# Everyone is underordering......



## Woodco

I've had five jobs come to me this week, where they all ordered the product, THEN, called me to install it. After I do the math, I tell them they will be short on material....

One of which was for a 9'x7' ceiling, and they only ordered 8 yards.... (they needed 13-14, and this was high end stuff.) So, they scrapped the job. A week later, someone wants the back of two built in cabinets done. 10' x6' total. They just happened to have 8 yards of the exact same material... Apparently, this was the decorina who underordered the material for the other client. She probably had to eat the cost, and was trying to use it in her own house...

I just got another call from someone who followed Anthropologie's badass wallpaper calculator for a product with a 44" straight match repeat. Their calculator is this: Multiply ceiling height by wall length. This is your square feet. Each roll is 56 square feet. Round up. 

Then, the clients get mad at me, when I tell them they ordered half as much as they needed....:vs_unimpressed:


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## kmp

I know this may ruffle the feathers of those who do wall covering but why not buy the product yourself and make sure the quantity is correct? I mean we do it for paint and bitch about when a h.o. buys it. As a pro you know how to correctly measure and order so dye lots are all the same and have plenty of lead time in case of a special order product. And I do call it paste.


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## Woodco

kmp said:


> I know this may ruffle the feathers of those who do wall covering but why not buy the product yourself and make sure the quantity is correct? I mean we do it for paint and bitch about when a h.o. buys it. As a pro you know how to correctly measure and order so dye lots are all the same and have plenty of lead time in case of a special order product. And I do call it paste.


If you read my post correctly, you'd understand that Im talking about people who are calling me to hang product they ALREADY ordered before consulting me, or an experienced designer, or looked up a friggin' wallpaper calculator which is readily available online. 

Wallpaper isnt like paint. If someone calls you and says they need a bedroom painted, and they bought two quarts, you can simply go get more. Wallpaper can take WEEKS to get more if there wasnt enough ordered. Not only that, but if it wasnt printed from the same batch, the colors can be WAY off. They arent concerned with perfect color matching when they print new batches of paper. So, if you need more, and they cant get any from the same batch, they have to either send back, or throw away $1000 worth of paper and order a whole new batch.

When anyone calls me, I do the calculations, and I tell them how much they need to order. I keep getting calls from people, I do the calculations, and tell them they need four double rolls, and they go "Well, my wall is 100 square feet, so I ordered two rolls, cuz its 57 feet per roll, so why wont that work?" Then I have to try to explain complex math to a simpleton, and they get pissed, and scrap the job, or if Im lucky, itll pop back up in two months.

Also, installers DO NOT buy the material. The client, designer, or contractor does the buying. Would you buy $10,000 of material you are only gonna make $2000 installing?? HELL NO. Not to mention, some of these wallpaper companies wont sell to anyone except designers.


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## Brushman4

Wood, you are somewhat contradicting your own words. Installers (contractors) buy the majority of wallcoverings, I've never heard of a contractor not being able to buy WC!

If your letting your inferior decorators, order material without you measuring, your going to be in for a world of hurt.:biggrin:


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## chrisn

Brushman4 said:


> Wood, you are somewhat contradicting your own words. Installers (contractors) buy the majority of wallcoverings, I've never heard of a contractor not being able to buy WC!
> 
> If your letting your inferior decorators, order material without you measuring, your going to be in for a world of hurt.:biggrin:


It's true!


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## Gwarel

I've been installing for over 30 years and have never supplied material.


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## Brushman4

Gwarel said:


> I've been installing for over 30 years and have never supplied material.


Then you're in for a world of hurt!


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## chrisn

I am with Gwarel, not ever been hurt and never will be, I don't understand your point


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## jennifertemple

@Brushman4 / @chrisn

I'm with woodco, I would never layout that much for a job that was not going to pay as much in return. 

It depends on the wall covering. There are some really high end specialty papers out there; they cost the earth! Some do prefer to deal with designers and architects. ("Most Adelphi customers work directly with designers to select and acquire our products. Qualified designers may contact the showrooms listed below, under To the Trade.")

