On Sunday, April 3, 2011 5:01:10 AM UTC-7, amdx wrote:
In doing all of this work I have done a bunch of shopping around and I
am amazed at the variation in prices for parts.

I helped a boat owner replace a microswitch on his steering control.
He mentioned they sure want a pretty penny for those switches, I had
to ask "how much". He said they were $70 or if you bought 5 they
were $50 each.
I did an online search and found them for $14.71, with over 2000 in stock,
and I found 3 for $8.95 and I found them for $8.53 minimum purchase 100.
Same manufacturer, same part number.

In this case, it's a boat manufacturer's markup on a part he gets from
a distributor who marks it up from the factory. The boat manufacturer
buys a small stock for replacement, understands that the stock may
have to last five or ten years, and adds on tax + interest for the full decade
when he decides his pricelist. Meanwhile, the factory sells overstock
or otherwise lowers the part price. Or, improves it.

Paying the boat manufacturer for a switch is ...paying inventory
and monopoly taxes on top of the part price. The boat manufacturer
can make it VERY hard to bypass his parts store, by relabeling all
those switches and suchlike and eliminating the factory part number.

In article

, says...

In this case, it's a boat manufacturer's markup on a part he gets from
a distributor who marks it up from the factory. The boat manufacturer
buys a small stock for replacement, understands that the stock may
have to last five or ten years, and adds on tax + interest for the full
decade
when he decides his pricelist. Meanwhile, the factory sells
overstock
or otherwise lowers the part price. Or, improves it.

Paying the boat manufacturer for a switch is ...paying inventory
and monopoly taxes on top of the part price. The boat manufacturer
can make it VERY hard to bypass his parts store, by relabeling all
those switches and suchlike and eliminating the factory part number.


It does get tricky to figure out how they stock things. I have a
classic Onan generator and another Onan motor from the 70's. They are
robust, very desireable units, easy to repair, and expertise is readily
available on the Onan forums.

Parts are available from the factory (now Cummins), on Ebay, and many
gen-set repair companies. It does pay to shop around. One of the tricks
is that if Sears ever used the engine in anything, they still list many
parts for it.

I recently bought valve guides, seals and some gaskets for the 1979
engine from sears after shopping around. Just plug in the factory part
number on Searspartsdirect. They had the lowest cost for the items,
although their high shipping cost whittles down the advantage.

When the items arrived at my home I was quite surprised to see that
Sears just drop shipped them from the OEM. There was no "Sears" anywhere
on the shipping label.

--
DT

DT wrote:
....
I recently bought valve guides, seals and some gaskets for the 1979
engine from sears after shopping around. Just plug in the factory part
number on Searspartsdirect. They had the lowest cost for the items,
...

Ah ... funny you should mention Sears. Yes, they are well known for
having parts for old products. I recently was shopping for some parts
for a Craftsman lathe. The Sears parts were just about twice the price
as from Clausing. So I guess it depends.

Bob

On Apr 4, 11:59*am, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
DT wrote:

...

I recently bought valve guides, seals and some gaskets for the 1979
engine from sears after shopping around. Just plug in the factory part
number on Searspartsdirect. They had the lowest cost for the items,
...

Ah ... funny you should mention Sears. *Yes, they are well known for
having parts for old products. *I recently was shopping for some parts
for a Craftsman lathe. *The Sears parts were just about twice the price
as from Clausing. *So I guess it depends.

Bob

Sears is well known for charging more...always get a second price
elsewhere before ordering anything from them.

TMT