Can someone please recommend where to buy Carbotech brake pads? Sites I've checked seem to have very high shipping costs. $32 to ship front and rears. Thats about 13% of the cost of the pads. Can't imagine it costs that much to ship. UPS estimates less the $12 for shipping for a 10lb box.
Thanks.

 

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Got mine from AutoXCooper.com. Having shipped a lot of astronomy parts, I'd say that $32 sounds about right for what UPS charges these days.

 

We've got them in stock. And can ship them in a flat rate priority mail box for $10.

Hope that helps.

 

+1 on autoxcooper.

 

I think it best for me to address this post since it's my site and shipping rates Fritzoc is asking about.

1st off good luck finding UPS charging only $10 to send a postage stamp across town. UPS is killing us all with higher and higher rates all the time. I ate shipping costs on pads for the last 4 months of 2008.

Yes USPS can save a few bucks, but the risk of the package not showing up is much higher and filing a claim with them takes an avg of 5 months

Pads weigh more then most think. I can't find a shipping charge on a CT invoice for less then $15 for one set of pads shipped within NC, the home of CT, let alone out of NC. The XP pads cost even more to ship due to higher weight.

I'm also not able to invest in a "shopping cart" system that would allow me to give live real time shipping prices. Thanks to all my customers that understand and still shop with me.

As for the links to the "Big Box Parts Stores" above I do encourage NAM members to buy from NAM Vendors. If not me, then Way Motor Works or Grass Roots, we all carry CT pads and all invest in the NAM community and are here to serve you. When a NAM vendor is moving as many parts as one of the BBPS's then I'm sure they will also offer FREE shipping. CT does offer free shipping from time to time and when they do NAM is the 1st to know about it.

I also don't see any of the BBPS's on NAM addressing customers needs after hours or taking phone calls on weekends and nights and I know MANY NAM Vendors do.

No matter where you buy your CT pads I'll be here to help with any questions about them.

To Your Best, Dustin

 

Good points made by Dustin - the vendors here provide a valuable service in answering product related questions and being incredibly responsive. While there may be a slight difference in pricing at times, it's our patronage which keeps these guys around, supporting the community

 

Dustin......check into the flat rate boxes from the USPS. Wife uses them exclusively now. No complaints of the charges and very easy to calculate the charges on the website.

 

Thanks Bigshot, but we have looked into USPS and what little money is saved is lost in the extra time it takes to work within the USPS system. Plus I drop ship 99% of my parts from the suppliers and some suppliers are not willing to work USPS due to the above and other reason.

I have one supplier with over $10K in claims with USPS that USPS is fighting for over a year now.

Time is still money and USPS costs dollars to save cents.

 

Drop shiping won't work, but my wife has shipped literally 1000's of flat rate boxes in the last few years with never a claim.

 

I don't want to 'slam' a vendor .. this is not my intent

but those who don't know what "drop ship" means might want to look into it.... to me it makes a difference.

A drop ship seller never sees what you are buying ... never got within 100 miles of it probably. He took your order .... sucked off his markup and forwarded the order to a source that you could have gotten the part from yourself .... if you knew how.

If you have a problem .... well, they never actually handled your merchandise. I've a buddy making $75,000 a year gross (a few K net) similarly .... ain't E-Bay great?

4 wheels of pads will fit in a $6 flat rate box ... NO PROBLEM .... I use 'em all the time. Even have the record at the local post office for the heaviest box submitted to them under 'flat rate'. I saved over $30 ... I PACKED that sucker and it was to a fellow NAM'r btw.

 

What do you want a vendor to do for you. It seems that all you want is for them to pack the product to send it off to you.

For me, I want someone who knows the product, have used it in a similar situation, one who will go to bat for me when there is a problem, one who knows how to fix a fitment problem and gets back to you quickly. And for me that was autoxcooper. Who cares if they touch the product or not! It is cheaper that we do not have mini warehouses all over the country and make vendors spend money/time on inventory and accounting.

Now, in the past, I have ordered many times from the ones that stock third party products. They forget to put everything into the package and then say they are not responsible because they did not know what was supposed to go together (someone else's parts) or only had partial parts because that is what they were sent by the original vendor. Then, you have to spend all your time calling around to get the missing parts because they will not help.

