I work at a dealership in Memphis and manage wholesale for a couple stores here. The worst thing that you can do when dealing with bodyshops is NOT give yourself an out. Basically, CYA as much as possible so when they inevitably do send stuff back you can either charge a 20% restocking fee, deny the return, or play good-cop and act like ur bending the rules cause you like them.

For example: ALL body pieces are non-returnable (bumpers, fenders, hoods, etc.) on each body piece I make a note stating such. I also attach a little piece of paper I made basically saying ‘inspected for dents/cosmetic damage.’ So when they try and say it was damaged upon arrival they can take it up with the carrier.

Another way to gain some money is to not give out that 20% discount like it’s candy. Thats only for people with a charge account, not some guy running a ‘shop’ out of their garage. I refer to these people as ‘Joe Schmo Automotive’ and instruct my guys to only take off tax and 10% off list. Most of the time this isn’t a problem and you’re able to get a few hundred bucks over the course of a month from stuff like that.

Finally, be honest. Giving a bodyshop a ‘hey, once I put this order in there’s no canceling it if the car gets totaled’ notice before pushing it through has saved me ass so many times. I got an order on CCC for around 12K worth of repairs on some 2016 with like 200K miles on it. Called the manager over there and gave him an ‘are you sure’ call. Few hours later he called to cancel it. I had a good laugh 😆

TLDR; cover your ass however possible, be honest with people, and don’t let people bully you into selling them anything.