At the end of the day, or year (when it comes tax time) the only thing that matters is - Did I make the money that I wanted too, and did I do the number of projects that I wanted too.
It doesn't matter how you spin your pricing, you have a business to run. It has overhead and expenses and there needs to be some profit built in for the owner.
I see many contractors try to price based on retail...
Bill's contracting is charging $XX.xx per hour
Big Box Retailer is charging $X,xx per such and such
It doesn't matter where you purchase materials, or how much your competitor is charging per hour.
What matters is that you present your customers with a reasonable price that includes your - I repeat - YOUR costs for labour and materials, plus an appropriate mark-up for Overhead and Profit.
I tell my customers when it matters that they can probably purchase the materials that are needed for their project cheaper at the big box, than I can get it for at wholesale. If they choose to buy it, and want me to install it, that is fine... but it doesn't affect my calculation for overhead and profit, as I build that into my labour prices. The minimal fee that I charge for picking up the materials and financing the costs, the customer can pay if they so choose.
Just my opinion.
