It's getting tougher to make a buck, people are always beating me up on parts prices.

[aschen]

I say let them bring their part and let them know there is no warranty at that point. A small upcharge on labor rate is reasonable as well, say 15%. Hopefully that would make the work worth your while and keep the cust happy. They should also be warned they will ne upcharged for parts that dont fit well.

How do yall feel about tire rack? Been ordering tires online for 15 years

[Superman]

I've been driving German cars all my life. Sure, the generic aftermarket clutch disk is cheaper than OEM. However, it is less expensive to use the OEM part. If you know what I mean.

I'm in the construction industry, sort of. Skilled tradesmen get paid good money. Their services are less expensive than the alternatives. Two carpenters can do more in one day than I can in two weeks, and the outcome is higher quality. I hire them, pay their price and thank them afterward.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by Tervuren

Any place I've ever been I've had itemized parts cost.

Last time I had work done on my truck it needed ball joints and tie rod ends along with an alignment. They gave me a quote. I agreed to the quote. Final bill showed parts as a total only and then labor. Maybe it's a small town thing and everyone buys parts from the same two or three places and everyone knows the one place gives a discount to the local repair guys so they don't itemize? I don't know.

[sammyg2]

15% over cost is the standard in big industry for third party mark-up.

Back in the day I used a local shop for years on stuff I didn't have time to do or didn't want to do.
One time I had the shop do a tune-up on a friend''s car.

I got the bill and asked why i was charged $7.50 a piece for spark plugs. This was over 25 years ago and back then, these were regular ole spark plugs that you could get at any flaps for $1.99 each.
$1.50 if you shopped around.

$60 for less than $16 worth of plugs.

I asked if he would like it if I supplied all the parts, her said no.
I said good bye, and never did business with him again.

He lost a customer because he got ****ing greedy. He could have shown me his cost and add 15 or even 20% and that'd be fine, regardless of what it cost down the street or on-line.

I was paying him to replace the plugs, not quadruple the price of the parts.
I will not do business with anyone who pulls that.

[RKDinOKC]

My Dad taught me I can make more money doing my job than it would cost me in lost wages to do the job myself. Especially considering it would take longer for me to do it.

The garage I take my cars to has a policy of they get the parts. They get a discount and usual bill for good deal retail. However, there have been occasions when they could not get the parts in a timely manner. Then I tell them where I found the parts and they either buy it where I found it, or have me buy it and ship to them. It is more about availability of good parts than price. Several of the sources I have found they have added to their parts search repertoire.

This has changed a little since a local salvage yard went out of business, Oklahoma Foreign. They were a great source of like new salvage my garage often used to help save me, the owner, on parts without effecting reliability of the repairs. Garage could call them in the moring, get the part delivered by lunch and have time to to the repair so I could pick up the car that evening. I will miss them.

[fastfredracing]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

15% over cost is the standard in big industry for third party mark-up.

Back in the day I used a local shop for years on stuff I didn't have time to do or didn't want to do.
One time I had the shop do a tune-up on a friend''s car.

I got the bill and asked why i was charged $7.50 a piece for spark plugs. This was over 25 years ago and back then, these were regular ole spark plugs that you could get at any flaps for $1.99 each.
$1.50 if you shopped around.

$60 for less than $16 worth of plugs.

I asked if he would like it if I supplied all the parts, her said no.
I said good bye, and never did business with him again.

He lost a customer because he got ****ing greedy. He could have shown me his cost and add 15 or even 20% and that'd be fine, regardless of what it cost down the street or on-line.

I was paying him to replace the plugs, not quadruple the price of the parts.
I will not do business with anyone who pulls that.

I know it may seem like a lot, but the industry standard is a lot more than 20%. I think it is closer to 60% that we are supposed to be making on parts/supplies .

[motion]

People will judge the expense/overhead of your operation and self-determine an appropriate level of markup on parts that they will let you get away with. That's just simple human nature. If a weekend hack is working under a carport, well then most people are not going to be comfortable with much of a markup. If a multi-line dealership is doing the work, then people know that they're going to be paying retail+ for the parts.

If they trust you and have been using you for years, then those dynamics probably don't apply.

With so much info at everyone's fingertips, I can see where you're in a really tough spot.

Back in the late 90's, before online internet parts shopping was a thing, I had a Range Rover that ate all of its CV joints and collateral parts. The local shop wanted something like $5,000 for parts to repair. I got on the phone with a Rover dealer in the UK and had everything shipped to me for around $1,500. Hired an independent guy to install everything.

[Por_sha911]

This is way to complex. Make a firm rule, put up a sign (and put it on your paperwork), and stick to it 100% of the time. If the customer doesn't want to pay for your parts at your price then that's fine; you probably don't want them for a customer anyway. As long as they know up front how it is going to work then there should be no problem. I ask for a price quote before the work begins so I know what to expect when I come to pick it up. Like Sammy said, if the place slides in extra cost without telling me up front or, jacks me up on price more than on the estimate in a big way, then I won't be back.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

I know it may seem like a lot, but the industry standard is a lot more than 20%. I think it is closer to 60% that we are supposed to be making on parts/supplies .

