Trying to remember. Oh yeah I wrote a check for cash at the bank last week. Can’t get larger bills out of the atm. I still use checks every once in a while. I’ve given up trying to teach proper check writing to the kids though. They don’t teach banking in school anymore either.
They should.
In this fragile, electronic and on-line age, it could come in handy some day.
Oh, I understood your premise from the start. That is why I offered my perspective. The issue from my experience is that what you are proposing is not realistic in the business I am experienced in. Likely very few could survive, mostly entrepreneurial ventures I would say.
Do you realize you’re expressing what is probably the oldest joke in the business world?
“We’re losing our @ss on this product but the good news is we will make it up in volume”
Increasing sales volume on something you are essentially not making any money on doesn’t make economic sense. It only works if that is your loss leader and you are selling the same customer other more lucrative (i.e. more profit) products to make up for the loss. The $19.99 oil change with lots of expensive add ons for example…
First of all, our pricing is competitive with our industry competitors. BTW- I have yet to meet a customer that liked paying the bill. They grumble and drag their feet regardless. Secondly, they cannot “learn to do it themselves”. The vast majority of top level manufacturing operations rely on parts they cannot, or would not, attempt to manufacture themselves. The costs in infrastructure, resources and developing the IP are prohibitive. This isn’t an oil change that anyone with a mind to, can do..
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We still have some checks around for occasional use. We’ve had them so long the address was 3 houses ago!
Show me a profit and loss statement, yearly bookkeeping, or any other reputable source that shows an indy auto repair shop (which is what I was talking about) can survive by buying and selling parts at a 10% markup? You can’t, because it can’t be done.
My shop was only so big and there are only so many hours in the day. I need X dollars per hour to keep my head above water. But is the goal to keep my head above water? No, it’s not to survive, it’s to thrive. I found out that by raising my prices and profits, I also raised the quality of my clients.
I hate the added fee for credit. As far as I’m concerned, credit card use is so common that the fees are part of fixed overhead just like garbage and lights.
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I meant the golden rule 10-15 percent to apply to any type of business (retail, hospitality, dining, skilled trades, etc) not just automotive.
I’m not sure what that statement means.
Are you saying a 10% profit margin? That’s WAY different than a 10% markup.
Well, I googled both, read and watched several explanations of the difference, and I still can’t tell them apart. 
I use the two interchangeably in every-day conversation.
If you’ve done all that my explanation will likely have no effect. You need to figure out the difference before making any more comments on the topic.
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Since it involves math, which I was never good at, I will never get it, no matter who or how it is explained to me.
I’m charging someone to replace the belt in their clothes dryer. The belt, for arguments sake is $10, and alone will get the dryer running again.
I charge the client a 20 percent markup for the belt, so $12, and then 50 percent on top of that, so round the whole job up to $20.
Is that the general idea?
Improving the quality of clients means you don’t want looky-loos and others who accuse you of incompetence, price-gouging and worse
It includes raising the price to a certain labor rate so that certain “potential” customers don’t even bother setting their foot in the door in the first place
Sometimes being a good business owner means NOT doing business with certain individuals at all
Some people bring nothing but trouble and it’s best to quickly head them off
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Here it is in words: markup is a percent on the wholesale price added to an item’s price to get the retail price. Profit margin is the money left over after subtracting all costs (wholesale price, labor, rent, utilities, taxes, etc.) from the total revenue, divided by the total revenue. A 10% markup would result in a tiny profit margin, or, more likely, a loss.
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Ok, so if we want a 10 percent profit, then that markup would have to be higher than 10%, possibly 30% or higher.
I think I got it!
tex I’ll be blunt about it: I didn’t learn s h… in school, the K-12 part anyway. Too much time spent in therapy, sorting out emotions, dumping excess baggage from the ‘70s, etc. It frankly s u c k e d and I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. At least I’m still alive. I know I’m not the only one it happened to, but man, I envy my cousins, my neighbors’ kids in their 40s who are doing comparatively well, etc, who had far more ‘normal’ growings up.
And folks wonder why I don’t have the basics in life nailed down at over fifty years of age???
I’ve told you before . . .
protect yourself
don’t overshare
nothing wrong with going to therapy . . . but this isn’t the right place to be unloading about that
that is exactly what you’ve been doing ever since you joined
That is what the therapist’s office is for
This isn’t the place
You don’t have a monopoly on hardships
The difference is the rest of us . . . with a few notable exceptions. They know who they are . . . generally don’t use this place to unload
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Alot of times this shows our privilege, many people live paycheck to paycheck and write checks to buy them an extra day to pay a bill until payday avoiding costly late fees.
Now this may not be right, but I assure you it is still done frequently.
Not having a checkbook is not some badge of honor, its a sign of privilege.
If someone, rich, poor, or somewhere in between, uses checks to pay for expenses, fixed or otherwise, it’s their prerogative, and nothing wrong with it. It just takes a little longer!
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I do the same. Occasionally the teller acts like its a chore but I go yo the teller to get smaller bills. I want 5s,10s and singles. The ATM only offers 20s,50s and 100s.
Trying to spend a 100 dollar bill around here makes everyone very nervous since counterfeit seem so prevalent.
I also request 2 dollar bills. I like to give them out with tips and educate people on 2 dollar bills. Many don’t know they exist!
I had a teller take a tone with me for inconvenience one time, she stated she had to go to the back to get them. It wasn’t busy, she was not a friend of the 2 dollar bill I guess.
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Welcome to the snooty, upscalified 21st century my friend!
(Owwh moyy, I could never let my Tory Burch heels tread a linoleum floor, heaven forbid! Alexa, please turn on the TV, I don’t want to catch something from touching that remote control, oh dear..! 
) **
In wealthy little Connecticut, Benjamin Franklins are as common as trees.
**Satire being employed, for those that don’t get it.
I’d return the tip, since it included an uncomfortable situation
I think it’s safe to say most people wouldn’t appreciate the unwanted “education”
I got a haircut the other day. I said thank you and left a generous tip
I did NOT “educate” the barber
I want the barber to remember me as a decent person, not some weirdo
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Ok, I include the 2 Dollar bill as part of the tip, not the whole tip, I do generally tip well. Even if a person takes a tone with me I still tip, just not as well.
I’ve never had just a bad situation, I have had some not think it was real, many have never seen a 2 dollar bill before. I just tell them a few quick facts about it, that’s all. Some say they were keeping it as a momento and to show others. If someone doesn’t like it they can spend it and be rid of it! Win win!
If I am remembered as a weirdo that hands out 2 dollar bills, well so be it. I think most appreciate it to some extent. 2 dollar bills are good luck and honestly since inflation has taken the penny, maybe we need something a little bit stronger than a single. Maybe we will start carrying 2 dollar bills to offset inflation?
There is still a place in Indiana that pumps your gas believe it or not. I tipped the attendant a 2 dollar bill. They knew of them but didn’t have one and seemed happy to now have one as a conversation piece.