Big companies reduce the size of mosaics to boost sales!

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The HEADLINE PRICE IS LOWER – THE PRODUCT IS SMALLER (But consumers fail to notice).

This is an unfortunate trend we have noticed. Companies are reducing the size of mosaic sheets. This is one clear example. Our Penny round in white and on the bottom and the big box retailer is black and on the top.

Big box retailers listed on the stock market are continually under pressure to increase profits. One way to do that is to offer lower price. Sell by “the Sheet” this allows the ‘Big Box’ to sell at a lower price. The price the consumer sees or the HIGHLIGHTED PRICE is low, it is low because a quarter of the sheet is missing.

The same trend has moved into Hexagon. Particularly the 2″ Hexagon mosaic sheets have become a 6 by 6  (6 Columns by 6 Rows) for a total of 36 pieces of 2″ Hexagon. Ours is still 7 by 6 or a total of 42 pieces of 2″ Hexagon. Forty two pieces creates a full sheet a complete square foot thirty size pieces do not.

Few consumers notice this when buying. They see a HEADLINE price. Do not look at the specs. They buy. Then when installing they realize they cannot complete the job. They have to wait to get more, if the supplier has run out….. the worst case is they have to start again. Especially in marble when matching lots is important.

I am sure as corporations try to compete with private companies like ours that have little interest in being millionaires. Flying in private jets or driving around in excessive cars. NYSE listed big boxes will have to come up with more innovative ways to essentially “stick it to the customer”.

As for us, The Builder Depot. We will always put our employees and customers first. Sell a product that is as close as possible to a full square foot. Simply because it is the right thing to do. It fits with who we are a company with Integrity where our actions are based on our values rather than personal gain.

Great Backsplash and Love the Tutorial!

$9.50/SF Carrara Venato 2×4″ Beveled and Honed

This is from mycreativedays.com a blog post using our 2×4″ beveled and honed. What I like about this post is the tutorial and how fabulously white the Carrara Venato looks. The effort it takes to maintain over one hundred matching SKU’s so they can be used in any combination is not an easy one, you can tell that from the competition most retailers give you a choice of 6 options at most.

We have to be ready if you order Venato Honed 6×12″ and Venato Honed 12×24″ along with trims and mosaics for a bathroom, we need it to match! You need it to match! The task is not small but you can do it if you have over 2 million square feet to pick lots from and we have been doing it for a very, very long time 🙂

This was the picture taken of the product for the customer. So picture approved and then we shipped. Then above you can see the finished job. Carrara Venato the whitest based marble we have yet to see. This beveled 2×4″ is $9.50 a Square Foot available in Honed and Polished as with all our marble products.

Venato Carrara 6×12″ Tile Bathroom $8.00 a Square Foot

Firstly thank you to a customer for sending these pictures in! Installed in this picture is Carrara Venato 6×12″ Subway Tile $8.00SF Honed used on the wall.  You have to ensure to plan out the look. Get the variation right so the veining is mixed with blank tiles.  The customer and the installer, Kaltin Construction of Naples, FL, worked closely together to perfect this look.

The bathroom followed into the shower with the same format. Carrara Venato Honed 6×12″ Subway Tile $8.00 a Square Foot on the wall and Venato Herringbone mesh mosaic 1×3″ $11.45 a Square Foot on the floor (all prices valid thru June 2016).  The mosaic on a shower floor is smart. Grout increases traction creating a wonderful anti-slip surface.

Carrara Venato is a trademarked exclusive product only sold one way through TheBuilderDepot.com.  The Venato collection of 200 Mosaics, Field Tiles and Trims all priced at incredible value considering we are the ones who own it and the trademark.

This customer wanted their own creation and worked directly with ben@thebuilderdepot.com who assuming your order meets the minimum order requirement of 250SF has become the master of helping customers make any size you need.  We have have it cut, but need volume to make the whole process worth it, we even put the micro-bevel back on the tile, this is not a simple contractor “chop in half”, job this is a factory finish.

