Fw: Parts Markup,and resale licenses

[Erwinpiano]

  David
  Hhmmmmmmm.  Food for thought. Thanks.  Comments Below.


----- Original Message -----
From: "David Love" <davidlovepianos@hotmail.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2001 9:32 PM
Subject: Re: Parts Markup, was: $450.00 Bass strings


> One of the problems with marking up parts is that the price we get them
for
> is not truly wholesale

  I honestly never thought of that.  I think supply houses should limit
their sales to people in industry like others do.

.  Fact is, anybody can order those parts and get them
> for the same price we do.  Some vendors claim that the prices they give us
> are wholesale and offer a suggested retail price, others do not.  I have
had
> clients order parts from Steinway, Renner, Yamaha, Schaff, and the prices
> they got were no different than the ones I pay.  That puts me in an
awkward
> position if, say, I double the price, as Schaff recommends, and the
customer
> is privy to the cost.

           I'VE NEVER HAD A CUSTOMER OREDER HIS.HER OWN PARTS AND WOULD
SUGGEST THAT THAT IS A RARE OCCURENCE?  yOUR POINT IS WELL TAKEN THOUGH.
One thought is that for most parts I personally mark parts an up an average
of 25%.  However the true cost of ordering stock like  sound board panels
includes not only freight,ribs and panels but the problems associated with
spending time to network and search for quality wood and people who have
wood expertise.  Factory screw ups,  returns and the holding costs add up.
I figure I need to mark that item up 100% to truly cover my cost.
         Other generic parts are less complicated as you say but holding
stocking and ordering costs to my shop are still an issue.

  Consequently, I add a handling charge that is
> appropriate to the part that compensates me for my time   Some orders are

 I like that idea

> very straight forward, others are not.  It doesn't follow any particular
> formula.  Most of what we offer is labor/expertise.  The parts costs in
> doing a complete belly job are relatively small compared to the labor.
Even
> in a total action rebuild where the parts costs are higher as a percentage
> of the job, that percentage probably represents only about 25% max of the
> total cost of the job.

       The true cost of parts and material  on a complete Belly Job, marking
up only the sound board is probably closer to 25% of the whole than you
might think. And Sop over head anotyer stoy(discussion)
>
> Dale:  I believe the state extortionists only require that you add tax on
> parts, not labor, and if the subcontracting tech pays you the tax, it
should
> not be charged again to his customer.  Of course, since you are selling
> pianos, you would need the resale #.

     Ther are two ways to veiw this .
     !. Pay the state tax yourself and pass it along to the client or
     2.Get a resale for parts and charge the client
   either way the client should pay the  tax
     3. and yes I need the license to resale our pianos

      But not paying the tax  or collecting it and not turning it over will
get you in HOT water.
I always apreciate your perspective
Thanks Dave ------------------             Dale Erwin
>
> David Love
>
>
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