I can’t comment on the tradesmen side of things but I can suggest on the tiles, baths, sinks, kitchens, granite, stoves etc side of things.

GRAYSONLINE at Cheltenham VIC is an auction house that has a huge range of building resources for kitchens and bathrooms. They run every second Tuesday and some Saturdays. People have found them to be good value on renovation supplies.

I think they run in Sydney as well.

FOWLES in South Melbourne VIC runs on Wednesdays and also has a great range of building supplies and carpets.

Both of these, and other auction houses, can be found in the business section of the Saturday AGE newspaper, or online.

(I do not work for these companies or get paid by them).