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 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.