Part supplier similarities

Has anyone else noticed there are about 500 million BMW part suppliers out there that use the *Exact* same online parts catalogue as BMA? Their prices vary slightly, but they're generally pretty close, and the selection is nearly identical. hmmm...... I wonder who everyone is buying from? Also, they all list every make/model, not just BMWs, all in the same format. They're all basically identical. I also ran across the format the Euro Depot uses for its new parts cat. a whole lot. Its a tree windows exlorer style menu, and about a trillion other BMW parts sites use the same menu, with the same prices, and the same parts.

They all use the *Exact* same pictures for the parts as well, and are all missing the same pictures (you know how some items do and some don't have pics?)

whats going on? Am i missing something dumb and obvious? this is a little bit too similar to simply be the popular catalogue software every company seems to purchase, don't you think? You'd think a lot of places, espeically small ones, would make their own online catalogue? take their own pictures? custimize their setup? or at least you'd think there'd be more variety in something like that.

Are BMA and other companies simply middle-middle men? Is there someone they're all buying from that we could simply buy from? very odd to me.

Kinda makes me think who i buy through is superfluous.. i'm getting the same part from the same place in the same condition for about the same price. I might just start searching and see how cheap they go... maybe i'll justr buy one of these generic catalogues and start my own damn business ;)

I think most BMW parts suppliers (like BMA) are buying their parts from 'World Auto Parts' iirc. My indie told me this when he saw the packaging for parts I had ordered from BMA. Maybe Bill R can comment on this.

ahhah! interesting. yes, i had hopped someone more in the business might know.

Yeah, the difference is that BMA is actually a warehouse wholesaler. They have far more available to them than what's listed in the online catalog.

I don't know the entire story behind the common online parts browser; it's possible that it's just an extension for a popular parts inventory tracking system.

there are 2 major Euro parts suppliers- Worldpac and EPX. Seems that Worldpac is the most popular, and probably where most of those online searchable catalogs come from- but both Worldpac + EPX require their customers to be legit shops or resellers, you can't just contact them directly to buy from them. Even if you set up a small business account with them, the discount they gave you would probably not be as good as that you get currently from BMA.......on most items anyway.


Bret.

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Originally Posted by infinity5

Are BMA and other companies simply middle-middle men? Is there someone they're all buying from that we could simply buy from? very odd to me.

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Of course they are middle-men, BMA and the others are not manufacturing parts back in the warehouse.
(some don't even have a warehouse, but would have the parts drop-shipped from a distributor like BMA)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by infinity5

Kinda makes me think who i buy through is superfluous.. i'm getting the same part from the same place in the same condition for about the same price. I might just start searching and see how cheap they go... maybe i'll justr buy one of these generic catalogues and start my own damn business ;)

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I doubt you are going to be able to buy parts at a discount and they probably won't sell you parts anyway. (if they do, it will be at retail, or a small discount if you set up an account, with the discount dependant on what sales volume you have)

Companies like BMA get a much better deal on parts as they buy 1000's at a time and stock them. Just like if you by 100 E.A.T. chips and stock them, you'll get a really good deal on them. :D

MarkD