It doesn't seem that the price of the tile is the battle to choose with a good craftsman in a rural area.

You were admittedly in a time crunch; and you haven't considered shipping costs. Both of these factors would have increased costs.

If he's a good reliable craftsman, do not bring this up with him or anyone else. If it comes across as questioning his integrity (which it will), he just won't ever do a project for you again. And he will tell his fellow craftsmen in your area. You could find yourself blacklisted.

How is the designer being paid for design services?

I would upcharge too if I had to spend time sourcing the tile, tracking shipping and potential delays, doing pick up in person, or timing delivery, and having conversation about whether the tile is the right color. If a customer wants to provide their own they can get less expensive and take on all that responsibility. If the customer wanted me to do that leg work, I'd charge for that and add it into the cost of the tile.

It is pretty normal for a pro to have a higher price than the cheapest online price found. Even if the pro found the tile for 8 bucks, it is absolutely normal to add in procurement charge. For doing the legwork on it, handling the responsibility of it, paying for shipping and the like. The 8 bucks for them would be the wholesale price, and the customer would have the retail price.

If you want to challenge him, that is up to you. But be aware that it could well break your professional relationship. You are indicating you do not trust him fiscally. And to an extent, you want in on his trade secrets of where he orders from. Some folks don't mind that, some do. And at this point, you are doing it part-way through a project after expressing(I assume) enough satisifation with two prior jobs to start this one.

There's a lot that goes into sourcing, supplying and installing items for a client.

• any time involved in selecting the tile
• any costs involved in getting samples for client's approval
• the cost of the tile
• any time involved in checking on availability & ordering the tile
• any time involved in picking up the tile or shipping the tile
• any tariff costs that cick in or are dropped
• wear and tear on vehicles to pick up the tile
• time and labor to deliver the tile.
• all the different materials that have to be purchased in order to install the tile.

Sales tax alone in my state adds 7%. Don't bring it up for all the reasons in the many comments above. If you do a project with this person again and cost is a concern, set a budget and don't sweat the details if the work is excellent.

We don't know what other material costs are broken out. Are you being charged for all the prep materials? The thinset? The mortar? If all these things aren't a line item in the materials charge in addition to the tile cost (they usually aren't) then they are rolled into the tile cost.

Regardless, don't bring it up. He's in all likelihood a perfectly honest contractor.

That does seem to be a question that should be asked very early on in the process.

Every designer and contractor puts a markup on materials. Its perfectly normal. That helps to pay for their fees.

Agree with other comments that the time has passed to renegotiate the quoted job pricing.

Renovations are a learning process for homeowners. Your takeaway about ordering tile yourselves the next time is the right lesson learned.

Markup is normal. DIstructing a contractor because they do good work, but put a markup on the materials, is not normal.