I am all for supporting local business and actually prefer to put my hands on a part before I buy it I don't even mind paying a little extra from my local shop to help cover there overhead. But lately I feel like most shops I go into have almost zero inventory but they do have a giant rack of catalogs they can order from. So what do you do let them order the part for you and still pay there inflated cost for it? Or do you go home and order the part yourself for a lot cheaper and show up on my doorstep? Don't get me wrong I would much rather get the part from the speed shop if they have it setting on a shelf, but where do you draw the line?
I'm governed by the reality that I have to spend my money wisely no matter where I spend it. I support the local little guy if it makes sense. I'll pay for quality and service. But sometimes it just makes more sense to buy the item where it's cheapest after you factor in how fast you need it and the extra cost of shipping to yourself.
Easy.....I would order it myself. I too want the part immediately, but why pay a mark up for something I can do by myself if it still has to be shipped? I go to the store to get the part I want when I want it.
I work at a local shop..... Well it's local if you live near me anyway, but we can usually get stuff in a day from a warehouse that the general public can't buy from and then I have to try to sell it for the same price as Summit or Jegs. Some stuff we can do good on, others not so much. I like to tell my customers to let me get parts if we are building an engine for them or something, that way if it's wrong, it's my problem and I will deal with it, If they buy parts and they are wrong and it causes us to have to do something over it will be reflected on the bill. We don't really make much on parts since uncle sam gets about half our profit, but the convenience of not having to wait for the customer to get time off work to bring the parts makes things go much smoother. If I can buy something local I do, and if I can buy made in America for a few bucks more than China, I do that too even if we can't make money off of it. The lack of inventory comes from the obscene amount of aftermarket parts available. What do you stock? All of it? There are too many options and the giant warehouse I buy parts from doesn't even stock everything. Basically if you want to have a local speed shop, buy something from them once in a while or they will be gone and we will have to get everything from Summit.
You have asked a very valid question, one that I have wrestled with lots of times myself. I too like to support a local guy whenever I can but unless you live near a major city the choices are slim. As you mentioned, the big places like Summit, Jegs, Speedway have it on the shelf at great prices and they make shopping there painless. We had two speed shop type places in this area, and now it is down to one. Years ago I walked into the one place on payday with $300 in mad money in my pocket, hellbent on buying some stuff for my 27 that I was building at the time. I stood at the counter and the owner was engrossed in doing something at his desk and never even looked up to acknowledge I was standing there. I knew he saw me but he didn't even say "Hi, I'll be with you in a moment." After 10 minutes of being ignored I walked out and called Speedway and spent my money. The one remaining speed shop in town is owned by an absolute ***. Never have seen the guy smile, he acts like he is doing you a favor by waiting on you, and his prices are higher than mail order plus shipping. I have tried probably 15 times to give him some business and when I do I walk out hating myself for dealing with him. I swear I am going to start a consulting business to teach businesses how to treat customers the right way. Don
Same deal. We have a local speed shop but the owner and every one else in there acts like they're doing you a favor by taking your money... Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
My view is, I will pay the extra IF they have the part I need on hand. If they dont, I can/will order it myself.
Yeah...it absolutley KILLS me when I go to a local store, and have to order a part from them (at higher prices!) AND wait for it (usually longer than if I order online)..... AND then they have the balls to charge me for shipping! I am 100% all for using local businesses, but at some point it becomes rediculous!
Jegs, Speedway, Summit have done what Wal-Mart, Target, Costco and HEB, Wynn Dixie, Any super market chain have done, availability, cost, convenience, friendly bur not necessarily knowledgeable employees, availability, eye-appeal, parking, 24 hour service, and most everything made overseas. Where we buy anything dictates that and starves small, local businesses out of business. That's life these days and subsidizing business with tax payer's money ain't the answer and I don't know what is!
I go to our local speed shop every chance I get, hes cool though and knows his stuff. 90% of the time hes cheaper then the mail order places and if he isnt I dont mind. I dont make alot of money or anything either, I just feel alot better buying from a real person.
