Everyone knows you're marking stuff up, it is no secret. Keeping the amount a secret creates mis-trust. So if the customer knows how much a circuit breaker cost, as they can easily find out, and reverse engineer an invoice, as people do. They look at it and say, "Hey, I just paid $50 for a $30 item! Wonder what else they're #%^king me on?

This is one subject that makes me mad enough to kill! [Linked Image]

ITS NONE OF THE DAMN CUSTOMER'S BUSINESS HOW MUCH YOU PAID FOR AN ITEM. Period. End of story.

I couldn't care less if some cheap SOB goes to Home Depot and can get something for less. If they have that attitude they can install it too! I'm not even going to go into WHY you HAVE to mark up material and how you should arrive at the prices you charge.

The customer is supposed to trust me because I tell them what my markup is? Don't give me that crap! Hell, why not just show them your tax return so that they can decide whether or not they are paying you too much.

If you have to prostitute yourself to these people to get work you really need to look at how you present and promote yourself and your business. When was the last time you asked someone how much money they make? Apparently you command little respect or these people wouldn't have this attitude in the first place.

The last time a customer questioned why he was charged $20 for an item he found on line for $10 I removed the charge from his invoice as a courtesy and informed him that I was no longer interested in his business. THAT'S how you treat those kind of people.

This guy lived in a 2.5 million dollar house. I didn't ask him how he made his money, he damn well isn't going to tell me how to make mine!

-Hal

[This message has been edited by hbiss (edited 08-27-2004).]

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