Comparison shopping - glass prices

[Bev Brandt]

I just made a healthy fusible glass purchase from my local retailer. I like my retailer - good people, good information, lots of fun when I go there and I *think* very good prices. But I'd like help with my comparison-shopping math.

This retailer sells glass by the pound, but most of the on-line retailers sell by the sheet. In the board archives I found a post that said that a 12" x 12" (x 1/8" thick) piece of glass weighs about 1.6 pounds. And according to my math, an 8" x 10" piece of glass should weigh .56 pounds or so.

Using these figures it turns out my local retailer is selling glass at about $2.00-$4.00 per pound LESS than some of the on-line retailers and almost-wholesalers! That's a good thing, for sure. But I'm wondering if the information I got from the archives on how much a particular sized sheet of glass weighs is accurate.

I *am* going to cut and weigh a piece of glass to make a better comparison, but in the meantime any help in comparing glass by the pound to glass by the sheet is welcome.

- Bev

[PaulS]

Come spend some time in UK Bev, then let's talk!

I pay what you pay, plus 100US$ for an administration form, plus freight to UK, add all that together then multiply it by 17.5% (purchase tax) and that's what I pay.

Minimum purchase on sheet glass is 30 sheets or 500$ for boxed stuff.

One day the Chinese will be making the same stuff for half the price but by the time they get their act together I'll be swinging in a hammock sipping Tropical brandy out of a coconut, watching the butterflies and toucans and listening to the oranges grow ...

So it's either the time or the money!

[Dave Pascoe]

Hi Paul,
From your post I gather that you are having glass shipped in from the states. I`d be interested to know a little bit more about that if it`s alright with you.
You can PM me if you like. I`d be interested in who you order from, prices etc.
Hope to hear from you soon, cheers. dave

[Susan Moore]

Bev,

I thought that 80 square inches of 3mm = about a pound, but I could be mistaken of course.

Now if the 12" x 12" is in fact 1.6 lbs then 80/144 = .56 and 1.6 x .56 = .89 so the 8" x 10" would be about .89 lbs.

Susan

[Tony Smith]

glass weighs 155 lbs/cubic foot so 1.6 lbs for a 12 x 12 x 1/8" thick piece is correct (155/(12x8))=1.6145 lbs

Tony

[Barbara Muth]

and assuming that the 1.6 pounds is right, an 8x10 would weigh about .89 lbs.

144 sq in=1.6 lbs
80 sq in = x lbs

144sq in/ 80 sq inch = 1.6lb/xlb
144x=1.6*80
x=1.6*80/144
x=.8888888888



Your assumptions about how low your prices paid are, may be off a bit.

mathgirl

[Bev Brandt]

Thanks all! Yup, I was pretty far off...

So now I need to compare the price of an 8 x 10 piece of glass (one of the common sizes sold) to the price I paid per pound. Is this math right, then?

Price for 8" x 10" piece / .89 = Price per pound for that 8" x 10" piece

- AlgebraicallyImpairedGirl

[Andrew]

If you are talking about machine rolled Spectrum or some of the machine rolled Uroborous then the comparison might be valid, but much of the more interesting Bullseye and Uroborous glasses vary in thickness (and so weight) for a given size sheet.

One thing you might be seeing is that many of the Internet merchants work on volume - and processing small orders costs the same as processing large orders but the profits are lower - so they may deep discount larger volumes. Whereas you local your local guy does not have the associated shipping, packaging, and order processing costs for each small purchase and is happy to do a high volume of small sales.

Another thing is this (just to complicate the discussion). Bullseye thin glass is sold by the pound, but Bullseye thin usually runs about twice the price per pound of their 3.2mm product - so you get half the glass but the cost per square inch is about the same . . ..

A. Westreich

[Barbara Muth]

Thanks all! Yup, I was pretty far off...

So now I need to compare the price of an 8 x 10 piece of glass (one of the common sizes sold) to the price I paid per pound. Is this math right, then?

Price for 8" x 10" piece / .89 = Price per pound for that 8" x 10" piece

- AlgebraicallyImpairedGirl

yep, that calculation is right.