give lesco the business or uhs

[ant]

and old friend stoped me today and informed me that he now works as a salesman for "uhs"(united horticultural supply) that has a warehouse about 1/2 hr. away from me and would like for me to "at lease" give uhs a try.
when i got started in fertilization 7 years ago he was the one that gave me the break that i needed . (a credit line)
back then the company that he was with was not managed propertly and it folded and he had to go else were.
lesco was the only one around,i started to do business with them and its been good. EXCEPT THERE PRICE STRUCTURE,
NOW SINCE UHS IN IN THE AREA I DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO.
uhs price is a lot cheaper,but i do not know much about the product. i am talking about FERTILIZER only.
for the same product analysas it is $5.84 more per bag at lesco then uhs. thats 233 dollars per ton more.
do not know what to do
i know lesco will adjust prices but should i stoop that low,and give them the benifit.
this is what i was going to do .i donot know anything about uhs fertilizer,but i was going to try some and see what it like .one thing is that as far as i know you cant beat lesco's fertilizer.(dust free, pril sgn the same size,good bags ect...

what do you guys think who purchase fertilizer on a
"so-so"large scale.
thanks anthony

[Edited by anthony on 10-16-2000 at 11:55 PM]

[powerreel]

I use UHS or here they are UAP, I love their products! A bag will go 2500 ft. further, their urea with polymer is way slow release. They also carry speciality products at good prices, and their Fe ature AC (iron urea in liquid) is way cheaper than ferromec and goes farthur. Plus their Wintergreen allowed me to reduce mowing in the fall (gotta love that!), give 'em a try if only at your own home!

[Runner]

Do they actually have a website, perhaps, that we can use, unlike Lesco's top secret one page site?

[powerreel]

http://www.uap.com/

[ant]

UAP THE SAME AS UHS

[jaclawn]

I don't like to be "married" to any supplier. I but from a few different ones. Also, know your prices. 2.5 Roundup Pro is $167@Lesco. At another local supplier, $129. SAme product.

[Bobby]

This is what I did. Lesco kept going up, so I started buying from a company called Atlantic. I had about twenty bags of Atlantic on my truck and swung through the Lesco drive through to pick up somthing I had previously ordered.
When they saw the fertilizer, they asked what was the problem. Long story-short,they matched Atlantic's price and I'm a small operator.

[ant]

after giving it some thinking i called lesco and explained to them what was going on,recieved a call this morning and GOOD NEWS:lesco matched there price,but i still feel that i had to kiss there but and i feel bad for my friend that gave me a good price from the start.i guess the best thing to do is give both some business.
what do you think?
anthony

[Edited by anthony on 10-17-2000 at 08:50 PM]

[BUSHMASTER]

it just goes to show you that compition IS a good thing.

[powerreel]

Still, I would recommend trying UAP if even at your own home.It pays to check out what other programs people have as well as products.If they were lower to begin with maybe after awhile their prices will be lower than lesco's, you never know! Choice is a good thing!

[leeslawncare]

Does anyone know how to find out if there is a dealer in my area?I've been useing lesco for over a year now but i always like to check out the other suppliers.Lesco has been good to me but we always need to keep up on our options!!.I'am in tenn do they have a web? Thanks guys.

[BRL]

Here's the UHS web site. You can go there and find local dealers.
http://www.uhsonline.com/

[gusbuster]

http://www.uhsonline.com/
Isn't this the same company that was combined with united greenmark based here in the west??? Anybody know??
John

[powerreel]

Yes. They also bought Pace International ( Nu Life), in Cali do you use Cenex and Wilbur Ellis?

[TJLC]

I have bought fertilizer from both UHS and Lesco. UHS is cheaper but Lesco is more convenient. I agree it is good to have more than one source.

[morturf]

I buy a lot from UHS. I found Lesco to be overrated and overpriced the times that I got Bids from them. I Had a combined (fert and fert/pest combination) 40 ton bid and Lesco was about $8000 more. I have no problem going elsewhere when the products are the same. I keeps the saleman honest. How do you feel when you give a guy a price a little lower than somebody else and then he goes back to the higher guy for a match? I say buy from the least expensive competent supplier. I get 4 or 5 bids from chem suppliers then take the lowest prices on each product. There is the service issue for some. It is not one to me as all suppliers are at least 100 miles from me. They deliver for free and next day or i buy from somebody else. This is the new economy and welcome to it.

[UrbanEarth]

Interesting how people view undercutting for lawn service as bad (scrubs), and customers who switch to cheaper services as bad (lack of loyalty), but when the bucks are going out the attitude changes.

To me the bottom line is not the deciding factor, if prices are comparable the service will always win for me. If this sales guy gave you a break when you were starting, why not give him a break now that he is starting? Try the product out, and if it works, give him your business. What goes around, comes around.