I have started buying a lot of parts online, I like really weird stuff that is not normally carried locally. My records show I spend about $5K a year on parts
Support of local shops, some anyway, has it's advantages. Here in Richmond we are fortunate to have "Joe Smith's Early Ford" run by Doug Walker. His shop offers new parts (on the shelf) as well as N.O.S. & used parts. He also offers service, repair, engine building, or full builds. He is also a source of knowledge, a hub in the community, may know of someone locally with parts, or may purchase parts I have. If he doesn't have the part he can generally get it quickly, at around the same cost. Not looking to sound like a commercial for "Joe Smith", but if we don't support local vendors of this caliber anyway, they won't be around when we really need them. Just my opinion.
I always try to support local, even if it costs me a little more. If the propriator is an ***hole, he'll starve before he gets my biz. Too many options these days, to HAVE to deal with that problem.
Mark-up on parts is NOT very much! Could be 20%, but could be as little as 2 - 5%. Have YOU shipped anything lately? Pretty damn expensive, isn't it? So, let's say that markup is 10% (vendor cost - $90.00, your cost $100.00 + tax), yet the shipping for that part(s) is 20% of the vendor cost of the item ($18.00)...you expect them to take a 10% hit on that part? Really?
Support HAMBers! I take a little pride in the fact that I've never used Speedway. My drop axles were originals that I had HAMBers drop. My carbs have been restored by a HAMBer. The distributers will be rebuilt/modified by a HAMBer, etc.
I've built a relationship with a one man shop that is a licensed dealer of many major brands. Chuck is a long time hot rodder, an excellent machinist and can lay down a weld that is a work of art. He tells me when he can get me parts at a reasonable price and when to go to the catalogues myself. I'm really fortunate to have that resource available. There are only a couple of legitimate speed shops in our immediate anymore. Driving an hour or more to get to one doesn't make much sense unless I want to piss away the time and probably not come home with what I was looking for in the first place.
I used to think the same. They will even order from summit and then upcharge you. I can buy cheaper thru rockauto, and see their catalog with pics/description which I dont get to do local. Summit/speedway for any race parts.
Agreed. Each and every one of those little local mom and pop type shops should also have an active ebay account to make themselves available to a larger market. It's almost 2013, if you rely 100% on walk in business in the parts industry you're gonna struggle at best.
Jegs is a local business, started by a racer that got tired of all the speed equipment only available a week or more away in California. He started the business to help close the shipping gap of getting speed parts to the eastern US. It is still owned by Jeg Coughlin's 4 boys, and they and their kids all race. They actually have a car in several cl***es of NHRA compe***ion, and even have a late model in the NASCAR field, although it is on the lower circuits at the present time. Even Jegs can't keep everything in stock, mostly due to manufacturer delays or just a lack of demand for every part. Stock sitting idle on the shelf costs the business owner money, and ties up capital, so the small business owners can't keep everything in stock. It does get you when they do no stock fast moving stuff though, and as far as the local guy charging shipping, do you really expect him to absorb that cost? Most cases, the shipping costs more than the retail price of the part, and he does not do enough volume to strike a deal with a shipping company. Jegs and Summit ship enough that they can make deals with shipping companies, where free freight is not a bank breaking expense. If you bought a new part, and didn't need it, but decided to take it to the swap meet because you could not return it, would you consider how much shipping you paid on the item when you priced it to sell? I think you would.
Guess in a way it's kinda been this way for a long time. We had a great speed shop here in the 60's/ 70's till Super Shops came to town and he couldn't compete with their volume pricing, knoledgable counter help and service be damn, everyone cept a few of us that saw what was happening started buying from Stupid Shops. Now it's worse with internet for a small guy to compete. I feel lucky now, we again have a good well stocked local speed shop although I admit I wondered about the owners sanitiy when he opened it a couple years ago. I get parts from them at a "shop discount" price since I have a shop but even then sometimes I could buy cheaper at Summit or Jeg's. Doesn't matter, I still buy from him and the fact he kicks a lot of work my way makes up for it. I don't see Summit having a customer walk in and ask who can put a cage in their car and them sending them to me! I'd hate it if all we had was mail order.
