Are there any differences in the quality of products sold at contractor's supply store vs. big box hardware stores?

Question

We are in the early stages of building a new house & went shopping for lighting fixtures yesterday. We get an allowance from the builder which we know will be used up very quickly after visiting their standard supplier. We also had a lot of trouble finding fixtures that we really liked (especially ceiling fans).

Later, we went to Home Depot and found quite a few fixtures that we liked, in most cases we liked them better than what we'd seen at the lighting supply store. And the prices were much lower.

We can take the lighting allowance the builder gives us and get it applied as a credit on the final price of the house (or put the money into other upgrades) if we purchase everything on our own and deliver it when they tell us to. If we can do this and save money on the fixtures, that's great. But I worry that the Home Depot (or Lowe's) brands may be of significantly lesser quality, and in 2 years we'll find ourselves having to replace a number of them.

Generally speaking, is there a significant enough difference in the quality of the products offered at each of these stores to warrant the significant (2X, in some cases) price difference?

Answer 1

The first thing you need to understand about "allowances" on any building job is that those are usually way too low to equip the real wants of the buyer. When talking lighting, most lighting supply houses have a "spec" line of fixtures that contractors use to figure the allowance. They are typically the least expensive fixture for the application. When you go in to select lights, you are usually seeing consumer list prices, not the actual price us contractors pay. You could easily pick out nicer designer models and spend 3 or 4 times the amount in your allowance. This is common. The smart consumer would take the discount and shop your fixtures for what you want at the price you want to pay. The box stores obviously don't carry the real upscale designer lines, but most of the products are very serviceable, good quality, contemporary popular styles and should last you years. If you are a good internet shopper, you can find high end lighting, solid brass, brushed nichol, stainless, crystal glass, etc at very reasonable prices. Always remember, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder!!!

Answer 2

Most major brands produce separate product lines for the big-box stores than what they provide to contractors and supply houses. It's typically a similar (or exact) visual copy, but often with lower grade materials. For instance, if you were to buy a stainless sink from the plumbing supply store, and one from the big box, odds are that the big box sink will be using a much thinner gauge of stainless steel than the one from the supply house.

It's tricky to notice the differences sometimes. Often they even use the same product ID numbers and change one letter at the end.

Now, does it matter? For some things, such as a shower faucet, probably. But for lighting, maybe not. Lights aren't complex devices and, once installed, remain fairly untouched for their lifespan.

Answer 3

For lights specifically, if you find one that you like at a big box, then go for it. I have gone both routes, and after buying at lighting store always feel ripped off. The only time I have felt justified is when we just can't find the design or style we want at the big box, and the lighting suppy store has the only ones that look right.

For ceiling fans specifically, again you are fine at a big box. Although I typically go for the "upper end" of the manufacturers. It will still be cheaper than the lighting store, but the build quality of the big box higher end will be much better than the really cheap fans. Specifically, the difference between a Hunter fan vs cheaper ones is pretty big when it comes to fan noise and stability.