Alan

[Sammy]

I have to wonder why Lesco comes down on their price so fast. Why dont they give a fair price to begin with.
It would be like when you give a bid on a service and the customer says that is higher then the other guy. Do you match their price ? Most likely not.

[kutnkru]

We use three sources for our Turfgrass Management Programs.

Fertilizers we buy mostly Lebanon but have found great results with UHS also.
Seed mixtures, mulch colorants, insecticides are from Lesco.

I think that it is important to stay diversified, and to have access and working relationships with more than one distributor.

Mow-N-Go LCO
Kris

[John from OH]

UrbanEarth, I'm with you 100%. It is ironic to hear compliants about scrubs out of one side of the mouth, and comments about getting the best price on equipment or materials out of the other. I've always gone with the supplier that I felt could service my companies needs the best.

[awm]

YOU SAID IT WELL URBAN

[greens1]

Well spoken URBAN. I'm with you 100%.
Jim L

[ant]

dug this one up also..
anthony

[Tony Harrell]

If price is in the ballpark, service wins. A company can "sacrifice" for one customer easily and make it up somewhere else. They're probably sacrificing to most anyway. Probably to make you feel good (save $10,000 on your next vehicle purchase!!!). Markup on products is different than personal labor. Labor is time and there's a finite amount of it. Whereas products can be discounted and margins adjusted. There's more than one way to skin a cat.

[BBALLTURF]

NEW MEMBER HERE! GREAT SITE!

ALL OF YOU GUYS ARE THINKING THE SAME WAY I DID ABOUT 3 YEARS AGO. I HAD THE SAME QUESTIONS THAT YOU DID. WHAT DID I DO? I STARTED SHOPPING! MY LESCO VENDOR SHOWED ME WHERE I NEEDED TO BUY. THE PRICE MAY BE HIGHER ON SOME THINGS BUT THE SERVICE THEY OFFER BALANCES IT OUT IN MY OPINION. FIND OUT YOURSELF....

HOME DEPOT 10-10-10 @ 1 LB. OF NITROGEN PER 1000 SQ. FT. COVERS 5000 SQ. FT.

LESCO 19-19-19 @ THE SAME RATE OF NITROGEN COVERS 9500.

FOR EXAMPLE LETS SAY LESCO'S PRICE IS 10.00 PER BAG AND HOME DEPOT IS 6.00. WHICH ONE IS CHEAPER?

LESCO

10.00/9500= 1.05 PER 1000 SQ. FT.

HOME DEPOT

6.00/5000= 1.20 PER 1000 SQ. FT.

YEAH, WE SAVED .15 PER 1000 BUT THATS 6.52 PER ACRE.

HOW MANY BAGS DID WE USE?

HD 10-10-10 PER ACRE= 8.7

LESCO 19-19-19 PER ACRE= 4.5

SO WE USE 4 BAGS LESS! JUST SAVED YOU SPACE IN YOUR TRUCK, SAVED YOUR BACK AND SAVED YOU TIME HAVING TO HANDLE THE PRODUCT. IS LESCO'S FERT MORE PURE? YEAH SOMEONE SAID SO THEIRSELVES.

NEED I SAY MORE?

I AM NOT PURE LESCO! I BUY SOME WEED CONTROL FROM PBI GORDON. BUT I KNOW WHERE MY FREINDS ARE IN MY BUSINESS. IT IS IMPORTANT TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH YOUR "FREINDS" (VENDORS) THEN YOU KNOW THEY WILL GIVE YOU THE BEST PRICE THE FIRST TIME. THAT ANSWERS THE QUESTION OF THE PERSON WHO WONDERS WHY OR IF THEY ARE AT THE BEST PRICE WHEN ASKS!

HOPE THIS HELPS!


BY THE WAY: WHAT FERTS ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT USING?

[rodfather]

BBALLTURF

Drop the CAPS...it's tough to read a long reply like yours when everything is capitalized.:dizzy: :dizzy: :dizzy:

[Chad@LebanonTurf]

Originally posted by kutnkru
We use three sources for our Turfgrass Management Programs.

Fertilizers we buy mostly Lebanon but have found great results with UHS also.
Seed mixtures, mulch colorants, insecticides are from Lesco.

I think that it is important to stay diversified, and to have access and working relationships with more than one distributor.

Mow-N-Go LCO
Kris

Kutnkru,

What Lebanon products do you mainly use. I am a rep for Lebanon in the Southeast. Once you use our fertilizers, you would probably agree there is nothing like them, Have you used MESA yet?

[Lawn Dog2001]

We started using UHS about a year ago now. Great prices, great products, and great service. My UHS dealer has been awesome. If any applicators in the Pittsburgh, Butler area of PA want any info on UHS let me know. My dealer has given me fantastic service. I really couldnt recomend him any higher!