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I used to buy tires from TireRack - now SimpleTire (how can they do it?)



 
 
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  #11  
Old April 1st 17, 07:17 PM posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
Ed Pawlowski
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Posts: 202
Default I used to buy tires from TireRack - now SimpleTire (how can theydo it?)

On 4/1/2017 11:32 AM, Jonas Schneider wrote:
> On Sat, 1 Apr 2017 08:17:53 -0400, Red Hymen > wrote:
>
>> The local tire shop matches TireCrack and SimpletonTire prices, labor is
>> extra but it's very reasonable.

>
> Matching always made no sense to me, but maybe it makes sense to you since
> a *lot* of people swoon over price matching.
>
> Matching gets you absolutely nothing.
> Worse, you may end up with less.
> Rarely will you end up with more.
>
> If you told me the local shop *beat* the price of TireCrack &
> SimpletonTire, that would be something to swoon over.
>
> But merely matching?
> What good is merely matching?
>
> What do you get out of a match?
> Absolutely nothing.


Depends on the tire shop. My dealer will come close, but may not match.
What he does is give me good service year round no matter what the
problem is. 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.

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.


Ads
  #12  
Old April 1st 17, 09:28 PM posted to alt.home.repair,ca.driving,rec.autos.tech
Jonas Schneider
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Posts: 20
Default I used to buy tires from TireRack - now SimpleTire (how can they do it?)

On Sat, 1 Apr 2017 19:20:18 GMT, Tekkie? > wrote:

> Oh yeh, I thought you were the Harbor Fright guy...


I'm apparently a shill for Harbor Freight, in addition to SimpleTire.

  #13  
Old April 1st 17, 09:28 PM posted to alt.home.repair,ca.driving,rec.autos.tech
Jonas Schneider
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Posts: 20
Default I used to buy tires from TireRack - now SimpleTire (how can they do it?)

On Sat, 1 Apr 2017 19:16:38 GMT, Tekkie? > wrote:

> I don't buy tires online. The local dealer is much cheaper and has free
> mounting & balancing.


You'd have to pick a tire and price that your "local dealer" charges, but I
highly suspect that it's not even close to true that your dealer is much
cheaper than online tires.

I can't prove that statement without information about your dealer and
prices, but one argument is that you'd have a hard time naming *anything*
that is cheaper at a brick-and-mortar store than it is online.

The only "additional" charges onlines are shipping, which I agree, for
tires, is appreciable though, at anywhere between zero (which is what I pay
for shipping) to about $18 to $20 for ground shipping per tire.

> Tire Rack is now a public TV sponsor so in my
> *opinion* is another mark against it.


What is a "public tv sponsor"?

> Their "installers" are just above
> marginal.


Agree with you on the fact the tire-rack "recommended installers" are just
one step ahead of criminal.

However, I'll wager your tire dealer is one of them perhaps?
https://tires.tirerack.com/tires/Lis...d%20Installers
https://www.tirerack.com/installer/Installer.jsp
  #14  
Old April 1st 17, 09:48 PM posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
Jonas Schneider
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Default I used to buy tires from TireRack - now SimpleTire (how can they do it?)

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.
  #15  
Old April 1st 17, 09:58 PM posted to alt.home.repair,ca.driving,rec.autos.tech
Jonas Schneider
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Posts: 20
Default I used to buy tires from TireRack - now SimpleTire (how can they do it?)

On Sat, 1 Apr 2017 19:22:04 GMT, Tekkie? > wrote:

> +1 on that!


I think I figured out how they can do it.

In researching how many tires TireRack sells in a year, I found that the
average online profit on a tire is about $25.

On a typical ultra high performance tire which is, say, $75, that means
that 1/3 the cost is pure profit online.

If they sell that UHP tire for $100 at a local brick-and-mortar tire shop,
then their advantage can be 1/2 the price (although they probably have
higher costs too).

Everything depends on the math, but I have to rethink my theory that tires
are a commodity, since commodities aren't sold generally for anything near
1/3 over cost.

It's basic economics for a manufacturer to have a marketing team turn a
commodity into a specialty item, and then they can command such prices.

So, I guess, for the most part, tires are a "specialty item" since selling
for 1/3 over cost is not how commodities sell.
  #16  
Old April 1st 17, 10:13 PM posted to rec.autos.tech
Percival P. Cassidy[_2_]
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Posts: 241
Default I used to buy tires from TireRack - now SimpleTire (how can theydo it?)

