support your motor factors they say...

[steveo3002]

needed a couple of rads today , thought might as well enquire at local factors support em if i can etc

£210 , be there next day

come home order same brands off ebay with next day post and 2% cashback for £110

how can anyone be paying near double for the same thing ?

 

[brightspark]

needed a couple of rads today , thought might as well enquire at local factors support em if i can etc

£210 , be there next day

come home order same brands off ebay with next day post and 2% cashback for £110

how can anyone be paying near double for the same thing ?

no overheads hardly on the internet . rent rates staff electric all has to be paid for . thats life

 

[tom2207]

no overheads hardly on the internet . rent rates staff electric all has to be paid for . thats life

difference is one you get today ,,, if you really must have it now ,
the other its maybe two days ,,, if you have the time the savings there .

 

[sako243]

When it comes to oils, nuts, bolts, batteries, hydraulic hoses, drain coils, mdpe, etc., my local motor (well tractor) factor usually can't be beaten.

 

[steveo3002]

difference is one you get today ,,, if you really must have it now ,
the other its maybe two days ,,, if you have the time the savings there .

its not...the factors said order in for next day , ebay is delivery next day

i dunno , i simply cant pass off £100 saving to keep someone afloat

 

[brightspark]

its not...the factors said order in for next day , ebay is delivery next day

i dunno , i simply cant pass off £100 saving to keep someone afloat

yep same here and its to your door . be a fool not to . any materials i buy for my job i always cross reference prices 1st . within 10 percent i dont bother

 

[steveo3002]

so is it greed or they cant run a business? could have ordered them from ebay for me and stuck £25 on and made a customer , but no lets try and rape him for full rrp /dealer prices

 

[grim_d]

Ordering from eBay it's highly likely you are getting a far inferior part (unless same brand sourced) which is often why it's so much cheaper.

Most generic parts from eBay don't last a year.

Most factors sell reasonably decent stuff...euro car parts not included.

 

[steveo3002]

Ordering from eBay it's highly likely you are getting a far inferior part (unless same brand sourced) which is often why it's so much cheaper.

Most generic parts from eBay don't last a year.

Most factors sell reasonably decent stuff...euro car parts not included.

same brand , same part number , could have halved the price again if using non branded parts

 

[grim_d]

same brand , same part number , could have halved the price again if using non branded parts

Must have not liked the way you looked then.

Are you an account holder with them? That makes a big difference. It's rare dingbro (Scotland only?) can't beat online for same quality with bonus of delivered straight to the workshop.

 

[Trevanion]

There's a notorious company when it comes to woodworking machinery, Advanced Machinery Services also known as "Wadkin Bursgreen" as they bought the IP for Wadkin Bursgreen when Wadkin went belly up. AMS are not shy to charge 300% more for simple off-the-shelf parts like belts and bearings than what you could buy elsewhere and it does them more harm than good as they have a horrid reputation in the industry for overcharging which loses them a lot of trade than if they just charged 20% more to save having to research what the exact part that is needed is from a manual, many of which are online for free and detail what bearings and belts you need so in most cases you can completely avoid having to deal with AMS.

... and their salesman is a right twazzock.

 

[willie.macleod]

Eldest daughter went in to local motor factors last week and asked for 12.5mm radiator pipe. Was told they didn't stock such a thing and left empty handed. I went in with her five minutes later and asked for half inch heater hose and got what was required. Should not have been required, someone with a clue should have cottoned on and asked her relevant questions to sort her out. Email was sent with a relatively large list of bits to quote for a VW T5 we are working on and no response. I get the higher prices, that's part of getting the bit there and then and the job off the ramp and onto the next one but the lack of customer service is the frustrating bit.

 

[Shedendman]

You know the price will be high when you hear the words "have you an account with us"?
here we go,ker ching

 

[Keithmac]

I often source parts from ebay for customer jobs.

Today I ordered a genuine stator (2nd hand low mileage) with our bit on top it's £80 vs £330 for a brand new one..

Same with starter motors, £700 for a genuine Suzuki one (no stock either), a brand new on with warranty £160 to customer.

We put 20% to 30% across parts but I'll have a good look round to get a viable solution for my customers.

100% + markup is ridiculous really.

 

[ukracer]

difference is one you get today ,,, if you really must have it now ,
the other its maybe two days ,,, if you have the time the savings there .

But the OP was going to have to wait till tomorrow where ever he purchased from. So it's not a case of today or 2 days time.

 

[Nomad]

I used to work in a car parts warehouse that delivered to the 2 local motor factors in my village. It was cheaper for me to order from the factors in the morning and collect it from them when I finished work, than it was to buy it direct from work with my "staff discount"
It's one of the very few places I've worked where there were no perks

One of the local factors closed, the other had poor customer service so I often ended up cycling 5 miles to the next village to buy from their motor factors. Often customer service is just as important as price !
Which reminds me - avoid Halfrauds if you want decent customer service. That is all

Ebay wasn't a thing then, now you're spoilt for choice with online options.

 

[frank horton]

most behind the counters are monkey's and know naff all.....

wanted a pair of HD rear coil springs for my T4.......
local parts store if u can call it that wanted €90 each plus postage !!!! and it'll take a week....
went on line to ebay Germany, 68 euros inc delivery for a pair.....still took a week....
that parts store will never see me again......

 

[steveo3002]

You know the price will be high when you hear the words "have you an account with us"?
here we go,ker ching

yeh its like its the 1980s and they can charge what they want, everyone has the internet and is 2 mins away from finding the best prices now ...surely account or not , you do me a competitive price and win the customer , im not a garage but i do maintain 4 of our cars to a good standard , theres not many weeks go by that i could be spending there

 

[Jack_K]

The "parts" stores in Australia seem to never actually have any parts. Even if they don't actually stock them their prices are at least twice the price of buying them on eBay etc. One of the main stores (Repco) is very overpriced yet the company who owns them also owns an online store (Sparesbox) who usually has the cheapest pricing.

I just had to do some valve lapping, Repco didn't even stock lapping paste and the tools were $40. the exact same tools (different brands but the same garbage) were under $20 everywhere else.

 

[bricol]

So find another one. I used a few until I found the one I do use.
Basically a little more than a one man band - he runs a van or two from a small unit in a little industrial estate a mile or two up the road - the local garages use him. I've taken stuff when I picked stuff up to drop off for him. Always pay cash, nearly always decline a receipt, pretty much always get a good price.