Can anyone explain the wide range of pricing on NGK laser iridium spark plugs? Not talking counterfeit junk from eBay. Dealer wants $25 each, most other on-line and local parts stores want $12-14 and RockAuto wants $6. Assuming these are all genuine NGK plugs, how can there be such a large variance? Thanks.
Sparkplug Pricing
- Thread starter artbuc
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Because they are trying to take advantage of the one sucker who's born every minute. They are also playing the "if we overprice them, they'll think they are real and will buy them" card.
Dealers are always expensive.
The parts stores have much higher prices for retail customers than for shops and garages. They are wholesale customers and pay less.
Rock Auto is a drop shipper that has no inventory; they ship from the same warehouses that independent parts stores use, if not directly from the manufacturer. Their prices are lower because their costs are lower. In other words, Rock Auto is giving everybody the wholesale prices that parts stores give the shops. It's like having your mechanic friend at the shop buy the parts at the shop price, and then you just pay the shop the cost or maybe a little more.
Rock Auto itself is just a small operation in one of those cheesy office buildings in Wisconsin. They only have around 150 employees.
A shop will pay close to Rock Auto prices for the parts they buy at the parts stores.
The parts stores have much higher prices for retail customers than for shops and garages. They are wholesale customers and pay less.
Rock Auto is a drop shipper that has no inventory; they ship from the same warehouses that independent parts stores use, if not directly from the manufacturer. Their prices are lower because their costs are lower. In other words, Rock Auto is giving everybody the wholesale prices that parts stores give the shops. It's like having your mechanic friend at the shop buy the parts at the shop price, and then you just pay the shop the cost or maybe a little more.
Rock Auto itself is just a small operation in one of those cheesy office buildings in Wisconsin. They only have around 150 employees.
A shop will pay close to Rock Auto prices for the parts they buy at the parts stores.
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Just don't buy off of random third party sellers on eBay or Amazon. Lot of counterfeit parts going around.
I recommend Rockauto.
I recommend Rockauto.
Negative. OReillys and AutoZone charge us the same as what someone walking in of the street pays, maybe 10% off.
Does a Ford dealer buy much from those stores, though? How often does your dealership buy something from them? Do you know any local non-dealer shops? Do they pay the same prices at AZ that you and a retail customer would pay at AZ?
I thought you said once that the retail price of Motorcraft oil at Walmart is actually cheaper than your dealer's *wholesale* cost.
The cost of the oil at WalMart is less than what a dealer pays for the same oil from Ford directly. For a while the Motorcraft oil filters were less than dealer cost at WalMart. Now they are right around cost+10% or so last time I paid attention.
We do a fair amount of business with them for competitive make vehicles where service wants the parts right away. For example if we buy Mobil 1 from either of those stores they charge us $9.49/qt.
we make 1-many purchases daily on our commercial account at one of the chains. the discount is usually very small on most stuff. our commercial pricing on oil is higher than any sale price. we get good prices on house brand filters; and some deals on quantity purchases. the advantages are: one stop shopping, easy ordering of non-stock parts, friendly staff, and almost zero errors. regarding your original question: it's a matter of which seller is willing to take a certain margin. if I'm in a hurry or it's for a customer, I purchase plugs from the chain. if it's for me and/or a project car, probably half the stuff is from Rock or Amazon.
Right there is your answer. "Assuming these are all genuine...."
I don't feel they are all genuine so I can't assume they are.
So what discount do the local indy shop gets when buying directly from your shop? Also curious what dealers pay for parts vs list price. I see dealers selling parts online and they discount 25-30% off list price.
Generally 20-25% wholesale. Dealer cost is a trade secret. I can say that on some items it is half of list price and on other items it is around 85% of list price. Now to throw things into a tailspin so to day, Ford removed MSRP on a number of parts last year. We as a dealer have to subscribe to a service that gives us the "list" price based on our location, and that can fluctuate daily based on demand.
You may also consider Autolite XP Iridium finewire with beautiful nickel plated shells.
Save cash and have a great sparker - with a lifetime warranty.
My Ruthenium fingernail plugs that are stock on the Subaru FB20 are over due at 77K miles. I am considering the Autolites as Ive read from many who used then had good results and the cost is about 1/4 or less than the NGK which are around $19 ea.
Save cash and have a great sparker - with a lifetime warranty.
My Ruthenium fingernail plugs that are stock on the Subaru FB20 are over due at 77K miles. I am considering the Autolites as Ive read from many who used then had good results and the cost is about 1/4 or less than the NGK which are around $19 ea.
This. Where I work (green color parts store) we don't give discounts on oil or spark plugs for shops. Batteries and hard parts are nicely discounted. Pad and rotor specials for shops are like half of retail on some applications.
Right there is your answer. "Assuming these are all genuine...."
I don't feel they are all genuine so I can't assume they are.
Well, I assume Rockauto is selling genuine plugs based on many discussions here and my personal experience, and Rockauto has the lowest price. I exclude anything from eBay.
Is Rockauto an authorized reseller? I will call NGK and Denso to find out.
When I talked with NGK a while back they recommended only authorized resellers. I had to remove counterfeit plugs from two vehicles. Lesson learned.
I’ve had Autolite Iridium XP plugs in my J35 Honda for about 30,000 miles now. They work perfectly.
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