How Do I Save Money While Buying from Bunnings?

s0805 on 10/03/2018 - 18:41
Last edited 10/03/2018 - 19:04 by 1 other user

Hi there.

We are planning to go through renovation and it appears we will have to buy most of the stuff from Bunnings, about $2-$3k worth. I was wondering is there any tricky way to get most value out of it.

I mean they have Bunnings gift card, is there any way to buy them through discount and pay via gifts card. I have a tradie who will be doing most of the work, not sure if he has trade account with Bunnings but does it make difference in price if they buy it?

Not sure any other cards are used at Bunnings and possibility of buying them through discount. Keen to know anyway to save few % off the total purchase.

Cheers.

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Comments

  • itsdougie on 10/03/2018 - 18:48
    +1

    Why exclusively with bunnings? You prefer their products?
    Most trades people will have trade accounts with plumbing supply places like reece and even bunnigs

    • s0805 on 10/03/2018 - 19:26

      we looked at few other suppliers but seem like we'll only be better of buying from them….

  • Ocker on 10/03/2018 - 18:52
    +2

    All tradies can register for a trade account with Bunnings and get a discount

    • s0805 on 10/03/2018 - 19:24

      do you know how much is the discount they get?

      • JimmyF on 10/03/2018 - 22:08
        +4

        Its between 0-5%. Not everything gets a discount sadly. More and more stuff these days doesn't :/

        Source - I have one.

        • [Deactivated] on 11/03/2018 - 11:09

          Bulk buy lemon pledge?

  • Davo1111 on 10/03/2018 - 19:08

    you can get a trade account, we had one through work, although i think it was linked to a 30day account.

    Saving were marginal at best.

    Have a look, but you might get a better deal via credit cards

    • s0805 on 10/03/2018 - 19:25
      +1

      can you elaborate more on CC deals?

      • Davo1111 on 10/03/2018 - 19:29

        Military bank had a percentage cashback on all paypass purchases <$120 (or something like that).

        Other credit cards have deals too.

  • Pigey on 10/03/2018 - 19:20

    Coles have Bunnings Gift Cards.

    Can buy Coles Gift Cards at 5% off.

    Not sure if it is worth the effort tbh.

    • subywagon on 10/03/2018 - 19:25
      +1

      My math is extremely bad, but isn't 5% off $2000, $100? That's not a bad saving.

      • Pigey on 10/03/2018 - 19:31

        There is some risk with gift cards.

        Time taken to buy the $2,000 gift cards
        Time to go to shops and buy $2,000 worth (20 gift cards)
        People at Woolworths questioning you as to if you are being extorted to make an ATO payment.
        Time waiting for Bunnings person to scan through 20 gift cards.
        Gift cards might not all activate, wasting more time.
        Don't get extended warranties with gift cards.

        All depends how you value your time :)

        • Diji1 on 10/03/2018 - 20:16
          -8

          I see you value your own time enough to spend it making comments about time's imaginary value.

        • s0805 on 10/03/2018 - 20:19

          so what you saying is buy 5% off coles giftcards. Use those gift cards to buy bunnings cards and from there on buy items. I thought coles will not allow you to buy other gift cards using their coles cards. I read it somewhere…

        • JIMB0 on 11/03/2018 - 09:40
          +6

          People at Woolworths questioning you as to if you are being extorted to make an ATO payment.

          Woolworths don't sell Bunnings gift cards. ATO only takes iTunes cards, I should know, I paid my tax last week. Never knew that they had a foreign call centre.

        • El Grande on 12/03/2018 - 11:29

          I always get told gift cards can't be used to buy other gift cards.

  • subywagon on 10/03/2018 - 19:24

    You only need an ABN to get a trade discount card.

    • RockyRaccoon on 10/03/2018 - 21:37
      +1

      Yea maybe like the tradies do,…. you can use the Bunnings ABN LOL

      • subywagon on 10/03/2018 - 21:53

        haha. I used my own ABN. I guess they don't check at all lol

  • fantombloo on 10/03/2018 - 19:35
    +5

    I don't know how to save money but you can save time and headaches by exploiting their great returns policy, buying up big and holding "in stock," then returning what you don't use. No more "I just need to go to bunnings for 3 screws" or "if only I had a spare 3mm drill bit." Buy whatever you imagine you might need, then return the unused bits after the job. I've apologized to the staffers when I've done this but they let me know it's quite common practice.

    • subywagon on 10/03/2018 - 19:38
      +3

      +1 to this. I do the exact same thing. It sucks getting home and you've bought the wrong fitting or part etc. You can even return the stuff without a receipt but it's a bit more annoying and they give you store credit.

      • MITM on 10/03/2018 - 23:11
        +1

        And you can return it to any Bunnings that's on your journey saving time.

  • Euphemistic on 10/03/2018 - 20:11

    Bunnings isn’t always the cheapest.

    If you are buying timber etc for building it is quite possible you can get better grade timber for the same price at a specialist.

    $2-3k for a reno isn’t much for materials, but good luck with cutting the price as much as possible. I’ve recently done a fairly major reno and bought in bulk from specialists (plasterboard, timber) but Bunnings was pretty handy because of the opening house and one stop shop. For me convenience was more important than price, but I wasn’t paying for labour.