Many wall papers are created and printed on demand. If that is the case, good luck on ever getting a true match on reorder! Even stock printed can easily run 3-4000 for an average bedroom. If it is from the last runs of William Morris Wall papers the clients are really out of luck. They are closed and only supplying the remaining paid orders, the same goes for Charles Rupert Designs.

http://www.adelphipaperhangings.com/ordering.html
http://hamiltonweston.com/
https://bradbury.com/dfw_830-noir.html

If he gets calls from someone that has already ordered and just wants it applied he only has 2 options, yes or no.

Some of you might remember I walked off a papering job for an historic village earlier this summer. I was pretty sure they did not have enough paper and the walls were far from ready. I got spooked and ran.


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## Gwarel

Brushman4 said:


> Then you're in for a world of hurt!


Wallpaper is notorious for being defective, and manufacturers are notorious for not standing behind their ridiculously expensive materials. The world of hurt is in the liability. Count me out......


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## Brushman4

chrisn said:


> I am with Gwarel, not ever been hurt and never will be, I don't understand your point


The point being that many inferior decorators don't know up from down, that's why if you rely on them to order WC you most likely are going to be short or have a ton leftover!

Do you also have your decorinas order your paint for you?


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## Woodco

I tell the decorina's,/homeowners exactly what to order. My problem is that people keep ordering the material before even contacting me. I've never heard of an installer purchasing the material. I would never do that. I'll supply the paste, and liner paper. The paper needs to be onsite when I show up. Its totally different than ordering paint.

Do plumbers buy the sinks and faucets? Do electricians buy the ceiling fans and chandeliers?

Either the homeowner, the designer, or the GC buys that kind of stuff. By "contractor," I was referring to a GC. Its rare that a GC has any hand in wallpaper, but it happens. Basically, whoever picks it out, purchases it.


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## Gwarel

Brushman4 said:


> The point being that many inferior decorators don't know up from down, that's why if you rely on them to order WC you most likely are going to be short or have a ton leftover!


Well I won't disagree that things can easily go sideways, even after you field measure. Double rolls, single rolls, Euro rolls, many ways for the middle man to screw up the deal. I've even had the customer tell me, after I got to the job and they were short from what I measured, that " The guy at SW said I didn't need that much."


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## Brushman4

Look, I've worked for most of the largest shops in Chicago. These PC did the largest office and hotel jobs, I'm talking sometimes 30,000 yards plus of 54" vinyl etc.

I know for a fact that most of them ordered and supplied the WC, at a hefty markup the hotels or GC's could not match!

I also know for a fact that they had suppliers/manufacturers that made knock-offs so close to the product that no one could tell and made even more money off of that.


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## Brushman4

jennifertemple said:


> @Brushman4 / @chrisn
> 
> I'm with woodco, I would never layout that much for a job that was not going to pay as much in return.
> 
> It depends on the wall covering. There are some really high end specialty papers out there; they cost the earth! Some do prefer to deal with designers and architects. ("Most Adelphi customers work directly with designers to select and acquire our products. Qualified designers may contact the showrooms listed below, under To the Trade.")
> 
> Many wall papers are created and printed on demand. If that is the case, good luck on ever getting a true match on reorder! Even stock printed can easily run 3-4000 for an average bedroom. If it is from the last runs of William Morris Wall papers the clients are really out of luck. They are closed and only supplying the remaining paid orders, the same goes for Charles Rupert Designs.
> 
> http://www.adelphipaperhangings.com/ordering.html
> http://hamiltonweston.com/
> https://bradbury.com/dfw_830-noir.html
> 
> If he gets calls from someone that has already ordered and just wants it applied he only has 2 options, yes or no.
> 
> Some of you might remember I walked off a papering job for an historic village earlier this summer. I was pretty sure they did not have enough paper and the walls were far from ready. I got spooked and ran.


