AVOIDING THE MIDDLE MAN

Welcome to my first article. This is a very interesting subject one I am fond of, mainly because I am always in search of any great deals especially when I can avoid the middle man. That inner feeling you know when you have avoided paying that exuberant price on an item. Trust me it takes some work but you will find them.

So lets start on this journey, which initiated by a conversation with a close friend of mine. Who first introduced me to these wondrous locals called “Warehouses”. The conversation started something like this. “Man, I need to replace the carpets in my house with hardwood but the prices are just crazy!” And he immediately he came back saying well have you tried a warehouse? Well with a glaze in my eyes and a question mark over my head. I said “Warehouses?” From then on he explained to me that you can purchase from warehouse at outrageously low prices. Now some are wholesalers others are going out of business manufacturers. And you have your factory outlets. Normally they are located in industrial type streets and you will find a whole bunch huddled together. Some factories that make the product usually have a shop where you can go in and buy at discounted prices.

So as we drove down to a warehouse to look at different types of hardwood. He explained to me there are literally warehouses for everything. From food to furniture, you name it. I was astonished that more people where not aware of these hidden gems.

We finally got to one of three he showed me that day; the prices were half of what you buy at any retail store and every wood type and size you can think of. Next he showed a few more a cookie factory, chocolate factory and even a socks factory. It just blew me away I can avoid all those over priced stores. Forever!

Then the words came out of my mouth, why don’t more people know about these warehouses? And why don’t they advertise. To this day I don’t have an answer and really who cares, its there for the picking and not many people know about.

But be warned they can be addictive and you could land up buying too much, this is where your frugalness kicks in. Buy only what you need or split it with a friend, which is what I did.

Then I thought to myself how can I find these places and keep a record of them so I can do my daily or seasonal shopping (Christmas, Easter, etc). So as usual I like to think outside of the box. On the internet!  They have to show us at least where the warehouses are. I started to pickoff name brands to see if a warehouse exists. Then as I dug deeper, I noticed a lot were on the same street, but you really need to search and use your frontal cortex, it takes some work as I mentioned. It wasn’t easy but once you found them it was like finding gold. While in my searches I found websites that publicize these warehouses and related by specific city. You need to be quick though; normally these sales are seasonal and won’t happen for another year. No worries though a lot are open year round.

Which leads me to another wonderful discovery, Warehouses that sell a full range of products, from shampoo to baby wipes, you name it. These are sellers who rent out a warehouse for a week or even up to a month, and they sell everything under the sun. Once you happen to find one of these glorious locations it a one-stop shopping at discounted prices. What makes this even better is once you get there, you can sign up for their flyer by email and they will notify you when the next one will be open. How great is that!

But to be honest, nothing is better then word of mouth. Try just talking to friends see if they are aware of any warehouse or even deals. You would be amazed when you just ask, I was.