Last evening I sat down to organize my thoughts around a large order for parts for my 72 GS. I intended to place the order thru Year 1 as I've spent a couple months leafing thru the catalog and dog-earing pages. I had purchased Camaro parts from them years ago and was satisfied then. I have the most current Yr1 Buick catalog. I believed the time was right as there was a 15% promotion going on this month which would take that add'l amount off any other savings related to large orders. Since I expected to spend north of $1000, i could then see a 25% savings. Cool. Here's the problem I encountered. All of the prices that came up through the on line catalog ( and hence in the order form) were MUCH higer than the catalog price. I haven't prepared a summary of the the percent difference yet ( but I will) , but it is very likely to exceed 15%. Baiting buyers with sale promotions and raising prices on line to offset ( or more) the savings is flat wrong and not something that can be tolerated. I will go back on line after the sale and check all the prices and am willing to bet they'll go back down to catalog price. It burns me up that our necessary parts vendors cannot be straight up on this. Sure, I appreciate the need to adjust prices off timing with catalogs. Stuff happens to create that need ( supplier issues, demand soars, etc..) , but to do this as an offset and across all parts just isn't right. Other parts vendors should take clear notice. My two cents.
Hi Steve, you should try The Parts Place, better prices and better people, plus they only charge you the actual shipping cost! I have not bought anything from Year One in a years. http://thepartsplaceinc.com/ David
X2 YO is a ripoff. They will jack you up on shipping as well. They used to be considered top dog but not any more. Not all, but a lot of these resto parts come from the same source but YO still thinks they are the only game in town.
Yep, I have been spending my money with the parts place, they have excellent prices, normal shipping rates & fast service. Looks like all my money will be going to them in the future.
I thought there was a law against Bait and Switch. Just go out and eat some lead to restupidize your brain. Check back with us soon to see how you are doing.
Wow, I guess you don't want to order anything out of my employer's current sales catalog then. In this day and age, I don't have a single vendor, out of 200+, who can hold sales catalog prices for a full year, some change prices monthly. Sorry, it just ain't happening. And a new sales catalog can't be published several times a year, it simply is way too expensive. But you are right about "buyer beware" in that you should always ask what Current prices are when you are ordering.
Thanks for the input. I agree that prices in todays economy ar efar from static. That said, proof of intent will play out in prices when the promo is over. I run a $100 million dollar company and have a very good sense as to what companies need to do to remain competitive. This is not , in my opinion, defensible. Good news is that we all can vote by palcing orders where prices are most competitive. I just wanted to alert folks to my experience ( most appear well up to speed on that and I needed to catch up!) and to soap box a bit. Nuff said. On the flip side, I want to share my overwhelmingly positive reaction to the Forum and its members , especially as it relates to Member parts. I have dealt with some awesome folks over the past couple months and am blown away by the support and honesty that exists in every corner of this Forum. I did not realize how difficult it would be to obtain parts for my GS and assumed ( big mistake) that parts availability would be similar to that of Camaros, Chevelles, etc.. Live and learn. To be honest , though, the interaction with other Buick guys has far outweighed the difficulty in landing parts. It's been great. I guess thatis why I got so torqued on the YR1 issue. Thanks to the many folks who have provided parts and advice. Priceless!!!!
Hey Steve don't be emberassed by your statement, we all have been there. I was getting ready to do the same thing but I checked out a local restoration supplier and his pricing was better than YO. I also didn't get nailed for shipping. YO makes alot of money off of thier shipping costs, it is almost double the real cost. Living in Canada dosen't help at times, living close to the boarder does. But keep in mind as the hobby grows and the "other" cars get out of reach our Tri-Shields get alot more desirable and hence suppliers will take notice. As for those of us who dare to be different and own Buicks we are a community of people who bring back the "fellowship of Ownership" thinking that this hobby needs.
