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Customer told me my estimate was too high and it made me rethink how I price parts
I used to just mark everything up 40% across the board, but after he showed me what NAPA lists a water pump for online versus what I was charging, I realized I was losing business on the simple stuff and started using real-time pricing for common parts instead - has anyone else run into customers pushing back on parts markup lately?
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mia522mo ago
You really have to watch parts markup because customers can pull up prices on their phone while you're standing there writing the estimate. I stopped using a flat percentage years ago after losing a few good jobs over a $15 difference on a radiator. Now I check online pricing for the common wear items like water pumps and brake pads, then mark them up just enough to cover my time and a small profit. For the specialty parts where they can't easily comparison shop, I still add a decent margin but nothing crazy. It's a balancing act but keeping those simple jobs coming in the door is worth more than squeezing every dollar on parts.
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