it. I just going to order a set from McMasters instead, most likely they are going to be better quality anyways.

Just hang in there things will improve over time. The current shipping problems are just a speed bump (I hope) in doing business.

StarTech said:

Well that have been part of doing legal business as long as I been in business. When you are selling by suggested list price and the paying of sales taxes on orders just eats into your bottom line. Currently I owe $456 in sales tax to both the state and county which gets paid the first of July. Meanwhile I use it as part of operating capital as a loan that must be paid back by the of the quarter. When I get to certain level they will switch me to monthly payments. Anyways that is taxes that I not paying a second time.

Covid-19 is part of the problem on shipping delays. Several of my distributors are taking longer to ship too. I haven't used Partstree or Ereplacements in a while so I can't answer about them but all my sources are still fairly timely on deliveries as long as UPS don't screw up and send them all over the state of Tennessee which they have done. UPS even lost a few packages doing this.

If you got a tracking number then used it to where the package is. No tracking info usually means the vendor hasn't shipped the package. I recently had this problem with an eBay vendor that gave an estimated arrival time and didn't even bother to ship until a week and half later. After a week I requested a cancel and he within two hours gave me a tracking number but still didn't brother to ship the parts until four days later. By the time the package I had already got the air filters in from my regular distributor so refused the package and demanded a refund. I would have kept the parts if the vendor haven't intentionally try to pull one over on me. When I order parts and is given a delivery window I expect the parts to be here by the end of that window.

I think worst delivery time so far this was a HFT order that took a month to get. Even they subbed a screw set as it was to have left hand drill bits but the one I got had right hand drill bits. Not going to fight when them as I requested a cancellation and they shipped two weeks later anyway so there goes the Insider's Club membership. It up for renewal this month and I am not renewing it. I just going to order a set from McMasters instead, most likely they are going to be better quality anyways.

Just hang in there things will improve over time. The current shipping problems are just a speed bump (I hope) in doing business.

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You know my ordeal with PartsTree. Not going to go into that. Ereplacement, for some reason has taken an exceptionally long time to send me this Craftsman back pack blower air filter housing. IIRC, it was ordered on the 29th. The Shipping label wasn't created until the following monday. And it wasn't shipped til like thursday of last week.


Getting my Tax ID and tax exemption is going to open a few doors as far as suppliers go. That's a fact. I'm just not one for jumping through hoops for the tax collectors. I'm a free market kind of guy. No quite anarchist. But close. The more info you give the gov. the more they can get you for. And the more they can collect. And after having the IRS chew on my arse for about 4 years straight, it's just a lesson learned. But that's for a different forum.

Oreillys autoparts, just down the street can get me anything that Primeline carries, within reason. I have a good friend who works down there, and she's gonna get me a primeline catalog. Of course there will be some mark up. But it won't be enough to worry about. Since 80% of what I need I can get with stens.
Oregon, having to go through PD, seems to be more of a hassle than it's worth. The Silver Streak blades from Stens are almost an exact match and a good price.

Silver streak blades are not an option and will cause you grief
Gator blades have a longer end flute almost double length of the others.
All of the Gator copies have varying length final flutes but all of them are shorter than the rest .
Thus they wear thin & break off early leaving the blade unbalanced and making the self mulching redundant .
I have tried the Preditor & the Silver Streaks ( seem to be made with the same dies ) and neither of them are a patch on genuine Gators.

Taxes are good.
They pay for the roads that your parts travel on, the police that come when some one is giving you grief or had broken into your shop
They pay for the courts that you use to sue the non paying customers etc etc .
It just takes some self disipline to put the tax mans bit aside so it is there at tax time ,
A friend writes a cheque every week for his tax
That way when he reconsiles his bank balance the tax will always be accounted for as unpresented cheques.
Apparently the tax office was not impressed when they got 13 cheques with the quarterly returns but they had to accept it.
While none of us enjoy paying taxes the fact that the tax number gets you parts between 50% & 25% cheaper than retail more than pays for itself very quickly.
Add to that when you are buying from wholesalers everything you buy comes with a warranty so if somehing goes wrong you have a fall back position and some one to go to bat for you.
lawyers see small self employed tradespeople as easy meat

PTmowerMech said:

You know my ordeal with PartsTree. Not going to go into that. Ereplacement, for some reason has taken an exceptionally long time to send me this Craftsman back pack blower air filter housing. IIRC, it was ordered on the 29th. The Shipping label wasn't created until the following monday. And it wasn't shipped til like thursday of last week.


Getting my Tax ID and tax exemption is going to open a few doors as far as suppliers go. That's a fact. I'm just not one for jumping through hoops for the tax collectors. I'm a free market kind of guy. No quite anarchist. But close. The more info you give the gov. the more they can get you for. And the more they can collect. And after having the IRS chew on my arse for about 4 years straight, it's just a lesson learned. But that's for a different forum.