i am also about to place an order for basically a complete interior (carpet/ underlay, armrest covers, front and rear seat covers and door panels) that is going to be north of $1000, i priced it all out. then i got an email from legendary that they are offering FREE shipping until feburary 20th (tomorrow). theres the delema, my door panels for example from yearone (who gets them from legendary probably) are $379.00 - 25%(volume and spring discount) + shipping= $314.75 as opposed to legendary they are $365.00 + free shipping = $365.00 my advise is to sit down and do they math on how much stuff will cost overall from each place, in my opnion if you are going to place a (volume) order as i am you would end up spending less. when i priced it all out with the volume and spring discount i save like $36x.xx so bascially me door panels are going to be free. im not defending them at all, just making my opnion as i too noticed that the online prices are higher then the ones in my catalog, BUT my catalog is a good 2 years old and the online prices are on par/ a little higher then other places. buickbert
All of the resto catalogs get their interior pieces from either PUI or Legendary. Most guys will say they are happy with both. When you figure shipping make sure you hear it from someones mouth. Especially from YO. When I talked to Legendary a few years ago at the GSCA NATS they said they would do volume discounts as well. I would think it would have to be cheaper to cut out the middle man.
this makes me feel kinda bad. I ordered Valve covers for my 350 from TA through YO and I ordered them on Dec. 31st 08' and havent seen them yet.
Well, in the spirit of collaboration and forwarding the sport we really enjoy, I don't want to appear to be singling out anyone. I'll bet there are stories all around the country with all the vendors. I will be a better buyer and I will , very likely, spread my business around as I'll want to get product as fast as I can in most cases. I little feedback is important in any business and I expect that Yr1 will accept it as most do and try to keep customers as their number 1 resource. If they don't, this economy will take its toll that much faster. I am inclined to believe folks want to do the best they can and treat others fairly. Pollyanna, maybe, but that spirit exists here it seems and can exist amongst those who support our hobby. Many good examples exist and we all know them. I hope you Valve covers show up soon!
Fact is, a very large % of the items in the YO catalog are produced by smaller companies, most of whom are more than happy to sell direct to us. I haven't ordered from YO in a few years. However, they do at times offer discounted prices that beat the manufacturer's price. But they do NOT discount performance or "non-restoration" type parts.
It is true that the catalog prices won't be the same as the web prices. By the time you get the catalog ready and send it to the printer make changes then get it printed it could be up to 6 months to get it all done, maybe a year. I know I am a printer. Then by the time you order one that is another month or two. Then you order some parts. Another year just went by. See, if you order your parts now you can beat next years price increases. Hurry up, time flies when your having fun. :3gears:
I have only ordered from YO once and it took so long that I had done forgot I had ordered the parts till they showed up. They were the metal functional scops for the 68 Firebird. I put them in my 86 Firebird hood.
So David sellers are jacking prices in this economy? Maybe thats part of the problem. I am sure that I am not the only one thats taken a hit so why not YO and other suppliers? If I am making less I have less to spend. If I were in business then I could just raise my prioces? Why doesn't GM think of that? I have used YO and TPP both. YO is a rip off when it comes to shipping but I have complained about TA and YO for the same thing. Just do the math and try to save where you can . Were all hurting and so is the hobby.
John, while it is true that some raw materials prices in general have tended to move lower in recent months, overall our suppliers are still experiencing higher material costs than a year + ago. Firestone for example, has given me 3 price increases starting since back in Jan 2008. Some of my product lines are primarily steel component. Mid 2008 we were paying a 38% surcharge on top of the Jan 2008 price quotes. Fortunately those steel products finally dropped back down gradually to zero surcharge as of 1/1/09. Many raw materials are still quite high, and the manufacturers are anything but quick to drop prices down again. This means that distributors and dealers also have to move prices up. I'm sure the bosses would love to cut selling prices by 20% in general, but that can't happen when our costs in general are still moving up.
It makes me laugh to go to a swap meet or pick up an OPG catalog and see Chevelle grilles for under a hundred bucks. If we wanted easy , I guess we'd just get another Chevelle to park along side the rest of them at the next show. I think the fact that we help each other find that elusive part makes us a breed apart. And ... we're usually the one of a few Buicks at any local show.:TU: :beer
The discrepancy between catalogue pricing and on-line pricing is not Y. O. only. The same happened to me with OPG. I received their latest catalogue. Within a few days their on-line sale was announced. Every part that I wanted to order was higher priced on-line than in the catalogue. I didn't order one thing from them because of that. My order was over $2500. Harvey
