: Should a designer have to tell you what their mark up % is? I asked my interior designer what her percentage mark up is on product and was told she can not tell me that. Am I wrong to

@Speyer780

What would you do with the information if you had it?

Would you insist on a discount because you feel her markup is "too much"? Does she have to do a breakdown on how she arrived at that percentage? Do you feel you have a right to know what she spends on overhead, salaries, utilities, and insurance, and what part is profit?

Would you take that information and use it to go to another designer to get a lower price? Would you try to go wholesale and eliminate the middle-person and her markup altogether?

How could it possibly benefit her to tell you what her markup is?

Because I can't see any scenario where you, the customer, are not going to use this information against her in some way. Any money being paid by you over the wholesale cost of the item goes to her. What she uses that for is to run her business, to live her life and keep her bills paid. That markup pays for her skill and experience. It pays for her knowledge and her taste, and her ability to design. It pays for her to research the best items, the best quality, and the best vendors. It pays for her time and effort cultivating a relationship with the vendors.

If you object to paying a markup, don't take it out on a designer who is trying to do the job you hired her for. Do the design yourself, do your own research, find your own materials, install everything yourself, and don't harass someone who is trying to make an honest living.

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