Folks Of Interest Hot Rod Parts & Free Shipping

Yep, they got me last week! To repeat, Summit's free shipping threshold is now $125!

 

They got me to. Seems they usually do.

 

Damn....You guys must have more self-control than I do! I don't think I have EVER ordered anything from them that didn't get free shipping!

God Bless & Merry Christmas
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ar-transport-hauling-open-or-enclosed.614419/

 

I'm 40 minutes from a Summit Retail store. Might be a curse or a blessing depending how you look at it, lol.

If they don't have something in stock they ship it to you free no matter how much.

 

I'm all for buying from the little guy, which I try to do whenever possible.

However when it comes to consumables that I can only get from corporate en***ies, price is number one consideration followed by when I will receive it and do I have to deal with the public. RockAuto and Amazon (sometimes Summit) reign supreme still. Followed by my local Oriellys, Autozone, Napa and Advanced, in that order, based on previous customer service I have received. Pay double or triple for the same product just isn't in the cards for most people including myself.

Also, even living an hour from Speedway, their shipping costs/time has gone up quite a bit in the last 2 years sadly. Used to be I could get a small box shipped to me the next day for 6 bucks. Now its 5-7 days for 11 bucks. Still cheaper than fuel but sometimes I really need something to keep me going on a project. Oh well. It could be worse.

 

Mostly a curse ! LOL

They used to get $10K+ per year from me for a couple of decades when I lived 40 minutes away. 20 years ago I moved 50 miles further away, so I don't get there as often anymore thus saving me money

God Bless
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ar-transport-hauling-open-or-enclosed.614419/

 

Went to the local parts store and asked for a small fibre or copper or aluminium washer . The guy got a pack of regular mild steel washers off the parts tree , I said don’t open them they are wrong but he proceeds to open the pack insisting they are right size and will work . I just walked out and went to the engine rebuilder.

 

I'm pretty sure that sales tax states now require that to be done by law. Meaning that you can't order from an out of state vendor and skip your state's sales tax as they are required to collect it. I think I have bought one item from an out of state vendor in the past 3 months that I didn't dinged for sales tax on.
There is only one true independent parts house left in this area It's 26 miles from me but also has one of the area's go to and still left automotive machine shops. The rest are Napa, O'Reilly's , Autozone or Advance Auto.

While I do buy some stuff from Rock Auto I use their site a lot to find parts numbers that I can search with or cross over with the local chains. I also look up parts on the O'Reilly website and order them on line for pickup at the local store 2.5 miles away. According to the guys who work there I am one of the rare people who do that but it will often get me a part there in the morning that I can pick up at nine rather than go in, order it and wait until three to pick it up.
The independent parts house that I worked for a few years back went out of business after the couple who owned it who were way to hell and gone past retirement age closed it because their druggy son wasn't capable or running it just as my go to Auto electric house closed for the same reason and had no takers to buy the owner out.

Locally I have seen too many small businesses fold simply because there was no family member to take them over or no family member capable of running the business and even with some of them having great potential for the right person no takers. On the other hand I deal with a company just about every day that the current owner had to take over last winter when his dad was killed by an avalanche in front of his eyes while snowmobiling who's dad who was a good friend of mine taught him every phase of running the company and had had him listed as part owner on everything about it. He didn't take him long to figure out why Mike had him in on every phase of the operation as it made it far easier to deal with.

 

If you're in the Rome GA area, Powell's is a good old-time family-owned place that has been in business since the late '40s. A couple of the guys who work the counter must be 80 or close to it. They have a ton of old-time paper catalogs. Yes, they have a computer, too, but the old guys usually don't have to look at either one to get you what you need.

 

I too prefer to support local businesses but the last time I went to Bumper-to-Bumper 25 years ago, I stood at the counter with 20 dollar bills showing in my hands while they answered phone call after phone call. When I asked about that, they told me they make $400,000 a year over the phone taking calls from local repair shops and I am a once-in-a-while customer. No problem. I've never been back.

 

After reading through this thread I have to say that I sympathize with you all in the decline of the small independent dealers/shops. We have experienced the same effect here in the great North with the knowledge that there weren’t that many independents to begin with. Building a hot rod in Canada presents its own special challenges, especially if you live in the middle of the bald *** Prairie. In my genre, 5,6,7 Chevys, most all of my parts are ordered from U.S suppliers and shipped to the nearest U. S. border town that has a parcel service. Just doing the math.... USD $1.00 to Canadian .69c. Then there’s shipping and state taxes that we are obligated to pay. Then the Canadian border services will charge you Goods and services tax for parts you bought and paid for in American funds. Then you have the expense of the drive to pick up your parts at the US border town that is 90 miles away... and yet ,in spite of all this ....
It is still less expensive to acquire parts this way than it is to source them from the few Canadian Hot rod parts suppliers that are left.
Some days I question my sanity.....

 

To add more to the melee, shipping ****s. The parts you used to get at your local store now have another link in the chain to get into your hands. Those flimsy boxes you get regular parts in now become the shipping container, so chances of the new part getting damaged are significantly higher.
I was working on an o/t vehicle doing lower control arms, the parts came and looked like they've been thrown off a building repeatedly. I inspected them (lucky they used plastic cups over the ball joint boot because they were broken, but the boots were ok). Turns out I didn't inspect them thoroughly enough, one zerk was slightly dented into the ball. I had another zerk to replace it at home today. I could have sent it back, but at the cost of time (weeks) and headaches (it was someones daily).

Moral of the story is shipping parts ****, support your local auto parts store.