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
Check out 8020’s Ebay store. You can get some great deals in there.
McMaster-Carr
Echoing this.
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.
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.
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 Automationwho 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.