On May 26, 11:49*am, "John" wrote:
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.

How do you think the pubs overheads compare with your overheads? How
many domestic staff do you employ for starters? How much do you pay
your accountant? How much does your bank charge you each time you sell
yourself a pint? etc, etc, etc,...

If you don't like the pub prices then don't go to the pub.

MBQ