This is who most if not all of the largest painting and wallcovering contractors in Chicago ordered their goods from....http://www.mdcwall.com/home/company/our-story


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## jennifertemple

Brushman4 said:


> This is who most if not all of the largest painting and wallcovering contractors in Chicago ordered their goods from....http://www.mdcwall.com/home/company/our-story



So, what's your point here? I was only showing the problems with "exclusive" papers, the costs and the risks. (Thanks to Decorators, no doubt) It sounds, by the stated cost, woodco's people had ordered just such expensive nonsense.


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## Brushman4

jennifertemple said:


> So, what's your point here? I was only showing the problems with "exclusive" papers, the costs and the risks. (Thanks to Decorators, no doubt) It sounds, by the stated cost, woodco's people had ordered just such expensive nonsense.


My point here is that not everyone has their inferior decorators order the wrong amounts of WC. Some forward-thinking contractors order it themselves and mark it up handsomely and maximize their profit!

That's the only point I was trying to make, OK?


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## ProWallGuy

Been hanging for close to 30 years now, I never purchase product. Designers and/or homeowners supply wallcoverings, not me. The ONLY wallcovering contractors I know that purchase/supply material are vinyl jockeys who do commercial projects. I don't do work in that category myself.


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## Brushman4

ProWallGuy said:


> Been hanging for close to 30 years now, I never purchase product. Designers and/or homeowners supply wallcoverings, not me. The ONLY wallcovering contractors I know that purchase/supply material are vinyl jockeys who do commercial projects. I don't do work in that category myself.


Vinyl jockeys? Meaning contractors who make money off of not only installation but on the material?
In other words, a contractor who maximizes his profit?


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## Woodco

Commercial installation is a different animal. You're talking about "large wallpaper companies." They are obviously commercial oriented. Its a different animal, than us one man operations. Most of the stuff we do, is a one wall treatments. A designer isnt likely to turn it over to us anyway, as they make their cut on it too. I charge an arm and a leg for the install. Like I said, they already have the stuff picked out before they even call me. Why would they have me order it an tack on an extra 10% or whatever? It wouldnt make sense for them.


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## jennifertemple

I always charge clients for materials at cost. I never tack on any fees for supply, better still, I pass on the contractors discount. My clients love it and it is a cheap promotional bit.


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## Woodco

I just tell my clients I get a really smoking deal on Pure Performance, and they eat it up. Its true, but my material budget is a set number whether I go above or below, and they dont know. I dotn give them a material bill. If I tell them five grand to do a job, thats what it is. I'll tell them I have a $700 material budget or whatever, though, for deposit reasons, but I still overshoot the materials a little, and add on 10% It pays for the trips to the paint store too.


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## Brushman4

jennifertemple said:


> I always charge clients for materials at cost. I never tack on any fees for supply, better still, I pass on the contractors discount. My clients love it and it is a cheap promotional bit.


You should never give the customer materials for cost, you should be charging full retail or more.

Of course, your clients love it, their using you as delivery service for free. What about your time spent ordering and picking up, is that worth nothing?


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## Brushman4

Woodco said:


> Commercial installation is a different animal. You're talking about "large wallpaper companies." They are obviously commercial oriented. Its a different animal, than us one man operations. Most of the stuff we do, is a one wall treatments. A designer isnt likely to turn it over to us anyway, as they make their cut on it too. I charge an arm and a leg for the install. Like I said, they already have the stuff picked out before they even call me. Why would they have me order it an tack on an extra 10% or whatever? It wouldnt make sense for them.


It makes sense for them, and believe me there taking on a lot more than 10%.


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## jennifertemple

Brushman4 said:


> You should never give the customer materials for cost, you should be charging full retail or more.
> 
> Of course, your clients love it, their using you as delivery service for free. What about your time spent ordering and picking up, is that worth nothing?


