None of that is a valid excuse to not stop at a stop sign, especially when the intersection has a stop sign for only one direction and is a blind corner thanks to thick foliage.

It doesn’t “govern the sale”, and nobody claimed it did. It determines the definition of the words “wholesale” and “retail” from a legal standpoint. Which has been my point the entire time.

Maybe I’m missing something, but the 6th paragraph of that implied you are paying for labor in your parts markup. I’d rather be charged for labor what the labor costs, and charged for parts what the parts cost. I can understand paying more for a better quality part, a better warranty, etc... but shouldn’t “what they…

It’s like tipping waiters/waitresses. It’s how things are done, but I’d much rather pay you more per hour than the cost being hidden.

The $ value doesn’t matter, the laws governing the sale are different depending wholly on who the customer is. In fact the retail price can be lower than the wholesale price and it wouldn’t matter.

I think the primary issue is that a lot of us feel that a absurd markup is the norm, not the exception.

Not really... most of my post address the over markup of parts, which is directly relevant to the article above. Maybe my personal annoyance and experience with this has clouded my point of view, but yes I think shop markup on parts are generally a ripoff.

I also address your assertion that the markup is paying for…

So, let me get this straight. You criticize me, thinking I didn’t read your article, and for speaking too generally before you then use an example that’s not specifically in your article except possibly as a very general comment about kids to feed?

By definition, yes. If I am an individual ordering a single product, and there is no expectation or agreement for me to order more, then that is exactly what retail means.

See the thing is your comparing apples to oranges here (cheap crap vs OEM), when a mechanic charges you double what the part sells for at the dealership or manufacturer direct pricing (all oem parts) then i’d say he’s ripping you off. Labor is labor and parts are parts there is no reason a mechanic worth his salt is…

The alternator example is a bad one. A more reasonable example would be a part number for part number comparison. Quality would be identical and the warranty would be identical. Additionally I’m pretty sure most shops charge labor as a way of making customers pay for ease of installation and expertise.