Hello all, I've been an idle newbie watching this list. I'm a PTG associate member and have been growing my business for about 5 years now. This is my first question to the list. If you think it's inappropriate, please don't flame me! I just thought I might get a great variety of opinions from which to choose. What is an appropriate mark-up on the "Merchandise" part of what we sell? If WE buy a set of hammers for, say, $250, do we charge $500 for just the hammers and add labor to that? Or, give the hammers at cost and be happy to make the labor price to install them? Are smaller goods that might be thought of as "supplies" (like key buttons, felt punchings, etc) treated differently? Maybe just include a "Supplies" charge on repairs, like automotive shops do? What's a typical Gross Profit Margin? I'm in retail also, working part-time for a music store, and retail GPMs have eroded considerably over the years, thanks to mail-order, discount music stores, and the internet. It used to be typical back in the "good ole days" to make a 50% GPM (buy for $1, sell for $2), but now you're usually deliriously happy with 30-40% on big ticket items (because NOBODY pays list price) and try to make it up on accessories (drumsticks, guitar picks, et al) that are not "shopped" for low price. Help me find my way. I'm marking up a Damp-Chaser, for example, to approx. 35% GPM. Maybe that's all my market area will take, maybe I should be getting 50%, and maybe I'm being greedy. I'd like to know some others thoughts. And I really don't think we're violating any anti-trust laws by discussing it. If you'd rather just email me privately to keep your thoughts less public, my address should be listed here, but if it's not, mail to a440@bresnan.net If the subject is taboo, tell me nicely and I'll slink slowly back into the shadows.
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