You want to know why everything is so expensive?

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Because people/companies that drive trucks for a living are forced to pay prices like this to keep the vehicles on the road. I bought these parts from Cummins today for a customer's fuel pump we are overhauling. This is a small spring, and an aluminum plug for a pump housing similar to a frost plug. Of course, I also have to mark these up even more when I put them on the job. This is straight up gouging, they aren't even trying to hide it anymore.


parts pic.jpg
 
Sorry, I know someone that made those parts. He demands a good fair living livable wage and expects the northern folk to agree with helping provide a good standard of living, especially when the average wage in Vancouver is $72k and BC at $50k. And, he doesn't like monopoly gameboard money from north of the border so charges more for that risky currency exchange too, and extra for shipping which doesn't always make it thru sticky fingered customs.

 
What would those parts cost if shipped to Des Moines, Iowa instead of Canada?
You can see the p/n and look them up. Here's a spring for sale on eBay .... for $30 ! https://www.ebay.com/itm/233746964676

My question is if you are overhauling the fuel pump why are you marking the parts up more. Wouldnt the cost be your labor and cost of parts to you?
Any business that buys a part and resells it will mark them up (in almost all cases). This is normal. If you pay a plumber to replace your water heater, you're paying for his/her time (labor) and the water heater. If they paid $600 for the water heater, they ain't going to charge you $600. Same thing applies for HVAC repairs and so on and so on.
 
Sorry, I know someone that made those parts. He demands a good fair living livable wage and expects the northern folk to agree with helping provide a good standard of living, especially when the average wage in Vancouver is $72k and BC at $50k. And, he doesn't like monopoly gameboard money from north of the border so charges more for that risky currency exchange too, and extra for shipping which doesn't always make it thru sticky fingered customs.


I’ve lived here 41 years. I’m well aware it is expensive. However, you’re really telling me $120 for a spring and a 1” circle of 1/4” thick aluminum should be normalized?

If you want to bring the labour force and what not into this I’m sure you know Cummins has a huge rebuild facility in Mexico. They used to rebuild these pumps here until a few years ago when they sold off all their equipment and leftover parts… To us.

The shipping is a non-event since there is a shipment coming up from Portland daily anyway.

The electric fuel actuator on this pump? $3300. Customer decided to reuse the old one for now since it can be replaced on engine later if required. It’s not even a Cummins part, it is made by Woodward.
 
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Any business that buys a part and resells it will mark them up (in almost all cases). This is normal. If you pay a plumber to replace your water heater, you're paying for his/her time (labor) and the water heater. If they paid $600 for the water heater, they ain't going to charge you $600. Same thing applies for HVAC repairs and so on and so on.

At least in HVAC, the markup is higher for lower cost parts. A $10 capacitor might be marked up to $30, but a $300 control board would not be marked up to $900.
 
Doesn't look like you get any break from the Cummins dealer either. The plug is $42 USD directly from Cummins online store and just the exchange rate brings up to $53 CAD. That's the "retail" price but you're being charged $69.
 
At least in HVAC, the markup is higher for lower cost parts. A $10 capacitor might be marked up to $30, but a $300 control board would not be marked up to $900.
Yes, I understand that. A flush valve might cost $15 at the plumbing supply shop and the plumber charges $25-30 - no one blinks an eye. A water heater might only be marked up 25-30% instead of 100% like the valve. Auto shops do the same thing.

(All of those numbers are made up, just as examples)
 
Doesn't look like you get any break from the Cummins dealer either. The plug is $42 USD directly from Cummins online store and just the exchange rate brings up to $53 CAD. That's the "retail" price but you're being charged $69.

We probably don’t get a discount because we buy very little. I wonder why?
 
You can see the p/n and look them up. Here's a spring for sale on eBay .... for $30 ! https://www.ebay.com/itm/233746964676
I was asking the guy defending the price markup to Canada.

Direct from Cummins in the US the plug is $41.58 and the spring is $30.98, so I don't understand how the company that made the parts for Cummins would be involved in pricing at all as greasymechtech implies. The invoice says remit to Cummins Canada.
 
My question is if you are overhauling the fuel pump why are you marking the parts up more. Wouldnt the cost be your labor and cost of parts to you?
Its always thre cost of the labor and the parts cost in your retail bill is marked up to account for the time of the business ordering + adminstering them.
If you want your local garage to keep the door open they have to be marked up.
 
