Argon pricing???

[Spike]

That's a cool site DaveO. When searching cl I usually have the best luck looking for "torch" or "acetylene" as key words rather than "welding bottle".
I paid exactly 0$ for my last 350cf bottle. A neighbor had an old bottle he used in his truck to run air tools when he was out on his farm, but upgraded to a portable air compressor and I got the old bottle. My Lws took it and gave me an argon cylinder with no charge other than the fill up (95$).

[DaveO]

Too funny: look what just came up in CL's "free" section:


He posted at 4:35, I called him at 4:45 and he didn't even say hello- he just said "They're already gone" and hung up.

[everlastsupport]

Too funny: look what just came up in CL's "free" section:


He posted at 4:35, I called him at 4:45 and he didn't even say hello- he just said "They're already gone" and hung up.

My guess would be someone called and took all 8 tanks. Someone getting out of the business or something maybe and struck a deal with first caller. Or they changed there mind..

[agent4573]

Anything that isn't garbage is normally spoken for in minutes. I put up a hot tub one time in the free section and had 25 emails in 15 minutes.

[Kempy]

I was told today that Air Liquide now in Canada has put the rental of the bottles to 27 cents a day and no more if you get it back before the rental month ends you don’t pay so if you used 12 bottles a year you didn’t pay rental but now if you keep it less than a month you pay or one day you pay so one year will cost you $98.55 plus taxes for each bottle.

[Big Paulie]

I was quoted $365 for a 150CF tank out the door at Airgas in Raleigh, NC. The woman on the phone did not even know the refill price!

They have a virtual monopoly around here, so the options are limited. I have a friend with a business, and will call and reprice with his account information, expecting a discount as I am only a hobbyist and paying retail, I am sure. Also, will look at a 125cf, if they are truly looking to stop selling 150s.

[zoama]

I was quoted $365 for a 150CF tank out the door at Airgas in Raleigh, NC. The woman on the phone did not even know the refill price!

They have a virtual monopoly around here, so the options are limited. I have a friend with a business, and will call and reprice with his account information, expecting a discount as I am only a hobbyist and paying retail, I am sure. Also, will look at a 125cf, if they are truly looking to stop selling 150s.

That's way high, go for the big tank, a 300+... they cost $300 for 99 year lease and $60 to exchange here in upstate SC.

[DaveO]

I was quoted $365 for a 150CF tank out the door at Airgas in Raleigh, NC. The woman on the phone did not even know the refill price!

That kinda sounds like it was her first day on the job, or first day covering the phones while the knowledgable people were at lunch.

[everlastsupport]

I was quoted $365 for a 150CF tank out the door at Airgas in Raleigh, NC. The woman on the phone did not even know the refill price!

They have a virtual monopoly around here, so the options are limited. I have a friend with a business, and will call and reprice with his account information, expecting a discount as I am only a hobbyist and paying retail, I am sure. Also, will look at a 125cf, if they are truly looking to stop selling 150s.

My guess would be around $40-$50, would be around here on an owner tank.

[johnson697]

paid 180 per tank for 119cf argon tank and its$14.00 to fill them with an account.

[youngnstudly]

I was quoted $365 for a 150CF tank out the door at Airgas in Raleigh, NC. The woman on the phone did not even know the refill price!

They have a virtual monopoly around here, so the options are limited. I have a friend with a business, and will call and reprice with his account information, expecting a discount as I am only a hobbyist and paying retail, I am sure. Also, will look at a 125cf, if they are truly looking to stop selling 150s.

That sounds about right for Airgas...I don't remember what I was quoted when I bought my 150CF Argon cylinder from them, but I told the guy that I was a student at the local JC so he would give me the "student discount." He acted like he was really saving me a ton by getting the bottle filled and out the door for just over $300.00! The fill charge was $35 ONLY because I purchased the cylinder at that time, and I recall him saying the normal refill price was either $92.00 or $96.00. I got sidetracked on Friday and wasn't able to make it up there to get it refilled, but I am going to try to make it there early this week.

FYI, the 250CF tank was quoted at $390.00 and the refill price on that one was $108.00! I told him that I thought the price was suppose to go DOWN with the larger amount I was buying, and he told me "No, it is actually the opposite, the more you buy from us, the more expensive it is to purchase." WTF??? What kind of sense does that make?

I bought from them due to the big company name though, since most other LWS in this area have been bought out, renamed, or closed up (and I wasn't about to get stuck with a $3-400 Argon cylinder from a shop that might close up next week!). My neighbor had a hellva time exchanging a bottle that he bought on CL used with his Milller tig, as the company had closed shop up in the 90's and 3 LWS wouldn't accept his tank for trade in. Other prices in this area were all within $25 out the door on the 2 or 3 Argon cylinder sizes I asked about, so they all screw you over evenly across the board.

[Big Paulie]

Just got home with a 150CF tank of Argon, for $229 out the door (Purshased Tank full) Refills are $30. There is a new Praxair here in Raleigh, and they are competitive, compared to the former Airgas Monopoly. Airgas wanted $365 for the same tank! Also, Praxair said larger tanks were not for purchase but can lease a 300CF for $60 a year.

They also offered to upgrade any airgas tank, so I may use the 150 for Argon for now, and then go to a 200 and swap my 150 in for Ar/CO2 for my mig (currently have an 80 for that, and would keep the 80 for portability).

Airgas caters to the larger pro shops and heavy users of gas, and apparently is not interested helping the part timers or hobbyists. Heck, they lost all the materials and equipment business to the internet already, so they assume that they have you hostage for the gas, and will make us pay for our dis-loyalty.

[youngnstudly]

Just got home with a 150CF tank of Argon, for $229 out the door (Purshased Tank full) Refills are $30. There is a new Praxair here in Raleigh, and they are competitive, compared to the former Airgas Monopoly. Airgas wanted $365 for the same tank! Also, Praxair said larger tanks were not for purchase but can lease a 300CF for $60 a year.

They also offered to upgrade any airgas tank, so I may use the 150 for Argon for now, and then go to a 200 and swap my 150 in for Ar/CO2 for my mig (currently have an 80 for that, and would keep the 80 for portability).

Airgas caters to the larger pro shops and heavy users of gas, and apparently is not interested helping the part timers or hobbyists. Heck, they lost all the materials and equipment business to the internet already, so they assume that they have you hostage for the gas, and will make us pay for our dis-loyalty.

Thanks to your post, I got suspicious/curious and called all the local welding shops for refill prices on my 150cf tank. When I called around several months back to purchase the cylinder, all the shops locally gave me almost the same price out the door. However, upon checking the refill prices a few minutes ago, refill prices couldn't be more different.

150CF Argon cylinder exchange prices:

Airgas-Quoted $90 w/o tax and fees, and $113 out the door(!!!)

Praxair-$58.54 w/o tax and fees, $63.?? out the door

Mathison-$64.95 w/o tax, around $70 out the door

small Mom/Pop welding store-$83 w/o tax

So to sum up, EVERYONE including the little mom and pop shop are cheaper than Airgas! I should have asked what the refill prices were when I bought the cylinder and got quotes for a 150CF tank (filled), but it didn't cross my mind. Live and learn I guess. Or as my grandfather used to say, "Screw me once, shame on you. Screw me twice, shame on me."