buying parts wholesale

[thooper41]

dont know where to put this but its for all BMWs my boss told me his car got hit and ran again 3rd time in 2 months (im glad my luck isnt as bad) but hes more of a i own a BMW as status symbol and would never work on it himself. so he had me order the grille because that all that broke so i look up the part # on realoem call the dealership and gave them the part # and just asked if they had it in stock they said yes and hung up i didnt care about the price cause my boss could care less but then he wanted to write a check for the exact ammount so i had to call back they quoted me at 37.08 i drive to the dealership tell them the part number they say alright thats 49.XX and i was like WHAT? then told them i just talked to someone in parts over the phone and they quoted me at 37.08 then he plays with the computer and he says alright 39.xx and i said "they quoted me at 34 something and its 37.08 with tax" then he hits a few more buttons mumbles oh wholesale good price take sthe check give me recipt and i was off. my question is how did i get this part at wholesale? and did i just get lucky or could i do this in the future?

[94BMW325i]

sounds shady. No idea, I figured the nternet even with shipping, would be cheaper for something like that.

[chuckz]

a lot of auto supply places have a graduated price scale. the general public
pays list price, or the highest price. garages pay wholesale price, usually
20% less than list(garages then charge you list price for that same part, like
they aren't making enough money off you!) i'm lucky enough that a buddy is
a manager of a napa store so whatever bmw parts he can get i get at cost.

[thooper41]

so in the future is there a way i can get parts at wholesale? im sure they have shops on file and you just tell them the shop you are there for. but i still think there is a way to trick them like i kinda did. maybe it was cause i was holding a check for the exact ammount and getting mad for rasing the price.

[paco1076]

A lot of places will only charge you wholesale if you say you are with an independent repair shop. You don't have to prove that you are, just say you are. Then raise some noise if they try to charge you list. It is also known as "jobber rate".