How to Get the Sherwin Williams Contractor Discount
(Hint: You don’t need to be a contractor or a painter)
Every time I see someone in front of me in line at Sherwin Williams paying full price for paint or other products I cringe. Even though I am not a contractor or a professional painter, I have been receiving a Sherwin Williams contractor discount (a commercial account discount) for years.
While there will always be debate from some who say you should simply buy the cheapest paint from Home Depot and Lowe's, in my experience big box store paint, particularly their least expensive paints, are often very thin and do not last or perform nearly as well as paints from Sherwin Williams.
Regardless of where you come down in that debate, if you ever intend to purchase paint from Sherwin Williams there is a much better way to do that than paying off-the-shelf prices.
Many people just don’t know how easy it is to get the Sherwin Williams contractor discount.
The easiest way to get the Sherwin Williams contractor discount is to call a Sherwin Williams store and ask to be connected with a sales representative. The store will send you a very simple one-page Sherwin Williams Commercial Credit Application to complete. As long as you complete the application correctly, you can expect to receive discounts off of Sherwin Williams’ paint and product list prices of anywhere from 40%-70% whenever you make a purchase.
Below I will show you how to apply and the exact application form you will receive, examples of actual pricing discounts I get on popular paint products, the discounts you can expect as soon as your application is approved (and there is a high rate of approval according to reps at Sherwin), and some of the benefits beyond pricing discounts that I have received with a commercial account.
TABLE OF OF CONTENTS
What Discount do Contractors get at Sherwin Williams?
How to Get the Sherwin Williams Contractor Discount (You Don’t Need to be a Contractor!)
Step 1: Call any Sherwin Williams Store
Step 2: Fill out and Submit the Sherwin Williams Commercial Credit Application
Step 3: Wait for their Response
Other Benefits of the Sherwin Williams Contractor Discount
The Sales Representatives are a Wealth of Knowledge and Help
Free Delivery of Paint and Products to Your Job Site
Sherwin Williams Gives You Time to Pay
What Discount do Contractors get at Sherwin Williams?
With respect to the paint products that I and many others use frequently, the Sherwin Williams contractor discounts you can expect to receive right at the outset of setting up your new account can range from 40% to 70% off Sherwin Williams list prices. There is some discount variability based on how much paint you buy, but most stores and sales representatives will tell you that the lowest discount you will receive will be in the range of 35-40%.
Here are some examples of the Sherwin Williams contractor discounts on my own account:
As you can see near the bottom right of the picture, I receive 65% off of the list price for Promar 200. Promar 200 in an eggshell finish is the run-of-the-mill paint that I and many others use on interior walls. It performs well but doesn’t break the bank.
I included emerald urethane here just to show an example of the Sherwin Williams contractor discount (48% off) that I receive on a high end Sherwin Williams product.
When it comes to trim, doors and cabinets, you have a lot of options. Some use a product called Solo (my Sherwin Williams contractor discount gets me a 52% discount on Solo, for a final price of $35.95/gallon), others use ProClassic (49% contractor discount and $45.81/gallon on my account), All Surface Enamel (40% discount and $49.99/gallon on my account), and others go even more high end with Emerald Urethane.
When I want a solid exterior paint, I will often use Superpaint (42% discount on my account), but you can find cheaper exterior paints with the Sherwin Williams contractor discount. Exterior paint prices and discounts with my Sherwin Williams contractor discount range from $28/gallon for A-100 (a 39% discount) all the way up to $56/gallon and a 52% discount.
Finally, where I live we have a lot of properties with old masonry wall basements and I will regularly want to use a masonry coating that will resist some moisture penetration and the efflorescence that makes masonry walls look awful. Loxon is my go-to product for that application and I save 46%.
As you can see, the Sherwin Williams contractor discount is valuable. I could instead wait around for the 2-4 times a year that Sherwin Williams puts out 30-40% off coupons, buy non-tinted paint at that time, and then come back to the store at a later date when I am ready to use the paint and get it tinted to the color I want. That is a hassle.
With the Sherwin Williams contractor discount I don’t need to wait for those coupons. Even with the basic account that I have, I am regularly getting more than 40% off the list price on high quality paint products, and I can buy the products I want when I need them.
How to Get the Sherwin Williams Contractor Discount
I have had my Sherwin Williams contractor discount for many years, so I wanted to make sure nothing has changed about their process for approving new applicants. I also wanted to take a sampling of several different stores in different parts of the country, just to make sure that the process was more or less uniform.
For those reasons, when writing this article I called four randomly selected Sherwin Williams stores in different parts of the country (San Diego, CA; Las Vegas, NV; Columbus, OH; and Paramus, NJ) to ask them how I would go about accessing discounts that contractors and other businesses get on their paint and to see if the responses were similar.
Step 1: Call any Sherwin Williams Store
There is of course more than one way to inquire about the Sherwin Williams contractor discount with a store when you call. However, just so you have it, this is how my conversations went with each of the above stores that I called (in each case getting me access to the Sherwin Williams commercial credit application):
Me: “Hi, I am a real estate investor, I own a few properties and will probably have more soon, and I am trying to find out more about how to get discounts on your paint. I have heard that I need to get connected with a sales representative. Is that correct, and how would I go about doing that?”
Store Team Member Typical Response (Across All Stores I Contacted): Yes, that is correct, we can set you up with an account and a sales representative and you will then have access to discounts. You will need to fill out an application which we can email to you, and once completed, it takes the credit team a few hours to review usually, and then you can get the approval.
