How One BMW Parts Manager Increased His Paycheck Through Volume Selling Online

Anthony significantly increased his paycheck month over month by selling BMW parts online. As a parts manager, he quickly realized the best way to increase his earnings was by selling more parts. Selling online allowed him to increase volume, increasing the dealership’s gross profit and putting more money directly into his pocket, too.

“Volume selling definitely relies heavily on smart pricing strategies,” Anthony explained. “You need to price parts low enough to attract more buyers but high enough to keep the dealership profitable. The key is to sell enough volume to qualify for manufacturer kickbacks or co-op bonuses, which are cash rewards the manufacturer gives dealerships for hitting certain sales targets. When the dealership earns these bonuses, overall gross profit goes up significantly—benefiting everyone, including parts managers like me, because our own performance bonuses are tied directly to dealership profitability. Volume selling is absolutely essential these days.”

Anthony learned how to price parts correctly and tested all sorts of methods to attract customers to his online store. It didn’t take long for his efforts to pay off.

“Every time I hit a sales goal, I got a bonus check. When the dealership does better, I do better, and my whole team does better. It’s a win for everyone involved,” said Anthony.

Expanding the online store staff

At first, Anthony handled everything himself—from answering customer questions to packing and shipping orders. He enjoyed seeing the business grow from a few orders a month to hundreds.

“When we reached about 200 orders each month, I knew I’d need an extra hand soon,” he remembers.

Once sales consistently hit around $50,000 a month, Anthony hired his first employee—a college student who worked part-time packing orders and handling paperwork.

“When it came time to make another hire, we were probably close to 12 months of consistent $30,000 to $35,000 in gross. Now, this is after you pay for the boxes and packing materials. This is after you paid me my bonus. $30,000 of tangible money we’re talking about before I needed to actually hire a body,” Anthony said.

As business continued growing, monthly sales surpassed $250,000 and occasionally even hit $330,000.

“Not only did we hire one person, we got to the point where we were doing $55,000, then $70,000 in gross. I didn’t hire a second person until we made $55,000 gross, and then a third person when we were hitting close to $70,000,” Anthony added.

Reducing Pressure from Management

Anthony’s managers were thrilled with the results—online sales were high, questions were few, and the recognition rolled in.

“Selling online really helped take the pressure off me,” Anthony shared. 

He explains that having strong sales figures clearly presented during regular meetings with controllers, directors, and general managers made his job easier. 

“They see the volume, they see the gross profit, and they see the back-end money coming in. That’s what really matters. Your performance is rated by those numbers, and hitting those bonus tiers through volume selling is key,” Anthony said. “And when the store hits those goals, it shows up in my paycheck too. That monthly bonus makes a big difference—it’s real money for doing what you’re already supposed to do.”

Capturing Lost Sales

Some worried that selling online would take away from high-margin counter sales. Anthony found the opposite was true. Online sales helped win back customers who otherwise would have purchased elsewhere.

“Selling online shouldn’t take away from your high-margin counter sales,” Anthony said. “What it really does is help you win back the sales you’d otherwise lose to someone else’s online store. I can’t tell you how many times a customer leaves the service department and comes to the counter asking for an itemized quote they didn’t get. And while I’m printing it out, they’re already on their phone, price-checking with other dealers online.”

He added that the key is to stay in the game rather than pretend customers aren’t already shopping online. “You can either let that sale walk out the door, or show them your online pricing and give them an easy way to buy from you instead. Be upfront—let them know you’ve got a website. If they buy there, you still get credit. That way, you’re not losing them to the competition—you’re keeping the business in-house.”

He added, “Sure, the online margin might be lower, like 20% compared to 50% at the counter. But I’d rather have 20% of $300,000 a month in sales than 50% of nothing. You do the math.”

He also pointed out, “Online sales don’t steal from your counter—they stack on top of it. If you’re not selling online, you’re flat-out missing money.”

Careers Built Through Online Sales

Selling parts online gave Anthony’s team new challenges and opportunities to grow beyond their usual responsibilities. While customer service and inventory management are already part of the job, managing an online store pushed them to use those skills in new ways—communicating with out-of-state buyers, managing higher order volume, and handling a wider variety of requests.

“I had a customer based out of New York who regularly bought parts to export to Canada. Selling online brought me this contact, and it turned into consistent monthly revenue,” Anthony said.

He continued, “Selling online improves your communication skills. You learn more about your own business, other people’s businesses, and how to communicate better to grow your business—and when your business grows, so does your paycheck.”

“I love seeing customers order again and again. It means we got things right, and they trust us,” Anthony said proudly.

Advice for Fellow Parts Managers

“As a parts manager, you have to wear a different hat every day,” Anthony acknowledged. “But your goal is inventory, moving metal, selling parts. And what better way to do it than to open another avenue?”

He added, “If you’re a parts manager and you’re not selling online, you’re really missing out. You can make more money without hiring lots of new staff or adding tons of extra work. Trust me, it’s worth it.”

Ultimately, Anthony believes selling parts online opens up opportunities for growth, increased profits, bigger bonuses, and reduced pressure from management—benefits that no parts manager should ignore.

With a motivated parts manager, a small but focused team, and tools like RevolutionParts, any parts department can sell more parts, attract more customers, and make more money.