why such hi prices here?
 

i am noticing parts here are a good bit more than other places.

a brand new BOSCH starter here is $220 +shipping (which is usually a lot).
ECS has the same thing for $150 and FREE shipping.
that's not a small difference

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-bosch-parts/starter-motor/12412354693~bos/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIy_qqp5_N1wIVTyWBCh350wYMEAQYAiA BEgJSLfD_BwE

2005 BMW 330Ci Base Coupe - Switches, Motors, Relays, Fuses & Wiring - Page 1

spark plugs for my 930. w3dpo are 17 here, 13 other places

I have noticed that Pelican's prices are usually higher than ECS or Suncoast. I really try to buy what I can from here and support Pelican but often times there is a big price delta. I use the coupons they send after your order which can even out the difference sometimes. Over on Rennlist noone ever talks about buying from Pelican, everyone seems to buy from ECS or Suncoast. I love Pelican and this forum has been so helpful to me over the years it's sad to see that happening.

I would like to support pelican too but I don't want to support his 962's with overpriced parts.
If the prices were lower I would be able to buy more. he still makes the same $$ but I get more for my $$
that's why I got out of the Porsche club. seemed like all the staff were taking trips on my expense and writing the same lame articles.

I rarely go to rennlist.

Funny, I normally find ECS as being more expensive. They also take longer to ship, Pelican is typically same day while ECS is 2-3 days. I’ll always support Pelican unless it’s a crazy difference.

I buy most of my M-B and Porsche parts from Pelican. In the last three months I've placed 4 separate orders for my W140 alone.

Yes they may be more expensive than others but the service here is beyond excellent and I've found they're cheaper than a lot of Ebay sellers for genuine Mercedes parts.

I'm in Aus and it's cheaper to buy genuine Mercedes parts from Pelican and ship to Aus than buying from the local dealership. :confused:

It wasn't that long ago when Pelican was considered a very unique place to purchase parts and have discussions on the various forums . But fast forward to today when there are so many good online retailers that Pelican has lost some of that unique flavor . The discussion forums are still great and the service has always been top notch . But it is so easy now to " price shop " via the internet . Literally in 5 to 10 minutes you can compare prices from anywhere you want .

Many folks myself included have shrinking disposable incomes ( I'm retired in two weeks ) so shopping price is a big consideration . For me price is not the only thing I look for but it is a deciding factor on where to purchase . Everyone provides package tracking so that is a wash . So really it's price , service and the discussion forums that set Pelican apart from others . I will continue to purchase from Pelican but will also shop around and make my final purchase decision based on what my gut tells me .

When I restored the hot rod I tried to use Pelican as much as possible. In most cases they were competitively priced, and probably 70% of the parts came from Pelican. At the time, specialty parts like race suspension, were better to go directly to Terret or Elephant, but that was about it.

The thing that bothered me about Pelican was the emails. Every part order generates about four emails. In the heat if my build, my inbox was so jammed with them that I deleted them all, trusting everything I ordered was on the may. They never missed a beat.

One of my biggest issue with pelican is shipping . As an example, I purchased a seal, the shipping was $14 , came in a big box full of paper that I had to dig to find the seal. How about a $5 priority mail?

I've found that when looking for OE parts, and I mean OE - Pelican often has what I need when I cannot find it elsewhere, be it Porsche or BMVay. Those prices are fair. The more mundane OE stuff which can be found all over - not so price competitive.

I do expect to pay a little extra for the support, customer care and this forum but there are times when it's too much and I buy ..............from 'others'

Somebody has to pay for the Stijn! thread, Random pictures and PARF...SmileWavy

In such situations where shipping is more expensive than the part, I have started buying from my local Porsche dealer. They are surprisingly close in price to Pelican in many cases, especially when you don't have to pay for shipping.

I needed a new hard line at the caliper for my SC, and getting one here was going to take a bit of time. I called a local Porsche dealer and they had it ready to pick up in a couple of days for the same cost as shipping it from Pelican, plus I got a well-made espresso and pastry for my money, too :)

I use my local Porsche dealer quite a bit for small parts. No cost for shipping so its easy to onesey twosey small parts as i need them and they will accept returns in a week, again without shipping. they usually add in my order to someones overnight order so it gets to me next day. its on my way to work so thats a plus. I still use pelican and they do have great service but its good to have multiple resources when you need parts for our old cars.

I just purchased cam nuts and seals (for the cam towers) from my dealer, they seemed to be NLA from everyone else. Dealer had them in a day.

When I used to own a Boxster I got all my parts from Pelican parts. Their return policy was excellent. For instance I ordered a new water pump for my 2001 Boxster and took delivery of it and was planning on replacing it coz the one in the car was old but had not failed. Shortly after I got engine problems and did not want to keep the car. Pelican took the new water pump back after I explained I was not keeping the car.

So Pelican prices may not be the lowest but because of their good service and great forum I never went anywhere else. Lowest prices are not everything. :)

Ive bought all my maintenance parts from Pelican. Prices are fair and the service is super.

In the last year I've purchased well over $5000 in auto parts just for my own projects, $93 of which came from pelican. Why? Other venders had everything I needed at better prices whereas pelican has some of the stuff at higher prices.

I used to buy from pelican without shopping around, now I often buy elsewhere without even checking pelican.

Give a couple of examples of Pelican's price on parts people buy frequently, I'd be curious. For dealer stuff, places like Pelican and other third party sellers are almost never going to have better prices. I'm talking about true dealer only parts, not genuine parts that Worldpac or Longmarch sell out of warehouses. :cool:

For regular maintenance parts like brake parts and commonly sold filters and common repair parts, there are extremely competitive places selling the stuff online w free shipping over $65, etc. Not sure what Pelican's shipping deal is these days but the *free over a certain amount* strategy is smart because I always buy at least $65 worth of stuff from the place I'm talking about.

I'm not going to name them here out of respect for Pelican but if you are already price shopping, it is a cutthroat business for auto parts including everything our host sells.

+1. You can all search. We don't need to post links to a competitor. Especially one that does not host a forum...

I bought a heater valve for my M3, which was actually cheaper @ Pelican than at other places. I also bought fan belts for my Type III Karmann Ghia at Pelican, as they were cheaper than the VW places and it was easier to ensure I had the correct size because they don't do that stupid "fits 1949-1979" BS

For things like oil/air filters and other run-of-the-mill stuff, I go to Amazon