i recently had this issue with advance auto parts i looked up a clutch
and flywheel set for my car and online it was posted at $260. when i
went to the store to pick it up i gave them the part number and it was
over $400 so i went home printed out the price and part number and
brought it over there and the manager sold it to me at $260

Well, while not illegal, it is in my opinion, a very poor business
practice. I live in a small town about 30 miles outside of a major city
(not very major). The local auto parts competition is a NAPA, AutoZone
and a local independant parts store. I used to go to Autozone for all
of my parts figuring they were cheaper than NAPA and had a decent
warrantee even if there parts were inferior. That is, until I found out
Autozone has a "city" price and a "local store" price. The "city" price
being much lower, sometimes less than half the "local price". It seems
that they base their prices on the local competition, even though I can
go to any of my local NAPA stores and pay the exact same price at ALL of
them. I have found that you can ask for the city price (the lower
price), but they won't offer it freely, on any in-stock items. If they
have to order the part, they can't give you the lower price. A case in
point: I went in one Friday afternoon to get an A/C compressor for my
Buick. Their price $465.00 and it wouldn't be in until Tuesday. They
checked the "sister" stores (other local Autozones) and found one 20
minutes away that had the exact same compressor in stock for $325. I
figured I would check the local NAPA and if the compressor was more, I
would take the 20 minute ride to get it at Autozone for $325. Well,
much to my surprise NAPA had one (the SAME brand Autozone had) for $221
and would have it by 8:00am Saturday morning (the next day, less than 15
hours).
Personally, I think it is a scam. The overhead in my Autozone has to be
less than half that of the "city" store. Not to mention the shrinkage
(loss to do theft, etc..) is nil in my local store. Plus the help is
paid considerably less at my local store. From now on, I will buy my
consumable parts, i.e. brake pads, etc.. at Autozone because of the
warrantee, but will not buy anything else there until they change their
pricing practices in my local store. I don't see any reason why i should
pay a lot more for the exact same parts I can get in the "city" for less
than half the cost. Do this for some fun: go to Autozone's website and
punch in a few different zipcodes in your area, be sure to include some
in the "city" and some outside the "city". Then check the prices, every
store will be slightly different....