Oreillys autoparts, just down the street can get me anything that Primeline carries, within reason. I have a good friend who works down there, and she's gonna get me a primeline catalog. Of course there will be some mark up. But it won't be enough to worry about. Since 80% of what I need I can get with stens.
Oregon, having to go through PD, seems to be more of a hassle than it's worth. The Silver Streak blades from Stens are almost an exact match and a good price.

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Kind of a side note. Silver streak was the name of the aftermarket parts owned by Oregon and now Stens uses the name

Bert, I don't mind paying my fair share of taxes just don't like paying them twice.

And I have to disagree that buying from a distrubutor (wholesaler) everything comes with a warranty. A&I no longer honors the parts warranty on Briggs parts. I supposed to get a local dealer to honor the warranty but none here will because I didn't buy directly from them even though I got an invoice from the distrubuter. I have already been for nearly $100 on two defective Briggs solenoids..

Another one of those differences between the different systems
The wholesaler is responsible for warranty down here because we have a duopoly in retail so they forced the change through government to shift their liability.
We also have a manditory 12 month minimum warranty on all consumer durables plus both Federal & State departments that enforces them .
When you look at the difference in consumer laws USA to Aust you really see just how deep your politicans are in the pockets of industry.

As for taxes, I have been a long time supporter of turnover tax as the sole tax on business.
So much simpler to administer, 0,01% of what goes through the till down here would double the tax revenue and companies who offshore the profits to avoid making profits would be caught.
Or the system that the Chinese & Saudis use, X% of the shares are held by the government thus they get X% of the dividends and the company pays no actual tax.

I've been purchasing through PD since 2017. As with all the distributors I buy from, I pay for all orders via credit card at the time of purchase so I don't have to set up or manage a line of credit.

They have been great to work with, I have no complaints. Parts arrive in 1-2 days from date of order. Customer service is friendly and helpful. I'd absolutely recommend them if you're interested in the lines they carry.
As far as minimum order requirements... not sure what they are requiring now, but I order enough that it doesn't really matter.

The beauty of a credit account is in theory the customer has paid you before you have to pay the supplier so you can run with a lower amount of working capitol .

bertsmobile1 said:

The beauty of a credit account is in theory the customer has paid you before you have to pay the supplier so you can run with a lower amount of working capitol .

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Might be...But if you can't get it because you are new business it can be a problem. Basically you got to have more money than what you trying to borrow.

I had my share of problems with creditors. Even though I had CDs in the banks they wouldn't even loan me a 30 day business loan. When I was buying my current home I was turned down for a 90 day purchase loan so ended up having to pay cash for it. Funny later the same darn bank sent me an offer to lower my mortgage payments. So I went to see if they lower it below zero, they couldn't; seriously I did it just to make a point that they lost a lot interest off me. Then they sending me loan offers, all of which I refused. I figured if I can survive without the initial loans why get one now.

I even had my mother turn me down for a 30 day loan on bid I was working on so I simply drop that bid. Later she asked if I won the bid to which I said no because I didn't bid items out. At that time on that loan she would have made 10% ($300) on loan just for loaning it for less than 30 days. My brother also once refused to loan me a $100 for week. He told me where to go. I got the money loaned to me by a customer instead so he made the interest. Later my brother wanted to borrow some money from me and I got to tell him where to go. He didn't like it.

Early in my life I borrowed money from HFC to buying a VCR which I paid off early and I decide to get another loan for a riding mower purchase. The loan office tried to pull a trick on me by hiding deep in the loan contract a 26% interest rate where my previous loan was only 18%. I returned the loan check the same day. I still purchased the mower with my savings and that when I learn to just pay for things up front and pay myself the interest. I need money more than they do anyways. Basically I learn to live within my means by not getting over extended.

I only got one revolving line credit and that is my Visa which paid off fully monthly. No interest or other fees involved. So what that I might need to make a couple or so payments per month on that $2000 line of credit. At least my credit union has work with me for the last 34 yrs. The only change on my Visa was I upped the amount of revolving credit line from $1000 to $2000. I hardy ever paid interest anymore even as low of income I have. I am now considered a deadbeat by most creditors as I pay no interest to use their money. I like being a deadbeat in this sense.

Business wise this year I am spending a little more than I am making as this Covid-19 has cut my business income in half according to latest income/expense report but that is okay as I will make it back as things start to improve. By then the retail prices would likely gone up and I make even more on the recent purchases. Just got to be careful as some retail prices do go down too. Especially on those items I purchased at retail now that I am using my distributor price files.

One piece of advice about using cards use credit cards instead of the debit cards. The reason is if your credit card(s) is stolen you can get a provisional credit for the false charges as where with a debit card you are on the hook until you can prove the charges are not yours. This can be a real damper for doing things. BTW I had my credit card info stolen 3x in the last 34 yrs, twice in just the last 5 yrs. It is a pain to find out too by having a vendor call you because the card is declined. It one of the reasons I have a self imposed credit limit on credit card it protects both the CU and myself from large loses. Still a pain having to wait a week on a replacement card.