Paying over retail for Parts

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Racerboy832

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I look up my own part#s online and they usually have prices. I needed a couple parts and they were only 9.99 retail. Went to the dealer, $13.49 each. I said to the kid are you guys running a parts esculator he said yep. Stuff like this I don't really care cause I pass it on to the next guy but it still Irks me.
 
Here is where I buy parts in this order:
Ebay
Baileys
Dealer

I have found it a lot easier on the wallet

Ray
 
I look up my own part#s online and they usually have prices. I needed a couple parts and they were only 9.99 retail. Went to the dealer, $13.49 each. I said to the kid are you guys running a parts esculator he said yep. Stuff like this I don't really care cause I pass it on to the next guy but it still Irks me.

Which one is this??? I don't want to go there...
 
We all deal with regional distributors on parts, and they have their own pricing.

So Bob's Mega Parts Warehouse in Florida may buy that part for 99 cents because they sell 800,000 of them a year, and they sell it for 9.99.
And your local Joes Small Engine in Ohio will sell 100, and buy them for 8.99 a piece and sell them for 13.99.

Why shouldn't Joe make his mark up just because the giant internet Mega Parts Whorehouse, sells the part for 4 dollars less and
still making twice the profit that Joes.

Like a certain company sells chain retail for 5$ over what the dealers can buy it for wholesale for a 100' roll, just because they are a distributor
and can get away with cutting the throats of all their dealers.
 
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We all deal with regional distributors on parts, and they have their own pricing.

So Bob's Mega Parts Warehouse in Florida may buy that part for 99 cents because they sell 800,000 of them a year, and they sell it for 9.99.
And your local Joes Small Engine in Ohio will sell 100, and buy them for 8.99 a piece and sell them for 13.99.

Why shouldn't Joe make his mark up just because the giant internet Mega Parts Whorehouse, sells the part for 4 dollars less and
still making twice the profit that Joes.

Like a certain company sells chain retail for 5$ over what the dealers can buy it for wholesale for a 100' roll, just because they are a distributor
and can get away with cutting the throats of all their dealers.

That's all understood from a dealer/distributor standpoint, but from the consumer standpoint, were getting hosed. Case in point, I priced a new Walbro WT-194 carb last year at the local dealer, $75 plus tax. Cuttin Edge had the same carb, shipped to my door for $42. I am all about supporting local business in the community, but $33+tax price difference is kinda ridiculous, is it not?
 
Should a carb kit cost $19.95? I was going to buy two one day at my local dealer. I walked out without any.

I know a shop needs to mark up parts to keep open. But.......How much?
 
I needed 2 spindles for my MTD mower. Suggested Retail was 54 dollars. Ebay was 20 + shipping. I lucked in to being able to get direct from a distributor for 16 dollars dealer cost each. The markup on this stuff is pretty high. After seeing the dealer cost sheets the markup is about 100 percent on mower ope parts.

Now if your dealer charges more than suggested retail it gets worse. I don't begrudge the little guy though since I have never seen a small ope guy throwing money around.

I am not as surprised on the retail side as I am on how low cost stuff like this is on the low end. 16 for a spindle of all new parts seems really cheap even if made in China.
 
Everyone needs to make a little money but 50% to 100% mark up is absurd....
 
Here is where I buy parts in this order:
Ebay
Baileys
Dealer

I have found it a lot easier on the wallet

Ray

Here is where I buy mine

Dealer
Ebay
Baileys

I wish I could throw Baileys a little more business. Their shiping to the east coast is very high. For small orders, it is almost always cheaper at the dealer. I don't always buy everything at the dealer, but I have learned to check them first. I needed a piston for a Husky 136. I think they were $30 on Ebay. The dealer got me the OEM one for $19!
 
That's all understood from a dealer/distributor standpoint, but from the consumer standpoint, were getting hosed. Case in point, I priced a new Walbro WT-194 carb last year at the local dealer, $75 plus tax. Cuttin Edge had the same carb, shipped to my door for $42. I am all about supporting local business in the community, but $33+tax price difference is kinda ridiculous, is it not?

Totally agree, Wiggs
 
Ok you guys go into a shop and the price on the saw says 850$, you get him down to 750$, and he throws in some oil and a chain.
Instead of making his whopping 20% mark up, he's made 5% profit.
You walk away feeling like a king and brag to all you buddies on the internet how you just got a smokin' deal.
You need parts for your bargain basement priced saw, now dealer has to make some money because he's got bills to pay.
So instead of 35% mark up he marks up parts 50%, now he's the bad guy because he is trying to make money to keep the doors open and the lights on.

This is why when guys ask for a deal on a saw i say " you want a better price or do you want extras? I can do one or the other not both"
 
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I agree with you but there is such thing as price gouging... They buy the part at one price, the msrp is another price then they get 50% over that??? They make money at msrp why jack it up another 50%. WTH!!!!! :confused:
 
Here is where I buy mine

Dealer
Ebay
Baileys

I wish I could throw Baileys a little more business. Their shiping to the east coast is very high. For small orders, it is almost always cheaper at the dealer. I don't always buy everything at the dealer, but I have learned to check them first. I needed a piston for a Husky 136. I think they were $30 on Ebay. The dealer got me the OEM one for $19!

Try living across your northern border,then you will really know how it feels to get "bent over" on shipping ,brokerage,taxes.......yada...yada...yada...

