Charging for rolls of wire

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JoeNorm

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WA
Let's say a residence has called for some Cat6 runs, so you buy a spool and use what you need. Do you charge for the whole roll?

Sure, you'll probably use it in the future but there is no guarantee. Same goes for Romex rolls but those get used up a little easier.

What is the protocol here?
 
I don't charge for the whole roll, but I try to make sure it's something I'll be able to use again. I had a customer ask for Cat 8 cable. I hadn't heard of it before, so I looked it up and read a few references, and found an online store selling it. I told him it's normally only used in data centers, and I asked him to buy the box of it, since I probably wouldn't have any other customers asking for it. He decided to go with Cat 6.

It turned out he had no idea what he was asking for. At the job site, the only thing my crew used was a co-ax wallplate and a couple of co-ax cable connectors. The customer messaged me "good thing neither of us bought Cat 8!"
 
Normal items such as NM cable, RG6 coax, Cat5E, etc. I wouldn't charge them for a whole roll. With maybe the exception of them using most of the roll with little to no hope of having enough for another job, I would charge for the roll.

Something odd, like the Cat8 mentioned, I would charge but let the customer know.
 
I did a house-wide Ethernet install for a customer who insisted on Cat-6. I told him I would charge for the entire 1000' spool and I would keep it, but if he ever needed me to install more, he wouldn't pay for any more cable. As it happened, we ran a few more runs a couple of years later.
 
I think it depends, but I would tend towards, either charging for the whole roll, or charging 300 to 500% of the actual per foot cost, similar to what you would pay at Orange or Blue. When I doubt I will use the rest within the year, I would certainly charge for the roll and not feel guilty. We had and HVAC contractor come over and work on our ice machine and they charge $75 for an aerosol can of degreaser that costs about $12 and they didn't even use the whole can.
 
This is why I never itemized material except for service work. If a customer wants ten ethernet jacks and CAT 6 cable he gets a bottom line price of $xxxx for the job. I factor all material into it as well as labor when determining that amount.

My material markup and profit should more than cover the cost of a new reel(s), and if I have it already in stock- so much the better.

Back in the day when I was doing LV cabling, I bought CAT cable on reels (not boxes) and put eight or ten at a time on a Greenlee Wirecart. This was to save time in labor. I could grab a handful and pull them all through the ceiling at once rather than one by one.

-Hal
 
Sometimes it kibda sucks upfront.

I ran a dryer circuit a couple weeks ago, 18 feet
Had to buy a roll of 10/3 that cost more than what I charged for the circuit.

But what I'll do is charge based on the retail price of the closest footage. I priced a 25 foot roll, doubled it, and that was my wire charge to the customer
 
James L said:
Sometimes it kibda sucks upfront.

I ran a dryer circuit a couple weeks ago, 18 feet
Had to buy a roll of 10/3 that cost more than what I charged for the circuit.

But what I'll do is charge based on the retail price of the closest footage. I priced a 25 foot roll, doubled it, and that was my wire charge to the customer
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I use that when pricing out service work when people ask how much the wire was I tell them to look up what 25 ft of 12 2 cost or whatever and they see it's $2 a foot that way and can swallow that price better than if I tell them the reason I have to charge what I do is that I just drove this roll of wire around a ton and had it ready when they called.
 
letgomywago said:
I use that when pricing out service work when people ask how much the wire was I tell them to look up what 25 ft of 12 2 cost or whatever and they see it's $2 a foot that way and can swallow that price better than if I tell them the reason I have to charge what I do is that I just drove this roll of wire around a ton and had it ready when they called.
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Yes, exactly.
2 things are certain...

1) Perception is reality. If they perceive it as fair, it's fair. If they perceive it as a bad deal, then it's a bad deal

2) We'll go broke giving away materals at cost. It takes time to procure them, and we're assuming liability for mistakes (whether ours or others), among other factors.

Those 2 have to be intermingled so that it's actually fair for us, and they perceive it as fair for them.
 