Me: Do I need to have good credit to be approved? Do you do a hard credit pull?
Store Team Member General Response: The credit requirements are definitely not too strict, so it shouldn’t be a problem unless you have some serious issues on your credit report. It is a hard credit pull if you apply as an individual, but it should only take a few points off your score on a temporary basis. But, if you apply with an LLC that you own or another legal entity (corporation, etc.) there will be no hard credit pull.
Me: What kind of discount can I expect right out of the gate if I am approved?
San Diego, CA Store Response: It depends on how often you use the account and how much you purchase, but at a minimum you should be getting 40-50% discounts after the account is opened.
Las Vegas, NV Store Response: The sales representative determines your discount, as does the amount you purchase, but you should always be getting at least 40% and you will always get a better price than whatever sale is going on at the time.
Columbus, OH Store Response: The commercial account opens you up to at least 40% off of the list price but also opens up a whole bunch of products not typically available to homeowners who come into our store, like Promar 200 and 400 that retail much higher than the prices we will offer you. If your representative is with the property management division, for example, they can often get you Promar 200 for like $20-$25/gallon.
Paramus, NJ Store Response: You can expect a 30-35% discount minimum once your account is set up.
With the exception of the Paramus, New Jersey store, all of the stores said that a new account would get a minimum of 40% off. That has also been consistent with what I see on my own account.
The credit report aspect might be of concern to some of you. While I of course cannot speak to your individual credit circumstances, if you are someone who wants to use Sherwin Williams paint, I think it is worth it to try to get approval even if you do have some credit issues.
Check with whomever you speak to about applying, but to me the benefits of potentially getting approved far outweigh the risks of a denial.
Step 2: Fill out and Submit the Sherwin Williams Commercial Credit Application
To get the Sherwin Williams contractor discount, you have to fill out a pretty basic online form with a handy submit button within the body of the form, so it can all be completed in one place without needing to save to PDF and email it.
To start, you should receive an email with a link from whomever you spoke with that looks like this (I covered the link they sent me but yours will appear in that location):
After clicking the link, you will see a page that looks like this where you simply enter the same email address that received the email above:
After entering your email address and clicking ‘submit’, you will be taken to the Sherwin Williams Commercial Credit Application, which looks like this:
When I completed this form (several years ago now), I only used personal information. In other words, I did not use any specific business name or entity to apply. If that is the way you are also applying, then you would select “Proprietorship” in the form where prompted, which refers to a person doing business without an LLC, Corporation or Partnership.
Note that many of these fields are not required (i.e. not marked with an asterisk). However, I recall that I opted to provide more information than was required because I thought that would make me come across more professionally.
For “Type of Business” I used “Real Estate.” I did not provide a “Contractor License #”, number of employees or parent company.
I did fill out the Guarantor information because it was explained to me that this was required.
Step 3: Wait for their Response
After you have finished filling out the application online, simply sign at the bottom, click submit and wait for their response.
Other Benefits of the Sherwin Williams Contractor Discount
If your application is approved, then of course the main benefit of having your shiny new Sherwin Williams commercial account is the hefty discounts you will receive off of their very high shelf prices. That contractor discount is what makes it much more reasonable for folks like us to buy quality paint rather than just get the cheap stuff at big box stores.
However, I cannot overstate how fantastic some of the other benefits are of having a commercial account:
The Sales Representatives are a Wealth of Knowledge
When I was approved for my Sherwin Williams contractor discount and commercial account, I was assigned to a very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful sales representative. After two years he moved on to a corporate role and I was assigned a new rep who has been equally helpful.
For example, when I did my first ever renovation of a home lived in by a heavy smoker, I was completely uninformed about what was needed to cover the deeply smoke-stained ceilings. As a result, I used regular Promar ceiling paint assuming that all it would take was some extra coats.
Three coats later, the yellowish hue of years of smoke staining came right through. Within a minute of calling my sales rep for advice, he pointed me to an oil-based primer that solved the problem.
Since that call, I have regularly sent my sales rep pictures of new renovations I am working on so he can give me specific tips and advice about which products will work best for any given situation. This has ranged from rusted handrails, old wood decks, damaged wood fences, damp basement walls, different types of siding and more.
I won’t always jump on the first product recommended by my rep, and I will always ask for alternative options at different price points. I advise you to do the same.
However, I cannot overstate how valuable it is to be able to text pictures to, and then text or call, a paint expert who can direct you to an array of options that would work best for your situation. You can't stay on top of all of the latest products Sherwin Williams has to offer nor will you have the depth of knowledge that the reps have, so it is a fantastic resource.
Free Delivery of Paint and Products
With your Sherwin Williams contractor discount and commercial account, you can place your order online, by phone or even through your sales rep (but don’t abuse that privilege), and have your paint delivered for free directly to your home or job site.
It is very nice to be able to cut trips to stores out of your day and let someone else do the pickup, so this is a wonderful time-saving convenience.
Sherwin Williams Gives You Time to Pay
The Sherwin Williams commercial account also comes with the ability to pay for your paint on the 20th of the month following your purchase. I can imagine that this is particularly beneficial to contractors who don’t receive payment in full from their customers until after their job is done.
However, it can also be of use to investors and homeowners if money is tight and they want to wait on rent payments or work income to pay off their bills. It is just a nice little perk that comes with your account.
Ultimately, based on all of the above, the Sherwin Williams contractor discount and commercial account are, in my opinion, well worth pursuing. Good luck in your application!
