Welcome to the parts business! My family has had a Auto parts store for over 60 years. It was hard at first to compete with the pep boy's and such out there. Now were hurting even more becuase or the internet company's. Half the parts i can't even get from my wharehouse for less then i can buy them from the internet. Its not only the company's selling the parts its the manufacturer selling them to them. Makes me wonder everyday if i should keep the family business!

 

I think everybody is being a little too nice in this thread so I am going to shake it up a bit I agree that you should support local shops whenever you can, especially if you are using their products and support. The problem I have though is paying a higher price for something that is considered a commodity. Anything that has the AMS name that they designed, fine you can charge a premium, you can make your 20% on it and you should. What about the stuff that isn't designed by AMS? How about stuff that you are planning to install yourself also? At that point does anyone really care where it comes from? For instance why would you pay 125 for a fuel pump when you can buy it anywhere else for under 100? That to me, I can't justify unless I have them doing the install. To be sucessful you must differentitate yourself from the rest. You really can't expect anyone to pay more just because of who you are. You must bring something to the table that others don't and the customers need to know what it is. That is how you keep the pricing war down, which I am sure everyone knows.

Sorry to be so negative, but hearing about all these 20% margins makes me jealous. I am in the computer industry and I am lucky to make 10% on any given month. We have had to deal with falling profit margins also, just like everyone else. The internet really makes it harder to win business sometimes when it comes to price. What sets us apart is the service we provide with the products that we sell. We don't make any of the products we sell either.

 

I would be more than happy to support my local tuners if they had the parts in-stock. I'm one of those people that would happily pay $20 more on a $100 part and have it right now than have it shipped to me in a couple of days. I know that's not practical for the local vendors however and If I'm going to have to wait to get it I'm going with the best price. Not to mention there are basicaly no local tuners of any size in my area.

 

I'm not sure how I missed this thread before but Eric is 110% right. We also get calls about ebay purchases, or price matching "Joe's Basement Racing Customs" on their $289 SHIPPED SAFC II for the EVO or whatever it may be. It is the fly by night companies that are run out of a basement that is tearing the industry apart just to make a single dollar. For example I know most of you know we charge $340 for our SAFC II for the EVO. Our SAFC II comes with settings for the EVO that we had hours on the dyno to produce the best numbers just to provide them with the SAFC when purchased here, and also english installation instructions specially for the EVO. So for the additonal $51 you dont have to pay someone to tune it, and you do not have to guess on which wires go where. I think that is well worth the additional money.

We appreciate all of you guys that are on here, and those of the people who are not who have stood by the REAL shops even though the prices are a little bit higher because you know when you have a technical question about the part you purchased here or anywhere else such as AMS, Turbotrix, Etc.... that there will be no problem getting it answered to re-assure yourself of the installation you are doing. Ebay does not have a technical department! Most of these "shops" do not even have a phone number. They can only be contacted via email. We are open 9am - 6pm Monday through Friday and during those hours you can get any of us on the phone to answer a question or help you out in anyway we can.

A big thanks to all of you!

Jarrod
Buschur Racing Inc.

 

Always have supported AMS and Buschur. Almost everything on my old Talon came from them and almost all the things that are going to go on the Evo are going to come from them.

I used to work in a Hobby Shop and this was the same problem as we had back in the day when all the big mail order catalog places starting coming out and really slashing prices. In that case we matched their prices on big items because they still allowed for roughly 10%-15% and then you charge full price for the parts and small ****. Either way where you going to go when the part you ordered over the phone or from the internet comes broken or missing parts? You are SOL for atleast a week while shipping does its thing. Buy something from AMS (local for me) and it isn't right I drive the 3 miles back there and get it straightened out.

 

That's nice if you live close. Regardless, your point is mute if you don't. Your using the same mail service whether you order from a shop 3 hours away or 30 hours away. It's still downtime.

Most people would prefer to install parts themselves for the knowledge and, in general, the satisfaction of working on their own car. I buy all my parts through the internet shops based on price and customer satisfaction. The only time the rule does not apply is if there is a service involved. For example, tuning. I would purchase what ever is available (which is usually limited to begin with) from the shop that is tuning or going to tune my car. It's the relationship that is valued here for the shop's present and future support. Unfortunately, most hardcore shops only sell specific brands including their own and sometimes do not have a decent amount of inventory of what they do sell. Coming from a Logistics background, I understand the value of holding low inventories, but that's the price you pay. Sure, they sell what they stand behind and use, but who's kidding who if the belief is that their parts are the only ones that work.

As much as I believe in supporting the 'real shops', purchasing aftermarket parts is not one of them if they cannot compete in the price wars. I believe the other services they provide is where my support comes in to play. Tuning, installation, custom parts, events, etc. is where they thrive on consumer support. The internet shops do not.

my2c

Dave

 

Jarrod - That is exactly why people will pay more money to buy an SAFC from you guys then anyone else. Heck I was one of those people too, unfortunately I cancelled my order because it wasn't in stock and I got a heck of a deal on a used Xede (Sorry about that). Doing those things, justifies the higher price for sure. Those are the times that price doesn't matter as much as support.

 

Its cool man no worries at all.

 

Great post man.. A lot of people don't realize what's involved... they just want the lowest price. This is partly why there are no nice tuning shops in my state..

This is why I support the closet shop to me -- Buschur. I have no heartache in paying a few dollars more knowing they will be there for me if needed.