[Fat Charlie]

Excessive markup is bad, and it was the body shop marking things up enough to make me blink that brought this up. But... markup is necessary. And yes, every layer needs their markup because every layer has it's own costs. You can bypass those costs if you're willing to bypass the value that those layers add.

What we really don't like is people expecting to get everything for nothing. You don't get the tech to diagnose your problem unless you're paying him. You don't get my help so you can go downtown and buy the part there. And if you casually ask me for the part number as you leave, you'll get a part number. Good luck running to Napa and cross referencing it or googling it and finding someone on the internet to sell it cheap.

That reminds me of one of my favorite recurring phone conversations:
Hi, I'm in the coolant aisle at Pep Boys. What kind of coolant should I buy?
I'm holding a bottle of the right coolant right here.
No, I'm looking at 15 kinds right here, which one?
How should I know? It's their job to tell you which of their coolants is right for you.




I sell the mid-grade pads. I sold silly expensive ones once to a maniac who wanted green ceramics and sometimes the customer's in a rush and we don't have many choices, but those are the only times I go high. Mid grade parts are usually the right move- the same quality as the lifetime warranty ones, and better than the "You want cheap? Okay!" Going cheap doesn't generally save money in the long run and it's not good for the customer. What, you think I'm trying to take advantage of the customers? You can take good care of customers and make money- cheating them is not only not called for, it's a Bad Thing To Do.