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.


Nick

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

On 19/05/2021 09:38, charles wrote:
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.
The wonders of the Internet and rapid delivery have solved that problem
(admittedly, probably not for postcrete)


Nick

wrote:
The wonders of the Internet and rapid delivery have solved that problem
(admittedly, probably not for postcrete)

How do tradespeople handle deliveries? I can understand what they do if
they're on site for weeks (deliver to site, especially large materials), but
random parcel delivery that could come any time between 8am and midnight?

I'm sure it's fine if they have an office or a yard with staff available to
receive, but if they're a one man band with a van?

I can see the traditional mode of going to the builder's merchant first
thing still has its advantages...

Theo

On 19/05/2021 10:36, Theo wrote:
How do tradespeople handle deliveries? I can understand what they do if
they're on site for weeks (deliver to site, especially large materials), but
random parcel delivery that could come any time between 8am and midnight?

I'm sure it's fine if they have an office or a yard with staff available to

Most stuff comes from the wholesalers. Other stuff that's off the net
you can have delivered to the wholesaler or to your mam's house. The
latter has worked even better since you've been able to tell her she
must never go out on pain of a covid death.

Bill

In article ,
writes
On 19/05/2021 09:38, charles wrote:
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.
The wonders of the Internet and rapid delivery have solved that problem
(admittedly, probably not for postcrete)

Nick


What? Not on Amazon Prime?
--
bert

"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

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

On 19/05/2021 13:49, charles wrote:
In article , tim...
wrote:


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

usually witn a significant minimum order


A painter and decorator was working in a house opposite
me. One day a small lorry turned up, signwritten in
the logo and decals of a Paint supplier based 10 miles
away and handed over three tins of paint. I assume the
decorator had a trade account with them so they just
delivered to where the guy was working. Customer just
ends up paying.

On 19/05/2021 15:12, Andrew wrote:

A painter and decorator was working in a house opposite
me. One day a small lorry turned up, signwritten in
the logo and decals of a Paint supplier based 10 miles
away and handed over three tins of paint. I assume the
decorator had a trade account with them so they just
delivered to where the guy was working. Customer just
ends up paying.

It's quite efficient. It's the model used by auto parts suppliers. They
can do a delivery round to a dozen garages and not cover many miles.

Bill

williamwright wrote:
On 19/05/2021 15:12, Andrew wrote:

A painter and decorator was working in a house opposite
me. One day a small lorry turned up, signwritten in
the logo and decals of a Paint supplier based 10 miles
away and handed over three tins of paint. I assume the
decorator had a trade account with them so they just
delivered to where the guy was working. Customer just
ends up paying.

It's quite efficient. It's the model used by auto parts suppliers. They
can do a delivery round to a dozen garages and not cover many miles.

It's really useful for garages, because you can have the vehicle in bits on
the lift, discover you really need a part, and they'll put one on the van
for delivery in time for you to complete the job in time for the customer
pickup at the end of the day.

That's the service the customer is paying for. I presume there's a fleet of
vans delivering stuff to local garages in early afternoon that was ordered
in the morning.

Theo

"Theo" wrote in message
...
williamwright wrote:
On 19/05/2021 15:12, Andrew wrote:

A painter and decorator was working in a house opposite
me. One day a small lorry turned up, signwritten in
the logo and decals of a Paint supplier based 10 miles
away and handed over three tins of paint. I assume the
decorator had a trade account with them so they just
delivered to where the guy was working. Customer just
ends up paying.

It's quite efficient. It's the model used by auto parts suppliers. They
can do a delivery round to a dozen garages and not cover many miles.

It's really useful for garages, because you can have the vehicle in bits
on
the lift, discover you really need a part, and they'll put one on the van
for delivery in time for you to complete the job in time for the customer
pickup at the end of the day.

That's the service the customer is paying for. I presume there's a fleet
of
vans delivering stuff to local garages in early afternoon that was ordered
in the morning.

Pharmaceutical supplies to you local chemist works the same way




Theo

On Wed, 19 May 2021 15:12:38 +0100, Andrew
wrote:


A painter and decorator was working in a house opposite
me. One day a small lorry turned up, signwritten in
the logo and decals of a Paint supplier based 10 miles
away and handed over three tins of paint. I assume the
decorator had a trade account with them so they just
delivered to where the guy was working. Customer just
ends up paying.

When I worked for Crown, nearly 20 years ago now, we'd often deliver
to a decorator's worksite. There was no extra charge for it. And often
the decs were getting a good trade rate, too.
Some of them had us deliver to their home addresses. If there was no
one in we'd leave the paint inside the side gate or behind a bush.

"charles" wrote in message
...
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

IME not