Got to be a catch there - Three of our regular suppliers are on there, I stuck in some materials that I know what we recently paid from one of them and it is quoting me pretty much what we paid - very good trade prices and free delivery. I know for a fact that one of them sells to the public at 12 times our rates and delivery is extortionate. None of them throw 30 day accounts around either.
Too good to be true I think.
I work at MetalHub. Since you asked specifically, I hope you don't mind me responding. We're focussed on trade (not public) and work with local suppliers to bring real-world steel prices online. We also sometimes do introductory discounts as we're new to the market. So I suggest when you do see great prices on the site, take advantage of them.
@MetalHubAndy
I've just registered on the site and did a search for 50mm able 5mm thick and I get a message saying you don't have any suppliers listing it? It's a pretty common size. Does it just mean there are no suppliers in my area?
Fair enough, @MetalHubAndy, according to an email I received this morning though you are happy to deal with the public? And deliver to residential addresses too.....
I am not looking to place a huge order. Not at first anyway, but if I can get 4 or 5 7500mm lengths of 25mm box delivered to a street address for the price your website states, I'll be more than happy with that....
Try different lengths. I noticed if I select a full length then a lot more suppliers come up.
Thanks @gavcarter, we are focused on selling to trade, but we’re also a friendly bunch and we don’t like to turn away good business ;-) We’re happy to serve the typical cash business that our suppliers offer offline for reasonable orders and simple processing requests. The only caveat I would add is that we do need to ensure suitable delivery and offloading criteria are met for large/heavy orders.
I work at MetalHub. Since you asked specifically, I hope you don't mind me responding. We're focussed on trade (not public) and work with local suppliers to bring real-world steel prices online. We also sometimes do introductory discounts as we're new to the market. So I suggest when you do see great prices on the site, take advantage of them.
Welcome to the forum Andy. I've had a play around with your website and got some up to date costs from one of the stockholders who is on your list and we have an account with ourselves. Your prices are typically 50% on top of what we can buy the stock for (delivered) - this seems about the standard mark up for a range of different section types and sizes. We are trade, so (serious question) why would I use Metalhub and not ring a stockholder direct?
I'm confused...
May be that way to you @Welderpaul but to people like me, who are stuck with ebay or the odd supplier that doesn't want to bother with small orders the prices are well on the other side of the scale...
Most suppliers I've approached won't sell you anything without a fully vetted trade account being approved by "head office" or "admin".
There is odd fabrication places that will order some steel if and when they remember and stick a bit of pocket money on top.
As for trade prices, that's for you and metalhub to sort out between yourselves.
I do think done right they can fill a huge hole in the market though. I know I'm not the only one that struggles to get a selection of metal to my door at a reasonable price....
They have a Birminham phone number but the only postcode I could find was a London oneseems strange they have a Birmingham postcode and don't seem to deliver to Birmingham.