Source for 80-20 material

[TeraViks]

Does anyone have a good source for 80/20 in the Pacific Northwest? I haven't found one that is willing to offer a discount to FIRST teams, and the retail cost shipping cost of this stuff is really high! Thanks in advance.

Coeur d'Alene High School team 3145
TeraViks

[IndySam]

Check out 8020's Ebay store. You can get some great deals in there.

[mark johnson]

McMaster-Carr

[James Tonthat]

Check out 8020's Ebay store. You can get some great deals in there.

Echoing this.

[ChuckDickerson]

80/20 Distributor look-up page: http://www.8020.net/PostalLookup.asp

Just enter your zip-code...

As far as I know, the discount is directly from 80/20 not the distributors or at least that is what our distributor has always told us. Your distributors may not be aware of the discount from 80/20 for FIRST teams so you may have to politely ask them to check with 80/20 directly. The discount is a little less this year than in the past from what I understand. Our distibutor quoted us 34% off list this year rather than the 40% it has been in past years.

[chris31]

The ebay store is a good choice if it has what you want.

80/20 Distributor look-up page: http://www.8020.net/PostalLookup.asp

Just enter your zip-code...

As far as I know, the discount is directly from 80/20 not the distributors or at least that is what our distributor has always told us. Your distributors may not be aware of the discount from 80/20 for FIRST teams so you may have to politely ask them to check with 80/20 directly. The discount is a little less this year than in the past from what I understand. Our distibutor quoted us 34% off list this year rather than the 40% it has been in past years.

Wow. Our distributor has never given us 40% off(we do get a discount though) and I would be a little upset if 80/20 directly states that FIRST teams could get that much that then our distributor gave us less.

[ChuckDickerson]

The ebay store is a good choice if it has what you want.



Wow. Our distributor has never given us 40% off(we do get a discount though) and I would be a little upset if 80/20 directly states that FIRST teams could get that much that then our distributor gave us less.

I agree, I would be a little perturbed myself. I dunno. I am just relaying what our distributor has told us. We first used 80/20 (QuickFrame) way back in 2006. I just looked up on the 80/20 site who our closest distributor was, called them up, asked a few questions about QuickFrame and then asked what the discount was to FIRST teams. They said they would have to check with 80/20 and get back to me. They did and it was 40% off list and included everything in the 80/20 catalog. Since then we have been a loyal customer and ordered QuickFrame, T-Slot, connectors, and had stuff pre-cut/machined all at a 40% discount up until this year. In 2010 the distributor said 80/20 lowered the discount to 34% but still a deal if you ask me. IIRC I only even knew there was some sort of 80/20 discount way back because there was some sort of flier that came in the KoP one year saying FIRST teams get a discount with 80/20 and to check with your distributor. Item has a similar program for FIRST teams I believe as well.

Also, for what it's worth I have never really found the 80/20 Ebay "garage sale" to be a good deal at all. As far as I can tell they just use it to sell cut offs, etc at the regular list price per inch unles it is scratched, dented, mis-machined, etc.

[ChuckDickerson]

I contacted our 80/20 distributor and double checked the discount details. According to our distributor 80/20 gives ALL FIRST teams a 30% discount directly. Our distributor tacks on an additional 4% discount for a total of a 34% discount off the list price of anything in the 80/20 catalog.

I assume other distributors of 80/20 can give or not give local teams whatever additional discount on top of the 30% given by 80/20 but ALL teams should be able to at least get the 30% discount directly from 80/20 through their distributor.

Our distributor said that the person to contact at 80/20 regarding the 30% discount is Mike Grobaski. If teams are not receiving the 30% discount on 80/20 from their local distributor they might need to politely ask their distributor to contact Mike at 80/20 to see how they can get the 30% discount.

As our distributor graciously tacks on an additional 4% discount I feel compelled to give them a little plug. Our distributor is Bertelkamp Automation (http://www.bertelkamp.com/)who serves the Southeast. The folks at Bertelkamp have always been wonderful to deal with and are very supportive of FIRST teams. If you are a FIRST team in the Southeast and need 80/20 I highly recommend giving Bertelkamp a call. They also distribute other handy things that FIRST team might find useful like pneumatic components, etc.