"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
.. .


Frank Erskine wrote:
On Fri, 30 May 2008 20:56:24 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:


The days of the 40% discount for the tradesman are, with a few
exceptions like Howdens by and large gone. The public can now buy
as cheaply as a tradesman. If you were in touch with the market you
would realise that most of the public prefer to choose & purchase
their own bathrooms, kitchens, lighting etc and then get someone in
to fit it.

I'd much rather leave it to the installer to supply the items (as long
as they're the ones that I specify). That's what I did a few years ago
for the bathroom.
That way, the responsibility of actually getting the bits 'n' pieces,
including all the sundries, in a timely manner is on the same
guy/firm, then it's up to him to get the whole installation done and
working properly.

Sensible on your part Frank agreed, but not on mine if the client
specifies the items.

If I were asked to install "this B&Q bathroom" I would tell the customer
OK, you buy it, I'll install it. That way if/when I found damaged/missing
bits it isn't my problem & I can charge extra time for sorting it. I
wouldn't accept the job on any other basis.

If I bought the specified B&Q bathroom myself & found damaged/missing bits
(highly likely) then it would be my problem & cost to sort it out. I
could easily end up out of pocket because B&Q are basically unreliable as
a supplier. I would end up paying for B&Q's inadequate service -
something out of my control.

The problem is that I can't put a margin on that B&Q bathroom because the
customer knows exactly how much B&Q sell it for.

If a client asks me to supply & fit "a bathroom" I would qoute for &
supply one obtained from my local independant because I can earn a margin
on the supply as well as labour on the fix & know I won't have the
damaged/missing bits problem.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk



I've never looked into the ins and outs of it, but do B&Q not have trade
counters at their bigger superstores ? We have two in our area, and I know
at least one of them has a trade counter. Surely, this would imply that
tradesmen other than yourselves, *are* prepared to use them as a supplier,
and presumably, if they are going to offer such a service as a special
counter for bona fide trade only, they must be offering some sort of
discount over the shop floor retail price ? If that is the case, then the
customer can pick what they want at the retail price, and you can get your
markup on the parts, by buying at the B&Q trade rate.

Arfa