 Why not!? They pay for all materials at cost, including mud, tape, caulking etc. I give them the receipts made out to their name and save myself a bundle of headaches with the tax man. Sometimes I even get the client to do the materials pick up. I call it in & they pick it up! The client pays a good buck for my labor and makes my tax return much easier. I don't need to hold or file any receipts except office space. I love it this way. I will do almost anything to keep my relationship with the CRA to a minimum. Heck, I don't even file charity or drug receipts. I was audited once; it took lord knows how many hours of my CA's time, cost me a fortune, nearly two years of time and aggravation in the end I paid tax I did not owe because it was cheaper than paying the CA a lot more hours. If they ever hit me with another audit, it will be dead simple: major medical, invoices and office. That is all I declare now. I stop working for the rest of the year if I come close to the limit where I need to start charging HST. (Some times if it's close to the years end I hold the bill until after New Years.)

But, I am semi retired, all the kids are growed up and out. No more University & excess food expenses. I can afford to keep it simple now.


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## Brushman4

jennifertemple said:


> Why not!? They pay for all materials at cost, including mud, tape, caulking etc. I give them the receipts made out to their name and save myself a bundle of headaches with the tax man. Sometimes I even get the client to do the materials pick up. I call it in & they pick it up! The client pays a good buck for my labor and makes my tax return much easier. I don't need to hold or file any receipts except office space. I love it this way. I will do almost anything to keep my relationship with the CRA to a minimum. Heck, I don't even file charity or drug receipts. I was audited once; it took lord knows how many hours of my CA's time, cost me a fortune, nearly two years of time and aggravation in the end I paid tax I did not owe because it was cheaper than paying the CA a lot more hours. If they ever hit me with another audit, it will be dead simple: major medical, invoices and office. That is all I declare now. I stop working for the rest of the year if I come close to the limit where I need to start charging HST. (Some times if it's close to the years end I hold the bill until after New Years.)
> 
> But, I am semi retired, all the kids are growed up and out. No more University & excess food expenses. I can afford to keep it simple now.


If you like selling yourself short, all I can say is GO for it!
Are you a non-profit?


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## jennifertemple

Brushman4 said:


> If you like selling yourself short, all I can say is GO for it!
> Are you a non-profit?


Don't be silly. It is all profit for me now. Hassle free profit! I do quite comfortably. However, I've done my time trying to take the whole hog and I take it as my right to take it easy now. I'm not selling myself short, I'm selling myself at a comfortable pace.

One nasty audit from now you would no doubt know how devastating a tax audit can be. I am too old to risk a second one. We all create business models we are comfortable with. I worked like an insane person when I was younger, buying a house, paying for kids university and dealing with impossible to follow tax issues. I supported a charted accountant, a book keeper, child care workers, universities and other painters. at 62 I say ENOUGH! All those wages are now mine, alone. Today, I take care of me; I do so in a manner I have enjoyed becoming accustomed to. I can pick and choose the jobs I want to do. Best of all, I'm happy!

I don't tell anyone how anyone else should run their business life and I would never assume my model is suitable for anyone but me. I define myself.

On the other hand you sound a bit cranky.


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## Woodco

Brushman4 said:


> It makes sense for them, and believe me there taking on a lot more than 10%.


It makes sense for the designer to pass up their markup by having me do it?? Why the hell would that make any kind of sense to a designer whatsoever? Thats part of the designers paycheck.


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## Brushman4

jennifertemple said:


> Don't be silly. It is all profit for me now. Hassle free profit! I do quite comfortably. However, I've done my time trying to take the whole hog and I take it as my right to take it easy now. I'm not selling myself short, I'm selling myself at a comfortable pace.
> 
> One nasty audit from now you would no doubt know how devastating a tax audit can be. I am too old to risk a second one. We all create business models we are comfortable with. I worked like an insane person when I was younger, buying a house, paying for kids university and dealing with impossible to follow tax issues. I supported a charted accountant, a book keeper, child care workers, universities and other painters. at 62 I say ENOUGH! All those wages are now mine, alone. Today, I take care of me; I do so in a manner I have enjoyed becoming accustomed to. I can pick and choose the jobs I want to do. Best of all, I'm happy!
> 
> I don't tell anyone how anyone else should run their business life and I would never assume my model is suitable for anyone but me. I define myself.
> 
> On the other hand you sound a bit cranky.


Sorry, I know nothing about tax audit's, never went there! I'm guessing your the only one who put kids through college? At your age who else, would you be working for?

