Trade Prices vs Retail: Where the Real Savings Are

Homeowners tend to think about builder margin — the mark-up on labour — but rarely think about material margin, which is often larger and much less visible.

Where the markup lives

When a builder or subcontractor quotes "supply and fit," the supply half is rarely priced at cost. Kitchens, sanitaryware, tiles, ironmongery, lighting and flooring are commonly marked up between 10% and 30% before the quote even reaches you. On a £30,000 kitchen and bathroom package, that's potentially £3,000–£9,000 sitting in margin you'd never see itemised.

Trade accounts aren't just for tradespeople

Merchants and suppliers extend trade pricing to anyone who orders regularly and in volume — which is exactly what a project manager working across multiple builds does. Sourcing directly at trade price and having the builder simply install what's already on site removes that layer of markup entirely, without changing the quality of what goes in.

It works best on big-ticket items

The saving scales with the size of the purchase. Kitchens, bathroom suites, windows and doors, flooring and structural glazing are where trade pricing makes the most visible difference — a few percent off a £40,000 kitchen is real money, a few percent off a box of screws isn't worth chasing.

What this actually looks like in practice

On a typical extension or renovation, sourcing the major fittings and finishes directly rather than through a builder's supply markup is often enough on its own to cover the cost of having a project manager involved — before any of the budget-protection or time-saving benefits are even counted.