In article , tim...
wrote:


"charles" wrote in message
...
In article , Nick Odell
wrote:
On Tue, 18 May 2021 21:39:23 +0100, wrote:

I've been talking to a rural plumbing firm about a small job that I
could do, but didn't fancy doing, and had agreed their published rate
of £90 for the first hour followed by £50/hour thereafter. I guessed
the job would take between 1 and 2 hours. Today I found out they were
going to charge more than £150 for parts that I could easily buy for
£50 at retail prices. When they wouldn't justify the mark-up I
cancelled and will do the work myself when the warmer weather
arrives. I was prepared to pay the (OTT) labour rate but they blew it
by putting such a huge mark-up on the parts. Because of greed they
lost the job. I feel sorry for people who don't have the option to do
things themselves, or who don't know anything about the time jobs
take and the cost of materials.

What's the standard mark-up for plumbing parts? And what's the
recommended retail price for that part you can buy for £50? There are
some resellers who pile 'em high and sell 'em cheap, making up in
turnover for what they lose in margin and you can't expect a tradesman
to compete with that on his trade discount. Of course if the part you
can buy for fifty quid only cost the plumber thirty then at £150 he is
taking the ****.

But, you need to actor in the time taken to go and get the part(s) and
the cost of going to the supplier. I've just taken an hour and a 20
mile round trip to get a sack of Postcrete.

(pre Covid) most suppliers of bulk building material deliver for free

usually witn a significant minimum order



--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle