Yeah, I have heard that as well, that a lot of "contractor" landscaping and construction products you need to find a local distributor and buy through them...

For electrical and HVAC it seems that local distributors are price-rapists (probably based on the fact that contractors just markup the already inflated prices and pass that on to the customer, and yes, I know that it costs to be a distributor, but a lot of the prices are outrageous), I mean standard motors, contactors, capacitors, switches and the like are all UBER expensive from local supply houses, even with "licensed contractor"-agreement discounts they are more expensive than what can be found from national suppliers by A LOT! I would have no problem buying locally if it were a reasonable amount over those prices, but at 2-3x the online price it is insane. Hell the blower for my air handler was $180 from amazon, locally I found only one places and they wanted $410 for it... The closest locally for a "universal" replacement was $245 and online it was $110 online shipped for the same. Same thing with electrical products, such as switch plates... Even online they are like $8-12 PER PLATE! Menards, $1.47 for the same product...