|
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
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. -- (News) |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
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 £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. As a professional, I charged for my time. If I bought in services for clients, I passed them on at cost. 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! |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
"Chris B" wrote in message ... 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. Thats not necessarily the price he pays for the parts he uses tho. 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? Or he does want it at that price. 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. |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
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 £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. Maybe he keeps his hourly rate down that way. He might admit it if you point out "your" prices. Perhaps he gets his spares from somewhere with a high list price but a big trade discount. IIRC the Radiospares trade discount was 40% on the public price. |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
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 £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. 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. -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
On 02/10/2020 21:24, John Rumm wrote:
100% might be taking the pee, although it depends on the market and the product. And maybe the price also has an allowance for some of the consumables to fit it. -- mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
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 £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 always marked parts up 30% to allow for stocking, warranties, etc. Bill |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
On 02/10/2020 19:23, Chris B wrote:
The very same parts are available from suppliers listed on amazon (not amazon itself) for £96.98 Including VAT and delivery. But how many other suppliers did you discard because the same items were more expensive? As a customer you perhaps have the ability to search the internet for hours to find the cheapest price at no cost for your own labour. 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. Thee days trade doesn't always mean a discount - it may just mean they have 30 days to pay. Just turn up at Screwfix, Toolstation, Wickes and even B&Q early morning and see how many people in white vans buying the same goods as you can buy. -- mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
I think its a good point about the procurement, as somebody has to find the
parts and buy them, and that time has to be paid for of course. I can remember a friend who used to repair electronic things before the days of surface mount made it a job for the brave, and often he would get a call from somebody who said a chip had gone, but he did not have the confidence to change it himself, hoping that my friend would do it very cheaply. Often he would do the job, but equally often the original person did not take into account that the faulty chip might have been caused by a fault elsewhere so he always checked the circuit and this made the bill higher of course. but some people just won't accept this sort of knowledge driven repair strategy. I don't know about boilers but often the reason why boards are swapped is not because changing the parts is hard but because the time taken to fault find the pcb, would make the repair cost much higher. Brian -- -- This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from... The Sofa of Brian Gaff... Blind user, so no pictures please Note this Signature is meaningless.! "alan_m" wrote in message ... On 02/10/2020 21:24, John Rumm wrote: 100% might be taking the pee, although it depends on the market and the product. And maybe the price also has an allowance for some of the consumables to fit it. -- mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
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. Part of that is clearly time and hence billable as such. I'm not sure about risk of faulty parts, incurred as an intermediary. 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. Surely it should depend on time and risk? |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
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 £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. There's a difference between the costs of goods in wholesalers and the prices in supermarkets as well. Something has to pay for the last mile, promotions, staff and buildings. -- Adrian C |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
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 £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?... It is normal to charge list price. However, when I had trade accounts for my business, the trade discount varied from 15% to 65% from the same supplier, depending upon the item. -- Colin Bignell |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
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. 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 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. -- Chris Green · |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
Chris Green Wrote in message:
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. 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. 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 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. Although when "your" parts fail don't expect any "callback" privileges... -- Jimk ----Android NewsGroup Reader---- http://usenet.sinaapp.com/ |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
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) |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
In article ,
Adrian Caspersz 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. There's a difference between the costs of goods in wholesalers and the prices in supermarkets as well. Something has to pay for the last mile, promotions, staff and buildings. last week I visteed Screwfix and B&Q, in that order. Screwfix had masks 10 for £5. The same package was in B&Q - £6. -- from KT24 in Surrey, England "I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
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 £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. You are not wasting 3 people's time if they offer quoting for the job. They will have built in time wasters time into their quoting if they have any sense. I am wondering if its worth getting any more or is this typical. |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
In article ,
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. You need to look at the total price you'll pay before deciding. Doesn't much matter how it is arrived at in an estimate. -- *I see you've set aside this special time to humiliate yourself in public Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
On 03/10/2020 08:03, Brian Gaff (Sofa) wrote:
