November 2019

I t's a typical scenario for a garage. You have been buying parts and consumables from your factor of choice through the weeks, months and years. In that time, as you spend you are also accruing points on their rebate scheme. Eventually you have enough to get something really handy for the business, or just some nice stuff for you and the team. This can be a nice bit of extra income that can be invested back in the garage, or it can be something to splurge-spend on spurious fripperies. Have you ever asked yourself what you really think of this though? Is it something you get in other areas of your life, major supermarkets aside? Probably not. Is it influencing your buying habits or reinforcing existing loyalties? Would you just prefer lower prices from your favourite factor? We thought we would ask a few garages around the country how they use rebates, and if they affect their attitudes to their suppliers. Relationships 2017 Top Technician winner Karl Weaver is co-owner at Bull Lane Garage, in Boughton-under-Blean in Kent. He said: "TPS in Canterbury supply our genuine Volkswagen – Audi Group parts. We do get rebates every so often. I don't know exactly how much we have to spend to get them, but every couple of months we get credit from them. We normally use it on consumables, so it does come in handy. I don't know whether our spend is getting bigger, or if the system is getting better, but it seems to be increasing. If you buy a turbo charger that costs £1,500 then you get quite a nice rebate with that. You can't just knock it off the invoice for that, but you can use it on another invoice. I generally use them for consumables because they supply Quantum. We just spend it on that and stock up on screenwash and other bits and bobs." Karl went on to explain how the garage spreads its parts spend: "We use lots of factors and suppliers. For aftermarket parts we mainly use two. We use a small factor in Canterbury that we have used for years. That is our main supplier, and we use Euro Car Parts as our second one. We try to use them to our advantage, so if we can get a certain brand that we like to fit at a very good price there, we will get it. On that basis it works in our favour. I won't switch over to using them entirely. "ECP do rebates on and off, there are all different ones. I don't know what is running at the moment. The last two years they have had pretty good ones. Come Christmas we will have a fair amount to spend with them and a catalogue of stuff you can choose from. They have stopped that now though and apparently they are doing something different. To be honest I have trouble finding the time to stay on top of these things. I just managed to order some stuff at the eleventh hour." That sounds fair enough when you are busy running a business. For Karl, the rebate is a nice-to-have and also convenient, but isn't the focus. If he did have time though, would he change factor to chase the rebate? "I wouldn't do anything to change our long-standing relationship with certain companies. If they do offer something, then great, but I stick to the same spend pattern. Certain parts we buy from one, certain parts we buy from the other. I wouldn't 8 AFTERMARKET NOVEMBER 2019 BIG ISSUE Below: Buying parts can result in rebates, does this influence you? www.aftermarketonline.net I, REBATE Rebates on parts are an accepted part of life for every garage. What do businesses actually think of them though, and does a rebate influence where parts are being bought?