I have always bought my GM parts from a friend at
a local dealer and the prices are usually the same
as gmpartsdirect if you include the shipping cost.

I notice that lots of people post GM part costs based
on the gmpartsdirect price w/o shipping. Like saying
the 845 cam is $209, when it's more like $250 with the
shipping. I can get an 845 for $252 at the dealer.

Is it just me or am I missing something?

 

I agree. I had to buy another dash and it was $86 from GM part direct with an additional $50 in shipping. I have a buddy that works at a service/body shop and with his discount, at a local chevy dealer, was $114 including tax. Not too shabby. Alot of people use Jason Cromer or Dal, if you search you can usually find them...however, Jason is changing dealerships on the 12th, so the information will be off untill he posts differently.

 

Gmpartsdirect lowballs the price to get you to bite, then socks it to you on shipping to make up for it (on most occasions). Their stated price is usually less than dealer wholesale. I don't particularly like their way of hiding their profit in the shipping.

Bottom line is, most times you will come out cheaper with Dal or Jason. Dal's place does usually charge a handling fee, but for the service you get, it seems worth it. Dal or Jason never inflate the shipping costs (from my experience).

 

I think it depends on the dealership also. I went into my local dealership to buy new upper shock/spring mounts for the front suspension with the part # (from Shoebox) and price (from GMpartsdirect ~$58) and they said that was their price but they could only sell'em to me for list price (~$105 each). So I ended up ordering them from GMpartsdirect and including shipping still saved $70.

 

I would think that a dealer discounted price is pretty
close from one dealer to another. The advantage of
a local dealer seems to be avoidance of shipping costs,
although shipping costs seem to be somewhat included
in the parts price. I have been buying parts from the
same person for so long that I never really shopped
around. The discount from list is almost always 20-30%
depending on the part.

 

http://www.newgmparts.com/

This place's shipping policy is 10% of ther total, but $19.95 maximum.

 

I quote GM Parts Direct often, because I figured most people were like me -unable to get a discount at any local dealer. As such GM Parts Direct usually cuts any dealer price I get quoted by 50% and that's after shipping costs.

I've always felt their shipping to be pretty reasonable. $3 for small parts, and up to $12 for larger parts -considering they come Airborne Express isn't making them a ton of money extra.

Where they do make money on shipping is when you buy more than one item, because they throw it all in one box, but you save nothing in shipping costs.

I also like that I don't have to deal directly with anyone. Call me a hermit, but I prefer a web based shopping setup.