OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums General Discussion Forum Off Topics Is superc### cheap?

On a recent thread about oil some of us were letting others know Penrite oil was on special at this shop, and indeed it was at a very reduced price.

Needed an air filter and fuel filter for my Patrol thought I would look online, Super had a special on the filters if I bought an oil filter then added desired other filter. The total of the air and fuel filters came to $63.06. Without discount they were $78.73.
This seemed like a good deal as my vehicle takes 2 oil filters and they would be ready for next oil change.

This morning gave Auto___ a ring, told them I was a long time customer (true) and would like a discount on the exact same above mentioned two filters................ $48.35!

Just sayin' all the bells & whistles... club membership, cards, so called discounts, specials etc can get you a bit tunnel visioned....... maybe that's the idea.

For specials they can be good, but trusty ebay dumps it on my doorstep cheapest most of the time... For everything needed to rebuild the entire front suspension of my valiant they and the auto ear store thats local quoted in excess of $700, I have every part i need sitting here thanks to ebay for $450 ish, that was bushes, chocks, all joints, brake hoses everything...

always pays to shop around.

Im a mechanic by trade , rather than ebay i walk into spare parts and ask them to get them in trade price no running around win !

Having worked in trade hardware for a while, I am always aware that fast-moving bulk items with lots of competition are often sold with litle margin (maybe 10%), while bits and pieces routinely have gross profit markups of 40% or 50%, sometimes even more. So 'specials' on oil are probably good, but as soon as you move into things like oil filters, watch out!

And depending on the boss's attitude, you might get a discount for the asking, or just get knocked back.

I know I'm digging up an older thread here. But I just wanted to comment on the club card thingy. I've always tended to avoid such things as wallet clutter that doesn't do much for me. And most "clubs" are just a way for a store to track ones spending trends and target their advertising. But all waffle aside, I've been pleasantly surprised by this particular stores card. Maybe I've just been lucky, but things I do buy seem to go on sale consistently within the next couple of weeks, and the amount of store credit I accrue is nothing to sniff at.

Having said that, I don't usually go there for parts. Just consumables and cheap things I want to buy cheaply knowing full well what the quality is like. They have gone heavily into the Store brand system, where probably 70% of the product on shelf is made and imported by them. That stuff is usually competitively priced. Anything that is not their own brand is not cheap at all.