Wholesalers?

RE: Wholesalers?

Rob Loxley — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 13:28:26 GMT

[quote user="Mike Nikolaou"]We got rid of Vetshare when it was sold to CVS [/quote]

Can't say that anything has changed for the worse

RE: Wholesalers?

Marie Kubiak — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 10:27:41 GMT

[quote user="Alan Tevendale"]

There are no membership fees with vetcel. Have a word with Nigel Clare if you think you might be interested and he'll come and see you. PM me if your interested and I'll pass on his details.

[/quote]

I'm confused! Their website says there is a monthly £14.50 'web charge'. Are others not paying this?

Marie

RE: Wholesalers?

Mike Nikolaou — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 00:23:56 GMT

We use Henry Schein as wholesaler and Vetcel as buying group - possibly the only independent buying group still standing. We got rid of Vetshare when it was sold to CVS without any warning. We didn't like the notion of a corporate practice we are in direct competition with, knowing all our buying details and probably working out our turnover (roughly) through that...

So far so good. Henry Schein delivers daily, for free. Customer service very good. We previously were with NVS and we were largely happy but they p****d us off a few times in a row and would not admit culpability so we voted with our feet. I hear that since Dechra took them over their customer services have improved however.

RE: Wholesalers?

Sam — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 18:19:17 GMT

Definitely join a buying group. You will get good discounts and (at least with Vetshare) will not pay a fee unless you buy something which earns a discount. Your fee is a percentage of the discount you have received. It is not just medicines either. It might be lab fees, clinical waste or CPD etc.

RE: Wholesalers?

Michael Woodhouse — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 15:21:56 GMT

[quote user="Alan Tevendale"]

There are no membership fees with vetcel. Have a word with Nigel Clare if you think you might be interested and he'll come and see you. PM me if your interested and I'll pass on his details.

[/quote]

My PM Said Vetcel and HS!

Join the buying group - as you will get a better wholesaler discount from day 1. There are no fees with Vetcel and they take a tiny percentage of negotiated discount. You buy nothing in a month - you pay them nothing. The better discount they negotiate - the more they make.

RE: Wholesalers?

Rob Loxley — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 15:18:28 GMT

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]My experience of Henry Schein is only from the CP orders they send via us. One or two items come by courier in tons of packaging that probably cost more than the product they've sent and creates a mountain of stuff to dispose of. I presume they don't do this if the practice actually uses them all the time.[/quote]

Most comes in large plastic teacrates (tote boxes or whatever you call them). Individual items in boxes but HS will take empty boxes back for reuse. I understand there is a major issue among wholesalers with the number of plastic delivery crates that go missing in vets...

RE: Wholesalers?

Stephen Putnam — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 15:02:25 GMT

St Francis' fee is a percentage of wholesaler discount, so still a good deal for small practices.

RE: Wholesalers?

Alan Tevendale — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 15:01:41 GMT

There are no membership fees with vetcel. Have a word with Nigel Clare if you think you might be interested and he'll come and see you. PM me if your interested and I'll pass on his details.

RE: Wholesalers?

Marie Kubiak — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 14:57:18 GMT

I'm struggling a little with the concept of a buying group- they seem to have monthly membership fees which aren't huge but the very small quantities we will buy will probably mean that associated discounts are negated by set fees.

My current plan is to talk to NVS, Henry Schein and Centaur and get a rough idea of costs for our likely requirements each month and find out delivery options then opt for the most suitable. After a few months when I have a better idea of what we will be using I'll then compare costs with buyer groups and join one if finances justify it.

Marie

RE: Wholesalers?

Richard Carter — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 13:58:48 GMT

Henry Schein and Vetcel buying group - daily deliveries, good computer ordering system.

RE: Wholesalers?

Bob Russell — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 13:06:15 GMT

We stopped using NVS when they tried to drop our discount to nearly zero. This was a decade or more ago. We changed to Centaur who offered us a pittance in discount when you took into account all the things that were excluded.

