Why parts pricing matters
On most body repairs, parts are the biggest part of the bill. In a July 2024 fact sheet the insurer Bryte said parts made up 69% of its partial-loss repair costs, labour 20% and paint 11%, and that parts costs had risen 7% in a year against 3% for labour and paint.
Parts
69%
Up 7% from 2023 to 2024.
Labour
20%
Up 3% over the same year.
Paint
11%
Up 3% over the same year.
Shops charge parts at what they paid plus a markup. On private work you set the markup. On insurance work it's set in your agreement with each insurer, and those agreements aren't published, so there's no industry rate to copy. A small error in how you price parts moves a job's profit more than anything else on the quote.
Setting your markup
Your markup isn't profit on top of nothing. It has to pay for:
- The time to identify, price, order, receive and check parts, and to chase back-orders.
- Wrong and damaged parts: courier costs, restocking fees and parts you can't send back.
- Paying suppliers before the customer or insurer pays you.
- Your three-month warranty on every new or reconditioned part, including the labour to fit it again.
- Prices that rise between the quote and the order.
Markup isn't margin
A markup is a percentage of what you paid. A margin is the share of the selling price you keep. The same rand amount is a smaller share of the selling price, so a 25% markup is a 20% margin. Mix them up and every part is underpriced.
| Markup on cost | Margin on the selling price | A R1 000 part sells for |
|---|---|---|
| 15% | 13.0% | R1 150 |
| 20% | 16.7% | R1 200 |
| 25% | 20.0% | R1 250 |
| 30% | 23.1% | R1 300 |
| 40% | 28.6% | R1 400 |
| 50% | 33.3% | R1 500 |
Margin = markup ÷ (100% + markup). Prices before VAT.
A worked example
- 1
Start from your net cost
The supplier's price after your trade discount, before VAT: say R4 000 for a headlamp. - 2
Add your markup
At 25%, that's R1 000, so the headlamp is R5 000. - 3
Add delivery you paid for
If the supplier charged R150 to deliver it and you don't recover that elsewhere, show it on the quote: R5 150. - 4
Add VAT if you're registered
R5 150 plus 15% VAT is R5 922.50 on the quote.
We've used 25% because it's the only markup on public record: SAMBRA used it in 2025 as an example of a negotiated insurer markup. It isn't a norm, so work out your own. And keep overheads in your labour rate rather than in the parts markup: our labour rate guide explains why that's riskier. If you're VAT registered, our VAT guide for panel shops covers claiming the VAT on the parts you buy.
Parts on insurance work
On insurance work the assessment sets the parts and their prices, usually through the estimating system, and your agreement with the insurer sets the markup you earn. How parts reach you varies: some insurers have a parts procurement agent source the parts, while others have the repairer order them once the repair is authorised. Ask how it works, and what you earn on parts, before you sign.
The policy decides which parts may be fitted. Wordings we read let the insurer choose second-hand or alternative parts, though one never uses second-hand parts for critical or safety items, and another uses manufacturer-approved parts when the car is under a factory warranty or motor plan. If new parts would leave the car better than before the accident, the client may have to pay towards them: that's betterment.
Fit what the authorisation says. If you can't get the authorised part, or the customer wants something different, get the change authorised before you fit it.
Original, alternative and used parts
The Competition Commission's automotive aftermarket guidelines give the industry's working definitions:
| Type | What it is |
|---|---|
| Original (OEM) | Made by, for or to the order of the carmaker to its specifications, and sold through its network or under its trade mark |
| Identical | Made in the same factory as the original, but sold without the carmaker's badge |
| Equivalent or matching quality | Made by another maker to match the original: legitimate, traceable and carrying that maker's own warranty |
| Used (green) | Recovered from another car, usually a damaged one |
| Not acceptable | Counterfeit, grey-market and illegally sourced parts |
From clauses 2.26, 10.4 and 10.5 of the Competition Commission's guidelines (2024). Reconditioned parts are covered by the Consumer Protection Act in the next section.
On a private job the customer chooses, even while the car is under warranty: owners may have original or non-original parts fitted at any provider. But you must warn them clearly that damage caused by the parts or the fitting can void the warranty provisions it affects, and record the work in the service book. Our right to repair guide covers warranty work in full.
What the Consumer Protection Act asks
- Itemise parts on the quote. The regulations require a breakdown, and you can't charge more than the approved estimate without the customer's approval (section 15). Our quoting guide has the details.
- Never pass a part off as new if it's reconditioned or reclaimed, and never say a part needs replacing if it doesn't (section 41).
- Label reconditioned parts. A rebuilt or remade part that carries the original maker's trade mark needs a conspicuous notice saying so. Point it out to the customer and explain it in plain language (section 25 and regulation 8).
