What is boils down to is that RA is a drop shipper. By not having to own brick and mortar stores- pay employees, pay utilities, property tax, insurance etc etc the online retailer can be SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper. Ive seen some members here asking if they can go to Rock Auto and pick up their parts to avoid shipping. I believe any address for Rock Auto would be a building with a handful of human employees and a mega big server that handles all the online orders. I use them often but I also use local stores too. I maintain 4 cars and when I need the parts now the local stores get my business.
The comments about Rockauto are true. But I am having difficulty believing that NAPA needs a 100% markup (double) over Rockauto's price to pay for employees, taxes, etc. keeping in mind Rockauto is making money at their pricing structure. Does NAPA need a Nascar team? Or sponsor a host of other teams? It's all overhead that someone has to pay for.