Steve
 
Most people do not understand that in most business operations it takes a 20 percent margin just to offset operating expenses. Wal-Mart is one of the most if not the most efficent operator in the world and they run around 18% on overhead, about 10 percent labor cost and the rest operating cost.
The little shops prolly run closer to 30-35%, many have rent or leases on their property, taxes, labor cost, utilities, advertising, local business license,the cost of sending techs to school, etc,etc. They have brick and mortar to support, many of the internet operators don't have the same expense structure. The small dealer doesn't have the thousands of items to mix the margin out on, like 5% markup on chain, but somewhere, they are making 50-100% to mix out and offset the low margin. Bailey's for example, I guarantee you they are making 50 to 100 percent on apparel, that's the margins associated with clothing, the items they import, like the little chain saw mulitool, if it's costing them more than three bucks they are getting hosed. I can't hardly shop retail, because of being a buyer for many years in retail, going to the factories globally and seeing what things actually cost it just makes you sick to pay retail. Baileys makes a ton off the direct import items they bring in, not knocking them, it's common business practice.
Just one stark example, I was in a factory that makes those button down oxford shirts with the little horse and polo player, you know the brand, those shirts sell for between 75.00 and 90.00 bucks a piece, they cost 3.50 a piece at the factory, needless to say I bought and shipped home a **** load of them. Keep in mind you little local dealer is struggling just to stay alive in this economy, the government is saddling them with more and more regulations and expenses. I'm not saying pay stupid prices, I often find the best price on the internet when making a purchase and then factor in shipping and the time it takes to get it, I'll go to the local business and ask how close they can get to the price, I'll usually offer to pay 15-20% more to buy locally.
Sometimes they can do it sometimes they can't, just did it on a Miller welding helmet for my son, I could get it off the internet for 200.00 bucks to the door. The local farm supply had them marked at 279.00 I offered them 235.00 to have instant gratification and stay local, they couldn't do it. I bought over the net, but I feel like I tried to buy local. They said 235.00 was well under their cost. The distrubutor's have thousand and thousand's of items to mix the margin, with cost spread out over and expotential increase in sales, little guys just don't have this luxury. If we don't support the little guy every once in a while, we'll all be #####ing when they are gone and the internet guys have raised prices. Just like the little mom and pop stores that used to line main street, we all went to Wal-Mart and now they are gone and we ##### about Wal-Mart. It's the same thing.lol
 
Ain't the free market a wonderful thing! I truly feel for the small shops. Truth is, for them to stay in business they have to offer something the mail order compnaies don't. Faster parts availability and service, one-on-one technical help, quality guarantee without having to return something in the mail, hot cashiers... they have to do something to justify a higher price. If not, they're gonna sink.

Alternative is like in the "former" Soviet Union. A loaf of bread and a kilogram of sugar costs the same whether you're in Kiev, Moscow, or Siberia. No competition, all prices controlled by your all-knowing and luvin' guvment. Sounds nice, but the flip side is this wonderful government also decides your job, your salary, where you live, etc.... I'd rather stick with a competitive environment personally :).

Dan
 
I'm willing to swallow my pride and pay retail for parts since i'm not a high $$ customer but I don't like paying over retail no matter what level dealer they are. I look on Ebay for A rubber part for my MS660. Guy wants 8+5 Shipping. MSRP on it is 12bux. So i'm thinking i'll buy it at the dealer. Well now I go into the dealer and he wants 14+ tax. It makes me think twice about going to the dealer. Baileys is nice but a 660 Gasket set and 2 bar studs was 11 shipping. I wouldn't mind saving my orders up if they would give you free shipping over $200 again.
 
Everyone needs to make a little money but 50% to 100% mark up is absurd....

When I worked for the Hudson Bay Co, in Northern Canada, we used 25% as the minimum Gross Profit. That would, in the long run, give us about 2-4% profit to dividend out.

And remember this, Markup percentages is misleading. The easiest way to look at it is this:
if it's marked up 50%, you can discount 50% to get to cost. if it's marked up 90%, you can discount 90% to get to cost. Keep that in mind when you hear the "Markup Percentage" from a dealer.

buy it for $1.00, sell it for $2.00 is 50% markup.
buy it for $1.00, sell it for $10.00 is 90% markup.
buy it for $1.00, sell it for $100.00 is 99% markup.

You will soon notice, you CANNOT mark anything up 100%

at our store, snowmobile parts were marked up 80%.
in the meatshop where I worked, we routinely ran at 35% GP, so we would occasionally raffle off a Loin of Beef Steak to bring down our profits so we wouldn't be profiteering. We'd select a number of customers after a certain hour, and that one would get the $200.00 worth of T-bones cut and wrapped for freezer.


OH.. yeah.. and I shop local whenever it's competitive, and will pay 25-30% more local. but that's about my line in the sand for getting money out of my pocket.
 
Went to get a oil pump drive for a Husky part # 537-25-26-01 ...We were out of town on Monday and stopped at a Husky dealer and they wanted 15.98 for it .......I said I'll pass ............Next dealer was 6.32 ......I said pass ...My local dealer was 7.65............Stopped at one more dealer thats about 18 miles away and it was 4.95..............bought it ...........Jacks online was around 3.65......................Some times you really need to shop around .....Interesting that all of them had more than one in stock ......






.
 
Everyone needs to make a little money but 50% to 100% mark up is absurd....

Hmmm...Clothes have mark-ups in the 100's of percent

It may not seem fair but IMO if you start a business & put your life into it(ie. time & money)you deserve to get something out of it. Running a business isn't cheap! For the last 8 years I've bought parts from a local Stihl dealer & usually recieve 5-10% off on saws, some parts free & others at discount.
 

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