- Get agreement for used parts. Tell the customer the part's condition expressly and get their express agreement (section 55(6)). That waives only their right to a part that's suitable and of good quality: it must still last a reasonable time and meet any applicable standards.
- Stand behind what you fit. Section 57 makes you warrant every new or reconditioned part and the labour to fit it for three months, or longer if you say so in writing. It doesn't mention used parts, so agree in writing what you'll cover on one.
Buying used parts
The Second-Hand Goods Act covers motor vehicle parts and accessories worth R100 or more. Anyone who carries on a business buying or selling them must register with SAPS, and the SAPS registration form lists panel beaters among its business types. If you buy used parts from the public or sell them on, check whether you need to register. Registered dealers must:
- Record every purchase and sale in a register: the seller's name, address and ID number, a description with any serial number or distinguishing mark, the price, who handled it, and the date and time.
- Keep a copy of the seller's ID, and keep the register and the copies for at least five years.
- Be satisfied on reasonable grounds that the seller owns the part, and keep it separate, unaltered and unsold for seven days after buying it.
When you buy from a registered dealer, expect to show ID: the Act requires buyers to give the dealer their full name, address and identity document.
Consumables, sundries and paint
Every job uses materials that don't belong to one part: masking paper and tape, abrasives, filler, cleaners, rags, clips and fasteners. We found no SAMBRA, insurer or industry document that sets a standard way to charge for them. Pick a method, put it on the quote and never charge for the same thing twice:
| Method | Suits | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Itemise on the quote | Anything bought for that car: clips, one-time fasteners, badges, adhesive tape | The time it takes to price small items |
| Inside your paint price per panel | Paint-shop materials: masking, abrasives, filler and thinners | Charging them again as sundries |
| One consumables line | General supplies used on every job, such as rags and cleaners | It must be on the approved quote, and mustn't repeat what's in the paint price |
| In your labour rate | Small, general supplies | Raising your rate when supplies go up |
On insurance work, check how the assessment prices materials before you add a sundries line. AZT's paint calculation, which supplies data to Audatex, builds its materials figure from a basket of abrasives, fillers, masking paper and tape, thinners, silicone remover and polish. Where paint is priced that way, a separate line for those items charges for them twice.
Paint
Price paint and materials per panel from your own paint invoices, with more for big panels, pearl colours and blending. Nobody publishes South African refinish price rises, so update your per-panel price whenever your supplier's prices change.
GuidePrice paint by the panelWork out your paint and materials cost per panel from three months of invoices, and where the painter's time belongs.
Keeping up with parts prices
Most body parts are imported, so the rand, freight costs and events abroad move prices. The rand was at R16.53 to the US dollar on 9 October 2026, about 4% stronger than a year earlier, but it touched R19.82 in April 2025. In 2026 SAMBRA has pointed to currency swings, long lead times on imported parts and fuel costs as pressures on repair costs.
Your supplier quotes are the only price list that counts, so keep them current:
- Price every part from a current supplier quote, not from memory or an old job, and keep the quote with the job.
- Print a validity period on every quote, and re-check parts prices before ordering on a quote that's past it (see our quoting guide).
- Order by VIN and part number. Manufacturers must give independent shops part numbers on their quotations and invoices (clause 12.2.3(k) of the Commission's guidelines).
- When a part is back-ordered or imported, note the lead time on the quote so the customer knows why the car is waiting.
- Read your suppliers' price notices, and update your parts and paint prices when they change.
Returns and faulty parts
Returns between your shop and a supplier mostly depend on the supplier's terms. The Consumer Protection Act protects businesses only below a size threshold, and its right to return goods doesn't apply once they've been fitted (section 20). The published returns policies of two parts suppliers we read allow 7 or 14 days, charge 14% or 20% to take back wrongly ordered parts, and refuse special orders and fitted electrical parts. Read your suppliers' terms before you need them.
If a part fails, you owe your customer the three-month warranty on the part and the labour to fit it, whoever made the fault. Claim the part back from your supplier, and agree up front whether its warranty pays for the labour to fit a replacement: the supplier policies we read don't say.
Your parts pricing checklist
- Know what handling parts costs you, and set a markup that covers it. Check it as a margin too.
- Read the parts markup and parts sourcing terms in every insurer agreement.
- Price from current supplier quotes, and print a validity period on every quote.
- Show each part, its type and its part number on the quote.
- Get express agreement for used parts and label reconditioned ones.
- On in-warranty cars, warn customers in writing about non-original parts and record the work in the service book.
- Charge consumables one way only, and put them on the quote.
- Update your paint price per panel from your own invoices.
- Know your suppliers' returns and warranty terms, and whether you need to register as a second-hand goods dealer.