I'm not telling you how to run your business, just make a bit more profit! It seems like you might be the one who is a bit cranky. Unlike the tin man, I have my joints oiled frequently.


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## jennifertemple

Brushman4 said:


> Sorry, I know nothing about tax audit's, never went there! I'm guessing your the only one who put kids through college? At your age who else, would you be working for?
> 
> I'm not telling you how to run your business, just make a bit more profit! It seems like you might be the one who is a bit cranky. Unlike the tin man, I have my joints oiled frequently.


No, I'm not cranky and I am sorry for the misunderstanding. I thought you were resenting my KISS manner of living at this point in my life. 

Tax audit: They surprise you by deciding for some inexplicable reason that you have under paid for the last 7 years. Every receipt and deduction must be accounted for, every dime in and out of bank accounts must be explained, every invoice must be presented, every expense must be justified (All to the auditors satisfaction) It is exceedingly stressful, expensive, unnerving and sleep depriving. In my case, when we got the bill down to half, I paid the other half because my chartered accountant was the one dealing with all the issues and he cost a small fortune hourly) I just figured I was cutting my losses, there was no winning. The Gov does not have an obligation to pay your expenses if they were wrong. You just lose every which way there is to lose. The real PO is I was always scrupulously honest. Unlike the cash only guys. (What is worse in Canada we have the HST tax on all goods and services, you pay a tax bill every few months and it never has anything to do with what you collected, then at the end of the year their is a reckoning and all the excess comes back to you but I hated being the tax collector with HST, GST and what to charge when and where) If I keep my current income a $29900 a year, by law, I do not need to charge any HST or GST on any part of the business operation. Hubby does not have that luxury. He has simplified as much as possible but with rare books his options to limit Gov involvement are more limited. 

No, I was not the only one putting my sons through college. As you might already know, kids are a very expensive proposition! It's not just the tuition, it's the daily "I need money for..." With 2 sons it took two of us to pay all the various costs related to University. We also, likely lived in one of the better neighborhoods of Toronto (Grenadier on the High Park end of the Street) We could have lived on a more frugal budget but we liked to live well and have a few of the extras. We both worked like crazies to pay for it all. With both running separate businesses our tax issues were complicated.

When the boys moved out, we sold one business and moved to a much cheaper city, with a much cheaper house (and bigger). We live as well as we ever did for much less money and a less prestigious address. Now we can work much fewer hours with less stress, get to sit on the front deck in the evenings and chat with passing neighbors and pet their dogs.


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## dnj300

Under ordering is very common in my experience as well. Many jobs I do the customer or designer or gc already ordered the paper. What makes it worse is when we come up short they will tell me I did something wrong, or at least hint at it.
I always tell customers to add at least 10% more material to whatever the measurements suggest. Especially with residential paper. A 2ft repeat can have you wasting at least 20%. 

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk


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## Woodco

When I do the calculations, I know how much paper will be needed, and if they already ordered it, I ask how much they ordered. If its not enough, I tell them to order more from the same lot number, and call me when they get it. That whole 'add a certain percentage' is BS. It has nothing to do with that. You can almost always get three strips per bolt for walls from 8'-10'. So, for a standard paper, that gets you 5 linear feet of wall. Theres no 10-20% waste about it. If its cutting it close, I have them order one more, and if they're lucky they can return it. I also like to have at least one extra strip jsut in case, but if its a 9' long wall, Im not gonna have them order the third roll. If it were a whole room, I want some extra. 

I've recently had people order way too much as well. Some lady wanted some every expensive Phillip Jeffries Grasscloth, which comes in 36" by 24' bolts. Well, she had a box of 8 bolts of that stuff waiting for me, to do a 15' wall. I tried to get her to convince her clients to do a few more walls with it, but I never got a call back. They might have fired her for overordering so bad for all I know. I dont know how much a bolt of Phillip Jeffries grasscloth costs, but its more than a few hundred bucks per bolt, maybe even close to a thousand. .


