06 November, 2007

Car dealers are ripping us off


A foglight on my precious Altima needs to be changed. I go to Almoayyed to ask for a spare. I told the guy, since I am changing one, let us change the other too.
He goes: 23 Dinars please.
I go: WHAT THE F***? IT'S A FREAKING LIGHTBULB.

Almoayyed rep: Well, Each bulb is BD 11.500 (US$ 30.50)


Now I think, that can't be right! I mean, do you know when Thomas Edison invented the light bulb? It's not new technology man!


So I go to the internet. Compare this with me please:


2 light bulbs @ Almoayyed= BD 23 (US$ 61)

2 light bulbs @ worldpartsexpress.com = BD 4.530 (US$ 11.98 - excluding shipping)


Anyone of you smart boys know how much of a profit margin Almoayyed is taking? Above RRP (which already has a profit margin in it if you don't know).


This, does not compute to me. I am sending this to Almoayyed.com, let us see what they have to say. Vote on the poll to the right about this.

4 comments:

Eyad said...

GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE!!!

showroom sales make the dealerships really small margins if any, the bulk is made in the service, nothing new here.

if you think this is bad compare motorcycle part prices, you would faint

Redbelt said...

By all means Eyad, give us examples and your solutions.
The Bahraini consumer should get some power back. Gone are the days when we were bound to the geographical bounds of the sea.

Eyad said...

Just do what many others are doing, order your stuff online, thats what I do.

I use forums, there are many sponsors on forums for genuine parts adn after market parts, you can get feedback from the other members and can even find second hand parts that you might be interested in.

Redbelt said...

I AM doing this Eyad. I modified my whole car with stuff from the US. I even buy my tires online. But y'know what, this is ridiculous. The price difference is not funny at all. And when you compare the income level of Americans with that of Bahrainis, it just becomes a sick joke.