Originally Posted By: AjsGarage
Why do I read about SO MANY people buying tires online from Amazon, tirerack, etc?
The ONLY way I see buying tires online possibly making financial sense is if you have the ability to mount, balance, and rotate them yourself for free.
Perhaps. Or since you often have to pay for this anyway, either bundled into the cost of the tire or as an additional fee, it's still possible consumer can save enough to make it work.
Originally Posted By: AjsGarage
I cannot imagine this many people having their own tire machine and balancer, so I have to assume most take the tires to a shop to get mounted.
Or their buddies shop, or see above, it's not that big a deal.
Originally Posted By: AjsGarage
After factoring in the fees to get mounted, balanced, are you really still saving money? $20 saved on a tire price suddenly can be spent to get it professionally mounted and balanced.
You do realize some tire sites charge for shipping right? Do you factor the shipping costs into your "savings" ?
Again, even shops have tires shipped to them. If you show up at your local shop and request a P195-50-16, chances are they don't have it. The price for someone to bring 1-4 of those from the warehouse, if they even have your tire in stock is built into the price.
Might cost more, for a same day courier than for a 3 day FedEx or UPS shipment.
It's not always guaranteed that Online Tire+Shipping is more.
Originally Posted By: AjsGarage
Do you consider the cost of rotating too? Rotations are free at most shops if you purchase tires there. Rotation is KEY to long tire life, and on some sportier/fancier cars, a PROPER rotation REQUIRES a tire machine to flip directional tires, and cannot be done at home by Joe Q Public.
Having to pay for rotations adds up.
Possibly. Of course, when Joe Q Public paid to have them mounted and balanced, it may have included these services.
Originally Posted By: AjsGarage
How do you handle warranty issues? What do you do if the tire has a defect such as separated belts (which was common on brand new goodyear tripple treads for a long time) or sidewall bulges? Does the online supplier reimburse you to cover the cost of getting the defective tire dismounted and a replacement tire re-mounted/balanced?
Never had to do this with a on-line purchased tire. I suspect it's more hassle than a shop.... sometimes.
Originally Posted By: AjsGarage
Here is MY experience working in an independent tire shop
We bought from over 9 tire suppliers, meaning our prices were most of the time lower then anything you could find online.
And how much were they marked up? Sure, you could get them for less, but how much did Joe Q Public pay for them when he rolled out of the shop?
Originally Posted By: AjsGarage
The old guy working up front was selling tires for many years, and knew all there was to know about tires. He could recommend a great tire for a car that you never thought about putting on it, and that was better then you were initially going for. Most independent tire shops have an old guy like this.
Maybe. You can't base a decision for all of use based on your great "old guy."
Further, in the age of the internet, it's quite possible a number of Joe Q Publics know about that tire already.
If they don't, then how obscure is the tire and will they be able to get that warranty adjustment from an off-brand tire when they move from one coast to another?
Originally Posted By: AjsGarage
We handled warranty issues, and ate the cost of fixing the issue. Customer came in with issue, and left with new tire, no questions asked, no talking to tire companies.
That's great. If someone planned to stay in your area and didn't travel, sounds like you provide great customer service.
However, you can't extrapolate that all tire dealers do this.
Originally Posted By: AjsGarage
We rotated and inflated tires for the life of the tire, FREE.
(people who didnt buy tires from us paid I think $20 a rotation)
I read invoices, I saw them in person, and did not see how you could save over our final "out the door and on the road" price by buying online, unless you did everything yourself on your own equipment for next to nothing.
But are you the exception or the rule? In my experience, the local chain tire shop wants $90 for a "shim kit" when they do a wheel alignment on my car. I think they can get packages of hundreds of shims for about a buck a shim give or take.
So that $80 or whatever alignment turns into a $170 job.
Originally Posted By: AjsGarage
So those who get HUGE savings buying tires online, please tell me how you do it, because I really do not understand! I love saving money, just like everyone, so maybe I am just missing something here?
Rant, over
Because you run or work in a good shop, you find it hard to imagine what Joe Q Public experiences when he buys tires. For every shop like yours, there are likely dozens that are not in the same league. They look at customers as wells of money to drill into, trying to extract the maximum number of dollars, instead of offering the kind of service you mention.
Online tire dealers wouldn't exist if every tire experience was like you described.
Read the comments. Few are describing experiences like your service. They run to the online retailers because they don't like what they experience at the shops that are not doing it they you describe your service.
If your service is what you say it is, you probably don't even need to advertise. Customers tell others and consumers flock to the shop because you've struck the right balance of price and excellent service compared to your competitors, including the on-line model.
