RockAuto Shipping Cost: Carrier Options, Cost Factors Explained

RockAuto ships auto parts from hundreds of manufacturers. Its shipping costs vary greatly depending on which parts you order and whether or not they originate from the same warehouse. Customers must pay a separate shipping charge for each warehouse that a portion of the order ships from. (To find out more about RockAuto’s shipping process, check out our article on RockAuto’s warehouse locations.)

RockAuto’s shipping costs are calculated by the size and weight of the parts, your location, and current carrier rates, according to the company’s FAQ page. When placing an order, your shipping options will appear — listed from cheapest to fastest — after you enter your address and zip code.

RockAuto calculates shipping charges using “live” FedEx, U.S. Postal Service, UPS, DHL, and truck freight rates (including discounts RockAuto receives as a high-volume shipper). When you add or make changes to the items in your cart or your delivery address, the cart will automatically recalculate the shipping cost, so you will know the full cost of the order before you pay.

We priced several parts of multiple sizes and weights for a 1998 Toyota 4Runner and a 2011 BMW 128i on RockAuto’s website, and we were quoted the following shipping prices:

• FedEx Ground: About $8
• USPS Priority Mail: About $12
• DHL Domestic Express: About $13
• FedEx Express: About $31
• FedEx A.M. Delivery: About $116

Note that these rates are subject to change and may vary based on the parts ordered and a particular carrier’s policies. For all carriers, expedited shipping options are more expensive than standard or economy.

How to Minimize RockAuto Shipping Costs

RockAuto provides several tips for minimizing your shipping costs. Once you begin adding parts to your cart, you can manually group parts into shipments by looking for the truck icon. Items that feature the truck icon will come from the same warehouse as other items in your cart; by choosing only items with the truck icon, you can be sure all of your items will ship from one warehouse, meaning you will only pay one shipping charge.

Additionally, on the RockAuto website, you will find an expandable list of auto brands on the left sidebar to narrow your search by make, model, and engine size. Once you select the part you need, you can click the “Choose for Me to Minimize Cost” box and then the “Alternate” box. To see a visual example of how this works, check out the video tutorial on RockAuto’s YouTube channel. RockAuto will group any parts with the “Alternate” box checked together with other items already in your cart, which can minimize the number of shipments by substituting different brands.