Had a week where I fixed 3 dryers in a row and then got screamed at by a lady over a $15 part

Last Tuesday through Thursday, I did three dryer repairs. Two were just bad heating elements, one was a belt. Easy money, all paid same day. Then Friday I get a call about a fridge ice maker. Get there, it's a $15 water valve and the lady tells me I'm trying to rip her off because she saw the valve online for $11. She wouldn't let me do the work. So I packed up and left. Question for you all: do you charge more for the part than retail price or do you just eat the shipping cost and let them know?

2 comments

2 Comments

margareth4810d ago

...so I got a buddy who runs his own handyman thing, and he had almost the exact same thing happen but with a washing machine pump. He found the part for like $18 wholesale with shipping and charged the lady $25, which is pretty standard profit. She looked it up, started yelling at him about a $2 price difference on Amazon with free shipping, and he just left the part on her counter and walked. He learned to always show people the online price before buying from now on, but he still adds a markup for his time ordering it.

williamhill10d ago

I saw a post online where a plumber charges a flat $20 fee just for ordering parts.