Some good bits in the programme - but annoying when Melinda goes and begs materials and services and get things free. If I was to try it......!
I think it is an abuse of the 'power' of TV. I wish a retailer would tell them that their prices are as low as possible and if they were to give anything away then other customers would have to subsidise it or they would go out of business.
Cheaper than advertising, possibly?
Si
Well, that would be a lie, wouldn't it.
And that's just stating how business works.
Seriously have you tried it?
Why, the suppliers get some very good advertising from it - besides, you only see the ones that agree, there may be many refusals before they get "a bite".
Now the suppliers would be telling porkies if they did that - as on most of their stuff the 'mark-up' is around 30-40% of the wholesale price (and that's without what they can charge for delivery) - and if they're in the restaurant business, then that mark-up is more like 60% plus.
Now you are showing your naivety, the only thing that customers are subsiding is the owners, holidays and pension funds - and that's what he's in the business and taking the risks for anyway.
I would suggest that the 'little green man' inside you is showing a little.
Now if you were running a business of your own, and using these suppliers yourself, I would lay odds that if you gave them enough custom over a period of time, then they WOULD give you the odd freebie or six, particularly around Xmas time. LOL
Woodworm
I once (only the once) blagged (if that is the right word) a free van hire for a weekend for a not for profit event. The first company I rang, to my complete amazement, agreed to it.
Restaurants usually charge a multiple of the cost of ingredients, typically four or five times. But that has to pay for all their overheads, including rent and rates, staff wages, electricity and gas, water, ...
It is not a highly profitable business, and the risk of going bust is very high indeed. Lots of people think it's easy, have a go and fail.
....and the food wastage which is probably considerable. If it is an Indian restaurant then another will open up a few doors away to pinch some of your business.............
There was a programme last week about the ubiquity of the shipping container now for nearly all goods. Interviewed was a raincoat maker from Manchester, which was the World leader in raincoat manufacture until the 70's. Retailers then would buy in at £10, then sell to the public at £20. This manufacturer said they now buy in from China at £10, and sell for £130. That is why a 50% off sale is still making a profit for the clothes sellers. It is cheaper to ship the goods from China to Felixstow, than it is to truck them from Felixstowe to Manchester. Alan.
Its fake (like most TV) and agreed by researchers before Melinda goes in. One retailer gave the game away the other week, by saying "I hadn't planned to give you that one ..." So I think researchers first, then Melinda pushes them a bit. The understanding is the free advertising. Simon.
Wages is the largest part for many resurants, and the wages required to handle the increasing levels of red tape (anti-money laundering measures, etc) has escalated enormously over the last 10 years and bites heavily into the smaller businesses in particular. A friend packed his in because of this - red tape took up more and more time, until he had no leasure time left and not enough time to actually run the business.
I don't think the advertising is very effective as it isn't obvious who the supplier is (unless I miss it in the credits) - in any case, the fact they can give stuff away would turn me against them - unless they also give me something for free.
Yep. This may now change: the Labour view of the world is it has two sorts of people - deserving workers and large exploitative bosses, and red tape is a way to keep the latter in check.
For small businesses nothing is further from the truth. Labour has kept a class war going that wasn't even relevant by 1960..
My wife's a VAT Assurance Officer and is forever complaining at the prices of stuff because she knows just how much markup is being put on :-)
Two quick examples (not DIY related but you'll get the point):
*All* so-called "designer" crap is a rip-off.
It's all about charging what the market will bear. And fashion is a triumph of that - create a demand for something ephemeral and all about looks over substance, and then charge a premium price for it.
The whole programme is annoying. A family "abandoned" by their builder, with no explanation of why the builder left the site and only the punter's side of the story. An extension/loft conversion that is sometimes badly built, but mostly just part finished ("dangerous") and first-fixed ("dangerous, look at those wires hanging out"). Then there's the set piece of Melinda's pet builder sucking his teeth when asked to do more than he has, allegedly, been paid to do, and the faked blagging from shops. Not to mention the East End bloke doing the full stalking-and-leaping-out-of-a-cupboard-with-a-microphone routine at the slightest excuse. I used to watch it, but nowadays it mostly clashes with Challenge Tommy Walsh, which is, of course, unmissable.
Cheers Richard
How do you think the pubs overheads compare with your overheads? How many domestic staff do you employ for starters? How much do you pay your accountant? How much does your bank charge you each time you sell yourself a pint? etc, etc, etc,...
If you don't like the pub prices then don't go to the pub.
MBQ
Yeah yeah blah, blah, blah....
I fully appreciate that people are in business to make money and I'm fully aware of the overheads they face. I was only adding info to the previous poster's comments about markups of 30-40% and that restaurants can be 60% plus. Still think £4 a pint is excessive though - and how they can charge the same as (or even more than) a whiskey/vodka (at what, 37%? 40%ABV) for a measure of Archers (at 18%ABV) is a bit naughty.
Whats the Tommy Walsh programme like ? On what channel ? I only have freeview at the moment.
I remember spending an entire bank holiday once watching a US series on Sky where they renovated a huge house (well, probably a "normal" US house) complete with big pillars out the front. I "did" all the episodes back to back much like the posh folk "do" Wagner's Ring Cycle ! With a glass of Pimms ;-)
Simon.
So don't drink there. At least you have the choice, unlike when HMRC are stealing your money.
We didn't. Same cider on about three blocks down the road for £2.95 a pint - excellent :o)
At least you have the choice, unlike when HMRC
If we didn't pay any taxes where would the money for hospitals, roads, schools etc., etc. come from? We all have to pay taxes, like it or not.
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