Gluttony?

A gal from Sears contacts me the other day - Says they're in dire need of roofing contractors to install roofs for them. I know most of us are familiar with the antics of Sears & the like, however, I just couldn't resist to play-along a bit.

It went like this; The "recruiter" sets up an appt. for me to meet with the Sales/Install Manager, (or whatever they call him/her). I call to speak with him, because I don't want to waste too much of my time. He says he'll send me a sample of how things go. $14,376.07(re-roof & replace a couple shts plwd 19sq comp) $ 2,882,92 Amt. they're willing to pay a contractor $ 2,183.75 Amt. to ABC to deliver all materials $ 9,309.40 Amt. Sears nets as their sales commission, (65%)

Pics of the job reveals a fricken trailer in a park! Probably owned by a 80yr old widow.....dirtballs....

I can't speak for today but, years ago Sears didn't roof anything. Or even sell roofing. A company named Diamond Exteriors used the Sears name. Diamond Ext was the contractor behind the Sears work. They would hire the installers, & in some cases hire contractors that would then sub the work again to the installers.

Obviously Diamond paid a premium to Sears to use their name. So there were multiple hands in the cookie jar so to speak.

I did about half a dozen jobs for them when I was first licensed nearly 25yrs ago. I walked away from them after repeated jobs where they literally hadn't a clue. They would sell the dumbest crap imaginable. The pay was ever so slightly above new construction rates at the time but, nowhere near what the work was worth, especially anything complicated....which of course made up the majority of their work.

They were butt hurt with me after I got over on em once. They had sold a job for a recover that already had 3 layers on it. At the time, 3 layers was still legal. I told em it had 3 already. They wanted me to tear 1 layer off & proceed....lmao. Long story short, it was in a big city, which I had pulled a permit for, & explained to em that it not only needed to be completely torn off but re-sheeted as well. The bottom layer was wood over spaced planking.

I refused to play their piece rate game & break it down into so many cents per foot for this, & that, instead giving them a flat number complete. They weren't happy as it was my number not theirs. However, their hands were tied. I completed the job, & got paid. Everyone was happy.

When the next job they had for me was very similar.... I just walked away. Fortunately at the time, I had a good new construction gig, & my reroofing was starting to take off.

I believe their salesman made around 10% of gross, a sales manager got a couple points on top of that. I don't know what Sears' cut was although, I would imagine 10-15% & then Diamond Exteriors kept what was left. Bottom line, they were raping people but the money was very spread out to multiple parties.

I believe they were & still are the modern day "Tin Men".

Most of these type operations, Sears, Lowes, Home Depot, etc.... all have the same problem. They don't pay the installing contractors enough. So.... more times than not, they end up with less than desirable labor. They sell the nastiest pig roofs out there, & then have em slapped together. This all breaks down to leaving some very unhappy clients, & many law suits. The decisions are made by salesman, eye balling big commissions not, contractors looking to put out a great product.

I was approached by Home Depot about 6 or 7 yrs ago... they were mid project, a nasty 10/12 tear off, resheet... and the contractor bounced. They were real interested in having me complete the job. Until they heard my price to do so.

Could be a great deal for everybody if they would hire reputable contractors, let the contractor price it, & write the spec..... THEN throw their gravy on top. Until they adopt that motis operandis..... they will continue to have problems....all of em with this business model.

At least.... that is my opinion, which is based in part, on some first hand knowledge.

I don't see Sears as a big player in the roofing market in N.Texas since the storm chasers took over in the 90s. I believe their biggest gimmick was financing. They had their own interlocking shingle back in the 60s and I tore off tons of it in the 80s. Their biggest deal was pushing those super heavy duty turbines in the 70s. It seems like everyone had one of those special turbines that weren't worth a flip. I remember back in '82 bidding on a job where the homeowner also got a bid from Sears. They were a little higher than I but not by much. I pushed the fact that Sears just subbed out their work and the low quality, whereas, I did my own work. They went with Sears because they "knew Sears would always be around-they weren't so sure about me".

natty: I'd already thought about the advertising a bit. Yes, I'm sure they have an enormous bill, but it is split between many services and it's nationwide. They might not even spend as much per job as a higher end contractor because theyve been around so long. That's purely speculation though

TomB Said: $ 9,309.40 Amt. Sears nets as their sales commission, (65%)

In all fairness, a good portion of that went to advertising.

TomB Said: $ 2,882,92 Amt. theyre willing to pay a contractor

They say they have 60 roofs on the board & can't get roofers to install them - It's all so wrong in so many ways.

Sears is gouging the customer on one end & seeking-out the lowest form of applicator on the other end.

It's a mobile home in a park for Pete's sake! Obviously the owner(s) don't have a lot of money - Most of us would be scrambling to figure out how to get the people a roof at the best possible price - Not gouging - then allowing anyone who happens along to install the roof.

BTW - Had a sister & brother in-law hire Sears to re-face their kitchen cabinets- We could have REPLACED ALL their cabinets with custom "real" wood for the price they paid for that crap FACING.

I've lost a few to Sears over the years.

The most memorable was my own sister. She said she could put it on her Sears Card and get points to do Christmas shopping. ???WTF???

A 7 1/2 square town house roof that she paid over $5400. back in the mid 90's. I told her I would come over for a visit and do it for $1250.

Sears must give you a lot of points on a roof job.

That's actually a bit disgusting. When I was introduced to "storm restoration" type roofing market, I was horrified to find out that the salesmen make almost as much as the crew installing the roof.

I'd really like to know how many of Sear's bids sell.