Would like to know the following about the Office Supply market:

1.	What is the average markup over their acquisition cost for the big
retailers like Office Max, Office Depot or Staples, to the suggested
retail or list price on the office supplies that they sell.
2.	When they offer you a contract, which is typically offered at a
discount off the list or suggested retail price, what is the average
gross margin that that they are left with to pay all their other
expenses.
3.	Do the contracts that they offer include free shipping as it does
when you purchase from them online.
4.	What pitfalls do smaller office supply dealers need to be aware of
if they want to match the big retailers contract pricing.
5.	Please provide sources to support the results arrived at if at all possible.
6.	 Ultimately, I want to know if the contracts offered by the big
retailers are as good a deal as they make them out to be or could a
company save as much with a smaller office supply company and if so
what are the parameters that the smaller companies would need to
operate within to be competitive on contract pricing. I know that the
acquisition cost of the smaller dealer matters so if you could get
some idea of the difference a supplier would charge Staples versus an
independent dealer that would be useful.

In summary a good response will contain the average markup over cost
(gross margin) at which the big retailers offer contracts and the
difference in wholesale pricing that the ?big boys? get from
manufacturers due to the huge volume purchases, pitfalls an
independent dealer should be aware of if trying to match the ?big
boys? on contract pricing and finally information that could be used
in a marketing piece to show companies that contract pricing may not
be as cheap or as great a deal as they may have been led to believe or
think.