In my opinion, you shouldn’t feel guilty about markups if you’re providing real value. Customers are not just paying for the physical product — they’re paying for your time, experience, sourcing, transportation, warranty risk, convenience, and the responsibility you take on when you install it correctly.
Most customers are hiring you so they don’t have to spend their Saturday driving store to store trying to figure out which product to buy and hoping it works. That has value.
That being said, transparency goes a long way. I personally think it’s smart to either:
Both are normal in business.
Stores also give contractors discounts, rewards, and rebates because we consistently bring them business. That’s part of operating professionally, just like any other industry. You shouldn't be giving away your pro-xtra dollars or Lowe's rewards points to customers; that's your reward.
At the end of the day, if you’re honest, upfront, and delivering quality work, there’s nothing wrong with making a profit. A business has to be profitable to survive and continue serving people. I haven't been profitable for the last 5 years; this year is the first.
If you're doing a T&M job, the markup directly coincides with the risk of having to navigate the plethora of options for the specific product needed to get the job done. How much does it cost to do the research, order the part, and deal with the possibility that the product needs to be replaced/changed, re-installed with a different product, and finally warrantying it for xx months/years.