James L said:
It's reality to them whether or not there's any factual basis.
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It’s brutal if you install generators. They see them on line at some lowball price at the big box stores and think they can get them installed for a few $100. When you start explaining all the rest, such as site prep if needed, a genpad or concrete, a permit and inspection, the install, the ATS install, maybe separating grounds and neutrals, and heaven help them if they want to put it remote from the house. AND THEN you explain either the cost of LP or NG connections. And if they don’t have a propane tank already, how enormously expensive that might be. And suddenly there little $4,999 generator is $10k to $15k, or more. Talk about being hit with reality!

JoeNorm, it can be tough if you are a small contractor to sit on a bunch of leftover wire. It’s really not a factor if you are running several service trucks. Especially with the common sizes of Romex. If I have to supply something out of the ordinary, and can’t get it cut to length, I’m sorry, but they bought the roll. But that is rare. It’s usually only when it’s something really weird like 12 conductor rubber cord, or something specialized like that. I have tried to be the nice guy on a few times on certain larger sizes or multi conductor MC. It sits in my way until I finally try to just use it up when I could use something less expensive. But hey, it’s just the way the world works in our line of business. BTW, I have sold a few things that I got tired of stepping over as scrap for a few pennies on the dollar. Now that hurts.
 
ptonsparky said:
Worse is keeping it for years, scrapping it out, and needing a piece a week later that now costs 4 times as much. Grrr.
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Or even other materials.
About 6 years ago I had a job needing a 3-ft baseboard heater in a bathroom closet addition. I found a good price on a 2-pack, so I got it and charged the customer the regular price of one (which gave me a bargain unit that's still in the box).

I'll probably die before I install it. But if I sell it dirt cheap to get rid if it, you can bet I'll need it a week later 🙄
 
James L said:
Or even other materials.
About 6 years ago I had a job needing a 3-ft baseboard heater in a bathroom closet addition. I found a good price on a 2-pack, so I got it and charged the customer the regular price of one (which gave me a bargain unit that's still in the box).

I'll probably die before I install it. But if I sell it dirt cheap to get rid if it, you can bet I'll need it a week later 🙄
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When I first started my business and was trying to figure out what to stock on the van. A couple of things I never thought about was needed on a couple of service calls. One was a rotary dial dimmer and the other was 2' T12 fluorescent tubes. I bought the dimmers in a variety of colors and bought a case of the 2' tubes. The dimmers are still in a box on a shelf in the van. The case of tubes is in my shop since I was afraid of breaking them. You couldn't hold a gun on anyone and make them take either of these items today!:D
 
My stock of T-12 is next to my stock of T-8 that I also rarely need, my rotary Dimmers are next to slide Dimmers that won't work with LED s, wonder if I'm gonna wish I didn't have so many LED bypass tubes at some point
 
I try to recover the majority of the cost of the roll through material markup, and just hope I can float it until I can use the rest of the roll. I do it mostly as a hobby though, so I try my best not to carry too many extra materials. I keep a stock of fasteners and 3/4" and 1/2" EMT sundries, but most things I buy in small packages as I need.

I mostly do either service work or controls work, and try to avoid bid jobs like houses and commercial stuff because I can't really man them, and most of the new construction around here I could do, but it is a race to the bottom and just not worth my time.
 
readydave8 said:
My stock of T-12 is next to my stock of T-8 that I also rarely need, my rotary Dimmers are next to slide Dimmers that won't work with LED s, wonder if I'm gonna wish I didn't have so many LED bypass tubes at some point
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Right next to my ballast and non-LED rated photo-cells! Which are close to the FS2 and FS4 starters that I refuse to throw away.
 
WCEI said:
Right next to my ballast and non-LED rated photo-cells! Which are close to the FS2 and FS4 starters that I refuse to throw away.
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Not to mention about 500 heaters, (OCP devices), for every type of motor starter ever made. Or something like 3000 circuit breakers from Zinsco to Wadsworth to FP Stab-Lock to Push-O-Matic. Not to mention just about every big frame breaker ever made. And then there are the panels and panel trims, and disconnects and motor starters that are just too darn good to dispose of.
This is what happens when you own a company that has been around since 1937.
Oh, and then there are the coils for just about every contactor ever made, except the one that I desperately need at any given time.
And replacement incandescent lamps for exit signs. And HPS, MV, and MH lamps.😫
 
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