what is standard in industry ? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

stevelewis · #1 12-16-2003, 10:44 PM

Say I work for a small indy repair shop fixin' volvo's. Would it be fare to say that I should be able to buy parts at the owner's cost or should he be able to tack on a small profit? Whats standard in the industry? steve ps, parts for my personal car only.

hill · #2 12-16-2003, 11:11 PM

I don't know if this is a standard but my brother can get parts from the dealership he works for cost + 10%. This is for himself and direct relatives only. When I worked in dealerships it was the same thing, you could fix up a couple cars a year but they did not want you to be competition.

420SEL · #3 12-17-2003, 06:22 AM

The indy I used to go to had to buy the parts from MB at the same price they would charge me.

stevelewis · #4 12-17-2003, 03:53 PM

What with world pack and other parts companys jumping into the parts fray, sometimes the price for parts can very diffrent. Also depending on how much the indy spends a month, the price can change again. I'm just looking for a standard, or what would be considerd normal. Maybe 10% is ok. I don't know whats fair. Thanks for your responce guys. Anyone else have experence with this sort of thing. steve 83sd

Gilly · #5 12-17-2003, 04:57 PM

Steve:
This is what I believe most shops will agree the standard is:
The owner of the vehicle will pay retail price. The shop owner is billed what is generically called "jobber price". On MOST parts (not all) "jobber price" is "cost" (dealer cost) plus a certain percentage. Not all dealers give their "jobbers", or shop customers, the same price.
But the end customer (the shops customer) can expect to pay full retail for the part, no more. The dealer (or parts house) will let the shop know what the normal retail price is of the part, and that's usually what is billed to their customer. Sometimes there is a great increase from "dealer cost" to retail price of the part, it varies alot depending on the part, so the shop can sometimes make a pretty good profit on the part, sometimes hardly anything.

Gilly

Antony · #6 12-17-2003, 07:24 PM

Alittle off topic perhaps...When I worked at a retail music shop, the owner and I marked up the retail cost at 30% above the cost we bought the music. It was only the owner and myself working there, and at a 30% markup neither of us got rich (but we did have great times).

william rogers · #7 12-18-2003, 02:31 AM

I worked in an indy shop and not only did the owner lets us buy parts for our own cars at his cost but let us use the shop and his 40K worth of snap on's after hours and usally stuck around and helped. He also keep a fridge full of free beer............

William Rogers.........

Gilly · #8 12-18-2003, 06:22 AM

Most any local parts outlet that a shop employee would decide to buy parts from will normally get the shop's discount, not unusual at all. They'll just write the receipt in the name of the shop, but the employee will pay for it themselves at the counter.

Why did you have to use the owners tools? Usually you have your own tools if you're working in a shop.

Beer in the shop? That's just great

Gilly

stevelewis · #9 12-18-2003, 04:14 PM

Thanks guys, I thought it was considered a pretty regular thing to allow the guys who work for a shop to get parts at the shops rate. I just thought I ask the forum, to see what was what. As a new year is upon us I will be making a new deal with the shop owner for next year, part time and hope to continue to get parts for my 83 SD at the best price. thanks steve

Gilly · #10 12-18-2003, 04:56 PM

Steve, did you read this at all?

Quote:

Most any local parts outlet that a shop employee would decide to buy parts from will normally get the shop's discount, not unusual at all.

Gilly

stevelewis · #11 12-19-2003, 07:54 AM

Gilly, Yes, I understand what you are saying, the only problem is there aren't any parts outlets locally that the guy I work for uses, The gest of the whole thing is I sometimes take parts instead of pay as this is a part time job and I want to get the best bang for the buck. So he orders mostly from world pack and a few other companys that all ship via ups. I have no contact with these people at all. When I want a part, I just put it on the parts order board, and it gets ordered, and when it comes in I do the paper work claiming the part, deducting it from my pay. Gilly, thanks for your feedback. steve 83SD

Gilly · #12 12-19-2003, 04:08 PM

Maybe you can talk to someone at either the parts outlet, or the shop owner where you are working, and see if you can order them from the parts outlet directly and receive the jobber price under your own name.
I can look under your profile info and maybe find this out myself, but where do you live that there is no parts store and everything has to be shipped in?
Knowing what I know now, I'd say there is no "industry standard" given these unusual circumstances. I would assume the shop owner should be willing to give you a discount on the parts, maybe a small markup. The scenario I outlined is alot more common.

Gilly

Gilly · #13 12-19-2003, 04:14 PM

OK, you live in Franklin, MA. What's wrong with all these parts stores?:

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=franklin+mass+auto+parts&fr=my_top

These places should be able to get most anything you need, doesn't he deal with any of these places?

Or this place is only 22.8 miles from you and specializes in Volvo
:
http://www.bostonvolvo.com/

Can't you get them there? He has to have parts shipped in?
He probably has accounts with a few of these local places and you just don't know it. I'd ask at a few of them. You don't know any of the guys who work at the parts houses?
It sounds like he has a very cut-throat attitude towards the local parts houses. These guys can really save your neck when you need a part at 3pm Friday afternoon. He should consider using local parts sources.

PS (one LAST edit (I hope)) If he wants to mark up the prices on the stuff he sells you, then I would say you're better off taking the MONEY you earn and BUYING the parts yourself at a discount (hopefully) locally.
Another thing for the shop owner is that the local parts houses probably know he's ordering his parts somewhere else, and there are probably local service shops who buy the parts locally. The guys in the parts houses probably make alot of referrals for people in the parts houses who need a repair done. I bet they ain't sending any HIS way!

Gilly

stevelewis · #14 12-19-2003, 04:43 PM

Gilly, the guy I work for part time works on just volvos. He doesn't have a phone number in the book, He doesn't advertise, He doen't even have a sign on his building. Its all word of mouth. He's reputation is perfect. He's been working on volvos since early eighty's. There isn't any place to get oem or equal in the area and since all he works on is volvo's, he stocks all or most of the parts he needs. So when I need a part for my 83SD, I'm never really In a hurry. I just order when he orders. The deal up untill now was his price- my price. My question was just what was the standard. I guess I'm wondering if he is giving me special treatment or is it just standard treatment as a part time worker. Thanks for your feedback gilly, steve

Gilly · #15 12-19-2003, 04:55 PM

I'm not saying there is a problem with his reputation, and if he is happy with his level of business (busy enough), then fine. But he'd probably get a little more word-of-mouth advertizing if he did business locally instead of sending out. And we all know you can't stock parts for every problem that comes along, sooner or later there will be some whatchamacallit that he'll need to fix a car, I'm sure it happens alot.

As I said, what's more standard is that the employee buys the part himself at the employers cost-and the employer doesn't even know-why should he even care? As long as the employee is honest to the parts house, such as this "Hey Mike, I need a few fuel injectors and a brake booster line for my 83SD. Just write it up to the shop, but I'll pay for it, it's for my own heap". OK? That's the industry standard.
If the situation you describe saves YOU some money, then that's swell, but not the ideal situation. Ideally you should be able to buy at jobber price (no cut to the employer). That's why I'd check with a few of the local parts houses to see if your employer has an account with one or a few of them that you don't know about; or ask the guy running the shop you work for. He should understand. I can't believe he NEVER buys anything locally. He NEVER has a part he needs to fix a car THAT day? He's never had to run to the Boston Volvo place to get a part he needs right away? Sounds like a low-stress operation if that's the case. Maybe you just never see it happening because you're part-time.

Gilly

PS personally I'd hate to be in a situation where I'm sitting around waiting for the little brown truck to bring me the parts I need.