O2 - And how you get your company to drop the price.

[BigJon]

So i currently use Matheson Gas I pay 50 a year rent and 40 a fill up a K tank. I have called airgas and they quoted me prices higher then matheson even after telling them Matheson is lower then them. I am assuming its the area I am in because there are next to no glass blowers that im aware of. I've made a couple connections to local glass shops and there "local" pipers are from ohio area (Im in West Virginia). How do i get these stingy oxygen dudes to drop this price. Do i need to call and ask for supervisors what?

[Kaizen]

How many tanks do you fill a month? "Swag" the ppl who work there.

Look for mom-n-pop welding shops.

And price pin the two companies against each other. If you go to Company "A" and say that company "B" said this much (even though they didn't, just be realistic).

Business man. It's all business skills.


Orrrrrr go with a o2 generator depending on what torch you run.

[BigJon]

well, thats the problem i did pit them against each other. Air gas guy was just a prick ( excuse my language) I am thinking about trying to get a hold of his manager. The mom and pop shops i haven't tried nor do i know if we really have them. I know we have welding supply stores but i don't believe they carry oxygen.

I would be okay with around 25 bucks and i only have 1 tank currently, Once every two weeks right now cause i do it after work for about 3-4 hours a night most nights. I have a GTT Bobcatt that i am about to upgrade to nortel mega minor pretty soon.

[kage]

Call around and negotiate. They're like used car salesmen, starting with the highest possible rate to see if you know your stuff. If you go through more oxy, you can also use that as a means for haggling.

[derekg0]

My local welding supply place was charging me like 40 a fill, so I called up Airgas and talked to one of their sales guys, they said they'd do 20 bucks a fill and lease me 2 tanks for the price i was paying for 1. So next time i went in for a fill at my local shop I was like, is there anything you guys can do about the price, airgas quoted me half the price i'm paying you guys. They told me I need to talk to one of their sales guys, so they take my number and give it to them they call me back the next day. They say they can do 22.50 a fill, so i say fine, i'd rather do business with them cause they are 1, a local shop, not some big corp. and 2 only 10 minutes away from me instead of 25 minutes away for airgas. I didn't get a deal on the lease even though now i do have 2 tanks leased, but over the course of a year the lease isn't very much in the grand scheme of things. Been happy with them ever since, the guys are nice, and friendly, know me when I come in every week or two and the first year i gave them a few Christmas ornaments around the holidays.

[TlkQ]

I started out paying $55 a fill with a $120 year lease per tank. Now I pay $15 a tank plus $0.09 a day per tank I have out. I generally pay like $10-$20 a month depending on how many tanks I had that month. Find someone around you that has receipts with good prices. Anytime I need to switch shops I bring in a stack of receipts showing what I have been paying. They almost always match it.

[BigJon]

I started out paying $55 a fill with a $120 year lease per tank. Now I pay $15 a tank plus $0.09 a day per tank I have out. I generally pay like $10-$20 a month depending on how many tanks I had that month. Find someone around you that has receipts with good prices. Anytime I need to switch shops I bring in a stack of receipts showing what I have been paying. They almost always match it.

There kinda in lies my problem is that there is no one around that i know to get recipts off of. I just paid 40+ tax Woping 44 dollars for my tank again this afternoon.

[royg.bivsglass]

How about a homefill system? They work great and over time you recoup the cost of your initial
cash outlay for a system. Lots of good information on these systems that I have used to put together mine.
J

[BigJon]

How about a homefill system? They work great and over time you recoup the cost of your initial
cash outlay for a system. Lots of good information on these systems that I have used to put together mine.
J

Yea was either thinking that or two 10LPM Concentraters together. Just dont have the Money to drop 2grand on a system like that right now.

[byron3]

If you are going to do homefill system, buy some oxy tanks first. This will lower the cost of purchased oxy before you can afford the machine and will be a necessity when you do get your own system. Two tanks will be the minimum you will want, 3 or more works better. Any way the price of the tanks are something that is often overlooked till the unit is purchased.

I read once where a guy went in and stated that he raised mushrooms and that he used the oxy to "fertilize" the air. The value of the mushrooms was negligible, so therefore he was unable to spend much on oxy and got bottles for a little of nothing!!

I put my HFII oxy con / compressor together for $500.00 and another $100.00 in hoses and fittings. I bought off Craig's list, drove to pick them up and did my own fabrication.

[Raimond]

Most torches work best off tanked oxygen, the pressures and flow rates are a challenge from OxyCons. So, does that mean you need to buy the oxygen in the tanks? NO. Like byron3 wrote, HomeFill is a money saver. Craigslist is a great place to start in finding bottles and the equipment needed.
HomeFill works well and a empty bottle is never an issue as long as you do your part, fill the tanks by flipping two switches...

[yinzer]

where are you in wv? im in pittsburgh and i pay 14/k, 19/t. i negotiated that, but even still i dont think ive paid over 21/k ever.

