That is exactly the way I do it, too. Look at Rockauto to see brands and part numbers to shop Amazon and ebag and any other vendor that has them.

Unless it is a little bit lager order, Rockauto's shipping usually takes them out even with 5% off. They must lose a lot of business over that. I have always wondered why they cannot compete better on the shipping?

A member on here figured out RO has a shipping scam. They intentionally split shipping from at least 2 warehouses on multi part orders.

I can't say that I'll miss advance auto. One bit. Good riddance
Before advance took over the local car quest they were absolutely the best. Not anymore. They suck now

Not true at all.

In fact they give you a tool to help you see what parts are in the same warehouse as parts in your cart.

But if you can't figure that out well, the scammer is you.

You need to look at what parts are where! If they are in two different locations you will get billed for the shipping.

They provide plenty of information to help sort out the shipping. It often takes a few changes in choices to get the best deal overall which is why I think the larger the order, the more likely Rockauto is to get the sale. But, they really only get maybe 20% of our business because other sources beat them on the total price plus shipping.

Like Harbor Freight and other 'cheapy' sellers, they are not the end-all be-all, but they do have their place and should not be totally dismissed out of hand.

The gist was 2 parts would ship together. Its when 3 or more were in the order then 2 warehouses started happening, regardless of what the website told you.
Wish I had saved the post, it was pretty in depth.

In Volaredon's defense I have created orders at Rockauto where it said everything would ship from 1 warehouse except 1 part. I switched that part for another that would ship from the same place and suddenly it was shipping from 3 places or parts that were originally shipping from one location switched to another.

It happened more than once so their shopping algorithm does some sketchy stuff.

In the end you do have to watch out but if you pay attention it will tell you shipping very plainly.

Plus the shipping isn't real expensive so I don't think it is a total rip off but still sketchy.

Yes I experience this too. EX: Ill select 4 items. 3 ship from location A and one from B. So I remove B from my cart. Now I have 3 items shipping from A. I then choose the 4th item that has the "Delivery truck" symbol near it (The Truck means this particular item comes from the same location as the items already in my cart.) I select the Truck marked item only to now see in my cart the other 3 items no longer ship from A but have been broken up and are now coming from various locations. I'm still a Fan of RA. The risk of all out counterfeit parts is very low to non existent with them. YES RA has cheap parts offerings, but not full blown counterfeit junk versions of OEM brands that Amazon has.

they all live on commerical accounts. do it your self is ilrelevant

The worst thing about fewer brick & mortar stores is being able to see, hold, and inspect a part.
Same is true of speed shops, of course, and most of us are getting by using Summit, Jeg's & etc.
In an era of substandard parts, it's nice to have them in your hands - photos just aren't as informative.

All 150 Advance stores in Commifornia are closing:

www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2024/1...-stores-including-14-in-san-diego-county

Some areas are oversaturated with auto parts stores so it's not a big scandal that Advance is closing lots of stores. Just like internet streaming services there's simply too many of them. My town is a larger small town. We have 2 advance autos, 3 AutoZone's 2 O Reillys, 2 Auto values........(Inhale) and one NAPA. I'm a skilled DIYer. If I don't need the part right now, I use Rock Auto. Yes, Rock Auto is 98% of the time SIGNIFICANTLY less than all the stores I mentioned. Thers an AutoZone a half mile from me. Theres an Advance 2 miles from me. Because of location Advance gets my walk in nearly every time