Woodworm wrote:
John wrote:
Some good bits in the programme - but annoying when Melinda goes and
begs materials and services and get things free. If I was to try
it......!
Seriously have you tried it?

I think it is an abuse of the 'power' of TV.

Why, the suppliers get some very good advertising from it - besides,
you only see the ones that agree, there may be many refusals before
they get "a bite".

I wish a retailer would
tell them that their prices are as low as possible

Now the suppliers would be telling porkies if they did that - as on
most of their stuff the 'mark-up' is around 30-40% of the wholesale
price (and that's without what they can charge for delivery) - and if
they're in the restaurant business, then that mark-up is more like
60% plus.

My wife's a VAT Assurance Officer and is forever complaining at the prices
of stuff because she knows just how much markup is being put on :-)

Two quick examples (not DIY related but you'll get the point):

1. Opticians and spectacle frames - most frames are bought in for a fiver or
less, _including_ the 'designer' ones such as D&G, DKNY etc (IIRC as she's
not here at the mo to confirm).

2. Pubs. We were in a pub recently where they were selling Westons
"Traditional Scrumpy" cider (6.0%) at FOUR QUID a pint! Now, we happen to
really like this and buy it ourselves direct from Westons. The cost of a
20-litre box (that's 35.2 pints) is £41.55 plus £7 delivery, all including
VAT. If I've got the sums right, that's about £1.37 a pint. And, the pub
will get even more discount for bulk buying.