Wary of super cheap grow shop?

[Guest]

My main question is what the hell is the cost on grow equipment?

So I needed some stuff so I went to a grow shop in another city the other day. Drove around watched the place to see if anyone is sitting in a car nearby watching. Looked cool so I went in. Borrowed my cousins car.

Have never been there but I know normal prices basically based on online/local store pricing. The prices there were LISTED were about 15% less already.

So the guy chats me up and starts offering me the "hookup" price on everything. Way cheaper, like $45 cheaper than anywhere on a hood, $40 cheaper on ballast. Soil cheaper than anywhere I've ever heard of. Bought a couple things etc.

Should I be wary of a place like that? Seems sketchy to be that cheap. Got me wondering what the mark up is to where they can go that low on stuff. Another dude there didn't get any hookup but a diff guy saved $200 on his order.

I mean if its normal practice then it looks like I'll save about $300 for what I'll need over the cheapest places online.

Looks like a 25% discount possibly.

 

[yamaha_1fan]

I think hydro stores get about 30-40% OFF list price.

COncerned? Google the business name, google "your state division of corporations" then search them to see who the owner is etc. Maybe they are new and trying to get market share.

Also some people are just bad businessmen/woman.

Example. Wife goes into thrift shop and picks up a basket marked $1.48. At the register, they mark it down to like 60 cents. Cool, wife saved 90 cents. That will help make the mortgage payment. She was going to buy it regardless, so why knock the price down? Maybe take 10 cents off as a gesture but if they do that with every customer, they are loosing money.

Having been in business for over 10 years, I have seen competitors do shit that I could not believe

 

[FrankRizzo]

Was everything name brands? If the stuff wasn't then you want to be careful, but if it's all name brand then it might not be a problem. Some people try to sell more at a cheaper price vs. less at a higher price.

 

[Guest]

Absolutely everything you can think of in stock all top brands including the $$$ nutes. No crap.

I found the state corporation listing and its a single person llc don't know what to take from that?

I guess I'll chalk it up to someone trying to gain my business in a really competitive market.

 

[JOE CHRONIC]

Buy all that good shit up at a cheap price while you can...

 

[NPK]

I found this thread while searching for something else, but want to comment because I think it may reflect something that's going on out there. I suspect the hydro products market is becoming saturated (heh, no pun intended), causing business owners to close their doors and/or cut prices in order to remain competitive. I live in the SF bay area and have personally noticed the recent closure of three bricks and mortar shops--Plant-it-Earth in San Francisco, a smaller outfit on Broadway in Oakland, just a couple of doors down from the Co-op, and East Bay Hydro Garden on Telegraph, also in Oakland.

I'm also thinking that online hydro stores may be hurting physical stores, which must have much higher overhead. Plant-it-Earth still has an online presence...they must be saving bank by not having to rent that big space on Market Street.

I wouldn't hesitate for one second to buy from the guy the original poster was asking about. A competitive market benefits the consumer.