Paying Less for the Same Items
Does a local church qualify for wholesale prices on its many purchases?
Absolutely, says Carl G. Conner, pastor of First Assembly of God in Toledo, who's turned wholesale purchasing into an art form throughout his years in the ministry. "A church is a corporation, not an individual, and almost every item it buys in quantity can be gotten wholesale," he claims, ticking off such lists as:
• Paper products: copy paper, hand towels, toilet tissue, cups, plates …
• Janitorial supplies: soap, cleaners, wax, deodorizers …
• Foodstuffs, especially if the church operates a . school or day care program.
• Office supplies: pencils, staples, paper clips …
With a little comparison shopping, Conner quickly cut his cost of photocopier paper from $3.50 a ream (at a retail supply firm) to $2.63 a ream in lots of 50 reams.
"Not every firm with the word wholesale in its name gives wholesale prices," Conner warns. "One company was charging us $1.47 for a can of industrial cleaner. I called the supplier and said, 'Bob, our costs are too high. We can't afford you anymore.'
"Right away he admitted that we hadn't really been buying wholesale. The price of a large can of cleaner soon came down to $1.14.
"So I asked for a new price list. Page 1 of the new list contained 12 items. If we'd purchased one of each (mostly cases) under the old prices, we would have spent $496.68. The new total turned out to be $425.06—a 14 1/2 percent drop. All I had to do was ask."
Many retailers can give a church wholesale prices, Conner has learned. But if they won't, head for the Yellow Pages.
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