    • s0805 on 10/03/2018 - 20:20
      +1

      reno in total is abt 10k. I am buying vanity units, taps, toilet suite, shower base, screens and acrylic walls, tiles, grout etc….In total we need to buy about 2-3k worth of supplies.

      • Euphemistic on 10/03/2018 - 21:05
        +4

        I’d be looking elsewhere. Some of the Bunnings stuff is def low quality.

        Most of the items you have listed are very much fashion/design items so you need to buy what you want, not what is the cheapest. Your tradie can probably pick up the ‘consumables’ like grout and adhesive at trade prices though.

        • s0805 on 11/03/2018 - 08:59

          agree bunnings stuff is less quality. We needed it for 2nd bath/toilet so decided to go with that. if you have any clearance outlet in mind to but these in Melb pls do share…

        • Qkumber on 13/03/2018 - 09:51

          @s0805:

          Reece have a bathroom clearance outlet in Footscray. We got a $4k bath for $400 it had a tiny chip but that was against the wall so not seen at all. Poor opening hours 7-2pm wed to fri I think but well worth it.

          Tiles we went to western distributors in sunshine. They are also great for carpet floating floors as well.

      • Edsanwong on 11/03/2018 - 21:23

        We just reno our bathroom. We bought from ebay for taps shower screen
        Shower base n vanity we shopped arounf bath room shops
        If u in Melb PM me

      • Nickels n Dimes on 12/03/2018 - 22:13

        If you're looking for bathroom fixtures and fittings, I would suggest starting with First Choice Warehouse, which has a number of Melbourne shops, and much better range / quality than Bunnings: http://www.firstchoicewarehouse.com.au/bathroom.html
        With plasterboard you should check prices at Gyprock Trade of USGBoral outlets if you need a lot of it, and if you need plumbing items you will find better range and price at Reece (Bunnings staff will admit as much if you ask).
        Bunnings is good for the actual hardware/paint side of things, though the salespeople will upsell you on paint and power tools.

  • stevednj48 on 10/03/2018 - 21:39
    +8

    apply for a casual job work a couple of hours a month and get a 10% staff discount.

    • mingofmongo on 11/03/2018 - 16:43
      +2

      I had seriously considered this in the past.. it would have been worth it, just work a shift or two and get the discount

  • spacemansam on 10/03/2018 - 22:44
    +1

    We just finished a reno of our entire house and my we borrowed the trade's card when we needed to purchase items at Bunnings. Most of the time the discount is 5%, but for certain electrical items its up to 10%. Ocassionally there may not be a discount if the item is pretty close to cost price (mostly clearance items)

    I would suggest though if you want to save money, don't buy things like vanity units, toilet suites and sinks at Bunnings, there are loads of clearances outlets across Melbourne where you can get this kinda stuff for much cheaper for the same quality at Bunnings. Even basic things like grout we found were cheaper at the local wholesale tile supplier. If you happen to live in Melbourne's west, I'm happy to send through a few local places that we went to :)

    • s0805 on 11/03/2018 - 08:58

      thanks op. We are on the east side. any clearance outlet you can recommend will be helpful. We don't mind in west either if they do the delivery. Infact, we required this items fro 2nd bath/toilet where use will be bit lesser. last week i went to few outlets our end looked at few websites but for some reason bunnings cheap quality is coming cheaper.

  • Hithere on 11/03/2018 - 08:43

    If you are doing a reno to sell buy from Bunnings. If you want to live in the place for a few years buy elsewhere.

    You'll get much better quality stuff and save money by shopping around.

    • s0805 on 11/03/2018 - 09:01

      thanks. Plan is to live for next 2 yrs or so then it becomes rental. Its the balance approach for us. any recommendation on places in Melb to buy these stuff.

  • simmos on 11/03/2018 - 09:13
    +2

    This probably does not apply to your case but for others it may. Big savings and I mean (BIG) for (say half a container load) can be made by going to Bangkok and buying things like bathroom kit at Home Pro. A friend of mine saved thousands when he built his house. Shipped everything he needed back from there as personal effects. I have seen recently prices of 60% less than Australian prices. Note For certain plumbing and electrical gear you have to be careful about compliance. Hope this helps someone.

    • Euphemistic on 11/03/2018 - 18:24
      +1

      If you get some of their special ‘grout’ while you are there you could probably even turn a profit.

  • Birchy on 11/03/2018 - 11:41
    +2

    Get some Irish mums with kids to do the shopping for you.

  • Triceratops on 11/03/2018 - 15:20

    Be careful. The tradie will get a discount but may apply up to 30% mark-up on any materials they purchase for you.

  • financialminimalism on 17/03/2018 - 23:16

    We're renovating as well, we started with a big bunnings list, but to be honest, if you search around (particuarly at all the hardware providers listed on eBay), there are better deals out there. eBay has been great for lighting, door hardware, bathroom fixtures and fittings etc, we've saved a lot not buying at bunnings! Also, Bunnings are pretty reasonable with their price beat policy, so obviously search around for branded products that are sold elsewhere because you can often find them cheaper.

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