Solved!

Several months ago I replaced the shocks/struts on my 06 with ~180k miles. On that instance, the local shop was about $300/400 more expensive just for the parts. (It was great that they allowed me to provide the parts and they did the work, saving me a weekend with the family).

Now I need a new manifold/catalytic and they are quoting $550 just for the part while rockauto offers these parts for under $300 (and that’s the premium option).

If Rock auto is so much cheaper, and the shop isn’t making any extra $ on the part (as they claim and is supported by my being allowed to provide parts the first time) then why don’t they just order the parts from RockAuto rather than their distributor?

(Btw, I’m not talking labor, just the parts)

Simple, it's a E-Commerce store and therefore has much lower overhead than brick and mortar stores. Not to mention RockAuto pushes high volume and can get much better prices on both the item themselves and transportation costs than your local shop. Finally, your local shop also wants to make money on the parts, they aren't just going to give it to you for the price they pay.

I understand that, but they make no money on the part if they allow me to provide it and still charge the same for labor, so they don’t appear to be adding a markup. I’m completely on board with the shop making their money. I want them to stay in business after all.

I just don’t understand why the shop doesn’t order from RockAuto themselves.

Thanks for the response, I just didn’t know if this is an industry thing or something else I didn’t understand.

Just think as a business... is it worth the bookkeeping/expense tracking/bank fees etc to order parts on their own cost... just to resell it to you at the price they paid?

Thanks, that makes sense. So the shop isn’t marking it up but the mark up (if you want to call it that) occurs by the distributor who also provides the shop with added benefits/services as part of the business relationship. (And this incurs additional costs of their own).

Thanks!

Most shops will lose more money waiting on mail order parts so the money saved is lost on waiting time, so they purchase them locally and have them immediately when needed, time is money, they also support their local economy when buying locally.

The local shop IS making money on the mark up of local parts.
But if they allow the educated consumer to provide the parts, they keep them as a customer.

Don’t you want you car finished typically same day or at least within 2 days? Most people do and I’ve never had Rock auto ship quickly at all. In fact they’re quite slow. Soooo that’s why you pay the price you pay for parts. Local parts store has it in stock and charges more. Supply and demand. Rockauto pulls these parts out of all the major parts stores warehouses anyways. You are paying on average 10-20 percent above the warehouse’s cost for the part. So if you can wait rockauto is the way to go. If you can’t wait expect to pay more. Most of these companies just care about moving the product not so much about profit margin.

Thanks again, the convenience factor makes sense too. I initially brought up the question because when the part I found was so much cheaper I first assumed it was inferior or even the wrong part.

On numerous occasions I have bought on Rockauto to have the factory OEM part arrive way cheaper than the dealer. It does take planning and returns take time.

As mentioned above, Rock Auto is for the home mechanic who can wait, especially if he's planning ahead.

Local shops source local because the part is delivered in an hour or two - if even that long and if there's a problem the local parts supplier will make it right...fast. He's selling the shop many $$$ worth of parts every yr.

Back when, parts mark-up, paid for all or part of the labor in some cases.

And last, but not least, many shops will not warranty their labor against customer-provided parts. You show up with parts from abc-online.com. There's a problem with the part and that is now YOUR problem. If the shop sourced the part, they would deal with it. Their supplier would provide a new one FAST.

In the case of the faulty abc-online.com part, you're going to pay a labor bill - wait for return ship/arrival of new part-then a 2nd labor bill. The shop is not going to eat the labor 'cuz your part was bad. If you want your vehicle back fast, you'll pay the shop for their part and hope Rock Auto refunds your $$$. Could be you'd eat the return costs.

No shops has time for this. Do you bring your own eggs to IHOP?

OMG! The most educated response to this topic that I've seen on here. There is another thread a little further down that people just couldn't get this concept. Thanks!!

Smart business people also know their market is changing. Bills have to be paid and turning away business may not be a good strategy today.

Perhaps the shop "adjusts" the price of the labor...
based on whether they are supplying the parts.

With aftermarket parts, the installer still needs to spend time to make sure the part is correct and do any tweaking to the part before install. I expect the labor to include that time.

I supply my own parts, and know shit happens... like parts getting damaged during shipping, and not being discovered until the torque of the last bolt.

Income from part sales help in covering indirect cost associated with the shop.