[BORO]

I paid 27 to fill 220 cf tanks , then found there 330 cf tanks were 31 to fill , same rental , so that helped. The big money saver was when I switched to lox , I brought in some non functional glass , showed the man in charge. (he said one time his wife likes cobalt glass ) Long story short , he ordered a glass lamp for his 30 th year of marriage , paid full price to me , then wiped a 600 $ yearly rental on the lox .now I pay 140$ delivered to my shop for my lox , every other that I know of pays more to them for lox . ( looks like I got the best possible price)............................................ .................................................. ........ ........ 15" with the shade .It has the date the were married in one mib .the date of 30 years later in another . then the year and my sig in a mib on the back by the cord hole .If I had it my way I would only make lamps , the first one I made was in 2005 , but they just don't sell like functional glass ( still sell about a dozen a year ) .................................................. ..................::..... ........................................ P.s. don't try to "up grade " to a mega minor , they are the same , I even like the bob cat more as it has a nicer pinner flame . The jets may look bigger on the nortel , but the bob cat throws the flame out , wider , with each jet at a angle .( if that makes sense ) The nortel has a less bushy flame , check out you tube and you can find the nortel flame in action .

[James Sowell]

has anyone gotten under 12-13 a tank for 275 cfm k tank.
same shop quoted me 120 for lox.
i think ive got them as low as i can but want to make sure .

[istandalone24/7]

yup yup going from bobcat to mega minor is like going from a ford festiva to an escort.
drew that lamp is sick as fuck!!

[standard28]

Gas companies are so competitive out here we get a 337 tank filled for $5 at the University. At home though I pay $22 for 337 fill....

[Greymatter Glass]

So i currently use Matheson Gas I pay 50 a year rent and 40 a fill up a K tank.

Last I checked that's their list price for a 220cu ft tank, you can get a better price....

I have called airgas and they quoted me prices higher then matheson even after telling them Matheson is lower then them.

I'm guessing you talked to whoever answered the phone at the sales counter? They will generally only quote list prices.

I am assuming its the area I am in because there are next to no glass blowers that im aware of.

The number of glass blowers around you doesn't have anything to do with it. We don't use that much oxygen in the grand scheme of things. But we do use more than the hobby welder or shade tree mechanic, so prices are always negotiable...

How do i get these stingy oxygen dudes to drop this price. Do i need to call and ask for supervisors what?

Well, first I will say there are a LOT of threads on here about oxygen prices and things others have done to get a better price....

In summary of those threads, I'll say...

First, it seems obvious but i see it all too often... you need to check any attitude or superiority issues at the door. Glass blowers, especially ones using high pressure tanks (and only a few a month) are generally not high volume oxygen customers. Don't go in acting like you're going to make or break their business with your account.

Second, get an account. Even a cash account will be easier to negotiate your prices on than walk-in retail sales tickets.

Once you have an account keep it in good standings for several months - easy to do if you're a cash only account. Once you have 8-10 transactions on your account, you can call Matheson or Airgas or whoever you go with and ask to speak to the accounts manager or the account manager on your account if it's a big enough location to have more than one. Sometimes you can do things over the phone, sometimes they want to meet in their office. The conversation you want to have basically starts off with:

"Hi, my name is xxxxxx, I'm a glass artist, I've been using X tanks of oxygen per month on a pretty regular basis and was wondering if you could review my account and discuss my pricing with me. I've checked around and about $20 a tank seems to be a fair rate, can you do that?" ... chances are they will just say sure no problem let me adjust your account (that's ALWAYS been my experience) sometimes they will hum and haw and make it seem like you're asking them to give up their only child... at that point they might counter with "well, the market's tough right now, we can meet you at 30, will that work?" ... at that point, it's just up to you to negotiate a rate that seems good. Oxygen is a regional commodity that WILL vary in price from place to place, but unless you're in BFE you should be able to get a 220cuft tank swapped for about $20.



That's the basics of how to negotiate a better rate with a wholesale industrial supplier of just about anything, not just oxygen. Glass blowers are generally in that second tier up from the bottom. The bottom tier are the guys who come in a couple times a year and get a tank of oxygen for a small welding project, they might do $100/yr max and will always pay retail price, because it doesn't matter. Next tier up are the people spending up to about $2500 a year - it seems like a lot to you maybe, but that's still a tiny account for must larger gas suppliers. Above us are accounts that are doing $150,000 a year, $500k a year.... those are the companies keeping these guys in business. You're looking at rail roads, shipping yards, ship breakers, demolition companies, scrap yard operators, construction companies, heavy equipment builders... If your location sells medical oxygen add those guys in too, a small medical company will generally buy 1200l a day or more of liquid oxygen. Those are the guys you'll never see at the counter and the people who get treated like royalty when they do come in.

good luck.

-Doug

[Chewie]

James, I pay 14 each for mine, but know another blower who gets his for 11 at the same company, the guys there tell me "he must know somebody" but my trick is to every now and then offer to rent another tank if they take a couple bucks off my fill ups. So far that has worked every time, I wouldn't doubt if they get a little commission on those.