How Contractors Choose a Tile and Stone Supplier: 7 Things to Check

A contractor choosing a tile and stone supplier is choosing who will hold the material for the job: enough of one product, bought in one order, with the trim to finish it, at a price known before the bid goes out. A useful test of any tile distributor is whether it can answer those questions for the specific job, in writing, before the order.

In short, judge a tile supplier on seven things: range, depth of stock and where it sits, lot consistency for natural stone, samples, price you can see, a named person on the account, and paperwork such as tax exemption. Below, each one is explained with the question to ask and how it works at Stone Tile Depot, where contractors, designers and builders buy through a free trade account.

Choosing a tile supplier: the checklist

What to check	Question to ask	How it works here
Range	Can I buy the field tile, the trim and the mosaic in one stone?	Stone families run to tiles, mosaics, moldings, pavers and slabs
Stock depth	Is the quantity for my job held now, and where?	Product pages show the square footage held; each warehouse has its own page
Lot consistency	Will a whole floor of marble come from one lot?	Large volume marble is held in quantities sized for whole floors
Samples	Can I see the actual tile before ordering?	Sample button on the product page; full-size pieces on some tile
Price	Can I price the job without waiting for a quote?	Prices are listed; wholesale and trade pricing apply at checkout; slabs by quote
People	Who do I call about this order?	A dedicated trade specialist on every approved trade account
Paperwork	How do you handle tax-exempt and resale orders?	Send the exemption form; city and state sales tax applies otherwise

1. Range: one stone, every piece

A floor is more than its field tile. A bathroom in marble needs a base or a pencil liner to finish the wall, a threshold at the door, a mosaic for the shower floor, and sometimes a slab for the vanity top. Bought from different suppliers, those pieces come from different makers, and the color and finish can differ between them. Ask whether the supplier sells the whole family in the same stone and finish.

Royal Beige marble is one example of a family stocked here end to end: polished and honed tiles in several sizes, mosaics, pencil liners, base and cornice moldings, leather-finish pavers in sizes from 6x12 to 24x24, rock face ledger panels and slabs.

Lookbook

Royal Beige marble, one stone across a project

Floor

Base molding

Mosaic

Patio

Feature wall

The range across materials matters too, because one project can call for several materials. The catalog includes marble, porcelain, travertine, limestone, basalt and ceramic tile, plus stone slabs, pavers, exterior cladding and bathroom vanities.

2. Stock depth and where it is held

A catalog lists what a supplier can sell; stock is what it holds now. For a job with a start date, ask for the quantity held and the location. Here, tile product pages such as Italian Carrara honed marble at 12x24 show an item code and a stock figure in square feet under the title, and the location pages list the products each warehouse holds. Each location has its own page: Carlstadt, NJ, Fairfax, VA, Chantilly, VA, Miami, FL, Pompano Beach, FL, Anaheim, CA and Laredo, TX.

A product can be held at several locations at once. That is useful on a large order, and it is also why it is worth asking whether one location holds the full quantity, so the job is not split between two shipments.

3. Lot consistency for natural stone

Each production run or lot can differ in shade. Porcelain is fired in production runs, and two runs of the same color can come out a shade apart. Marble is cut from quarry blocks: tiles from one block share their ground color and veining, and the next block of the same named stone can move in shade and in the weight of the veining. On a large, open floor, either difference shows. A stone supplier should be able to tell you whether your quantity comes from one lot.

The Large Volume Marble Tiles collection holds marble in quantities sized for whole floors. Our guide to ordering tile for a job explains lots, shade and how many extra boxes to keep.

4. Samples you can hold

A screen shows color under someone else's light. A sample shows it in the client's room, next to the cabinets and the paint. Ask what a sample is: a cut piece of the real tile, or a printed card. Here, products with a sample show an Order Sample button on the product page, and on tile such as Italian Carrara honed marble at 12x24 the sample is a full-size piece, shipped as a single tile. The tile samples page lists every product with a sample, and our guide to sampling a project explains how designers and contractors sample before a large order.

5. A price you can see before the bid

A contractor prices a job before the client signs, so a supplier that quotes every order by email slows the bid down. Ask whether prices are published and how trade pricing is applied. Here, every tile and stone product shows its price per unit on the page. Products in Wholesale Tiles also show an "as low as" price, the lower per-unit price on larger orders, applied at checkout. A trade member logged in gets trade pricing on eligible tile and stone at checkout with no code. Slabs are the exception: each slab is priced per project, by quote, for the batches you choose. Our guide to wholesale tile explains how wholesale pricing and the trade account differ.

6. A named person on the account

When a delivery date moves or a quantity changes, a contractor needs one person who knows the order. Ask who that is. Every approved trade account here is assigned a dedicated trade specialist, who works with you on selection, quotes and project support.

7. Tax exemption and paperwork

Dealers reselling tile and tax-exempt organizations need the supplier to handle exemption correctly. All sales are subject to city and state sales tax, and a tax-exempt buyer sends in the exemption form. The trade application itself asks for a Tax ID with the company details.

Natural stone supplier or tile supplier?

Searches for a stone supplier, a marble supplier and a tile supplier can lead to three different kinds of business. A stone yard stores slabs and sells them to the fabricators who cut counters. A tile distributor holds boxed tile, mosaics and trim in warehouses and sells to the trade. A showroom or retailer sells tile by the box to the end customer.

Supplier type	Sells	Sells to
Stone yard	Slabs	Fabricators
Tile distributor	Boxed tile, mosaics and trim	Contractors, dealers and other trade buyers
Showroom or retailer	Tile by the box	Homeowners
Online supplier with a trade program	Tile, slabs, pavers and vanities	Homeowners, and trade buyers through an account

A project with marble floors, a marble slab vanity top and a porcelain shower needs all three kinds of material. The advantage of one supplier selling tile, slabs and pavers is one account, one specialist and one set of terms across the job. Delivery is part of the comparison too: ask who receives the order and how, since tile and slabs are handled differently. Slabs here are delivered only to a licensed fabricator, so the fabricator stays part of the counter work; our guide to buying slabs for a client project walks through it.

How to open a trade account

The application on the Trade Professionals page is free, with no commitment and no fees. It asks for your company, Tax ID, business type (architect, designer, builder, contractor, dealer or other), annual sales and whether your projects are residential or commercial. An account manager reviews it within a couple of days. Our trade program guide explains what changes once you are approved.

Tile Supplier FAQ

What is the difference between a tile distributor and a tile supplier?

A distributor buys from manufacturers and quarries in bulk, holds stock in warehouses and sells to the trade. Supplier is the wider word for anyone who sells you the material. For a contractor, what matters is whether the business holds the stock and sets its prices, or passes the order on to someone else.

What should I ask when my quantity is listed at two warehouses?

Ask whether the full quantity can come from one location, and if not, whether the boxes at the two locations are from the same lot. A product can be listed at several warehouses at once; Royale polished marble at 24x24, for example, is listed in Carlstadt, Chantilly, Miami, Pompano Beach and Anaheim.

What is a tile lot?

A lot is a group of tile produced or cut together: one production run of porcelain or ceramic, or the tiles cut from one block or group of blocks of natural stone. Tiles within a lot match each other closely; tiles from two lots of the same product can differ in shade, which is why the lot is a question to ask on a large order.

Do tile suppliers give contractor pricing?

Here it comes through the trade program, and the application asks for your business type: architect, designer, builder, contractor, dealer or other. Once approved, trade pricing applies to eligible tile and stone at checkout whenever the account is logged in, and the dedicated specialist can confirm which products in a bid are covered.