As some of you may know, I recently did a poll in a couple well known groups.
This poll was about how people buy spray foam.
In this poll I started off with three options:
What really surprised me was how many people buy product by pounds and by set price. I get that it makes it easy to get a price that you can easy check when it comes to an invoice, but that number shouldn't be all you guys look at. Companies that only focus on these two number may be leaving a lot in the table. Just because you don’t see price per board feet on any invoices, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be concerned about it when purchasing.
Everyone always says they want yield and sprayability, but the two numbers ( set price and lb price) have nothing to do with either of those things.
Knowing you can get a repeatable board footage you get from a set will allow you to figure out sprayability and yields.
If that’s what you care about so why not buy based on that?
We all know the number games some chemical reps always seem to play. They promise the best yields and they promise the easiest foam to spray. Everyone hears this so much, no one believes it anymore and just cares about set price and lb price.
So what is a company to do, so they can make sure they can get the best bang for their buck?
Simple. Try out lots of products and see what works for you. What you should always be looking to see what kind of board footage YOU are seeing in the real world, as well as how easy it is for YOU to repeat that board footage.
Once you find a product where you see constant yields you now have something you can work with. I’d recommend something like 10 sets to get some decent experience with the product as well as some good numbers for true yields. From there you can find out an average of what your board foot price is per set.
This should be that number you are most concerned about!
To explain why this number is more important than the other two numbers, let look at two examples.
From the groups I see a lot of people claiming around 4200 board feet as well as 5000 board feet. Let’s use these numbers and see how board foot price compares to the set and lb price.
Example 1 - Per Set Price
Set 1 - 4200 bdft at a cost of $2350 per set
To figure out the board foot (yield) price, it’s simple.
Set price / yield = board foot price.
So with that being said...
$2350/4200 = $.56 a board foot.
Set 2 - 5000 bdft at a cost of $2700 per set
Using the same formula from set 1...
Set price / yield = board foot price.
$2700/5000 = $.54 a board foot.
Set price Conclusion
From seeing these number we can see that a set which averages 5000 board feet per set at a price of $2700 is actually cheaper that a set that averages 4200 board feet at a price of $2350. When you account for the $.02 saving per board foot, you would actually be putting $100 back in your pocket every 5000 board feet sprayed, in material costs alone, if you bought the more expensive set. Don't forget, what you profit off that extra 800 board feet all goes into your pocket.
Example 2 - Per Pound (kilo) Price
For easy numbers I’ll use 1000 lb sets for comparison.
To figure out the these numbers we need to take the lbs (kilos) and see how much a set would cost at that price, once again the math is simple.
$lbs or $kilos X lbs per set or kilos per set = set price
After we figure out the set price we can use the formula from example 1 to see or board foot costs
Set 1 - 4200 bdft at a cost of $2.35 per lb ($5.17 per kilo)
Pound math
$2.35 x 1000 lbs = $2350 per set
Or
Kilo math
$5.17 x 454 kilos = $2350 per set
Now the board foot price
$2350/4200 = $.56 a board foot.
Set 2 - 5000 bdft at a cost of $2.70per lb ($5.95 per kilo)
Using the same formulas from set 1...
Pound math
$2.70 x 1000 lbs = $2700 per set
Or
Kilo math
$5.95 x 454 kilos = $2700 per set
Now the board foot price
$2700/4200 = $.54 a board foot.
Pound price Conclusion
From seeing these number we can see that a set which averages 5000 board feet per set at a price of $2.70 per lb ($5.95 per kilo) is actually cheaper that a set that averages 4200 board feet at a price of $2.35 per ($5.17 per kilo). Once again when you account for the $.02 saving per board foot, you would actually be putting $100 back in your pocket every 5000 board feet sprayed. Not to mention the extra money you profit off the extra 800 board feet.
Overall example conclusion
Buy using these formulas, will not only be putting the extra material costs back in your pocket, but when you look at the extra board footage you get per set that’s just extra profits. If you sold your jobs at $1 a board foot, these examples you give you an extra $800 per set difference. So if you can get an extra $800 per set by spending an extra $350 why wouldn’t you? That’s a total of $450 extra ($800-$350=$450) per set you would make!
Knowing your true board footage will not only help you buy the best product for you, but it will prevent you from leaving money on the table! It’s also a great way to set a base line to start comparing two materials.
Now that we know how we should be buying using dollars and cents, it’s important to remember the “extras” that come with buying the products.
Even though some products may give the same yield, it’s behind the scenes stuff that can make a huge difference. Keep in mind to remember nothing is free in life.
Only you can put a price in how important sprayability, free tech support, good tech support, free training, great customer service, availability, distributors storage, R-value difference (higher r values means you use less material per job)...
In my opinion that type of stuff is definitely worth a few cents more per board foot. For the simplicity alone. Remember everything has a price, so you will always pay now or pay later.
