5 Ways to Ensure You're Buying Building Materials at the Right Price

Building material prices can fluctuate quarter over quarter based on macro-economic factors, industry trends, and buyer demand shifts. TMT steel (INR 44,000 from INR 38,000 per tonne) and cement (INR 420 from INR 320 per 50 kg bag) have experienced price hikes during this year, with labour costs also rising by 25% in many cases. Fluctuating TMT steel, ready mix concrete, AAC blocks prices and labour costs, can put immense strain on developers to complete construction work on time. That is why it is important to buy building materials online at the right price point across all material categories. Listed below are the 5 ways by which you can ensure that you are buying building materials at the right price:

1. Optimize price discovery by visiting multiple platforms 

One of the best ways to ensure that you are receiving the best prices for materials is to visit multiple platforms when procuring building materials online. It is best to perform preliminary research on the various features, services, and materials being offered across multiple portals. 

Online procurement is a more cost-effective route for construction procurement, but there are several websites offering a limited range of products within categories. Procurement managers should visit platforms that are being used by the best construction companies, have the widest inventory of products available, provide seasonal discounts, and offer the best prices for your material requirements. 

2. Review quality, testing, and vendor qualification policies 

It is important to also review the quality standards and internal checking mechanisms that various platforms employ. Acquiring the lowest price but failing to check product quality, is a major reason for construction delays and lower on-site workability. When focusing on buying at the right price, buyers need to review the quality and testing mechanisms in place for every product. 

The quality of building material suppliers on the platform is just as important as the quality of the platform itself. The best procurement portals highlight their vendor qualification policies transparently and ensure that they are acquiring building materials from the right suppliers. This increases trust when using the platform, giving buyers confidence in purchasing at the right price. 

3. Compare offerings across building material categories 

Buyers can review the best prices offered across all material categories for optimized procurement across building materials online platforms. This enables smarter decision making, with data-rich insights on the best platforms to source from. While some platforms may offer better prices on TMT-steel, others may be more cost-effective when bundling ready-mix-concrete, sand, tiles, AAC blocks, etc. 

Additionally, buyers need to compare the delivery schedules, minimum order quantities, and technical details within similar brands to gauge the pricing benefits gained from opting for a specific portal. Buyers with highly customized or specific requirements, such as a custom design mix, block dimension, or tile design, can also reach out to these platforms for their best price offering in these categories.

4. Analyse payment terms, logistics, and terms & conditions 

Platforms that offer transparent pricing and ideal payment terms are preferable to procure building materials from. They are also more viable for scale-driven requirements, as they offer consistency in availability and pricing for materials. Platforms that have nationwide reach in logistics are also ideal to procure from, so that buyers can satisfy multi-site requirements seamlessly. 

Buying the best construction materials online also involves thoroughly reviewing the terms and conditions of each portal. This includes seller terms, refund policies, transaction information, obligations, and guarantees offered, which can be studied in detail prior to placing a bulk order on the platform. 

5. Review after-sales support, services, and add-on features 

The top building material portals offer excellent after-sales support to ensure that the delivery of the product complies with outlined specifications and arrives in quality condition. This facilitates quicker on-site work and ensures that time-bound materials (ready-mix-concrete, cement, etc.) can be used as soon as they are delivered. Key online portals also offer automatic notifications, purchase management, RFQ handling, and approval management which streamline procurement significantly.  

In conclusion

Optimizing price discovery, comparing multiple brands, and analysing features, payment terms, and customer support is critical to ensuring that you are always buying at the right price. Procurement managers need to find the right platform that leverages both technology and industry expertise to provide the most streamlined sourcing experience within the construction domain. BuildSupply offers the best prices on a range of building materials while providing key features, such as on-the-go updates, real-time tracking, approvals management, etc., to save time and cost for construction projects.