A Kansas City Flooring Installer Who Solved the Material Markup Problem

The Story

Chris L. installs flooring across the Kansas City metro — hardwood, LVP, tile, carpet. He buys all materials himself and includes them in his price. The problem: he wasn't marking them up.

"I thought I was being fair. Customer wants 800 sq ft of LVP at $3.50/sqft — that's $2,800 in materials. I'd charge $2,800 for materials and $2,000 for labor. Seemed right."

It wasn't. Chris wasn't accounting for material waste (typically 10-15%), delivery charges, returns, or his time spent measuring and shopping. He was subsidizing every job by $300-500.

"I didn't realize it until I started itemizing everything in JobsPaid. When I saw the line items — materials at cost, waste factor, delivery, shopping time — the real material cost was $3,300, not $2,800. I was eating $500 on a single job."

Chris now quotes materials with a standard 15% markup that covers waste, delivery, and selection time. It's transparent — customers see the markup on the quote and he explains why.

"I tell them: that 15% covers the fact that I'm going to buy 10% extra for cuts and waste, pay for delivery, and spend two hours at the showroom picking the right product for your space. Nobody has ever argued with that."

Over six months, the proper markup added roughly $18,000 to his bottom line.

"I was literally paying to work. For two years, every materials purchase was a mini donation to my customers. Never again."