"Why should electrical contractors have to feel that they need to provide work to the public at the lowest possible cost in order to "justify" themselves?"
Yes, why do they, a good question. Pricing will vary across the country, from town to town, and state to state they will differ.
What other business trades do is they try to make money on their sales, equipment is usually part of their profit center, EC's seem to give away equipment profit, again why do they, my view is they have a good understanding of the trade, and just lack some business practices.
