On 04/10/2020 15:01, tim... wrote:


"Andrew" wrote in message
...
On 02/10/2020 21:24, John Rumm wrote:
On 02/10/2020 19:38, GB wrote:
On 02/10/2020 19:23, 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 £199
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.



As a professional, I charged for my time. If I bought in services
for clients, I passed them on at cost.

Which if you literally do that (i.e. sell at your buy price), means
you lose money on every part sold - since procurement takes your
time, and bites into your cash flow, warranty replacements then just
increase that loss.

However, I got a quote from a gas fitter recently who charged a
fairly high rate for his time AND wanted to sell me a lot of parts
with a 100% mark-up. This made his hourly rate of charge really high!

100% might be taking the pee, although it depends on the market and
the product.



100% is pretty well par for the course in the garage trade. My
ex-MOT-tester neighbour still does it for all the private work
he still does. And he charges VAT on the bull**** 'retail' price
and then pockets the extra 20% on the markup.

However perverse it sounds, charging VAT on top of a vat-able price for
products bought retail is the correct thing to do

useless he wants to risk getting caught at a VAT audit he will be
passing this VAT on, not pocketing it




He isn't VAT registered !. That lapsed or went with the garage
business that he sold many years ago and 'retired'.
Now he does the work on his drive or seems to spend a lot of time
at another garage. I often hear him say "I can't get a ramp today,
so I;ll have to do it on the drive" !.

One day the motor factor where he has an account might get an
audit and they will notice trade accounts that have 'funny' names
and will investigate further.