Pupkewitz emerged as the most cost-effective hardware store for April 2024, with their basket costing N$6,933.19, just N$1 less than March, indicating a marginal 0.01% decrease.
Conversely, BUCO revealed a higher-priced basket at N$7,985.12, up by 2.1% from March’s N$7,820.20.
Build It came in second, with a slight increase to N$7,429.13 from N$7,393.31. Specifically, Roofing Galvanised IBR rose from N$650.64 to N$659.94, and the Door Hardboard from N$304.39 to N$318.46.
Ark Trading landed in third place with a more affordable basket but experienced a notable 3.43% month-on-month increase. This rise was propelled by price hikes in items such as Aluminium Window N$1,046.09 to N$1,098.10, Lintel Concrete 1.200m N$45.71 to N$49.75, Lintel Concrete 1.800m N$68.56 to N$73.52, and Plasterboard N$240.95 to N$308.99.
In April 2024, the gap between the most expensive and least expensive construction baskets widened to N$1,051.93, compared to N$886.01 in March 2024, largely due to significant increases from Ark Trading.
The Following items are in the basket:
● Roofing Galvanised IBR
● Copper Tube 460 Class 0
● Aluminium Window (Bronze)
● Aluminum Sliding Door (Bronze)
● Brick 7 MPA
● Brickforce 150 MM 15M ROLL
● Brickforce 75MM 15M ROLL
● Lintel concrete 1200X110X75MM
● Lintel concrete 1800X110X75MM
● Lintel concrete 900X110X75MM
● Ceiling Board 1200X3000X6.4MM
● Door Frame Steel 813X2032X115X1MM
● 2-lever Lockset
● Door Hardboard Interior 813 X 2032 MM
● 32.5 Cement Ohorongo
● 42.5 Cement Ohorongo
● Paint 20 liters
The Brief every month undertakes a survey, which started in June 2023, to assess a basket of similar hardware items that customers would probably purchase in a month. The survey is carried out across these four hardware stores: Build It, BUCO, Pupkewitz Megabuild and Ark Trading.
The aim of the survey is to provide shoppers with guidance on which hardware wholesaler offers the cheapest basket of building materials for that particular month. Moreover, an analysis of changes in the basket is carried out in order to provide overall basket and item variations month on month.
2-Lever Lockset April’s spotlight commodity
For this month’s spotlight commodity we are focusing on the 2-lever Lockset, which boasts several comparable options with varying prices based on quality.
Throughout the survey period, the 2-Lever Lockset maintained an average price of N$170.65 across the four hardware stores.
Build It emerged as the most economical option, offering the Lockset at an average price of N$101.6.
The pricing trajectory for this commodity exhibited fluctuations. It began at N$108.22 in June 2023, dropped significantly to N$97.51 in September 2023, remained steady at N$92.00 from October to December 2023, experienced a slight increase to N$96.99, rose to N$115.97 in March, and settled at that price afterward.
Pupkewitz, on the other hand, presented the highest average price for this commodity, standing at N$324.12 over the survey period. In order to ensure comparability, we opted for another 2-lever Lockset of equivalent quality, priced at N$84.44 consistently from February to April 2024.
In terms of affordability, BUCO followed Build It with an average price of N$114.03 for the commodity under review, while Ark Trading ranked third with an average of N$142.86.
*Note: The list of products we collect is limited and not intended to be an absolute measure of affordability. We aim for products to be broadly comparable.
In almost all cases it is possible to find any of these products at a cheaper price or to find cheaper alternatives, depending on location or time of month. Our sample is intended to simply reflect the total price of the cart in a single visit on a particular day.