 

I'd consider Posi Quiet brake pads if your concern is low dust. I have them on my Charger and they have almost no dust, don't squeal or squeak, wear well and brake about as good as the OEM Brembos. Plus they are about $140 a set for R56s and $99 for R53s.

 

If a vender has the product shipped to him from the mfg. and then ships it to you, you are paying for double shipping. For example, I design and sell parts for high-end amateur astronomy telescope mounts. I live in California. The parts are made in my cousin's production machine shop in Oklahoma. It would be crazy for me to have him ship 24 lb. stainless steel counterweights to California and then turn around and ship them from California to Florida.

I used to wash my MCS weekly because of brake dust on the wheels and boot. Since I had Bobcats installed, I haven't washed it for months. It is starting to need it, but not because of the brake dust. The Bobcats put out very little dust.

 

Robin is correct when we stock products we have to pay to have them shipped to us, and that eats part of our profit margin. But this is my business I have a REAL brick and morter MINI Shop. So I stock parts for that and for my internet site. IMO stocking parts is part of business and unfortunatly we do have to eat that shipping cost. But as a real business I don't usually order just one set, I order multiples of them. That is why a manufacture has a relationship with me more so than just a person that buys one set.
As for what Capt bj said, he is correct a drop shipper never sees a product. They are just internet companies trying to make a buck. And when you have a question they can't give you information that someone that actually installs the product, or works on MINI's can. They can only push the products they sell. I run into alot of people with problems that bought parts from just random internet companies, most of them just drop shippers or super Large warehousers that sell the products cheap.
As a customer when you buy from these companies your hurting the MINI community. How is that? Pretty simple Tuners, like myself are generally smaller companies that do this FULL time. We are usually required to sell XX number of a part to be allowed to even sell them. So we need every sale we can get to make those numbers. If we don't A. we make less money and B. we may not be able to supply you with that brand in the future. Being Specialized in MINI's we are alot of times we are just making ends meet. So we need every sale we can get.

I encourage you to support the MINI Tuners that work on and develop parts and information for the community. Without your business, we may not be hear when you need us.

Sorry for the long post.

 

I've dealt with Way & Dustin before. Both are A1 for service.

 

There are some good vendors that drop ship and do not inventory. There are some good vendors that have a brick and mortar shop that inventory. There are also bad vendors who are part of NAM. My example from an earlier post in this thread was, in my opinion, a poor NAM vendor.

We cannot generalized that much here to say just because you do not stock inventory, you are not good and do not know your products. Conversely, just because you stock inventory, you are automatically better.

We all have our preferences and I value having great service and knowledge most. Whether someone has product in their facilities ranks much much lower than service and knowledge.

 

I agree with WMW. Those of use that work on Coopers can help in ways that a warehouse can't.

You can always find a part/ship for a lower price somewhere, but can you find customer service of any value with that lower price?

"Low price" is not always a "Value"

 

Just wanted to post a huge KUDOS to Dustin and the AutoXCooper team!

I ordered F/R TCW Carbon rotors and F/R Carbotech Bobcats from them earlier this week, and paid for the parts and shipping. I received tracking numbers the next day (thanks!) but what surprised me more was the refund I got out of nowhere - sent back some change from the difference in what I paid to what it actually cost to ship!

I had no intention nor expectation for this - I was happy to pay for my parts and shipping from a trusted and supporting vendor, regardless of if I could find it for a few bucks cheaper through a cheaper shipping alternative. The dollars you save now come back to haunt you if you ever need support.

This was a very surprising and well-appreciated surprise - there was no way I could have known the shipping was actually cheaper, but Dustin sent me some cash back anyways!

THANKS to Dustin and all the other supporting vendors who actually use and test the product - in the words of the late Chris Farley, "Guy puts a fancy guarantee on a box 'cause he wants you to fell all warm and toasty inside...how do you know the fairy isn't a crazy glue sniffer? 'Building model airplanes' says the little fairy, well, we're not buying it."

You can rant and rave about the product's qualities on paper or on the outside of the box - but until you've tested it in the real world...you may as well sniff glue