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## dnj300

Woodco said:


> When I do the calculations, I know how much paper will be needed, and if they already ordered it, I ask how much they ordered. If its not enough, I tell them to order more from the same lot number, and call me when they get it. That whole 'add a certain percentage' is BS. It has nothing to do with that. You can almost always get three strips per bolt for walls from 8'-10'. So, for a standard paper, that gets you 5 linear feet of wall. Theres no 10-20% waste about it. If its cutting it close, I have them order one more, and if they're lucky they can return it. I also like to have at least one extra strip jsut in case, but if its a 9' long wall, Im not gonna have them order the third roll. If it were a whole room, I want some extra.
> 
> I've recently had people order way too much as well. Some lady wanted some every expensive Phillip Jeffries Grasscloth, which comes in 36" by 24' bolts. Well, she had a box of 8 bolts of that stuff waiting for me, to do a 15' wall. I tried to get her to convince her clients to do a few more walls with it, but I never got a call back. They might have fired her for overordering so bad for all I know. I dont know how much a bolt of Phillip Jeffries grasscloth costs, but its more than a few hundred bucks per bolt, maybe even close to a thousand. .


I agree with your point mostly. Problem is that often the customer hadn't picked the paper yet but wants to know how much to order. So I do tend to err on the high side because I don't know how long the repeat will be. I tell them ahead of time I expect there will be a full double roll left over. They can either return it(big restocking fee at most places) or the smarter thing is to save it. They get a water leak or some other damage down the road we can fix it without having to repaper the whole room

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## Woodco

Thats why you tell them not to order it until they text/email you a link to the paper they decide on so you can doublecheck everything, then tell them how much to order.


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## dnj300

Woodco said:


> Thats why you tell them not to order it until they text/email you a link to the paper they decide on so you can doublecheck everything, then tell them how much to order.


In a perfect world yes. 

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## jennifertemple

dnj300 said:


> In a perfect world yes.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk



AND in a perfect world, oranges would have zippers! :wink:


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## Woodco

dnj300 said:


> In a perfect world yes.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk


So, do you have problems getting people to hold off on ordering until you doublecheck it? I dont understand.


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## dnj300

Woodco said:


> So, do you have problems getting people to hold off on ordering until you doublecheck it? I dont understand.


They don't always contact me before ordering. You've never had a customer call you to hang paper they already ordered? 

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## Woodco

dnj300 said:


> They don't always contact me before ordering. You've never had a customer call you to hang paper they already ordered?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk


We were just talking about clients who we are in contact with, but havent picked out the paper. I make it VERY clear that they will probably need X amount of rolls or standard paper, but DO NOT PLACE THE ORDER until I check out the product first. And no, I've never had a client order it when I tell them not to.


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## dnj300

Woodco said:


> We were just talking about clients who we are in contact with, but havent picked out the paper. I make it VERY clear that they will probably need X amount of rolls or standard paper, but DO NOT PLACE THE ORDER until I check out the product first. And no, I've never had a client order it when I tell them not to.


You obviously have your clients trained better than I have mine

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## Vinyl 54X

Industry standard is 20% mark up. You are doing the take off. ordering, receiving & storage, God forbid you have to overnight something or deal with production times. Client sometimes want to provide the wallcovering to avoid cost (usually at the urging of the designer) They want to know how much to order ( they will always round down ) Can they ship it to your shop? Am I responsible if it arrives damaged? Or if it's in 5 dye lots or split rolls? Providing labor is tricky, Why have your installers waste time hanging restrooms with owner provided material just so they can save a buck. Perspective from the other side.


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## Woodco

Screw that. I want nothing to do with the ordering aside from telling them how much to get. Let the designers or homeowners deal it. 

You do understand Im not talking about commercial, right? This is a one man show, usually just one wall or bathroom, and I charge VERY high for labor. The designer can keep the damn markup. Thats where they make their money, anyway.


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## Brushman4

Woodco said:


> Screw that. I want nothing to do with the ordering aside from telling them how much to get. Let the designers or homeowners deal it.
> 
> You do understand Im not talking about commercial, right? This is a one man show, usually just one wall or bathroom, and I charge VERY high for labor. The designer can keep the damn markup. Thats where they make their money, anyway.


