B&Q Kitchens - Beware

[tim.....]

But if the company weren't allowed to make a profit they would do something else with their money

tim

[Jerry]

So you would be quite happy if youor employer said he was only gooing to pay you enough to cover your bills and not allow you to save any excess?

Err.....?! It's irrelevant to the context, try reading what I was replying to, all I'm saying is that as soon as a profit is taken then morality dies, as for working for no more than one needs, many people of high moral standings do exactly that - and yes if that makes me immoral so be...

[Jerry]

Like John Lewis and the Co-oP do you mean?...

[tim.....]

I don't see how distributing 10% of the profit to staff/customers changes the point about the other 90%.

tim

[Man at B&Q]

[e-mail]...

Why is making a profit immoral? Who says so?

MBQ

[Dave Plowman (News)]

They both make profits. Or intend to.

[Jerry]

But they either share it around or reinvest. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against companies or even individuals making profits just the suggestion that there is anything but commercial or personal greed behind it...

[Peter]

I was told this morning by B&Q's kitchen guy that if I ordered on my discount (trade) card I'd get 50% off all kitchens

Peter

[Don]

messagenews: [e-mail]...

Why is making a profit immoral? Who says so?

Could've been lesser known one of the Marx brothers. ;-)

Don.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

As does any company with shareholders.

You mean human nature?

[Jerry]

Only to those who have bought share, when was the last time someone like ITV paid me for watching their programmes for example (although such is the utter crap that they make now it might not be to long before they have to pay people to watch their programmes!)...

No, many people live without such greed so it can't be human nature as such, corruption of human nature maybe.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Err, you won't get the benefit of a co-op's profits unless you are a member - ie shareholder. Same applies to John Lewis. Their profits ain't given away to any tom dick or harry.

Oh - you don't pay for ITV progs.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "Jerry" saying something like:

What's the sky like on JerryWorld?

[The Medway Handyman]

There are two kinds of profit, that gained by adding value & that gained by speculation.

Manufacturing companies add value by taking raw materials & turning them into something useful, distribution or retail companies add value by making products available to the people who want them., the service industry adds value by installing the product.

A company turns plastic granules into a toilet siphon, the local plumbing shop makes in available to the consumer, I turn a plastic siphon into a flushing toilet.

We have all added value to that bag of plastic granules

We all need an incentive to do the job. Otherwise why bother in the first place?

Those who make profits without adding value; money lenders (banks), currency speculators, stock brokers etc are immoral in my opinion. They make profit without adding value, having forgotten that money is simply a medium of exchange, not a product.

The communist regime in Russia was a prime example of 'no profit, no motivation'.

Old joke; Russian guy wants to buy a new Lada. Dealer tells him it will be ready on 12th August 2013. Russian guy asks if that will be morning or afternoon, because he has the plumber coming in the morning.

[Andy Burns]

Like those who accept money merely for being on standby over Christmas, rather than actually being on site fixing things, for example?

[stuart noble]

That's why Jesus threw them out of the temple. Today we'd call him a terrorist

What gets people out of bed in the morning is (probably) the key to understanding economics. The mistake is assuming it's only money.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

So you'd describe being paid for work as 'profit'? How quaint.

You've obviously never been on standby or know what it means.

[The Medway Handyman]

"We also serve who only stand & wait".

:-)

I'm still providing a service & therefore adding value. As do Doctors, fire service, police, ambulance service etc. The fact that they are available, even though they might do nothing, is still a service.

That the financial agreement suits both parties in a situation where nothing might happen is irrelevant.

How about employed people who accept 3 weeks paid holiday?

[Jerry]

Idyllic... Actually it's the same sky as anywhere else.

[Andy Burns]

If your price is right the one leads to the other, though as a small business you obviously have a certain freedom to choose how much to take as a wage and how much to build up as profit, depends how you want to treat it ...

For several years I was on standby (including christmas day) because there were timeslots when the orders for the required quantity of gas had to be sent to the offshore gas platforms, via our software. that particular contract was money for old rope.