The cheapest paint isn’t necessarily the most inexpensive

The old adage is true: The cheapest paint isn’t necessarily the most inexpensive. So before you make a buying decision based on price, consider this: Lower quality paints require more coats to cover, aren’t as durable and usually need repainting much sooner.

This is especially true with exterior coatings. To get a true reading of costs, look beyond the price tag and compare the "cost per year of service". Let’s say you’re painting a home that requires 20 gallons of exterior latex. You have two options:

• Buy a lower grade paint at $20 per gallon with an expected lifespan of six years.
• Buy a high-quality 25-year exterior paint at $35 a gallon with an expected lifespan of 25 years.

In the first scenario, your out-of-pocket material cost would be $400 (20 gallons at $20). Since the paint is expected to last six years, the “cost per year” is $400, or $67 per year. If you use a higher quality paint, your material cost is $700. But since you won’t need to repaint for 25 years, your “cost per year” is $28 ($700 divided by 25 years).

By choosing the higher-priced, higher-quality paint, you actually save your customer $39 a year in paint expense. And that’s just material cost. Add labor into the equation and the money your customer saves in the long run increases even more.