Wood, I'm not sure if I asked you this before? Do you have your decorators or clients order the paint and sundries needed for a job?


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## Woodco

Brushman4 said:


> Wood, I'm not sure if I asked you this before? Do you have your decorators or clients order the paint and sundries needed for a job?


No. But if they wanted some ridiculously priced, specialty paint flown in from Italy, I would make them deal with it.


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## akrause

First of all, ..I want to go on record as saying never in my entire life have I found an industry where the suppliers are more high maintenance and work harder to *NOT* sell you their product. Wallpaper companies are TOTAL premadonas. They are the absolute WORST to even get a quote from, let alone conduct an actual transaction. It's WALLPAPER, ...I'm not adopting a friggin child! (ok...rant over. thank you)
I lieu of my temper tantrum above, not only would I let the client get the paper, I would HAPPILY skip the process of dealing with any wallpaper company if owner/GC wants to supply. I'll also happily tell them how much to get, then - I'll throw my lost material mark up right into my labor number and tell them to call me when the material comes in. They can ship to me if they want, no problem. 
I see it as a win-win. I save time, they get all the headaches and I still make my $. If they order less than what I told them to get, no problem - we have change orders for the return mobilization trip once they order the rest of the paper I told them to get.
I should mention, I would *not* let someone supply the paint. That effects my buying power with my suppliers. Wallpaper? ....bring it on.


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## dnj300

akrause said:


> First of all, ..I want to go on record as saying never in my entire life have I found an industry where the suppliers are more high maintenance and work harder to *NOT* sell you their product. Wallpaper companies are TOTAL premadonas. They are the absolute WORST to even get a quote from, let alone conduct an actual transaction. It's WALLPAPER, ...I'm not adopting a friggin child! (ok...rant over. thank you)
> I lieu of my temper tantrum above, not only would I let the client get the paper, I would HAPPILY skip the process of dealing with any wallpaper company if owner/GC wants to supply. I'll also happily tell them how much to get, then - I'll throw my lost material mark up right into my labor number and tell them to call me when the material comes in. They can ship to me if they want, no problem.
> I see it as a win-win. I save time, they get all the headaches and I still make my $. If they order less than what I told them to get, no problem - we have change orders for the return mobilization trip once they order the rest of the paper I told them to get.
> I should mention, I would *not* let someone supply the paint. That effects my buying power with my suppliers. Wallpaper? ....bring it on.


I would agree with you.. Plus what always amazes me is how they come up short, or order just barely enough. They are selling the stuff but don't seem to understand about the amount that gets wasted with matching patterns, etc..
When I measure a room and tell customer how much to get I tell them that I expect to have at least one unopened double roll left over. They can return it(yes the restocking fee is criminal) if they want. Or if they are smart put it in a closet somewhere so if a year down the road they have damage done I can come back and replace a piece or 2. 

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## Woodco

EDIT: nevermind. I didnt realize we had a jackass troll in our midst again.


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## Brushman4

Woodco said:


> EDIT: nevermind. I didnt realize we had a jackass troll in our midst again.


Are you speaking of yourself?


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## jennifertemple

Woodco said:


> Screw that. I want nothing to do with the ordering aside from telling them how much to get. Let the designers or homeowners deal it.
> 
> You do understand I'm not talking about commercial, right? This is a one man show, usually just one wall or bathroom, and I charge VERY high for labor. The designer can keep the damn markup. That's where they make their money, anyway.


Only one hitch, when product causes the job to go sideways you are the one everyone will blame. I don't care if clients want to get their own product if they do not hold me responsible (IN PRINT!) for any failure or disappointment. In 40 years I have had some VERY strange requests generated by "interior designers" and some have really gone wrong.


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## Woodco

Brushman4 said:


> Are you speaking of yourself?


You didnt notice the poster above me necroed several posts to spout nonsense? This post was the only one you could understand what he was saying.


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## AnthonyFalzon

Just order more materials?


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## cleaningguy

Aha, so that's it


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