Clearly things have changed but we will stick with Henry Schein. They were the only company that allowed us to keep the original discount so I happily remain loyal to them as they have to us.

St Francis seems to work fine for us.

Packaged in tote boxes for regular deliveries!

RE: Wholesalers?

Martin Atkinson — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 12:48:11 GMT

[quote user="robloxley"]We use Henry Schein [/quote]My experience of Henry Schein is only from the CP orders they send via us. One or two items come by courier in tons of packaging that probably cost more than the product they've sent and creates a mountain of stuff to dispose of. I presume they don't do this if the practice actually uses them all the time.

RE: Wholesalers?

Rob Loxley — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 00:26:48 GMT

We use Henry Schein (previously Dunlops, previously Genus...) and member of Vetshare and happy to recommend both

RE: Wholesalers?

Gillian Mostyn — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 22:45:10 GMT

We also use Centaur, daily deliveries, have found them very good and reliable on the whole.

RE: Wholesalers?

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 22:42:41 GMT

[quote user="Laurence Webb"] I remember that Centaur used to only do weekly deliveries free but I suspect that has changed in a more competitive market.[/quote]

There was a shortish period when Centaur only did weekly deliveries free. That was a long time – 10, 15 years? – and back then one big order a week was what most people did.

RE: Wholesalers?

Laurence Webb — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 22:20:47 GMT

NVS and St Francis for me. Largely because that is what I inherited when I took over the practice but I have found the support from St Francis very good.

I assume that with your speciality you are probably not going to take on CVS for buying power but a buying group will be a good start.

Support from the NVS rep has been good and ordering runs smoothly so I haven't had to use their customer services much. I remember that Centaur used to only do weekly deliveries free but I suspect that has changed in a more competitive market.

RE: Wholesalers?

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 16:25:39 GMT

Point of information.

Centaur deliver every day in North Wales, no extra charges.

I couldn't say about the odd penny or two in net prices here and there, but customer service is excellent and that matters to me.

RE: Wholesalers?

Alan Tevendale — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 13:53:14 GMT

+1 for NVS. We've used them for years now. I've looked a couple of times at the alternatives and once I've gone into detail on discounts and discountable items NVS always seems to come out on top.

RE: Wholesalers?

Martin Atkinson — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 10:27:54 GMT

[quote user="Evelyn Barbour-Hill"]Seconded but substitute Centaur for NVS.[/quote]Don't know about your area or where Marie will be but Centaur would only deliver for free once a week to us and charge for additional deliveries, one reason I changed to NVS.

RE: Wholesalers?

Marie Kubiak — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 21:54:08 GMT

Thanks everyone, it's very useful to be able to pick the brains of people who have experience and I really appreciate it

RE: Wholesalers?

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 19:40:58 GMT

[quote user="Sam"]I started a on a really small scale and NVS are great as they will deliver to me daily even if it is only one item. Get in touch with your local reps from the drug companies you intend to use. In my experience they give loads of help and big boxes of freebies to new start ups! [/quote]

Seconded but substitute Centaur for NVS.

RE: Wholesalers?

Sam — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 18:36:18 GMT

I also use NVS and Vetshare.

I started a on a really small scale and NVS are great as they will deliver to me daily even if it is only one item. Get in touch with your local reps from the drug companies you intend to use. In my experience they give loads of help and big boxes of freebies to new start ups!

RE: Wholesalers?

Martin Atkinson — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 17:37:58 GMT

I use NVS and get a nominal10% settlement discount despite being sole charge and thus having a relatively low turnover. We are also a member of Vetshare buying group. This offers some good discounts and despite my reservations since it was bought out by CVS it still seems to be working to my benefit. Others will no doubt come on here with their favourites but drug companies will also often negotiate with new practices and some are starting to renegotiate with established independent practices as most now are a member of a buying group they are cancelling each other out.

RE: Wholesalers?

Michael Woodhouse — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 15:43:48 GMT

I'll send you a PM