Shop fees

a while back i noticed “shop supplies” as part of the itemized charges my mechanic listed on that and all subsequent bills. when questioned he said shop supplies represent percentage of total and include: rags, cleaning supplies, etc used on repair and other shops don’t show this charge but include it as part of labor costs. is this credible or am i being ripped off?

i think this guy is a smart buinessman!

this is a way to change the fee he charges you fromtotally taxable at 100% of the bill to,

the portion of labor is taxable, with the ‘shop fee’ as non taxable income (for him), since he has to pay for those items just to keep his shop running. (come on, you dont think his shop cleans itself do you?)

seriously, it is just a way to not have to pay tax on a small portion of the bill that really isnt income, but a normal expense.

you have been to a quick oil change place lately? look at their bill. it lists disposal fee as a seperate part of the bill. it always was part of an oil change, but since they have ot pay to get rid of the oil (sometimes) it is an expense, and listing it seperately they dont have ot pay income tax on it.

same thing with ‘tire disposal fee’ at a tire shop.

if ever there was a call for flat tax on everything!! no loopholes no paperwork.

Some shops show a separate charge for this, and others don’t. You pay for it either way.

The shop fees remind me of some minor outpatient surgery I had done at the hospital about 35 years ago. I was charged over $20 for “pharmacuetic supplies”. These supplies consisted of a band aid that I took off after leaving the hospital. When I visit the hospital now, I always carry a box of band-aids in case someone needs one. This saves the person or the insurance the inflated cost. I suppose you could show up at the garage with your own shop supplies and deter the cost. However, it is probably more convenient just to let them furnish the shop supplies.

It’s credible and six of one, half dozen of the other no matter how it’s billed.

When you buy something from WalMart you’re paying a “shop supplies” charge there also; it’s figured into the retail price of the item.

same thing with ‘tire disposal fee’ at a tire shop

One of the tire shops I worked at charged a $5 per tire “recycling fee” which, as near as I could tell, paid for the gas for me to drive the tires out to the county dump. Considering as the ancient Datsun flatbed truck in question could carry upwards of 100 junked tires per run and got 20mpg and the dump was about 10 miles away, you do the math.

what do they say, "5,000 Frenchmen can’t be wrong… the concurrence of replies convinces me a. its legit and b. the guys a savvy businessman. thanks for the feedback.

Then again, they had other expenses to consider in addition to the gasoline; maintenance on the truck, labor for the driver and most importantly INSURANCE.

That is definitely true, although that truck was very reliable and my hourly wage at the time was painfully small. Also, it wasn’t a mandatory fee-- we could just throw the old tires in the trunk, so it’s not like there’s anything wrong with making money off of it. I just thought it was scummy that they called it a recycling fee when it was really a “throw it in the landfill” fee.

Yeah, I hear ya. I remember some years back when this place wanted to charge me $15 to throw out my old motorcycle tire. I groused enough about it at the service desk that one of the employees met me outside, took the tire and threw it into the bin and mumbled something about taking advantage of the customers.

I don’t mind these shop fees as long as their up front about it. Tacking on shop fees on top of the estimate I think is total bull.