It was a Tuesday in March 2024. I had three quotes for a Doosan G25 forklift, one of them suspiciously low. The office manager was reminding me to order a bidet attachment for the staff bathroom. And someone had printed out an 'are you smarter than a 5th grader quiz' and taped it next to the coffee machine. I didn't realize it yet, but all three were about to teach me the same purchasing lesson.
The setup: I'm the one who buys things
I'm the office administrator for a 47-person construction supply company. I handle all equipment and facility purchasing—roughly $300,000 per year across 9 vendors. Maybe $280,000 in a slow year, but $300,000 is the budget. I report to operations and finance, which means I get pressure to save money from one side and pressure to keep everything running from the other.
When I took over purchasing in 2020, I thought my job was to get the lowest possible invoice price. That mindset produced a string of decisions that looked good in spreadsheets and cost us in the real world. It took me three years and about 150 orders—maybe 140, I'd have to check—to understand that vendor relationships matter more than headline prices.
The first mistake: a Milwaukee air compressor
The first big test was a Milwaukee air compressor. The model I wanted was listed on the Milwaukee website with clear CFM specs. I found it on a discount site for about 30% less and felt pretty proud of myself.
Then it arrived with a damaged regulator gauge, no prepaid return label, and no one who would answer the phone. The listing had used a different 'peak CFM' number than the official spec sheet. I spent three days trying to get a replacement part and ended up renting a compressor for two days at $75 per day. In the end, I saved maybe $110 and lost an entire week of my time.
From the outside, it looks like a deal is a deal. The reality is that the extra 30% often pays for support, warranty, and people who answer the phone.
The big one: the Doosan G25 forklift
Our old warehouse forklift was burning oil, so in early 2024 I started the process of replacing it with a Doosan G25. For anyone not in the equipment world, that's a 5,000-pound capacity class forklift—the workhorse size for warehouses and construction yards.
I got quotes from three dealers. One local authorized dealer quoted a complete package. Another dealer quoted a base machine. The third, an out-of-state dealer, quoted a number about 12% below everyone else. On paper, it looked like a win.
Honestly, I'm not sure whether the low-price dealer was trying to win on a stripped quote or just assumed I knew what I was asking for. My best guess is the former, because they never asked about our duty cycle. Here's what I missed: the low quote didn't include the side-shift attachment, the cold-start package, or rigging. It also assumed we'd pick up the machine. By the time I added those items, the gap narrowed. Still, the low quote was 4% under the local dealer's total, and I convinced myself that 4% was worth it.
It wasn't.
The machine arrived 11 days late because the dealer didn't have a truck going our direction. We rented a forklift for 8 of those days—$1,640. The rigging company we used charged an extra $400 because the site required a flatbed with a ramp. And when we had a small coolant leak in the first month, our local authorized dealer was willing to do warranty work, but they weren't at the front of anyone's line. I learned that a warranty is only as good as the service network behind it.
Meanwhile, the machine itself was everything we expected. The G25 has been solid overall. The DaeWoo/Doosan engineering heritage is real. I'm not saying the equipment is the problem. The problem was that I bought a piece of iron from a stranger and expected a long-term business relationship.
How the bidet attachment made the same point
The office bathroom project became a miniature version of the forklift purchase. The office manager asked me to order a bidet attachment. I found one for $18 and added it to a supply order without thinking.
It leaked on day nine. The water damaged a section of the bathroom floor, which meant a plumber visit, a floor patch, and a lot of paperwork. The total cost of that cheap bidet attachment came to about $680. A $60 model from the local hardware store, installed by the same plumber, would have cost far less overall. The quote was cheaper; the asset wasn't.
The 'are you smarter than a 5th grader quiz' part
During the time we spent waiting on the replacement regulator for the air compressor, someone in the breakroom was leading an 'are you smarter than a 5th grader quiz'. One of the questions asked about the water cycle—evaporation, condensation, precipitation. The office manager got it wrong. I got it wrong too. We all laughed, and then someone said, 'At least we know how to buy a forklift.'
We didn't. Not yet.
The actual lesson from the quiz, like the lesson from the equipment purchases, is to check your assumptions. A 5th grader knows that water has to change state before it comes back down. A purchasing manager has to learn that a low quote changes state too—it becomes a total cost once you add attachments, freight, downtime, and dealer support.
What I do differently now
I didn't stop looking for good prices. I just stopped pretending the invoice price is the total price. For anything above $5,000, I now ask:
- Is the dealer authorized for warranty work?
- Are attachments and rigging included in the quote?
- What happens if the machine goes down in the first year?
- How quickly can they get parts?
- What's the realistic delivery window, not the optimistic one?
Per OSHA 29 CFR 1910.178, lift truck operators must be trained and evaluated before operating a powered industrial truck. Our local dealer included that training in the purchase. The out-of-state quote didn't mention it. We would have had to pay for a trainer separately.
That last point mattered most with the Doosan G25. As of January 2025, the specs on the Doosan forklift website are useful—dimensions, capacity, engine details—but no brochure can tell you whether the dealer will pick up the phone on a Friday afternoon. That's the kind of information you have to test by calling them with a question and seeing how long it takes to get a real answer.
The old assumption that local dealers always cost more comes from an era when you needed a rep to visit your site for information. Now you can get a quote online in 10 minutes. What hasn't changed is the cost of distance when something breaks.
As of January 2025, the G25 is still running well and the Milwaukee air compressor is still on the shelf. The bidet attachment is gone. The process changed, even if the machines didn't.
It took me three years to learn this: the lowest quote is a starting point, not a decision. Total cost includes time, downtime, support, and trust.
Sure, the out-of-state dealer saved me perhaps $1,200 on the Doosan G25 purchase. The rental, extra freight, and lost time erased most of that—and the stress erased the rest. I'd rather pay a few thousand more for the certainty that someone local will treat my company like a customer, not a transaction.
This pricing comparison was from Q1 2024, and the equipment market changes fast. Verify current quotes, warranty terms, and dealer support before you commit. And if you're ever tempted to buy the cheapest bidet attachment, think about your floor.
