BMW Accessories Quiz: How Can a Duffel Bag that's Priced $68 Online end up Costing $112 at the Counter?

Yes, you read correctly: if you buy a small duffel bag from BMW's online shop, which by the way, points to your nearest dealer, and have it delivered to your home, it will cost you $68 (plus taxes and delivery fee), but if you decide to pay (...) a visit to your local dealership, the same exact gift may cost you much more - up to 63.4 per cent more in my case. Sounds ridiculous, but it's true.

This happened when I made the mistake of bending going over to Wagner BMW of Shrewsbury in Massachusetts to buy some gifts. Bought the accessories, handed them over, headed home and then (duh) checked out the invoice.

Out of curiosity, I went to BMW's online shop to compare prices: Key ring (Item No.: 80230408546) - $12.80; Duffel Bag (Item No.: 80220433964) - $68 and Snow and Ice Remover (Item No.: 82110017663) - $19.90 (all parts excluding sales tax).

Surprisingly, two out of the three items, the key ring and duffel bag, were priced substantially lower than at the dealership which charged me $16 and $111.95 respectively, while the snow and ice remover cost the same at $19.90 (again, all prices without sales tax).

From a consumer point of view, a 55.5 and 63.4 per cent hike in prices for the key ring and bag respectively, definitely justifies a call to the dealer.

The next day I was informed by the dealer's wholesale parts department that BMW's corporate online shop and the specific dealership are two separate business entities and as such, have a different price strategy when it comes to accessories - even though the official BMW accessory website points to your local dealer.

The person that I spoke to at the department said that the Bavarian firm sells the accessories to the dealer at a much higher price and that they have to make a profit to pay off things like coffee, bagels and their employees - seriously, that's what she he said.

However, in all fairness, the folks over at Wagner BMW of Shrewsbury kindly offered to reimburse the money if I returned the parts so I could reorder them online and save a few bucks. However, since the gifts had already been handed out, this wasn't an option anymore.

The lesson to be learnt here is that, if for whatever reason you want to buy gifts from BMW (or from any maker, for that matter), do your homework before you head over to the middle-man dealer / shop to avoid any 'pricey' surprises like I did.

Links: BMW of Shrewsbury and BMW Online Shop