Significantly Less Expensive Paint and Fiberglass Supplies, Merton's Marine

[moonie5961]

Has anyone used or heard anything good/bad about Merton's Marine Merton's Fiberglass & Marine Supply for fiberglass, paint, etc.?

It looks like their product selection is a limited and you must place order by phone but their prices are considerably lower than Jamestown, Defender, Hamilton Marine and WM.

Wondering if there is a reason for the price difference.

[phorvati]

no kidding they are lower. I make it a point to get my big project stuff there, and going there is always a pleasure. He is great, knowledgeable, kind, and helpful. As close as you can get to a cruiser's mentality but living on land. First I heard of Mertons was back in 2003 when a kid at the front counter at Jamestown distributors told me where they get their gel coat from. I was complaining to him about 80$/gal for gel coat. At the time, JD was selling at about 100% markup. The rest is history .

[moonie5961]

Good to know, thank you!

[moonie5961]

I just placed a pretty large order with Merton's.

I priced out the order at Jamestown Distributors, which was cheaper than West Marine and Defender.

The price at Merton's was about 20% less expensive than Jamestown, even when a free shipping promotion was applied to the JD order and full shipping was paid for Merton's.

Will report back after I receive the order.

[moonie5961]

Update: My order came in right on time without any surprises, packed nicely. Saved a few hundred bucks, will definitely use Merton's next time if they have the products I need.

[s/v Beth]

Uh, I would like to hear from someone with a few posts behind their belt about this outfit. I don't say its a scam, but I am careful for a reason. If this outfit is as good as the two posters say it is, there will be other CF's that have used them.

[haw1961]

I have been using them for about 10-15 yrs. The guy is just an oldfashion type businessman. He advertises in the yellow sheet. He targets mostly commercial type business. He has never done me wrong. If you have a problem he does his best to help. Two thumbs up.

[moonie5961]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

Uh, I would like to hear from someone with a few posts behind their belt about this outfit. I don't say its a scam, but I am careful for a reason. If this outfit is as good as the two posters say it is, there will be other CF's that have used them.

I guess I can understand your suspicion but sorry, no spam, shenanigans or conspiracy here. I've been a lurker/occasional poster since 2009, for what that's worth.

I searched CF and a few other forums to see if they were legit before placing a large order, but didn't find any reviews. I was suspicious of the significant price difference from other suppliers. I posted to ask, didn't get much of a response, so I thought I'd post my experience to let future searchers know that I had a good experience and the waters were safe.

Also hoped that a positive review might send some extra business to a small business with awesome prices.

Of course, this could all be part of an elaborate, 4 year long ruse to conduct subtle commercial espionage in an obscure thread in a remote corner of the internetz...

[boatsail]

Originally Posted by moonie5961

I guess I can understand your suspicion but sorry, no spam, shenanigans or conspiracy here. I've been a lurker/occasional poster since 2009, for what that's worth.

I searched CF and a few other forums to see if they were legit before placing a large order, but didn't find any reviews. I was suspicious of the significant price difference from other suppliers. I posted to ask, didn't get much of a response, so I thought I'd post my experience to let future searchers know that I had a good experience and the waters were safe.

Also hoped that a positive review might send some extra business to a small business with awesome prices.

Of course, this could all be part of an elaborate, 4 year long ruse to conduct subtle commercial espionage in an obscure thread in a remote corner of the internetz...

Thank you for being upfront about the conspiracy. Now, if you could have only done it some time ago, I could have saved a bunch of money on something other than my car insurance:-)

[shorebird]

I'm not sure why so few people seem to understand why a store carrying a $1,000,000 inventory and 5000 square feet of retail space charge higher prices than a small store ordering what you need, or an online supplier who pays nothing for store space or inventory. This has come up in several threads where people are accusing the big marine retailers of being a rip-off.

[kmacdonald]

I buy System Three epoxy and paint, fiberglass, bronze screws etc from there. I have always been happy with them.