Discounts for commercial accounts at the big 3 parts chains?

Joined
Apr 27, 2010
Messages
19,552
Location
Suburban Washington DC
I have accounts at Advance, Autozone and NAPA but the prices are the same as any retail customer would pay. The only reason to have them is to avoid paying tax. Is that how it is for others here that have commercial accounts there? At dealers, you get 20 to 35 percent off retail as a commercial customer, and at independent parts stores you get a price break too. Needless to say, I buy very little from them.
 
So if you lived in Delaware, there would be no reason to even have a commercial account since they don't have sales tax anyway :D

Don't the commercial accounts go by how much you buy from them? :unsure:
 
O'Reilly corporate accounts have a pretty good discount depending on the part. Smaller ticket items don't seem to get as much of a break, but I have gotten some better deals on Wix filters, starters, alternators, and batteries.

Sometimes its a better deal to use a coupon code at Advance as a retail customer if I can't wait for RockAuto.
 
AZ has very decent pad and rotor specials if you want to use their stuff. It is a flat rate depending on the size of the vehicle.
 
I worked for AutoZone for 15 years. They have Tiered prices. Based on 6 weeks average purchases. 1k a week gets X, 750 a week gets y etc. If you don't purchase on average 250 a week you are paying retail. At least when I left there 8 years ago. Advance and orielly were the same. Napa on the other hand has 10 different ways to price your account, based on purchases, national agreements, and of course the good ol boy system..
 
I had plenty of conversation with people regarding the minimums. If your account is priced at retail you will never buy anything. If you discount the parts and a customer still doesn't buy your out nothing...
 
Cheaper at a dealer where I get up to 35% off
That 35% value is an artificial number though. It's 35% off of a most likely higher starting price. Then again, if the dealer's discounted price still ends up cheaper than the parts store prices, keep buying dealer parts. You usually can't question the quality of OE parts at least.
 
That 35% value is an artificial number though. It's 35% off of a most likely higher starting price. Then again, if the dealer's discounted price still ends up cheaper than the parts store prices, keep buying dealer parts. You usually can't question the quality of OE parts at least.
Yeah that sounds really high. Maybe it's for the small stuff. I notice my local dealer sometimes prices it 2x higher than retail for small items. Most of the time the most I can find is 30% off the real dealer list price and they charge shipping on top of that.
 
Most parts houses tier the discount structure based off of how much you buy. I spend enough with Advance to be platinum tier (I spend 30k a year for reference there). Even at that, some parts I get a nice discount on, some I get peanuts.
 
Don't the commercial accounts go by how much you buy from them?
It's often a no-win situation for the customer... Without discounts, prices aren't attractive to buyers so they shop around. Shopping around, any single chain (Autozone, AAP, etc) doesn't see any "volume" from the buyer so they have no motivation to offer discounts. It often just leaves (2) options: 1) The customer pays "higher" prices initially until he/she starts earning discounts or 2) the store/chain "trusts" the buyer to commit to a certain purchasing level and fronts them a good discount.
 
Back
Top