end of free labor is coming

who cares

does that mean they wont charge as much for kits, harnesses?

CC could continue to do free installs in order to keep a competitive edge.  Only time will tell what CC's decision will be.

I never really priced the fit kits & harnesses at Best Buy when I worked there.  How much more do they charge for those things than anywhere else does?

If it comes down to it and you're looking to save money, then maybe you could try buying the harness & kit at a place that sells them cheaper (e.g., Walmart) and bring them with you when you buy your HU and see if they'll install it with those.  Just make sure you buy the right one and see what they tell you.  The worst that could happen is they can say "no," and if you haven't opened the package you can bring it back.

When I worked at Circuit City our Metra harnesses and dash kits were twice the price of Parts Express' Metra harnesses and dash kits.

Are Metra antenna adapters were 10X as much as Parts Express' Metra antenna adapters!!!!

i have a question...

if we were to educate consumers on lower cost parts thru smart shopping.. and we lowered cost on everything else.. and kept free installs... at which point do we turn a profit?

at BB, we did have free installs.. they basic labor was free (ie dodge neon, ram, corolla.. and soon) vehicles requiring extra labor were just charged the extra labor fee of $12.. very fair.

at Circuit City I know the kits haven't come down in price, in fact the price has risen, mostly due to Circuit trying to make up profit they are loosing from merchandise in the store. Radios, speakers, amplifiers ect... are getting cheaper and profit margins are lower. they need to make it up somewhere, besides letting go the higher paid employees. sell more accessories, that's one thing that Circuit drilled into your head, add-on sales. those little parts with a good bit of markup add up quickly, especially when everyone has add-on sales.