Rex Tailor
This poll was about how people buy spray foam.
In this poll I started off with three options:
- Price per set
- Price per lb
- Price per board foot
What really surprised me was how many people buy product by pounds and by set price. I get that it makes it easy to get a price that you can easy check when it comes to an invoice, but that number shouldn't be all you guys look at. Companies that only focus on these two number may be leaving a lot in the table. Just because you don’t see price per board feet on any invoices, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be concerned about it when purchasing.
Everyone always says they want yield and sprayability, but the two numbers ( set price and lb price) have nothing to do with either of those things.
Knowing you can get a repeatable board footage you get from a set will allow you to figure out sprayability and yields.
If that’s what you care about so why not buy based on that?
We all know the number games some chemical reps always seem to play. They promise the best yields and they promise the easiest foam to spray. Everyone hears this so much, no one believes it anymore and just cares about set price and lb price.
So what is a company to do, so they can make sure they can get the best bang for their buck?
Simple. Try out lots of products and see what works for you. What you should always be looking to see what kind of board footage YOU are seeing in the real world, as well as how easy it is for YOU to repeat that board footage.
Once you find a product where you see constant yields you now have something you can work with. I’d recommend something like 10 sets to get some decent experience with the product as well as some good numbers for true yields. From there you can find out an average of what your board foot price is per set.
This should be that number you are most concerned about!
To explain why this number is more important than the other two numbers, let look at two examples.
From the groups I see a lot of people claiming around 4200 board feet as well as 5000 board feet. Let’s use these numbers and see how board foot price compares to the set and lb price.
Example 1 - Per Set Price
Set 1 - 4200 bdft at a cost of $2350 per set
To figure out the board foot (yield) price, it’s simple.
Set price / yield = board foot price.
So with that being said...
$2350/4200 = $.56 a board foot.
Set 2 - 5000 bdft at a cost of $2700 per set
Using the same formula from set 1...
Set price / yield = board foot price.
$2700/5000 = $.54 a board foot.
Set price Conclusion
From seeing these number we can see that a set which averages 5000 board feet per set at a price of $2700 is actually cheaper that a set that averages 4200 board feet at a price of $2350. When you account for the $.02 saving per board foot, you would actually be putting $100 back in your pocket every 5000 board feet sprayed, in material costs alone, if you bought the more expensive set. Don't forget, what you profit off that extra 800 board feet all goes into your pocket.
Example 2 - Per Pound (kilo) Price
For easy numbers I’ll use 1000 lb sets for comparison.
To figure out the these numbers we need to take the lbs (kilos) and see how much a set would cost at that price, once again the math is simple.
$lbs or $kilos X lbs per set or kilos per set = set price
After we figure out the set price we can use the formula from example 1 to see or board foot costs
Set 1 - 4200 bdft at a cost of $2.35 per lb ($5.17 per kilo)
Pound math
$2.35 x 1000 lbs = $2350 per set
Or
Kilo math
$5.17 x 454 kilos = $2350 per set
Now the board foot price
$2350/4200 = $.56 a board foot.
Set 2 - 5000 bdft at a cost of $2.70per lb ($5.95 per kilo)
Using the same formulas from set 1...
Pound math
$2.70 x 1000 lbs = $2700 per set
Or
Kilo math
$5.95 x 454 kilos = $2700 per set
Now the board foot price
$2700/4200 = $.54 a board foot.
Pound price Conclusion
From seeing these number we can see that a set which averages 5000 board feet per set at a price of $2.70 per lb ($5.95 per kilo) is actually cheaper that a set that averages 4200 board feet at a price of $2.35 per ($5.17 per kilo). Once again when you account for the $.02 saving per board foot, you would actually be putting $100 back in your pocket every 5000 board feet sprayed. Not to mention the extra money you profit off the extra 800 board feet.
Overall example conclusion
Buy using these formulas, will not only be putting the extra material costs back in your pocket, but when you look at the extra board footage you get per set that’s just extra profits. If you sold your jobs at $1 a board foot, these examples you give you an extra $800 per set difference. So if you can get an extra $800 per set by spending an extra $350 why wouldn’t you? That’s a total of $450 extra ($800-$350=$450) per set you would make!
Knowing your true board footage will not only help you buy the best product for you, but it will prevent you from leaving money on the table! It’s also a great way to set a base line to start comparing two materials.
Now that we know how we should be buying using dollars and cents, it’s important to remember the “extras” that come with buying the products.
Even though some products may give the same yield, it’s behind the scenes stuff that can make a huge difference. Keep in mind to remember nothing is free in life.
Only you can put a price in how important sprayability, free tech support, good tech support, free training, great customer service, availability, distributors storage, R-value difference (higher r values means you use less material per job)...
In my opinion that type of stuff is definitely worth a few cents more per board foot. For the simplicity alone. Remember everything has a price, so you will always pay now or pay later.
Rex Tailor
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