I think its a good point about the procurement, as somebody has to find the parts and buy them, and that time has to be paid for of course. I can remember a friend who used to repair electronic things before the days of surface mount made it a job for the brave, and often he would get a call from somebody who said a chip had gone, but he did not have the confidence to change it himself, hoping that my friend would do it very cheaply. Often he would do the job, but equally often the original person did not take into account that the faulty chip might have been caused by a fault elsewhere so he always checked the circuit and this made the bill higher of course. but some people just won't accept this sort of knowledge driven repair strategy. I don't know about boilers but often the reason why boards are swapped is not because changing the parts is hard but because the time taken to fault find the pcb, would make the repair cost much higher. Brian I'd expect the time spent ordering and getting the parts to be charged for, but I really didn't see why I should pay him twice the parts cost. |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
On 02/10/2020 22:24, williamwright 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 £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 always marked parts up 30% to allow for stocking, warranties, etc. Bill Is that 30% above trade price, or 30% above retail? Anyway, 100% on top of retails seems like **** taking. |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
On 02/10/2020 22:56, alan_m wrote:
On 02/10/2020 19:23, Chris B wrote: The very same parts are available from suppliers listed on amazon (not amazon itself) for £96.98 Including VAT and delivery. But how many other suppliers did you discard because the same items were more expensive? As a customer you perhaps have the ability to search the internet for hours to find the cheapest price at no cost for your own labour. 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. Thee days trade doesn't always mean a discount - it may just mean they have 30 days to pay.Â* Just turn up at Screwfix, Toolstation, Wickes and even B&Q early morning and see how many people in white vans buying the same goods as you can buy. Even I get a 10% discount at Wickes. |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
On 03/10/2020 09:44, Chris B wrote:
That is a fair point, and as someone else said I have the opportunity to spend half a day looking for the best price.Â* In practice however these days with google it takes but seconds to get the best price. Go and Google for the best price for, say, a TV (identical model numbers) or white goods (identical model numbers). Prices inclusive of delivery and only from those suppliers with stock who can deliver quickly. You may find that it takes more than a few seconds. -- mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
On 03/10/2020 12:17, GB wrote:
On 02/10/2020 22:24, williamwright 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. I always marked parts up 30% to allow for stocking, warranties, etc. Bill Is that 30% above trade price, or 30% above retail? Anyway, 100% on top of retails seems like **** taking. Not if you are buying at retail price yourself and then selling on. Many small businesses find that their "trade" prices are often only very slightly below retail (if it at all), and in some cases they can be higher! So if a customer wants you to supply both materials and service, they will have to be prepared to pay the higher prices on the materials. -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
alan_m wrote:
On 03/10/2020 09:44, Chris B wrote: That is a fair point, and as someone else said I have the opportunity to spend half a day looking for the best price.Â* In practice however these days with google it takes but seconds to get the best price. Go and Google for the best price for, say, a TV (identical model numbers) or white goods (identical model numbers). Prices inclusive of delivery and only from those suppliers with stock who can deliver quickly. You may find that it takes more than a few seconds. Not to mention that it's only those suppliers who pay who get their goods onto Google Shopping (I'm assuming you mean to use Google Shopping). Google Shopping can be quite good for finding reasonable prices on straightforward things but for 'insides of boilers' type things (which is what this thread started with) it's often not the best/cheapest approach. -- Chris Green · |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
On 03/10/2020 08:24, Pancho wrote:
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. Part of that is clearly time and hence billable as such. I'm not sure about risk of faulty parts, incurred as an intermediary. If I supply equipment to a customer, and something fails, then its my responsibility to fix, even if the failure was not my fault. That costs time and money, and in the circumstances, its time and money I can't recover that from the customer if the equipment is still under warranty. So that is an overhead that one has to build into your prices. Even if the OEM will replace the kit FoC, there is still the time spent diagnosing, and orchestrating the process. (hence why some OEMs will voluntarily take on the responsibility for warranty support directly with end users even though they have no legal obligation to do so - it can be a cost and risk reduction exercise for the retailer, that makes those companies products more attractive to sell) 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. Surely it should depend on time and risk? Not necessarily. For businesses that make a significant proportion of their income though product sales, then the margins will tend to be higher since they need to cover the majority of the costs of operating the business. Pubs for example will typically mark up drink well in excess of 100%, and most of those are running very close to the edge even then. If you go buy a sandwich in M&S you will pay several 100% over the cost of the bread and fillings. You are paying for many things, not just the cost of the materials. -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
On Friday, 2 October 2020 19:24:03 UTC+1, 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. It's a free market, they can quote what they like & you can say yes or no. Re customers getting parts, that route is a recipe for trouble for the professional. I'm not surprised most won't get involved with that. NT |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
Chris B wrote:
