Someone asked if anyone has had experience in buying auto parts
wholesale. Well you might say that I lack experience in paying retail
prices for anything! My extended family owns a couple of businesses here
in sunny Southern Alberta including a tire shop (tire retreaders,
distributors, retailers, and light engine work). As I stand to inherit a
portion of this company (a VERY SMALL portion), and will probably NEVER
see any proceeds from it - I use it for a discount on car parts. By
merely calling up and stating that you want the company price for a
part, the parts dealers will usually ask you which company you are
calling for (sometimes BIG companies get better discounts due to
volume). After you tell them, they will give you YOUR price over the
phone. These discounts usually amount to paying half price for me, but
sometimes tiny items are are even less! In fact, I just bought a NEW
fuel pump for my Camaro - $12.30 Cdn.! (Canadian prices are usually much
higher than the U.S.).
Many times, the parts dealer won't even bother to ask what company the
order is for (flat company price) or even if I have authorization to buy
something for them. I have told numerous friends to use the company
discount and have only ever had one of them get questioned (he knew
absolutely nothing about cars and probably looked a little odd in the
shop). You NEVER need to show a card or any ID (at least here!) when
paying for your items. Most of the time the dealers want to charge the
items on your company account, but they have NEVER refused cash from me
(saves all the mucky paper work).
I am not suggesting that you lie by saying that you are with someone you
are actually not with (a company that is) but it would probably work 9
times out of 10. To be fully honest, you should have someone with a
mechanics shop in your family. That way, your relatives could authorize
you to use they company discount. If a dealer were then to become
suspicious of you, they could merely call up your family company and ask
if you are a parts buyer for them.
I wish you all luck in finding discounts you can use as paying full
retail for auto parts is NOT the way to go! Sometimes discounts are out
there just for the asking (I once went into a gas station and just asked
them if they offer any discounts - the gal said, "Well we have this VIP
card that you can have that will give you 4 cents off per litre (about
16 cents a gallon), if you want it." Needless to say, I didn't decline
the offer!)
See yah!
Greg.
(gall@gamma.uleth.ca)
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