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I'm simply trying to point out why adding a bit on isn't just some "punter" tax to cheat people out of extra money.
Conversely, the punter opting to avoid that by sourcing their own materials is not penny pinching. It is, after all, saving the tradesmen the cost of having to do it themselves.
NotThamesWater-
In theory, but it’s often as much work letting someone buy the materials as it is getting them yourself. Sometimes more.
Not to mention when there’s not enough or it’s wrong or they don’t come in time. These things hurt when there’s no margin to cover them.
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As I say, it’s only really helpful if the customer already knows exactly what they need, where to buy it from, can supply it in time, are happy to buy a bit extra just in case (which I always do, but don’t charge for) - most of the time this criteria can’t be met so just makes more work for everyone.
On the flip side, the guy who did your boiler sounds like a wanker/div.
Which kind of gets to the heart of the issue: people have so many bad experiences with tradespeople that they want to have more control over the situation by buying materials etc to avoid being exploited. And while I totally understand, as someone who is up front and honest with their customers, it makes my life way harder when everyone is constantly haggling and treating you with suspicion. Even in this thread loads of people don’t want to accept that acquiring materials has costs and takes time. I need to build in holiday pay, sick pay, time spent doing admin or any other unpaid activity etc into my labour rate - and this is with people already baulking at hourly rates (because they almost always draw a false comparison to rates of pay for full time employment).
The other crux is that people ALWAYS think they’re being reasonable as a customer, no matter what they ask. As I say, this is why I gave up, lol.
dbr
Nef
Acquiring materials will incur costs, one way or another - even if it's just time spent figuring out what's needed.
Yes the customer can pay for the materials directly if they must, but did they work out exactly what was needed, did they know where to purchase them from, do they have accounts set up with the wholesalers, will they collect the materials or pay for delivery? Again the list goes on.
It's also worth pointing out that every job is different and there may be cases where there is no extra added to materials, but it's a case by case thing - I'm simply trying to point out why adding a bit on isn't just some "punter" tax to cheat people out of extra money.
And FWIW, all this uphill work explaining stuff like this why I don't run a business any more, lol. Feels shit working your arse off when half the world seems to think you’re just trying to rip them off, or just wants to haggle some discount so they feel better about what they’re paying for. It’s exhausting.