On 03/10/2020 09:15, Chris Green wrote:
Chris B wrote:
I have just received an estimate from a tradesman (based on photographs
to save him the time of a visit) which includes £199Â* Plus VAT for
listed parts.


The very same parts are available from suppliers listed on amazon (not
amazon itself) for £96.98 Including VAT and delivery.


I know that part of the tradesman's profit comes from the Sale of parts
but I always thought that they bought parts from suppliers at trade
prices and then billed for them at retail prices.

Is a markup on parts of well over 100% typical in the building industry
or is this a simple indication that he doesn't want the job?


So far I only have one estimate, as I don't like wasting 3 peoples time
for jobs of less than half a day, when only one is going to get the job.

I am wondering if its worth getting any more or is this typical.

I think the 'tradesman' has a number of problems nowadays:-

If you shop around you can nearly always find bits and pieces more
cheaply on eBay or Amazon.

But these days its not "shopping around" its one google search.


The tradesman needs to buy everything he uses quickly and simply
from just one or two suppliers, he can't spend his time searching
for the best price on the internet - time is money

That is a fair point, and as someone else said I have the opportunity to
spend half a day looking for the best price. In practice however these
days with google it takes but seconds to get the best price.

For the tradesman however this could result in him having to set up
payment arrangements with dozens of different suppliers (or pay up
front), as opposed to just settling one bill at the end of the month.



The 'trade discount' may not be all that much, or even available
to a one-man business.

It *might* be worth asking if the tradesman would be happy if you
source the parts.

I can understand anyones reluctance to install parts supplied by the
customer - you might never know quite what you are letting yourself in
for - even though in this case parts would be identical part numbers I
would expect a "No".




--
Chris B (News)