Madness- Ebay v BMW costs

bombur

bombur

Zorg Guru (III)
Supporter
British Zeds
Joined
May 8, 2021
Points
148
Location
Porthcawl, Wales
Model of Z
Z3 1.9, Z4 E89 2.3
Im nearly ready to get the sills onto my Z3 and have been getting new clips and bolts for the job. Two of the bolts needed to be grinded off and the Prestol-cage came off on both. So need two. These are showing as minimum £7 each on Ebay, where I was originally looking for all the bolts,clips etc. I checked with Group1 BMW Lincoln (was Sopers) and they are 15p each, only problem had to buy 10 haha. So ended up getting everything I needed from them instead of Ebay (except the trim clips). Always check prices with BMW.

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I've said it before and will say it again.......... don't write of BMW as a source for parts, my experience is that 90% of the time they are cheaper and if you live near Cotswold BMW you get the change to grab free coffee, pastries and perve the Modern Classics Collection they have in their upstairs gallery!!! What's not to like!!!!
 
Pantri Trading are one to avoid - absolute pisstakers.

Other sellers too - I wanted a heater control facia panel for an E36 Compact. Ebay clowns £75 plus post, BMW £42.
 
Im not sure if Cotswold BMW is the same but Lincoln provide free delivery on top of the forum discount
 
I have found that quite a few times and always worth looking about!
 
Would have to agree with what others have said the Dealership are not always the crooks with their prices that everyone would have you believe.

Dont get me wrong some stuff is truly eye-watering i priced 2 rear trailing arms for a 3.0 mot fail bare arms with no hubs bearing bushes or backplates £1400 a side which is pretty sore in my books.
Stephen.
 
I'm always amazed at the price some eBay sellers who are also larger suppliers with their own websites and catalogues will charge; for example a SINGLE spire clip / J clip is currently on sale at £2.49, but the inflated price is because it 'fits Triumph Herald'. Herald owners will buy it because they think it's the 'proper' part. I bought a bag of 20 from a supplier I use regularly for under £2. My father-in-law was an engineer with his own business and he was always amazed at the prices charged for stuff like washers when he knew how little it cost to make them.
 
eBay ain't what it used to be. Once upon a time you went to eBay to buy stuff cheaper than anywhere else. Now I go to eBay to get a 'maximum' price then look for it elsewhere.

I just bought load of 'speciality' rattle can paint. Cheapest on eBay was £20.00 a can. Within 5 minutes I had found exactly the same stuff for £12.00 and free delivery over £30 from a company who supply car restoration bits. It came next day too!

There are also a lot of sellers on eBay taking orders (and payment) for car parts, then ordering them from other suppliers to be delivered to you direct. Just making a margin for doing sod all.
I have been caught out a couple of times by this, as the parts were 'out of stock' when they put the order in; after saying they had them in stock themselves.
 
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Cable ties were always a good one.
If you go into a 'hardware' store you can buy cable ties by the each. I remember looking in a local store and they had 300mm x 2.5mm ties for 20p each. I used to buy the same ones, in packs of 100, from my electrical wholesaler for 80p a pack at the time.
Now that's some mark up right there!
 
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