Customer wants to buy material

For family and real friends otherwise be prepared to deal with the nickel and diming and using your stuff here and there for free .Let them shop about till they find some one to do it for next to nothing which is what you ll be finding out by the time your done .let them go kick some one elses tires and waste there time not yours .I have been through this scene a few times now no more and it always seems those with the most have the most for a reason usually cause they beat some one out of it and i doubt you want to be the one .Unless your getting cash and alot of it up front before completion i de toss ,em back to the sea .Peace and good luck clammy

My answer to that question is that I shoot for a 20% margin on every job. If I don't shoot for that I may as well go work for someone else.

In this world where everything gets com modified, the customer wants it "cheaper". I've dealt with this and made it work. First, I told the owner that if the boiler were purchased over the internet, Neither I or the manufacturer would honor the warranty. Nor would I install it. I told him I'd provide a list of materials he could purchase and would add 20% to the cost on my billing. If any of those materials were faulty, there would be a charge for replacement. He understood that my costs included a profit on materials, labor and overhead. Without the profit, it just doesn't work. He agreed to pay the costs and then went for a major change order at the end of the project. BTW, he was a VP at a major software company.

Paul Pollets said:

I've dealt with this and made it work.

So have I, though it really depends on the particular customer. After 30 years of interacting with a customers having quite a range of financial situations, I've gotten reasonably good at figuring out who's likely to be a problem.

More commonly, we split work -- allowing the customer to handle grunt work using family members, neighbors, etc. I'm not really looking to expand the amount of demo, cleaning, trenching or hauling we take on.

I have done it twice both times in came back to bite me. Now I tell people I only install what I sell. Unless it is a decorative fireplace or a cook stove.
I just had this same situation come up a couple weeks ago. Customer had another contractor put in a boiler and had nothing but problems for a year and a half. Calls the wholesaler and asks if they can recommend a new contractor to service it they gave him my name because I have put in quite a few of that boiler with no issues. I go over service the boiler and all is well for the whole winter. This spring he wants to put a new boiler in another building and asks me to do it. Asks if I can do it if he buys the materials I say no way. He then takes my bid to replace it after pondering it for a while.
Bottom line if you sell the installer instead of the equipment you won't have to worry.

In this day and age, why are contractors still insistant on taking the markup on parts? Times have changed, by all means, earn what you are worth, but telling someone he should pay 15 or 20% more than what they could purchase the item for, leaves a bad taste in anyones mouth. Raise your prices accordingly, and stop with that crap.

Stephen.....You stock the boilers and components of every job? I can understand a service call, where you replace a circulator, but that's not what we're talking about.

I'm not in total disagreement with you. I believe I learned the following from an Ellen Rohr column or book - try reducing the markup on parts and charge more in labor. That is what I do on installation equipment and material but I don't eliminate the markup altogether. There are still associated costs of material handling that need to be covered.

Yes Bob.......I work for someone. ChrisJ , In this day and age, I'm saying include that in your hourly rate. It leaves a bad taste on folks mouth, to pay $2600 for something they can buy themselves for $2100. It's a throwback to a time, when no one knew the prices of things.

Paul48 said:

Bob....I have a wife

Please, leave the complaining at the door.

A comment from the customer's point of view? Although, perhaps, a rather odd customer (just ask Charles!). If I have a job to be done which I cannot do myself, or which I prefer to contract to some one, I try to find the best contractor I can for the job (and yes, I've made mistakes... but they don't get to come back). Then I describe the job and make sure that the contractor and I agree on what the objective is (not the details; if I hire and expert, I usually assume that he knows more than I do or I wouldn't be hiring him (or her)) and are really clear. Then we agree on a price and I tell him or her to get on with it (and usually give a deposit -- say 10% or so -- or on some occasions the deposit will cover the materials cost as the contractor presents it to me).

I assume that he or she is getting at least a small markup on the materials. As several have said, going and getting them is a pain and takes time. But I don't ask. The price agreed is for the finished job. Who am I to pick it apart?

I might add, however, that I also operate on the principle of "fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me".

I might also add that if my contractor then asks me to go and get some of the materials, he or she having ordered them, I usually don't have a problem with that.

Wow I just saw and read this thread...I can't possibly imagine someone selling there product at cost...the rich are rich because in my opinion rich people sux....

Over the years, I've told all my bosses that

Not all customers are our customers.

I wish they'd listen more often.