I am in the process of getting my bathroom remodel accomplished, and I have noticed that alot of contractors keep saying "I dont use Lowes type quality products". What exactly is the difference between a vessel sink at lowes and a vessel sink at Ferguson type stores?

Examples:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_446459-20748-WLEV4158_4294737303__?productId=50045300&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1¤tURL=%3FNs%3Dp_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&facetInfo=

or

http://shop.ferguson.com/product/Duravit-4556000001-White-85354?Ns=AvailabilitySort%7C0%7C%7CPrimary_Finish%7C1%7C%7CSort_Order%7C1&N=103+214+80+3000859+3000165

Looks like the lowes sink is smaller and it might be the case that the walls of the sink are thinner. I was not able to open the spec sheet for the Ferguson sink so I don't know if that is true or not. But in my experience it has been the poor customer service and warranty issues with the big box stores.

If it's the same model, it's the same sink. Doesn't matter whether you pay retail or your contractor gets the same damn sink from his "supplier". Same product. Contractors and sales people use this line all the time because it's a pain in the ass to deal with a customer that knows how much his supplies cost.

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If it's the same model, it's the same sink. Doesn't matter whether you pay retail or your contractor gets the same damn sink from his "supplier". Same product. Contractors and sales people use this line all the time because it's a pain in the ass to deal with a customer that knows how much his supplies cost.

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Lowes sink is smaller.....

Brazosdog has it right. Same model number, same sink. I checked a lot of places and Lowes and Home Depot were cheaper for most of that stuff. Sometimes half price compared to the "suppliers".

The examples given are not the same model. Not even the same manufacturer.

I don't see how people can't see that. It's not the same sink.....

Just for the links you posted, Duravit is a "premium" brand name, where as the other is some house brand. If you don't care now, you won't care later and you likely won't have any issues if you like the design of the less expensive sink.

I'm puzzled. How can people call them the "exact" same when they are different manufacturers with different dimensions?

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The examples given are not the same model. Not even the same manufacturer.

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Nobody said that the two sinks presented were the same. They were answering the general question 'what's the difference between buying a sink here vs there?' Their answer is correct; if it's the same model, it's the same sink irrespective of retailer.

The two photos are obviously different sinks. I'm not sure there is a significant difference to overcome $170 difference in price.

at places like walmart/sam's, things like tires for your car are in fact different and made to sell specifically at walmart as compared to a similar sounding brand/model of tire at say discount. but i don't know if the big home improvement retailers do this.

I don't think there would be a question here if we were talking about the exact same model/manufacturer. Thats why I was trying to get down to the nuts and bolts such as the sink wall thickness, the finish tpye, does the lowes model come with or without mounting hardware and warranty.

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at places like walmart/sam's, things like tires for your car are in fact different and made to sell specifically at walmart as compared to a similar sounding brand/model of tire at say discount. but i don't know if the big home improvement retailers do this.

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This is what I was aiming my question at. I know sometimes box stores will get a commercial grade quality product vs a specialty store will get a professional product or something along those lines.

Would Ferguson have sinks that are hardened at higher temperatures thus allowing the sink to be more durable or is all vitreous china treated the same regardless of price point/where you buy

It's not hardening at higher temps, it's the glaze, and there are different grades of Vitreous China. I would bet the differences aren't enough for you to notice, but the Duravit sink is probably a higher quality - higher quality glaze, less defects, etc. In other words, you get what you pay for. Home Depot/Lowes buy and sell in volume, and a lot of what they buy isn't tier 1 products. But, Ferguson is also a contractor supply shop vs. Lowes is open to the public. Most contractors probably don't pay the price your link has, they probably pay a 1/3 to 1/2 of that price.

Example, I used to work for one of the largest building supply distributors in the country. We stocked the local hardware stores with certain products as part of their business, but our core business was selling to builders and contractors. Builders and contractors got the better material, the rest got put on the truck to Lowe's and Home Depot. That's not saying everything that got thrown on the truck was crap, but you have less of a return risk from a retailer than a home builder or contractor that isn't concerned with volume.

