On Sat, 1 Apr 2017 14:17:54 -0400, Ed Pawlowski > wrote:

>> What do you get out of a match?
>> Absolutely nothing.
>
> Depends on the tire shop.
> My dealer will come close, but may not match.

My argument is simple.
If all you gain is a "price match", then you gained nothing.

Of course, there are things you "can" gain, like shipping costs, or down
time, or convenience, or keeping the shop in business, or making friends,
or free coffee, or whatever, but my point is that matching price gains you
absolutely nothing by way of price.

> What he does is give me good service year round no matter what the
> problem is.

What you're saying is fair enough that, while price matching gains you
nothing, keeping your business "in the family" gains you "good service".

I have nothing against good service, but since I mount and balance my own
tires, I can't think of why I would need that good service?

But if good service is really what you were after, then "price matching"
isn't part of that equation, as making the local brick-and-mortar guy lower
his price to online rates isn't likely to make him want to give you better
service, is it?

> If you never ever have a tire problem, price is a big
> factor but when you cut a sidewall, bend a rim, damage a valve, my
> local guy will fix you up on the spot and if your tire is not in stock
> you will still leave with four tires and a spare.

We're all old men right?
Are we really all that afraid of a "tire problem"?

What's the absolute worst thing that can happen to a tire?

The worst thing is a non-repairable injury, right?
What's so bad about that?

All you do is put the spare tire on, and fire up a web browser, and order a
new tire shipped to your house or to the local tire installer.

Twenty bucks paid to the local installer, and your worst fears have been
repaired with a brand new tire.

Likewise, if you damage a valve, the worst thing is that you have to pay a
buck fifty or two bucks at the local auto parts store for a new valve,
which can be both removed and installed from the outside, if you know how.

Even if it has to be removed from the inside, what's the big deal?
It's a two-dollar tire valve after all (about twenty-five cents to fifty
cents online in bulk).

Now bending a rim is similar in that you pop on the spare wheel and then
you ship your rim out to be straightened, which happens a *lot* with my
soft alloy OEM rims, for example. It's one hundred bucks to have your rim
rightened.

Even your local tire shop is gonna send out your rim to be straightened,
since he's not likely to have the equipment himself.

My argument is that it's just a wheel and a tire and a valve and some air,
and you already have a spare, so, you're not risking anything by not having
a shop that loves you to death.

Even if the local shop hated you, they'd still put mount a new tire and
valve and throw away the old tire for about twenty bucks, so you're not
even saving anything by having a guy love you to death.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't see the risk here.

> Keeps money in the neighborhood too. If I'm spending $600+ on a set of
> tires, another 20 or 30 bucks is not a deal killer for superior service.

What you're saying is basic supply and demand economics. If you are flush
with money, then money isn't important to you. Nothing wrong with that as
it's the most basic of all economic theories.

To spend 600 dollars on four tires is astronomical.
What kind of car has replacement tires that are $150 each?

I'm not at all saying you can't find tires that *sell* for $150 each,
because they are all over the place. But if you take the OEM spec for your
tires, and if you can't find a tire that meets that OEM spec, and that
isn't a *lot* less than $150, then you didn't look all that hard.

And that's OK.
If money isn't important, then there's no difference to you between $400
and $600. That's normal for anyone flush with money by the way, so it's not
abnormal in the least.

However, you're NOT getting the best priceerformance deal at 600 bucks
for a set of four tires. That's fine, if you're flush with money, simply
because money isn't important to anyone who has a lot of it.

I don't, so I buy the best priceerformance I can get, and I mount and
balance my own wheels. I save money and get a better job that way.

But back to the point, if you're price matching to give your best friend
the business, then that's fine - but you gain nothing whatsoever on the
price by price matching.