You must be referring to the auto repair industry.

I was referring to manufacturing, IE when a company won't ship on a PO and the order is sourced through a third party.
Of if I have a contractor or vendor buy something for my company, it is standard for him to mark it up 15%.

60% is excessive IMO.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

It's always a good rule of thumb to fire customers who don't appreciate the value of your time and work.

If this customer comes back to have any work done, I'd let them know about other shops in your area who can perform the work.

[asphaltgambler]

My $.02 - If I'm doing work (privately) on classic / vintage vehicles - I have a parts matrix pricing depending on what / rarity/ etc. Where my gross is at least 50% of cost + shipping to my door. I know what aftermarket stuff is as good as OEM.

To the point - you're not bringing your steak to my restaurant for me to cook it. My business model is calculated on parts / labor / shop supplies. If that first suit you, no problem. I'm not not the cheapest guy by a long shot - sometimes I might be the highest. But you receive quality work.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by Shaun @ Tru6

It's always a good rule of thumb to fire customers who don't appreciate the value of your time and work.

If this customer comes back to have any work done, I'd let them know about other shops in your area who can perform the work.

I can't agree with you more, Shuan

[look 171]

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

My $.02 - If I'm doing work (privately) on classic / vintage vehicles - I have a parts matrix pricing depending on what / rarity/ etc. Where my gross is at least 50% of cost + shipping to my door. I know what aftermarket stuff is as good as OEM.

To the point - you're not bringing your steak to my restaurant for me to cook it. My business model is calculated on parts / labor / shop supplies. If that first suit you, no problem. I'm not not the cheapest guy by a long shot - sometimes I might be the highest. But you receive quality work.

I think soon enough people will be bringing their halibut to restaurants so they can save a buck. I went to dinner with a few knuckleheads to a restaurant in San Francisco(pretty high end, just a few bucks below $100 per person). Those dummies brought a few bottle of their own expensive wine.

[billybek]

Originally Posted by look 171

Those dummies brought a few bottle of their own expensive wine.

Restaurants will charge a "corkage" fee and be paid for something they never carried the cost on. I think that is totally fair.
I don't think it is unreasonable for an auto shop to do the same.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by billybek

Restaurants will charge a "corkage" fee and be paid for something they never carried the cost on. I think that is totally fair.
I don't think it is unreasonable for an auto shop to do the same.

The issues I see is the warranty and liability. Let say, customer bring in a set of rod bearings and have shop install. Bearing goes bad so who's going to fork out the cost to r and r to determine what fail?

When that happens, cheap folks will hammer ya 8 days til' Sunday to get the shop to acceptable responsibility

[RANDY P]

Originally Posted by look 171

I think soon enough people will be bringing their halibut to restaurants so they can save a buck. I went to dinner with a few knuckleheads to a restaurant in San Francisco(pretty high end, just a few bucks below $100 per person). Those dummies brought a few bottle of their own expensive wine.

I seriously will NOT go out with people who do that. ****ing embarrassing. Either you go out hassle-free or stay home and save the money.

Oh and yeah, they have no problem beating you to death to work 2x or 3x because what they bought went bad or was wrong in the first place.

Not worth the hassle-- for both.

rjp

[billybek]

That is absolutely the problem with supplying your own parts.
Were the parts defective or was the manner in which they were installed not correct?

[RANDY P]

Or even counterfeit? Who pays to send it back?

I don't know of many competent shops willing to entertain the whole semi-DIY yourself thing. I would expect to get marched out of the shop if I even asked. Good shops who do good dealings usually are booked well enough where they don't need THAT crowd.

Could you imagine the problems with say a tranny rebuild with an owner supplied kit going together wrong? Holy crap.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by billybek

That is absolutely the problem with supplying your own parts.
Were the parts defective or was the manner in which they were installed not correct?

That problem is avoided by supplying top quality parts or having the shop get them. Once again, people are grossly over complicating this, IMO.

Have a policy, either don't put in customers' parts or do it on a case-by-case basis and never install cheapo schit parts. You don't want those people anyways.

[look 171]

I bring all my daily drivers to one mechanic each and everytime for over 20 years now. Its just him and one other workman. I drop off the car and they fix it. They know, if there's anything that needs attention, fix it unless its over a couple thousand bucks then they call me. They can tell me what was repaired when I pick the car up because all I want to know is it gets fixed. Who the heck has time to drive the parts over? He knows I have Porches and trucks and makes it clear that he's not interested in working on them. I respect that honesty and the convent because sometimes he will drive it over to my mother's house and leave it there. I pay him next time I drive out that way. Painless and well worth the mark up on parts