[This message has been edited by mts6175 (edited 3/25/2014 2:23a).]

Pay attention to model numbers. Hd/lowes specializes in having similar products but stripped down versions that are cheaper. A lot of times the model numbers will be very similar. They want you to think you are getting the same thing for a better price. Some items are the same. Most true custom builders I deal with hate home Depot and avoid them at all costs. They don't want to put their reputation with lower quality products. Home Depot is more for diy, remodeled, and semi custom builders.

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This is what I was aiming my question at. I know sometimes box stores will get a commercial grade quality product vs a specialty store will get a professional product or something along those lines.

Would Ferguson have sinks that are hardened at higher temperatures thus allowing the sink to be more durable or is all vitreous china treated the same regardless of price point/where you buy

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Again, with the specific models you posted, the Duravit is like buying a Yeti versus the house brand is a run of the mill coleman cooler. They both do the same thing and look similar, but one has been designed and marketed to a certain consumer that the other has not.

If you are shopping the exact same brand and model through a supply house versus blue/orange, there is no difference. But, as people have said, sometimes the model numbers are tweaked slightly to offer a product at a better price point. For example - Echo tools sold at HD are different than Echo tools sold at their "pro" distributors. They have similar model numbers and features, but the "pro" tools are built to a higher quality.

[This message has been edited by Aggietaco (edited 3/25/2014 9:27a).]

I work for a retailer that sales plumbing fixtures, and we have a Ferguson's located right down the street from us.

First things wrong as some of you pointed out....you can't compare a product to another product that is a different model number as well a different manufacture.

With that being said, I have customer come in my store all the time asking why there product is so much more expensive at Ferguson's.....I explain to them and I use faucets for an example that the difference between the two are the components on the inside. In most cases the one's we sale at our store usually have plastic stems/cartridges... and Ferguson's come with metal stems/ cartridges.

As far as other products they all come from their manufactures Kolher,delta, moen, etc.... we get the same product. Ferguson's just sales theirs at a higher price pretty close to what each manufacture sales it at on their website... We sell them at a lower price and still are able to make a margin on them.

BTW KNOWN BRANDS HAVE LIFETIME WARRANTY ON THEIR FAUCETS..... JUST SAYING.

Folks just feel better when they shop at Ferguson's....My pockets feel better when I shop at Lowe's

I got pricing from Ferguson when I built my house and the prices were ridiculous. And the sales person sucked. She kept trying to up sell me even though she knew my overall budget. I ended up buying most of my stuff on faucetsdirect.com. I did buy a few widespread faucets for secondary bathrooms at lowes.

We saved a lot of money buying one from a granite company. They get great bulk prices and know which ones are quality.

Not sinks and I am not sure they were labeled the exact same model number, but I do have a difference example. When we were looking at doors, a door store and Lowes had the exact same looking doors, but there was a $25-30 difference. The door place said the box stores order the same door but have items removed to lower the cost. The door store mentioned a few things, but one item was magnets in the door that closed the door when it was almost shut. The Box store doors did not have that feature. As always buyer beware. they should be able to tell you the differences so you can see it at the store.

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I got pricing from Ferguson when I built my house and the prices were ridiculous. And the sales person sucked. She kept trying to up sell me even though she knew my overall budget. I ended up buying most of my stuff on faucetsdirect.com. I did buy a few widespread faucets for secondary bathrooms at lowes.

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FYI, faucets direct is owned by Ferguson. As is build.com.

This is why the showrooms can charge so much. There is a market willing to pay that price. Those that don't want to can buy online and Ferguson still makes margin.

Ferguson is geared more for dealing with contractors, not retail. I work for one of the large commercial Mechanical and Plumbing contractors in town and we pay a fraction of the list price due to the volume we buy from them (I'm buying over $2MM worth of material from them this year for pipe, valves, fittings, and fixtures).

HTH

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FYI, faucets direct is owned by Ferguson. As is build.com.

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I didn't know that. When I renovated my house, I bought a lot of stuff through that website and it was significantly cheaper than Lowe's/HD prices.