# Forum Home Renovation Painting  trade price of 15L solarguard?

## montiee

Reason I'm asking here is I walked into a wattyl trade centre and asked for the price and was told trade ~$190. I then visited Bunnings and the bloody price on the shelf is $165  :Rolleyes: .  
Can anyone give me the lowest price for a 15L can  of solarguard (white based) they can get realistically? On a budget and would like to know my price range for bargaining.

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## bob w

The reason for the price difference from the trade centre is that they can't buy paint at the same price as the traddie. The trade user has a direct account with wattyl and often buys at a lower price than the outlet that supplies him or her.
My question is, why solorguard? Why not use the web and investigate other brands that are more realistically priced and will do the same job. They are out there, all we need to do is look. Mostly we use the well known brands only because of the advertising, this advertising is meant to convince us that they are the best, but the money spent on advertising campaigns doesn't mean the product will do the job any better, or last any longer. I, for one, haven't used any of the "name" brands for about 5 years. A friend who owned a paint store recommended one of the lesser known brands which he stocked and which I have used, both internally & externally, since that time, and I have no reason to complain. 
But as I have worked for this lesser known manufacturer for the last three years, I must now declare a vested interest.  :Biggrin:  :Biggrin:

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## montiee

Yeh with branding is always like that. What sways me is the confidence to offer 15 years on the paint which very few other brands are willing to do. It really depends how much I'm going to be saving. If it's $10-$15 a 15L  can I'll take the one with the warranty. 
So moral of the story is stay away from "trade centres" and head off to private paint shops I guess where they can buy direct. I did find it funny that the guys in the shop couldn't "authorise" more than 10% off "trade" price and had to wait to ring a rep.

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## tank

Store operators have restrictions put on them to free up the reps power to bargain with bulk buyers, so it's usual they ring the rep for better price, I'm a tradie & get the same runaround. Choice magazine reviewed paints at one time 
& found Kmart performer paints ( made by Wattyl) were among the best.

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## Blocker

Montiee,
Unless you are a registered Trade Customer with a cash or credit account you won't be offered any serious discount by a factory trade outlet,and rightly so ,because the guy who paints for a living and spends $2000-$10000 a month is entitled to that discount....You will find better deals for a one off sale at Paint Specialist Stores who are better placed to deal with DIY painters....As far as brands go,most Aussie brands of ext acrylic offer 15yr guarantees,and quality is similar when using paler colours(white base).Dulux by the way now guarantee Weathershield for as long as you occupy your house.(don't forget your reciepts if you make a claim in 25years or so!
Regards,
Blocker :2thumbsup:

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## Lumnock

> Store operators have restrictions put on them to free up the reps power to bargain with bulk buyers, so it's usual they ring the rep for better price, I'm a tradie & get the same runaround. Choice magazine reviewed paints at one time 
> & found Kmart performer paints ( made by Wattyl) were among the best.

  The one problem with a review such as that is you cannot accurately gauge the longevity of a paint with a quick magazine review.  I would be interested to know if they even gave the paint the full 30 days to cure, and in what climatic conditions did they test it.

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## montiee

> Montiee,
> Unless you are a registered Trade Customer with a cash or credit account you won't be offered any serious discount by a factory trade outlet,and rightly so ,because the guy who paints for a living and spends $2000-$10000 a month is entitled to that discount.

  Yes, yes however throughout my life you will always find one agent somewhere who will get it close. After all selling 3 cans of paint to a customer for a good discount vs losing the sale altogether it's a pretty simple concept for most businesses. There is no extra work involved and cash in hand. I now see that going to a trade centre was a waste of time. The guys there I thought ran and owned it but it just seems like a BigW type store where the people are not empowered to to anything. Lesson learnt.  

> ...You will find better deals for a one off sale at Paint Specialist Stores who are better placed to deal with DIY painters....

  Yep I understand that now, mostly because the guy who runs the store owns the store and can make his own decisions..   

> As far as brands go,most Aussie brands of ext acrylic offer 15yr guarantees,and quality is similar when using paler colours(white base).Dulux by the way now guarantee Weathershield for as long as you occupy your house.(don't forget your reciepts if you make a claim in 25years or so!
> Regards, 
> Blocker

  Good to know. I'll check out weathershield as well..

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## montiee

So getting back to the original question. Anyone brave enough to tell me how much a can of solarguard or dulux weather shield (15L) goes for in the trade. Base colour will be a white (light pastel). 
If you are worried about your fellow painters giving you a hassle feel free to PM me. Your info shall remain confidential.

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## Ozcar

> Choice magazine reviewed paints at one time & found Kmart performer paints ( made by Wattyl) were among the best.

  Can you still buy Performer paint? The Kmart stores I know stopped selling paint and cut down on the range of tools they had been selling a while after Wesfarmers took over. I thought they were trying to reduce overlap/competion with Bunnings (also owned by Wesfarmers).

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## peter321

I have just painted the outside of my house and wanted to use solagard.
Here is what I found.   Firstly the colour I used (wattyl smooth horizon) could not use a white base in solagard and Bunnings only have white in 15 litre masonry matt.
The price of the solagard 15L darker base made it the same price as Dulux weathershield as they could use a white base if using the dulux tints in dulux paint (still smooth horizon)
That made it $179 at Bunnings for 15L of Dulux....
Nearby is a Dulux trade centre where I bought the paint for $170 for 15L.  So Bunnings is not always the cheapest.
(and the trade centre even gave me a tin of jelly beans!!!) 
I then needed a third 15L tin but it was out of hours and decided to buy it at Bunnings - big mistake!   They tinted it slightly different. When I returned it the next day I found that they don't have a computer tinter that will fit in the 15litre can so they had to do it manually (and got it wrong).  At least they did refund my money and by then the trade centre was open so I bought it there again.   Their tinting was perfect on all tins. 
Peter

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## Blocker

Hope I don't bore you to much with the following....As Peter has said ,he got the best result by dealing with an Owner/Operator Paint Specialist who is also a TradeDealer...Paintright,Paint Place and 3D stores generally fall into this category,as against the factory owned Trade Centres.The price you will pay for 15lt of most brands will be around $165-$175 if you are buying 2-3 cans.Also,the reason K Mart and Big W no longer sell paint is because it doesn't fit into their "no service" way of selling.If you intend to buy multiple cans from Bunnings or other Hardware stores,my advice is to get them all tinted in one visit,as the chance of variations can be greater when dealing with casual dept staff.My experience has shown that a Specialist will generally take the time to qualify your needs and supply enough product in the first place.
Regards,
Blocker :2thumbsup:

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## Strom

*There is plenty of room in negotiating price on premium paint.. (RRP mark up is huge)* *But will the trade depo give you a better price ??..* *Definatly not.* *Unless you are a trade purchaser ofcourse..* *You are better off looking to find damaged cans or miss tints if you are after a better deal..* *Alternatively search family or friends for a trade painter who maybe able to offer you a better deal in purchasing paint for you..* *Alternatively pm me..*   :Biggrin:

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