What parts do manufacturers sell unpackaged in bulk?

[atikovi]

Besides oil filters or spark plugs. Bought these ball joints for my Subaru Impreza and never knew they were sold in bulk. Is this fairly common? Any other parts sold like this?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/154475257252

 

[cptbarkey]

I've walked the streets in India and saw plenty of folks selling bulk everything you can think of. New, Used, you name it. Piles of foot high spices, door locks, computer parts. So, yep. In this case, Supplier A15501 did the blacksmithing and bulk packaging probably intended for a dealer.

 

[atikovi]

At least they were made in Mexico.

 

[bdcardinal]

With Ford ,and Mazda to some extent, they will have parts in back quantities. So like the 99564-1400 drain plug washers that Mazda uses on everything come in bags of 5 but we sell them individually. Funny enough that is also a good part number for Ford and they come in packs of 50.

 

[eljefino]

Off topic, they used to sell computer CPUs in little bags that were on a roll like toilet paper. Just tear one off for each computer you'd build. These were a few bucks cheaper, and had a shorter warranty, than "retail box" CPUs for the home builder. Circa 1998.

 

[Timmastertech]

Lots of OEMs sell things like O-rings and fasteners in pack quantities to dealers and dealers can sell by the pack or individual. Some OEMs do stupid things in quantities, like Chrysler sells Hemi thermostats in a pack of 2 and the dealer breaks up and sells individually.

 

[Dave9]

Sometimes I suspect that Rock Auto's suppliers do this. Order a certain brand and they grab one from the bulk box and put it in a box with that branding on it. lol

 

[atikovi]

I was just a bit suspicious of unboxed parts with no identifiable brand or logo marked on them. Especially when list price at the dealer is $67 and these are $20, granted they are some overstock inventory deal.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

screws/bolts, washers, clips, etc.

As for the ball joint in the OP, probably counterfeit

 

[eljefino]

list price at the dealer is $67 and these are $20, granted they are some overstock inventory deal.

The "Bosch" o2 sensor I got off ebay was in a plastic bag with no box. Felt like it was one of a bulk deal, but also could have been counterfeit. No matter, it cleared my code.

 

[zzyzzx]

With Ford ,and Mazda to some extent, they will have parts in back quantities. So like the 99564-1400 drain plug washers that Mazda uses on everything come in bags of 5 but we sell them individually. Funny enough that is also a good part number for Ford and they come in packs of 50.

The drain plugs themselves are also in bulk packages. I just bought one for a GM car.

 

[paulo57509]

I bought three of these "genuine" Toyota grommets off Amazon. The came loose in a plastic bag, no ID.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KWDK3X4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Compared to the original grommet that was being replaced, both had the same small molded-in trademark. Counterfeit? No matter. I suspect that the grommets I received were from a broken package of 10.

 

[vavavroom]

Many fasteners and small parts seem to come without packaging directly from a parts bin. Something more fancy like starter motor mounting bolts comes in a polybag with a label, at least if the dealer had to order the part(s).

 

[bdcardinal]

The drain plugs themselves are also in bulk packages. I just bought one for a GM car.

We had a manager who would order gypo no name parts to try to make extra money, I hated it. One was drain plugs and they came in bags of 10 or whatever and felt totally cheap compared to the OE Ford ones.

Mazda does have a number that comes in a bag of 5 I think. Its the HE03-10-404 which is a regular hex head alternative for use on the SkyActiv motors. Other than that, everything is individually packaged.

 

[zzyzzx]

I bought three of these "genuine" Toyota grommets off Amazon. The came loose in a plastic bag, no ID.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KWDK3X4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Compared to the original grommet that was being replaced, both had the same small molded-in trademark. Counterfeit? No matter. I suspect that the grommets I received were from a broken package of 10.

I have one of those exact grommets waiting for me at a Toyota dealer. I will report back exactly what I get.

 

[paulo57509]

I bought three of these "genuine" Toyota grommets off Amazon. The came loose in a plastic bag, no ID.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KWDK3X4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Compared to the original grommet that was being replaced, both had the same small molded-in trademark. Counterfeit? No matter. I suspect that the grommets I received were from a broken package of 10.

Both the original and Amazon replacement looked like this:

 

[atikovi]

Didn't really mean buck or two hardware or fasteners but more expensive assemblies. Do they sell so many ball joints that they can provide them in bulk?

 

[zzyzzx]

Both the original and Amazon replacement looked like this:

View attachment 207892

That is EXACTLY what the one from the Toyota Dealer looks like. It was not in Toyota packaging, which is why I'm not going to bother taking a picture of it. It's for a 2000 Camry 5S-FE.

BTW, it was cheaper purchased off the Dealer's website than Amazon.