Cost of materials..

[JamesBrownLive]

I'm afraid this is going to be one of those questions that exposes my ignorance.....

Is it common for the tiler to pay for the cost of the tiles to be installed, or is the customer expected to 'front' the money?

Cheers

[faithhealer]

Hi jbl, material money up front in most cases

[user123]

Absolutely up front for me, too

[united]

I always ask for material cost upfront unless it's under say £75 then I just pay

[kilty55]

tile money and all material money upfront

[TheWrightTiler]

cash upfront for the tiles and i foot up to the first 75 of the materials if over that then whole amount upfront

if i buy the tiles and u cancel am stuck with tiles i dont want and usually have to pay at least a 20 percent restock charge

andy

[Scott]

I dont ask for any money up front. Unless of course i get a bad feeling about them

[Daz]

Like Scott, I only ask for material money if I have a funny feeling about the client. I buy all materials, including all tiles on my credit card so have 30 days to pay. I expect full payment on job completion so no cash flow issues .

[SandyFloor]

I don't take money upfront however when I am supplying materials ( with a mark up) that have to be ordered in I always qoute by e-mail and insist the customer confirm the order by reply. However I've been bitten a couple of time recently when the jobs have been delayed and I've had to pay for materials before the works have been completed and paid for though for one of them I was covered for the materials on delay.

I'm now considering taking a deposit.

[bootsmckiber]

I always have the client pay for materials upfront.

[nybor62]

i all ways include addy & grout in the price as i rarely pay for it.i will supply tiles if asked but would ask for monie,s up front unless i trust them

[andy allen]

i never ask for money up front unless its a large amout (over a grand).

all ways tell customers they pay me full amount when job is 100% complete and there 100% happy with it .

you will be surprised how many jobs can swing your way

[borgie]

i never ask for money up front unless its a large amout (over a grand).

all ways tell customers they pay me full amount when job is 100% complete and there 100% happy with it .

you will be surprised how many jobs can swing your way

same here m8

[deanotile]

payment on completion unless i think they are going to try it on. Then i will price myself out of the job.

[timeless john]

As a Tiler - Once you have fixed the tiles you have no recourse to your money! So if your nice customer does not like the tiles (don't go with her curtains when you see them en masse) she may not pay!
Just go to ASDA and get your food shopping and tell them you will pay if you like the taste!
For me no material money - no job.
What I will say however is I will provide a discount to my customer and deliver the tiles to site straight away so they are correct for when the job is to be started.

[deanotile]

just to add i do not get involved in the tiles i send them to CTD with my discount and i supply the adhesive and grout.

[Scott]

I only supply the ancillary materials, most of my customers buy the bathrooms from my bathstore and they work closely with local tile shops.

[doug boardley]

I rarely get involved with supplying tiles. I want to stay under the VAT threshold. I supply all the addy, grout, trims etc and then add these items onto my final bill.

[merlecollins]

I always get the materials money up front at least 10 days before the start date, in case they pay by cheque

At the e

nd of the day, if the customer went into a supplier and bought the stuff themselves, they would have to pay for it before they were given the materials

As a Tiler - Once you have fixed the tiles you have no recourse to your money! So if your nice customer does not like the tiles (don't go with her curtains when you see them en masse) she may not pay!
Just go to ASDA and get your food shopping and tell them you will pay if you like the taste!
For me no material money - no job.
What I will say however is I will provide a discount to my customer and deliver the tiles to site straight away so they are correct for when the job is to be started

Spot on TJ.

I remember doing a little job last year for a barber, got finished and told him how much i wanted (I'd only been there a couple of hours so no need to quote the job first). Anyway he turns round and says 'No problem I'll post a cheque out! 4 weeks I waited for £50!! Imagine what he would have said if I suggested posting HIM a cheque after getting my hair cut??

[andy allen]

if the customer dosn't like the tiles they have chosen then thats not down to me.

all tiles are checked by the costomer prior to fixing to make sure everthing is present and correct if in the very unlikely event they dont like the tiles enmasse and refuse to pay then this has no reflection on the fixing which i have been contracted to do and they must pay for, as for the tiles would asda refund you for a telly if you didnt like the colour that you had chosen?

[richard Kent]

All you guys that don't take a draw for materials are giving your customer a total stranger credit if you get the money for materials upfront and get knocked for what ever reason it's only the labour cost you get done for.
In all the years I have been self employed I've only been caught three times, two private and MFI.

[Phil Hobson]

I rarely get involved with supplying tiles. I want to stay under the VAT threshold. I supply all the addy, grout, trims etc and then add these items onto my final bill.

Same for me Doug

[whitebeam]

just to add i do not get involved in the tiles i send them to CTD with my discount and i supply the adhesive and grout.

I don't involved either with the tiles but have never asked for money upfront, maybe I should