Mark up on materials

[Welchyboy1]

What mark up do you apply to supply of materials, does this differ to who your working for (eg other contractors or public)or what materials they are either general stuff or more specialised equiptment

 

[Tim]

Not really the stuff thats discussed on public forums, try the arms.

Tim

 

[RyanCheetham]

Enough to cover any call backs for failing lamps, time spent driving to get materials, any charges for buying on credit etc.

 

[Mork]

Depends on your turnover of materials and your relationship with your wholesaler, if you turn over a lot of mats you can charge less say 10% if not charge more say 25% or more. It really depends on your personal business requirements.

 

[Welchyboy1]

Not really the stuff thats discussed on public forums, try the arms.

Tim

Hi tim

i understand where your coming from but i think a materials mark up is totally legitimate and expected part of running a business not a sneaky add-on and im totally upfront with my customers about this, if they choose to buy materials themselves and they are wrong or breakdown then they are going to get billed my time and they dont get a warranty on those parts at all

i think any customer that is surprised by this is a bit naive really

 

[GLENNSPARK]

Hi tim

i understand where your coming from but i think a materials mark up is totally legitimate and expected part of running a business not a sneaky add-on and im totally upfront with my customers about this, if they choose to buy materials themselves and they are wrong or breakdown then they are going to get billed my time and they dont get a warranty on those parts at all

i think any customer that is surprised by this is a bit naive really

prices (what you charge)...how much markup etc...
arms.

 

[Tim]

Hi tim

i understand where your coming from but i think a materials mark up is totally legitimate and expected part of running a business not a sneaky add-on and im totally upfront with my customers about this, if they choose to buy materials themselves and they are wrong or breakdown then they are going to get billed my time and they dont get a warranty on those parts at all

i think any customer that is surprised by this is a bit naive really

I completly agree, its not a sneaky add on. On second thought maybe its not such a bad thing that customers can read this as they will see its common practice and there is a good reason for it.

Tim

 

[Octopus]

minimum 5% on expensive, readily available, easily priced kit. On the rest anything between 15 - 30% depending on what it is.

PLUS a nominal sum for consumables which you don't price.

As others have said this is better in the arms but the OP isn't in there!

What Joe Public forgets is the time and hassle there is to get stuff!

 

[stuartcourt]

I always between 10 and 25% mark and if goes wrong (pull switch not pulling) I ill replace for free if supplied to me I want to be paid

 

[Welchyboy1]

Well im in the right margin then i aim at around 10-20% normally around 10% when working through contractors that are regular customers

 

[R G]

A mark up is totally justified , you have to guarantee what you install , and that costs , so no need to feel embarrased by it .

 

[72-van]

Another way of looking at it is that ''Mr Spark'' has a van to insure tax mot diesel to pay at £7 a gallon and time wasted in going to fetch these materials all these factors must surely be assessed in the final price of the goods he has purchased for the job.

 

[Poshspark]

If you are only charging 10% so you would only make about 0.30p on a socket even at 20% you would only be making 0.60p you won't get rich quick.
It's amazing how many customers think you sell your materials for the same price that you buy them for if you did that you wouldn't be a business. Get the best deal from your wholesaler and add the largest percentage that you can get away with.

 

[Welchyboy1]

Im very open about this with customers and they nearly always prefer me to supply and have all the work covered by warranty

and most just dont want the hassle of getting involved, thats why they are paying you, as long as my service is top notch its never a problem

the customers who do try and penny-pinch and insist on getting the materials or getting involved in the job i normally price myself out of their jobs anyway

 

[R G]

If there is any dispute , for example someone I quoted work for questioned the price off some off the materials , I asked them to have a look on the quotation and tell me where it says that I am a charity!!

 

[trev]

I never ever discuss the materials cost with the client. The price is what it is, if they want to supply materials then I'll point them in the direction of the sheds.

 

[Adam W]

Buy low, sell high!

 

[Dave 85]

Surely the reason to mark up materials is not to cover the cost of return visits to replace faulty items or the time spent buying them but to make PROFIT so you can buy an SL55 AMG and a YAUGHT and a VILLA IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE...
Well thats what I tell em anyway, got a little way to go yet mind

 

[power ranger]

Why is it that its always the "Well to do folk" that want to know the cost of everything, try to hammer you down on price and then make you wait before they finally send you that cheque!

Normal working folk most of the time i dont have any problems with.

 

[DJ Ovengloves]

Nowt wrong with the markup(s) quoted. At least your not trying to charge your customers the best part of £100 for 2*1meter of 25mm tails and 1 meter of 16mm earth / bonding like some cowboy I had round my gaff recently!

 

[chopper76]

Materials markup is a fairly recognised procedure, apart from profit I do it at nothing less than 20%, the main reason tho is my VAT structure is based on the construction flat rate scheme, which means I pay over 10% of my turnover to hmrc for my return, if I sold it for what it cost me I'd be on a loser

 

[alancoulson]

we mark up 20% for domestic, 30% for industry. no-one seems to object /

 

[IzzyS]

Mark up whatever you are comfortable with, as others have said.

You will always get some customers who say "I can get that for less".

Let them. They can waste as much of their own time as they like at, no cost to you.

Be aware that the cheap tat they may buy will probably take you longer to fit, or fail early, or may not meet their requirements.

I state in my t&c's that there is no warranty for customer supplied materials.

And for the non-trade reading this, most wholesalers don't want returns, so stock good quality materials - sometimes it will cost a bit more than eBay...