In our recent blog Commercial Grade vs. Residential Grade Lighting Products, we mentioned that we often get our prices compared to the big box stores. In that article we discussed the difference between residential and commercial grade product and to sum it up, you get what you pay for. But for those who still are concerned about the upfront cost only or at least what you might think is the upfront cost, this article is for you:

One fine Tuesday morning, the maintenance technician, Joe Handyman, is walking down the hallway to his office and sees a light bulb out. He could call his commercial grade lighting distributor and get one sent to him for a price of $2.50/each, but Joe saw an ad for that item from a big box store recently for $1.99/each. In order to “save his company money” he decides to go pick one up.

How much does it really cost to change a light bulb?

10:00 a.m. Joe discovers he needs a light bulb and walks to the shop. He discovers that he does not have a replacement light bulb.

10:15 a.m. Joe then stops in the manager’s office to state that he needs to go to Home Depot. He and the manager discuss this, as well as the status of two pending service requests.

10:20 a.m. Joe leaves the office and goes to his office to get his coat and car keys.

10:30 a.m. Joe finally leaves for Home Depot.

10:50 a.m. Joe arrives at Home Depot.

11:05 a.m. After 15 minutes of searching, Joe finally finds the right light bulb. He buys one. He then decides to take a walk through the kitchen remodeling section because he’s thinking of renovation ideas for the property.

11:30 a.m. Joe is in the checkout line.

11:35 a.m. Joe departs Home Depot.

11:55 a.m. Joe arrives back at the office and checks in.

12:00 p.m. Oops, it’s time for lunch. That light bulb will have to wait until this afternoon

1:00 p.m. Lunch is over – time to change the light bulb.

Joe makes $15.00 an hour. That $1.99 light bulb just cost the company about $35.

In addition, the item he picked up from Home Depot had a life rating of 1,000 hours. The item from his commercial grade lighting distributor had a life of 5,000 hours. This means he could cost the company up to $175 for this item that he could have paid $2.50 for.

We know that this seems like an exaggerated scenario, but it happens more often than you think.

The point of this story is to consider the total cost of ownership, not just the upfront cost.

This is where Premier Lighting can provide you with value. We will make it easy and convenient for you to get the best lighting products at the best price. Contact us today.