Agreed. I sometimes stock up on essentials, like air and cabin air filters, light bulbs, etc. I do cross-check with Amazon--I ended up cancelling a larger item off of a Rock Auto order because they had the same part, same brand, cheaper at Amazon, with free shipping on top of it.I order parts ahead and usually save half of what locals want for house brand parts.
I am careful, however, to stick to known name brands. I stay away from parts that have the dodgy names I've never heard of, as well as "Economy" grade parts.
They have added automotive tools over the years as well. Prices seem competitive.
I learned the hard way, though--buy taps from Production Tool.
I was in Pep Boys and had bought a tap to get out a busted bolt. Drilled it no problem. The tap was garbage. I fought with it for two hours, and just could not get it started in the hole. I was thinking any number of problems with the hole I had drilled. Even tried every variation of oil or solvent as a cutting fluid. Nothing worked.
Next morning, went to Production Tool on Groesbeck. Picked up the right size tap (which didn't cost much more than the Pep Boys crap apparently made out of chinesium), put a drop of oil on it, and had that hole tapped within a minute--it was even their "economy" tap. It cut through the metal like butter...like every other good tap I've ever used in my life. I've since had my buddy who works at [the mail order industrial supply company that mails out the huge yellow catalog with green letters] get me a couple of taps for common bolt sizes in the car, as they cost maybe a third of retail price, or less, with his employee discount.
Now I'm gun shy to buy tools anywhere. The last small set of drills I bought last year just to have around the house? This past Saturday, I drilled a hole in a metal tube with one of the bits, which was brand new. It bent the first time I used it!! Got it from Homey Depot, and it was a name brand! I've drilled literally tens of thousands of holes in metals, even in hardened steel, and never had one bend! The others dulled really quick. I think I drilled four holes in a wet plaster wall here, and now that drill bit is done; I've got older bits which I drilled dozens of holes in wet plaster with that are still sharper than this new one! Must be made of that same chinesium metal...