Paying over retail for Parts

[rupedoggy]

Nanuk that is the most F'ed up math I have seen. When you pay $1 for something, and sell it for $2 that sir is 100% mark up. If you give a 25% discount you would still make 50 cents gross profit!
BTW I own a small busines that has been unable to turn a profit for 9 months. Maybe that's because I don't know math?

 

[lawnmowertech37]

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

I mostly do 20 - 40 %
depending on the brand manufacture MTD AYP i do 40 %

Obsolete Parts i do them what i think is a fair price most the time way cheaper than you pay for a single item on ebay

 

[PB]

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 ......






.

What was the "real" cost after you factor in your time and gas expenses for "shopping around"?

So at 36 miles round trip to your dealer, assuming you are getting 18mpg in your shiny new GMC, you spent about $6 on gas.

I can buy a part cheaper 200 miles away, but it might cost me $30 in gas. Sometimes shopping around is more expensive then buying at a slightly higher cost.

 

[Banacanin]

The fact of the matter is that a small business can never compete on price with a big business. I am all for supporting local but I don't owe anyone my business big or small.

If I go into a small shop I have to understand that I may well pay considerably more and I have to decide if I am being gouged or if it is worth it to pay more; at some places it is a no brainer because I get all this for paying a few dollars more:

1,being able to talk to the man selling me the part and ask questions.
2, being able to return the part and getting another almost instantly
3, not having to go through 900 web pages or four hundred isles of kitty litter to find something that you think you need, when you can just ask a clerk or mechanic for what you need and have him get it for you.
4, not dealing with box store clerks with a thousand yard stare and no motivation to help you because their manager treats them like garbage.
5, not dealing with those ridiculous automated tellers- why don't they just put a dumpster in the parking lot and have customers drive up and throw their money in it and go home without any merchandise; that way there will be even less human contact and less useless made in china crap in peoples homes.
6, being able to ask to get something that the seller usually does not carry
7, supporting a local business and an employer that won't move his business off shore.
8, not living in a town with streets full of closed down businesses and four shiny new boxsores.- I did not misspell it on purpose but that is what I am going to call boxsores from now on

As long as you are not getting gouged it is okay to pay a little more for these extras

 

[Banacanin]

What was the "real" cost after you factor in your time and gas expenses for "shopping around"?

So at 36 miles round trip to your dealer, assuming you are getting 18mpg in your shiny new GMC, you spent about $6 on gas.

I can buy a part cheaper 200 miles away, but it might cost me $30 in gas. Sometimes shopping around is more expensive then buying at a slightly higher cost.

My old retired Dad drives 40 miles in his f250 Triton v10 to get a six dollar haircut. he swears it isn't the money, he just likes the way the guy cuts his hair

 

[lawnmowertech37]

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.

Why not go to my homepage and look on the right hand side you will see a banner that simply states on domestic orders of $ 100.00 or over guess what it says after that?
Or if you simply read my banner on my signature you will see the key note on there as well

How many people you find online that ship worldwide ?
using the postal service ?

Sometimes i wonder if people even realize i exist
Actually if people went to my store site and browsed to the left side bottom of the homepage and clicked on the testimonials where it says more ...... at and read them all 4 pages you will find something about me i go out of the way to help people find what they need .

My question is how many other shops do the same ?

 

[almondgt]

Sometimes it is the thrill of the chase. Get a deal and go home smilin
Fuel costs are not an issue, as long as I feel I've managed the best deal IN MY MIND.....................I often go to the local dealer for small stuff, never a discount, chew the fat for a while, and no running around to find that one part. Balances well in my MIND. Kinda like supporting everybody and no body at the same time. If the above doesn't make sense, its all good as long as it makes sense in my MIND. No disrespect intended to anyone.......
:chainsawguy:

 

[04ultra]

What was the "real" cost after you factor in your time and gas expenses for "shopping around"?

So at 36 miles round trip to your dealer, assuming you are getting 18mpg in your shiny new GMC, you spent about $6 on gas.

I can buy a part cheaper 200 miles away, but it might cost me $30 in gas. Sometimes shopping around is more expensive then buying at a slightly higher cost.

It was just extra stops on a road trip.....Its alway nice just to see what different dealers are charging ......

My local dealer was 7.65 and is on the way home....local is 15 miles from home..

Stopped at one more dealer thats about 18 miles away and it was 4.95.......3 miles from local dealer ......Out of my way by 3 miles ......so you could say 6 miles ....

BTW PB ........42 mpg ..We had the bike ........36mpg is I use the car .........Free If I have Mark pick up parts on way too work.....LOL




.

 

[dieselram]

Here is an example, I used to work for a Stihl dealer. I got layed off for lack of work, I am /was a truck driver(lowboy). I got parts at 10% over dealer cost. I payed $130.00 for a Ms390 top end. Like I said 10% over cost, so what was list cost on that same piston kit? Part number 1127-020-1213. The service manager liked to get 20% over list for parts... What happened to list prices? GREEDY SUCKERS!!!!