But these days its not "shopping around" its one google search. But also bear in mind that random suppliers returned by that Google search may or may not be reliable, may send the items by Hermes who fling it into a hedge, etc. Getting everything on one delivery / one trip saves a lot of hassle. For example, there's a lot of merit to one-stop-shop suppliers like Farnell - they aren't cheapest, but when your BOM is a hundred lines long it gets a lot of hassle to try to source every part from a different supplier. You could make one order per job, and have all the bits arrive next day in the same box. 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. I suffered the opposite of this when I had a 30 year old car. I'd take it to a garage to get say the brake pads changed. Tap,tap,tap (or in the more basic places, ringing round their suppliers), I'm sorry we can't find the parts. But the parts were readily available on ebay for pennies, from decent brands just NOS that had sat on a shelf for a while (probably out of production). It was often an uphill struggle to convince them to let me supply my own parts - they would complain they wouldn't get the markup on the parts. To which my response was: fine, just quote me a price including whatever markup you would have made. I didn't mind paying extra for that - because even if they could buy the part for £50 and mark it up to £100, paying them £50 plus the £10 ebay price was still a win from my point of view. Many didn't see it that way. (there's a risk with user-supplied parts that they don't fit, but again that's my risk not theirs - I should still pay for their time either way. And I spent more time staring at the parts catalogue making sure they fit than they would ever have done) Theo |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
On 03/10/2020 12:17, GB wrote:
I always marked parts up 30% to allow for stocking, warranties, etc. Bill Is that 30% above trade price, or 30% above retail? Anyway, 100% on top of retails seems like **** taking. 30% mark up on what I paid. It was arbitrary really. The facts are 1. Tradesmen need to make a certain amount of money 2. They are in competition with other providers or with alternative ways the customer has of getting the job done. 3. The public can be unrealistic about hourly rates, because they don't understand about overheads. 4. Some tradesmen try to hide the necessary hourly rate by excessive mark-up on materials. 5. Some tradesmen are too cheap; some are too dear. Both of these tend to go bust. 6. Some tradesmen are crooks, no other word for them. Bill |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
On 03/10/2020 14:40, John Rumm wrote:
Many small businesses find that their "trade" prices are often only very slightly below retail (if it at all), and in some cases they can be higher! Many years ago a major aerial manufacturer lost a lot of their trade business because they were selling to the DIY sheds at much cheaper prices than they were selling to aerial riggers. The trade simply switched to other brands en masse. Bill |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
|
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
On Saturday, 3 October 2020 17:28:14 UTC+1, williamwright wrote:
On 03/10/2020 15:14, tabbypurr wrote: Re customers getting parts, that route is a recipe for trouble for the professional. I'm not surprised most won't get involved with that. Sometimes it's best. If they want some weird gear so they can get a weird foreign TV channel or whatever, or if it's some radio ham wants a strange aerial, a sensible tradesman will not offer to supply. Bill Few tradesmen will get involved in odd setups these days. Times have changed. I remember buying from a place where they had electrical stuff plugged in, some with bare live bits that should not have been live. They knew and couldn't care less. NT |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
On 03/10/2020 14:40, John Rumm wrote:
On 03/10/2020 12:17, GB wrote: On 02/10/2020 22:24, williamwright 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. I always marked parts up 30% to allow for stocking, warranties, etc. Bill Is that 30% above trade price, or 30% above retail? Anyway, 100% on top of retails seems like **** taking. Not if you are buying at retail price yourself and then selling on. Many small businesses find that their "trade" prices are often only very slightly below retail (if it at all), and in some cases they can be higher! So if a customer wants you to supply both materials and service, they will have to be prepared to pay the higher prices on the materials. The difference between 'trade' and 'retail' is very vague these days. A small tradesman is probably not getting a significantly better deal than anyone else prepared to shop around. -- djc (–€Ì¿Ä¹Ì¯–€Ì¿ Ì¿) No low-hanging fruit, just a lot of small berries up a tall tree. |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
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. |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
On 03/10/2020 17:25, williamwright wrote:
On 03/10/2020 14:40, John Rumm wrote: Many small businesses find that their "trade" prices are often only very slightly below retail (if it at all), and in some cases they can be higher! Many years ago a major aerial manufacturer lost a lot of their trade business because they were selling to the DIY sheds at much cheaper prices than they were selling to aerial riggers. The trade simply switched to other brands en masse. Bill I'd bet that the product sold in big volumes to the likes of B&Q was made from thinner tubing etc, like Labgear ****e. |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
On 02/10/2020 22:56, alan_m wrote:
On 02/10/2020 19:23, Chris B wrote: The very same parts are available from suppliers listed on amazon (not amazon itself) for £96.98 Including VAT and delivery. But how many other suppliers did you discard because the same items were more expensive? As a customer you perhaps have the ability to search the internet for hours to find the cheapest price at no cost for your own labour. 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. Thee days trade doesn't always mean a discount - it may just mean they have 30 days to pay.Â* Just turn up at Screwfix, Toolstation, Wickes and even B&Q early morning and see how many people in white vans buying the same goods as you can buy. even screwfix have a 'trade only' grotto now. |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
On 03/10/2020 17:28, williamwright wrote:
some radio ham wants a strange aerial, Or even "some 'strange' radio ham wants an aerial" :-) |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
On 3 Oct 2020 at 20:15:49 BST, "Andrew"
wrote: 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. Might that explain why any garage I've had dealings with won't fit parts I'd supply? -- Cheers, Rob |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
On 03/10/2020 22:28:47, RJH wrote:
On 3 Oct 2020 at 20:15:49 BST, "Andrew" wrote: 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. Might that explain why any garage I've had dealings with won't fit parts I'd supply? Some garages will, but then qualify the fitting where if the item fails they are not responsible. I specifically known a local garage fit the owner's supplied discs and pads without issue. |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
On 03/10/2020 22:28, RJH wrote:
Might that explain why any garage I've had dealings with won't fit parts I'd supply? Too many customer supplied counterfeit parts purchased on Ebay? Need for traceability of parts from known suppliers for safety, liability or insurance purposes? -- mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk |
Tradesman - Price markup on parts
On 03/10/2020 20:21, Andrew wrote:
even screwfix have a 'trade only' grotto now. Not at my local Screwfix. Customers may be trade or individuals but all get served at the same counters. -- mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk |
| All times are GMT +1. The time now is 10:27 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004 - 2014 DIYbanter