One other thing to keep in mind as well is that I was quoting from the US
Dealer Price Book (March 7, 2005), which in this particular part number's
case was the perfect example of multi-level markups that take place from the
VW's German Distribution point thru to the Troy, MI Office (VOA), down to
the Supply Depots in Canada and the US, and then to the individual
Dealerships themselves, every one of those levels taking a bite of their own
for administrative reasons, costs and markups.  There is so much
"middle-man" levels in VAG's supply change, it's no wonder prices for parts
are what they are.

BTW, I'm not saying that the parts in the "supply chain" go through VOA HQ
itself, which in most cases it doesn't - BUT - they certainly do get their
"pound of flesh" in the pricing matrix, as I know what a couple of
manufacturers *actually* charge VOA for their items and then what the Dealer
gets for them.  In many cases it's downright obscene.

As far as buying from a Dealer in Germany - I've been doing that for over a
decade, so what Jeff says is true most of the time, but as Ron points out
(and depending on the the item), it can be higher.
--
Jim Thompson
84 Westfalia 2.1 "Ole Putt"
73 K Ghia Coupe "Denise"
72 411 Station Wagon "Pug"
oldvolkshome@gmail.com
http://www.oldvolkshome.com
**********************************
On 12/10/06, Jeffrey Schwaia <jeff@vanagonparts.com> wrote:
>
> Ron,
>
> Obviously, you guys deal with a far greater number of items than I do, but
> of the dozens of items that I've checked on, or bought from German VW
> dealers, all of them have been less expensive than their US
> counterparts.  I
> agree that once you add shipping to individual parts the price could
> definitely exceed the US part, however, my exeriences have been with bulk
> purchases or the times when I'm in Germany and am able to bring the parts
> back with me.  Customs duty on most auto parts is pretty trivial, usually
> averaging 2.5% of value.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Jeff
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf
> Of The Bus Depot
> Sent: Sunday, December 10, 2006 1:49 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: FS: OEM all RUBBER vanagon/transporter/westy front
> floormat..(one piece m...
>
>
> > One important fact that I've learned over the past few years
> > is that the prices at the VW dealers in Germany are much,
> > much lower than the US dealers.
>
>
>
> That's not consistently true. On "dealer-only" items that I stock in
> quantity, I generally compare VW/Germany and VW/America prices. In some
> cases it's costs less in Germany, other times more (once shipping/import
> cost is factored in).
>
> - Ron Salmon
> The Bus Depot, Inc.
> www.busdepot.com
> (215)  234-VWVW
>
>