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Why the price difference?

1K views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  dngrous_Jeep 
#1 ·
Just curious if anyone knows why the price jump from 11ga to 3/16 is way bigger than the price jump from 3/16 to 1/4"?

This is from metalsdepot.com, btw. I'm just kicking ideas around for right now, but curious why the prices would be so different? And yes, I know getting it locally will be MUCH cheaper.

P514 1/4 (.250) thick T304 Stainless Steel Smooth Plate - Dull 4 X 8 Ft. 1 In Stock $1,856.96 $1,856.96
P5316 3/16 (.1875) thick T304 Stainless Steel Smooth Plate - Dull 4 X 8 Ft. 1 In Stock $1,427.52 $1,427.52
S411 11 GA. (.120+/-) thick T304 Stainless Steel Sheet - Dull Mill Finish 4 X 8 Ft. 1 In Stock $838.40 $838.40


Oh, and how much of a difference will there be in strength and durability? Piercing resistance, abrasion resistance, etc.
 
#3 ·
I have to ask though, what are you using that much stainless for? or is that just your base for pricing?
x2... Especially in those thicknesses? What are you making?

Its probably an issue of supply. 1/4" and 3/16" sheets aren't really common for stainless, compared with thinner stuff. So it might not be that linear of a cost scale, for that particular company.

I'd call a local steel yard to shop that around.
 
#4 ·
Well, it actually is fairly linear.

1/8 to 3/16 is a 1.5 factor. Their pricing is 1.7 or a difference of 20%

The difference between the 3/16 and 1/4 are directly linear.

Actually their costs are directly opposite of what I would expect. Mills run and sell by the ton. The thicker the plate, the more tons that run thru the mill at one time based on the same ft/minute of production.

However, thin gage material runs on different machinery than thicker gages although all of these materials would run on the same line.

Stainless is a funny thing too. It all depends on who runs what. Each mill has it's own unique gage range that they run and they may be getting their material from different sources.

I wouldn't worry about it.
 
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