Keep in mind what you are really paying for when you shop local. There licences and taxes - help pave your streets, employee a friend or family at the state level and maybe even at the government level. Support the school your children goto and keep the town you live in alive. There operating cost- employs everyone from the trashman to the telephone repair guy, A/C repair to plumbers, lawn care to the mechanic that fixes there delivary trucks. There employees- are your neighbors and friends Service-They do/can provide a better service than any mail order, order taker this is just the begining of the jobs and moneys spent by a local business. I do use mail order, like most of you, price/time frame always way heavy on every purchase, but for just a few dollars more I support my town, my neighbors and my friends and myself. Ask yourself were all the good parts stores and speed shops have gone? where are all the LOCAL jobs? the more we outsource ( mail order) the weaker our local economy becomes. Godspeed MrC.
I don't draw a line at all. I shop prices and buy from whomever cuts me the best deal. It is nothing against local business some stuff I buy here because I either need ot today or they cut me a better deal some stuff I order because they cut me a better deal.
What killed business is having to paid for stuff that hasn't sold yet which is why no one keeps inventory. We had Performance Parts Warehouse which carried everything in stock and at great prices. The internet killed them I suppose. Now, I just surf for the best price.
10 to 20 %.....I have exactly one local parts house. Lucky me, it's a NAPA that still has catalogs on the counter, and a couple guys willing to turn them around for me. Performance parts can be an issue, though, they don't have much, and what they can get is 10 to 20% higher than Summit or Speedway.....So, most of my performance parts come by way of internet or phone order, and almost all of the day to day, run of the mill parts, such as master cylinders, wheel cylinders, plugs, gaskets, carb stuff, and hardware come from the local guy.
I usually buy my hard parts from a local mom and pop place but the cat pee smell is getting so bad in their store that I hate going in there. The prices are good and he will have it in the store at noon or 6 pm from the warehouse if you order it in time. The O'Riellys up the street from where and one independent out about 12 miles from where I work are the only places you could call a "speed shop" where you can actually walk in and buy real performance parts for a V8 off the shelf in the area now that the place I worked for years ago has been out of business for a number of years. Anywhere else just has the stick on port holes or a few shiny pieces for fart pipe cars. The inventory tax in this state just abut kills small businesses as far as maintaining a decent inventory and even then they may not have the parts in stock that a guy wants simply because there are so many different vehicles around now to stock parts for. I usually shop Ebay for a lot of my parts and I usually do some research and try to buy from actual store front small businesses that sell on Ebay along with having a walk in store to sell from. Just like parts for my sailboat, I'd have to drive to Portland or Seattle to buy hot rod parts for my hot rod projects if I wanted to buy them off the shelf.
People fail to realize the importance of inventory turn, and the amount of financial stress a large inventory can put on a business. There's one local speed shop about a half hour from me, and I know the guy can get anything I need within 24 hours. I might pay a little more, but sometimes it's worth it. A lot of it comes down to at***ude. I usually make a small initial purchase if I'm trying a new place out. If it goes well, I'll go back, if you're a ****, well you just lost money, and I'll let everyone I know that you're an ***hole. I try to support local people as much as possible, but a lot of times it just isn't worth it. If you don't love your business, you're not going to support your product. Why should anyone else?
Ha! That's true. I lived in Tallmadge, Ohio my whole life until 1996 and Summit Racing was a tiny little local hole-in-the-wall local shop when I was in high school. Then they built the big store and I'd drive down and get whatever I wanted. For years after I moved to Missouri I'd wait until I was visiting my parents and pick stuff up at Summit while there. So I don't think of it as some faceless behemoth. BUT...whenever I want something now I will walk into my local O'Reilly with my Summit catalog and ask if they can get it for the same price. A couple years ago I got a trans cooler much cheaper, because O'Reilly had one in stock that was the same basic design but a different brand for a much lower price. Can't get that by mail order!
Ya know it is funny, I wanted a gasket set for the olds I got in the ba*****t (soon to be upstairs). So I first went to the NAPA store up the block a bit. They could get them it was going to take a week and there was a 10% stocking charge. So I dropped Tony a note (goatroperII) he beat their price by 50 bucks with shipping and no 10% stocking charge. He shipped the same day and they were here the following day. I guess that maybe that doesn't count though, he is a local business just not local here.
I use my local owner indy parts store about 95% of the time. It's a little more but no problems. Most of the parts I get are not for any car specifically, so mix and match is necessary and if they don't work out he can return them. He'll let me try stuff out, turn my own drums, hunt parts down for me.....try that with a big box place.
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