Sorry, I know someone that made those parts. He demands a good fair living livable wage and expects the northern folk to agree with helping provide a good standard of living, especially when the average wage in Vancouver is $72k and BC at $50k. And, he doesn't like monopoly gameboard money from north of the border so charges more for that risky currency exchange too, and extra for shipping which doesn't always make it thru sticky fingered customs.
Why not just make em in China for $2.99? Just kidding, I don't see any intrinsic value or difficulty in manufacturing for those parts.
 
I’m not sure what being in Canada has to do with it? The parts are 70+ dollars in USA too which is obscene.

This isn’t just Cummins either, CAT, Volvo, Deere etc all do the same thing. I quoted out a set of injectors today, $12,000 from the dealer. A different Cummins fuel pump, $10,600. This is stuff I can rebuild in house, literally mark it up 100% or more and still sell for like 30-50% less than the dealer… And our build quality is better too.

In the end I guess I should be happy because without this craziness there wouldn’t be as much room for us in the market.
 
I’ve lived here 41 years. I’m well aware it is expensive. However, you’re really telling me $120 for a spring and a 1” circle of 1/4” thick aluminum should be normalized?
The killer is it was likely made on a bar fed lathe with a sub 30 second cycle time by a guy operating 2-4 other lathes making similar parts.

The plug is probably made of “aerospace grade” aluminum *cough* 6061 *cough*, hence the cost 🤣
 
Can you make your own for $120 bucks Canadian? If you can why don't you?

Is there a huge market. If so start making them and selling them?

Its supply and demand. Market price. They know there the only option, so you get to pay. There likely not selling thousands. If you think that's bad you should see what obscure parts in the industrial world go for. A lot of times you can't get them at any price - the OEM's don's sell piece parts, only complete units.

The additional robbery is a lot of shops will then triple the price on parts - auto, HVAC, plumbing - on top of their labor. Some markup is needed to cover the cost to source it to begin with, but a lot of "service" businesses actually make more money selling parts than providing their service.
 
Can you make your own for $120 bucks Canadian? If you can why don't you?

Is there a huge market. If so start making them and selling them?

Its supply and demand. Market price. They know there the only option, so you get to pay. There likely not selling thousands. If you think that's bad you should see what obscure parts in the industrial world go for. A lot of times you can't get them at any price - the OEM's don's sell piece parts, only complete units.

The additional robbery is a lot of shops will then triple the price on parts - auto, HVAC, plumbing - on top of their labor. Some markup is needed to cover the cost to source it to begin with, but a lot of "service" businesses actually make more money selling parts than providing their service.

Yes we could make the plug, and almost certainly we have a spring that will work somewhere around the shop. But I can’t take my techs off other important jobs to fire up the lathe to make a $60 part that I am going to mark up and sell to someone else anyway. It’s a small part of a much larger job.

So on one hand you’re arguing tradespeople marking up parts 200% is robbery, yet on the other hand you’re arguing that Cummins marking a part up 5000% or more is ok? I don’t quite understand that.
 
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Yes we could make the plug, and almost certainly we have a spring that will work somewhere around the shop. But I can’t take my techs off other important jobs to fire up the lathe to make a $60 part that I am going to mark up and sell to someone else anyway. It’s a small part of a much larger job.

So on one hand you’re arguing tradespeople marking up parts 200% is robbery, yet on the other hand you’re arguing that Cummins marking a part up 5000% or more is ok? I don’t quite understand that.
There value added is they manufacture parts. They make it and ship it to you. You said it yourself - it’s not worth having your guys bother themselves to make it. So obviously the value there providing is worth it - by your own words.

On the other hand trades value is there skilled labor. However most trades want to take a $100 product they clicked a mouse to get and sell it for $300. Then complain the manufacture charged them too much.

Ironic No?
 
You need someone assigned to purchasing to hunt down better prices. I see that spring for $5.61 + ?? shipping or $13 free S/H.

$17.50 spring and they also have the plug for $26.50, same $16 S/H charge might cover both items.

Even those prices seem high, I once contacted a spring company about making springs and it was more like $3 each for something that small, in quantities of a few hundred. Just sayin', you make up the profits in doing more volume, if you have the right price to attract customers.
 
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