 

[AKDriveSprocket]

Wow M&D has a lot of parts.

 

[nanuk]

Nanuk that is the most F'ed up math I have seen. When you pay $1 for something, and sell it for $2 that sir is 100% mark up. If you give a 25% discount you would still make 50 cents gross profit!
BTW I own a small busines that has been unable to turn a profit for 9 months. Maybe that's because I don't know math?

markup is different than profit.

you markup to set a price. using the math (HBC is a huge company, I didn't make this up myself)
here's what we did:
cost $1.00 freight $0.50
markup 35%

take 100-35=65. 1.00 divided by 0.65 = $1.54 add on freight total price $2.04 retail.... this way, I know that if I want to discount it to you, knowing we markup 35% I can discount up to 35% and know the cost. I'd lose a bit due to also discounting freight if I gave you 35% discount.

markup/discount works hand in hand.

profit is a whole different ball game. in your example above, you'd make 100% PROFIT.

don't confuse that with the MARKUP game.

I was just saying, be careful when someone is telling you the $10 dollar part is marked up 50 percent, so he'll give you $2.50 off and he will sell it at cost... He's blowing smoke up yer kiester! He'd still be making profit.

 

[rxe]

....which is why all physical shops are eventually doomed. You're not buying a part - you're paying a lease, the guy behind the counters wages, the business taxes, the displays in the shop. All you wanted was an oiler, but you have to pay for those other things as well. For things where you can specify a part number, the internet is the only logical place to shop.

I'll pay over retail if I'm desperate, but these days I buy plenty of spares, and generally have a good stock of chain, tools and er, saws. If a saw doesn't work, I just pick up another one, and fix the dead one later.

We used to have a good dealer round here - who quickly recognised those customers who delivered significant business and gave good discounts to them - exchanging volume for margin. I probably put $4000 of business his way myself over a few years, and probably double that by recommendation. Unfortunately he retired and the replacement isn't the same at all....

A friend of mine used to run a restaurant. He was successful, but his explanation was like this. From Jan to April, he works for the government. From April to August, he works for his landlord. From September to December, he works for himself. Unsurprisingly he packed it in, became a decorator and makes more money and an easier life.

 

[tdi-rick]

It can a be a pain in the arse running a business that deals in spare parts as part of its operation.

In my case I can waste crazy amounts of time trying to order a $5 part for some old, obscure thing, then, when it turns it it's wrong, or damaged, so you waste more time re-packaging it and sending it back.
Even at double buy price (and I don't, I charge RRP which at times is only 10% MU) I would lose money on small bits, it's basically a service to my customers to keep them coming back by providing a complete service.

 

[rarefish383]

A friend of mine used to run a restaurant. He was successful, but his explanation was like this. From Jan to April, he works for the government. From April to August, he works for his landlord. From September to December, he works for himself. Unsurprisingly he packed it in, became a decorator and makes more money and an easier life.[/QUOTE]

I used to use a similar explanation of expenses to our workers. We had one of our top climbers that liked to take off every other Friday to go fishing. He said he made us enough money in four days to let him do this.

My explanation was:

Monday, we work for License and Insurance.
Tuesday, we work for Trucks and equipment.
Wednesday, we work for Payroll.
Thursday, we work to make up lost time to Weather and Winter.
Friday, we work for the Owner and Company.

My question to him was, why do you allways want to take off on Friday, you made your money on Wednesday? Friday is the day I make my money! Joe.

 

[jeepyfz450]

Its tough sometimes. I really enjoy supporting local businesses. To me its painful buying something for a high price when you know you can get it a lot cheaper online. im not talking 5-10$ more im talking 20+. I dont buy a lot of chainsaw parts but unfortunatelly most of them come from the interet. My local Stihl/husky dealer is an as:censored:le. I actually found a local agway store thats a stihl dealer so i started going to them

 

[oldsaw]

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!!!!!

I dumped my old Stihl dealer over that. I don't mind them making money, but when you are getting charged 50% to 100% over MSRP for parts, pay freight for a "special order", have to wait for their regular order to go in, then wait two or three days for them to sort the order, you kind of feel a bit "used". Somehow my "new" Stihl dealer gets along just fine at MSRP, but I'm driving 15 miles to get it. I'll pay for the gas to not give them the business.

 

[Stihl088stock]

I really wish that Stihl would sell parts through their website... It'd probably be droves faster and save a lot of fuel.

 

[Outlaw5.0]

Service is #1, price is #2. Most of all the Stihl dealers in the area charge list price and will not budge. Some will throw in extras. The ones that know every part by memory, go out of their way to help, get my money. One dealer will give a discount if your are willing to wait a few weeks and order the saw.