How “Red-Hot" Fastener Deals Actually Burn Away Value

When fastener distributors offer deeply discounted pricing, it usually means they’re sitting on extra inventory. They need to move it out, and fast. They’re counting on customers to respond to the allure of saving pennies on the dollar – hoping that they don’t ask themselves two important questions:

Why is this distributor stuck with more inventory than they can handle?
What am I missing out on by going with the cheapest option?

Give us two minutes of your time and read on. We’ll answer both of those questions and shed light on why the cheapest offers flash bright and then fade away – leaving you with little value to show for it.

Excess Inventory Is a Distributor Problem
Discounting retaining rings, clamps, pins, and other fasteners to a level unmatched by competing distributors is often the flashiest way to conceal a deeper issue at play. They often have too much product on hand and are hoping you will bail them out.

Perhaps some other customers cancelled large orders due to quality issues. Maybe the distributor’s service isn’t up to par and it’s finally catching up to them. Even at extremely reduced pricing, the distributor will still make a profit – which may also bring into question the cost (and quality) of materials used to manufacture the product in the first place.

If even one of these is the reason for the discount, is it worth it?

Paying a little more - for a LOT of value
Focusing solely on the cheapest price all but guarantees that you’ll be missing out on critical benefits. Value isn’t just monetary; it’s ingrained into the transaction when your distributor puts a high priority on the overall customer experience.

For example, let’s say you need 100,000 HO-rings to spread across 4 of your locations. You could save a few dollars importing a big box of jumbled rings from overseas. You won’t know (really) who made them, and you certainly won’t be able to trace it back to a specific lot in the event of a problem. You will have spent time and resources re-distributing 25,000 rings to each of your branches… but hey – you got the cheapest price.

For a few dollars more, you could take advantage of the kind of value we offer at Prospect Fastener:

Order Consolidation / Multiple Locations
Enjoy a hands-off approach to your order, as we pre-parse and pack your internal quantities before it leaves our dock. We’ll even drop-ship parts of your order to multiple locations.

Vendor Transparency / Lot Traceability
We work with U.S. based manufacturers and are always transparent about the source of your vital parts. In fact, we use our vendors’ part numbers across the board, all to make it easier to find what you need. Every lot is logged and traced. In the rare event of a problem, we can solve it quickly.

Solid Industry Relationships
Our suppliers make sure we have the snap rings, cable clamps, hose clamps and pins you need – so that we can provide just-in-time delivery with consistency. We’re able to deliver exceptional service because our employees care, and our partners have our backs.

We know your bottom line is important. But if you rely on red-hot pricing to keep you in the black – you may eventually discover they aren’t worth the heat.