trade vs public prices

be96erj

I am building an extension to my house and I am looking to pay for the labour and the building supplies separately, as I think I can haggle better than my builder!

Can anyone advise me, is there really a big difference in the price a tradesman gets and what prices are available on say a internet only building supplier to the public?

If I spent £50k on building supplies as a member of the public, what would a tradesman get it for? I would be looking to get the same price as them, due to the very large order I will be placing with them.

Many thanks!

zaax

The trades men get their supplies on account and are normally more expensive, but buying by the lorry load does give a discount.

buglawton

If the tradesman is not VAT registered you are best buying materials yourself. Otherwise the tradesman is forced to put the goods on his turnover and may get into VAT liable territory - that means he has to charge 20% VAT to his customer on top of labour.

I once had work done and bought all materials myself. Each of the team of 2 tradesmen were sole traders (non VAT) and each got paid 50% separately for their labour. No VAT on labour then.

I don't think trade discounts stack up that well, for example, tradesmen don't have the time to shop around like MSEers do and their suppliers know it.

brightontraveller

50k is not as large amount to start take out the price they pay for goods already half that amount (profit), unlikely to spend that at one wholesaler (those that offer all most often higher priced even with discount than those that specialise)

Leaves amount divided x at plumbers merchant, x electrics wholesalers x, builders merchants etc those your only likely ordering items that are commonly used and not in large enough amount e.g. your only going to want one boiler etc so little or no discount there etc ?

Discount vary immensely at different wholesalers e.g. howdens the customer price and account holder price can be as much as 78 -80 % difference but also add too it you have the likes of screw fix etc who on some promotions ( loss leaders etc )sell cheaper than many traditional wholesalers can buy

Acquiring items through sales, end offline clearances online from eBay etc or directly from building sites at end of works e.g. bricks and block work plasterboard etc are often over ordered and pallets leftover are very rarely moved to the next job etc but that all takes time and you’ll need a flatbed truck etc to move them if you want to save a substantial amounts that’s how too because haggling with wholesalers for the amount you’ll spend chances are you’ll still not get the same discount employing a builder would have got you so pretty much a waste of time ?

Doozergirl

I know that if people are very savvy that money can be saved. Certain suppliers are cheaper for certain things.

For builders, the savings aren't worth the time - the customer will pay for that time. If you have time that isn't particularly valuable then you can do that shopping, but there is a lot of it and it isn't all that simple.

What you do have to consider is the responsibility for those items. If they aren't fit for purpose or break, then you carry the can for them. The difference needs to be big enough to warrant the risk.

jbainbridge

You may be able to make a saving but Doozergirl makes a good point. If there are problems with the materials you buy at build time or a few months down the line - it could be you needing to sort it out - not your builder.

Perhaps you could negotiate for the builder and let him buy the stuff?

Babbawah

Get your Architect, builder or QS to make up a rough Bill of Materials.

You then need to hawk this list around your various suppliers. Ask them to price each item indiviually as a one off but also ask them to price the supply for the whole lot.

Not ALL suppliers will be the cheapest on ALL items ALL of the time, to think so would be silly !

As much as I hate to say it . . . Jewsons have an excellent 'self build' service where you commit to buying everything from or through them. This usually works out roughly a few percent higher cost without the stress and hassle of chasing the cheapest supplier for each individual item.

I used to use this service extensively for my various projects but sadly the manager of my local branch retired and they replaced him with a nincompoop !

I now use a local independant who sometimes struggles to grasp the principle.

Plasterer

be96erj wrote: »

I am building an extension to my house and I am looking to pay for the labour and the building supplies separately, as I think I can haggle better than my builder!

Can anyone advise me, is there really a big difference in the price a tradesman gets and what prices are available on say a internet only building supplier to the public?

If I spent £50k on building supplies as a member of the public, what would a tradesman get it for? I would be looking to get the same price as them, due to the very large order I will be placing with them.

Many thanks!

Doubt you'll get the same deal as your builder yes £50k Is a lot of money to spend, however my company spends a lot more than 50k a year with build base and have done for over ten years - it would really annoy me if I found out a one off extension got better rates than me as a long standing customer - tell your builder he can have the job if he is transparent about the material costs -as in go to the merchants with him and they should offer you his discounts and you pay direct. I have done this many times with clients of large jobs in the past and will no doubt do it again in the future.

NICHOLAS_2

Ultimately, a clever tradesman will know where to buy 'x' from at a good price, where to buy 'y' from at a good price.

We have trade accounts and accounts with companies that only sell to the trade, so we can generally get slightly better prices than joe bloggs on the majority of the stuff we buy, it's not a fortune though. And even some trade suppliers can be cheeky and try to squeeze you as hard as you are squeezing your customer

Your builder will buy the stuff and put money on it and some money for his time. There's not a company in the world that buys and sells at cost price.

You should save money even if you buy the goods at a slightly more expensive price because there is no middle man uplift if you buy the stuff direct from source.

On the flip side, your inexperience could end up being more time consuming and costlier than giving it to your builder provided he is not going to whack 50% on everything he supplies for you

jackyann

Depends a lot on your time.
I ordered our own supplies for our self build, and got good discounts, but it took a fair bit of time. We did a lot ourselves so I could make the decisions, but where it involved the tradespeople, I made sure they were OK with my purchases.
Sometimes they will give you a discount in return for some publicity photos - if your place is photogenic.

Lima

I am in the final stages of completing an extension and we have mixed where we have used the builders discount on some items - timber and wood products but on the whole we have sourced ourselves. I found that the tradesmen use companies they know they can rely on, have accounts with 30 day payment terms and have stock at short notice. I think the last point is the most important to the builder as he does not want to down tools if he cannot get something, but, if you know what your builder needs and when it gives you time to look and source better deals online. It saved us thousands ordering baths showers, doors, ironmongery, kitchen appliances online as long as we had enough notice to source and arrange delivery.