For this particular customer they wanted 3×12″ Herringbone on the floor. This was cut from 6×12″ there is waste, cost of cut and shipping, moving product around to the saws and blades. But still at $8.00SF for the 6×12″ Honed which is an excellent price for this marble, they came out at around $12.00 a Square foot for 3×12″ Herringbone floor tile and it looks, well…. incredible.

Everyone in the chain from block selection, to Ben taking pictures and working directly with the customer, to the installer and then the customer being involved during installation created this masterpiece.  When they explain the price of this bathroom and installation, tub, etc was all under $15K, no one can believe it and why would you. This customer probably added $20K to the value of their home, maybe more . Effectively they were paid $5K to have a new bathroom. Happy New Year for them!

Number 1 asked Question of 2015

How are your products so cheap? (you need volume to hear)

 

We are asked this a lot and even if we are not it is in the back of peoples mind. That aged old classic “if it sounds too good to be true…….”

But it is true need more than a video and want to delve into how it all began, read “about us“.

But in Summary which is not as  short so I apologize 🙂

1. We buy direct, hundreds of Ocean Containers and then sell direct, this skips three steps in the supply chain a supply chain that is 70 years+ old (it needed revamping).
2. Volume create economies of scale.  We pass these savings onto our customers. 100%.
3. No debt also means we are not paying the bank any money, again if you hold debt you pay interest. Interest is a cost. Costs can only be paid one way. Through the product’s price.  Which means the customer pays. All costs can only be paid one way. Through the product or service. If it is through the product it means that cost is coming to the consumer. In short you. if anyone knows of another way please let me know 🙂
4. We have done everything we can do reduce this business to bare bones. So it focuses on product quality (quality control), shipping quality FAQ#18 (we shipped 99.4% of all orders in 1-2 business days with 99.6% accuracy) and price. Getting the quality as high as possible and price as low as possible. No business would operate like this but we are trying what started out as a “small” experiment to help consumers in a confusing industry that never seemed to show prices and seems to have grown and grown and now 2016 we are opening a five acre facility with fifteen loading docks. It has taken almost a decade doing this without debt, but now, now it is worth it. As we have over 2 million square feet of stock and 600 different products types of white marble alone. Today we receive reviews, great reviews and thank you’s from people saving thousands and thousands of dollars.

We are also A+ on the Better Business Bureau.

Carrara Venato 6×12″ Honed Subway Tile

Nothing fancy about our product images, we try and make them as ‘real’ as possible.  This is a pallet of 6×12″ in our warehouse and picture taken with an iPhone.  The Carrara Venato 6×12″ Honed subway tile still proves to be consistent in appearance.  A striking white base (as white as Calacatta) with gray veining. Available in Honed and Polished for $8.00SF.

Carrara Venato 6×12″ $8.00/SF Bathroom with 1×3″ Herringbone $12.95/SF Floor (both Honed Finish from the Carrara Venato Collection).

 

 

Carrara Venato 6×12″ Honed from April 2020 modeled with the perfect pup!

You can see how consistent Carrara Venato is through time. From a simple pallet arriving with the tile to bathrooms and showers the look remains consistent. Exactly what we look for. We have a standard we expect to keep with Carrara Venato and this is it.

 

2021 Updated Image Below: To keep images of products fresh we like to add new images. This room scene is from April 20th 2021. You can see how white Carrara Venato is, it is as white as Calacatta and a great affordable alternative. It is also very consistent. We will keep posting new images.

This is an amazing Carrara Venato™ bathroom that can be seen on Instagram here

This bathroom kept it simple with the marble sizes and choice which creates amazing elegance. They used Carrara Venato 6×12″ honed which as of April 20th 2021 is $8.00 a Square Foot (prices are not very stable at the moment due to Covid issues with quarries) and the 2″ Hexagon honed currently $11.95 a Square Foot available here.

The Carrara Venato collection is unique and only available from The Builder Depot. It is a Trademarked collection owned by just one company.