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How to email a building supply store to ask for contractor pricing

Most lumber yards and building supply stores have two price lists: the retail price everyone sees, and a lower contractor price for tradespeople who buy regularly. The gap is often 10 to 25 percent. If you are a licensed contractor, a handyman with a business, or a serious do-it-yourselfer taking on a whole-house project, it is worth asking which list you can buy from and what it takes to get there. Asking by email gets you the actual requirements in writing, rather than a counter clerk's guess, and gives you a name to walk in and ask for.

Before you send

  • What you do and how you are set up: a licensed contractor, a registered business, or a homeowner with a large project. Be honest; the yard will ask for paperwork.
  • Documents you can show: a contractor's license number, a business registration, a resale certificate, or a tax ID. Have them ready but do not attach them to a first email.
  • Roughly how much you expect to buy over the next year, in dollars. Yards decide price levels partly on volume.
  • Whether you want a charge account with monthly billing or just a discount on cash and card purchases. These are separate things at most yards.
  • The one or two product categories you buy most, since some yards give category-specific pricing.
Subject Contractor pricing and account setup 
Hi [store or sales desk name],

I'm [your name], [a licensed general contractor / owner of a small remodeling business / a homeowner doing a full renovation] in [city]. I expect to buy roughly [dollar amount] of materials over the next [timeframe], mostly [main categories, e.g. framing lumber and drywall].

Could you tell me:

- Whether you offer a contractor or trade price level, and what I need to provide to qualify
- Whether that pricing applies to cash and card purchases, or only to a charge account
- How to set up a charge account if you offer one, and the payment terms
- Who I should ask for at the counter once I'm set up

If it helps, I can send a license number or business registration. I'm planning my first large order for [date], so I'd like to get this in place before then.

Thanks,
[Your name]
[Your phone number]

Everything in brackets is yours to fill in. Keep the rest as it is or change the tone to match how you write.

After you send

  • Expect a reply from a sales rep, sometimes with an account application attached. Fill it out fully; incomplete applications sit.
  • If the answer is that you do not qualify, ask what the threshold is. Some yards will still give a project discount on a single large order.
  • A charge account usually requires a credit check. If you only want the discount, say so and skip the account.
  • Once you have a price level, get it in writing and ask for your rep's direct email. Pricing at the counter can vary by who is ringing you up.

Or don't send it yourself

Forward the job to myagent@standinfor.me and let StandIn run the whole thread.

StandIn is an email assistant that handles conversations with businesses for you. You write it one email saying what you need. It writes to the business, waits for the answer, follows up when they go quiet, pushes back on the number when it should, and brings the results back to your inbox for you to decide. You don't need to install an app or sign up. The first email you send is already the start of the task.

Hand this to StandIn opens an email to myagent@standinfor.me with the job already written out

To myagent@standinfor.me Subject Find out if I can get contractor pricing 
Hi StandIn,

I'd like you to find out which building supply stores near me will give me contractor pricing and what they need from me.

Who I am: [licensed contractor / business owner / homeowner with a big project, and the city].
What I have: [license number, business registration, resale certificate, or none].
Expected spend: [dollar amount over what period].
What I buy most: [categories].
What I want: [discount only / charge account too].

Ask three or four yards, get their requirements and terms in writing, and tell me which ones will give me the best price level and what I need to send each one.

Thanks,
[Your name]

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