On 03/31/2017 11:12 PM, Jonas Schneider wrote:

>>> Whom do you buy your tires from online?

>>
>> Usually Costco, but not online.

>
> What I love about Costo, for tires, is that they are the *cheapest* (by
> far) for returning the old tires, where they're only one dollar plus sales
> tax (which is a strange thing to pay a sales tax to *return* a tire for
> recycling!).
>
> They take *any* tire, so I've even cleaned up neighbor's back yards for
> them, and hosed down the tires, and Costco took them at about $1.08 per
> tire.
>
> What I hate about Costco is that they only have a limited selection of
> tires, where locally they only have Michelin & Bridgestone (and sometimes
> Goodyear).
>
> What I love about Costco is that everything is included in the $15 mounting
> price, which includes mounting and balancing and valves and nitrogen and
> even free rotations every 6K miles and road hazard repairs (within the life
> of the tread, prorated if not fixable).
>
> What I hate about Costco is that you have to get there a day before you
> were born just to get in line and wait along with the rest of the world in
> front of you (especially during their specials, one of which is going on at
> this very moment, which is the $70 coupon for a set of 4 tires).


When Costco has a good deal on tires, I order them at Costco.com,
specifying the warehouse where I want them installed. They email me to
let me know that the tires have arrived, and I call to make an
appointment for installation, and I do my other shopping while they
install the tires.

And from time to time they have had a 1 cent per tire installation
special -- available only if the tires are ordered at costco.com.

Perce


  #17  
Old April 1st 17, 10:17 PM posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
Jackson Brown
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Posts: 1
Default I used to buy tires from TireRack - now SimpleTire (how can theydo it?)

On 4/1/2017 11:32 AM, Jonas Schneider wrote:
> Saving "time" is ok, but I do my own mounting and balancing, so, saving
> "time" isn't in my equation (since it costs me more time just to file this
> thread than it does to mount a tire).
>
> Is the only thing you save time?
> If the shop merely matches your online price, then what are they giving
> you?
>
> They're giving you nothing by way of price, and, worse, you may get less
> than nothing.



The key is to have the proper tools to mount and balance a set of tires. Most people don't nor do they care to wrestle 4 tires onto rims using makeshift spoons...and they're still left with balancing and disposing of the old tires.

Personally, I just have my friendly neighborhood Ford dealer do the whole job.

  #18  
Old April 1st 17, 11:26 PM posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
Jonas Schneider
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Posts: 20
Default I used to buy tires from TireRack - now SimpleTire (how can they do it?)

On Sat, 1 Apr 2017 17:17:20 -0400, Jackson Brown > wrote:

>> They're giving you nothing by way of price, and, worse, you may get less
>> than nothing.

>
>
> The key is to have the proper tools to mount and balance a set of tires.


You need the following, which costs around $300 overall
1. Air compressor, hoses, fittings, chucks, pressure gauges
2. Bead breaker
3. Tire dismounting & mounting tool
4. Static bubble balancer
5. Clip on weights (steel wheels) or stick on weights
6. Assorted tire irons, valve core tools, patch tools

> Most people don't nor do they care to wrestle 4 tires onto rims
> using makeshift spoons...


While it's true that most people don't want to mount and balance a tire,
they do spend far more than the tools cost to have someone else "wrestle 4
tires onto rims".

At 20 bucks a tire for mounting and balancing, and at 300 bucks for a
complete set of tools, that's about three years elapsed time for the tools
to pay for themselves in cost (assuming a two car family who changes tires
on each car every two years).

The tools pay for themselves in convenience the very first day, since you
can patchplug a repairable puncture in your own garage, which is mighty
convenient (ask me how I know).

> and they're still left with balancing and disposing of the old tires.


Disposing of tires is trivial. You drive them to Costco, pay the buck per
tire, and they're gone. Or you drive them to any tire shop, pay whatever
their price is, and they're gone.

Balancing is mostly feared by people who have never once balanced their own
wheels. Balancing, to them, is 99% fear and 1% logic.

What's the absolute worst thing that's gonna happen if your tires are
imbalanced when brand new?

The people who are afraid of balancing, and those who swear that *every*
wheel needs to be "road force balanced" are the same people who have never
balanced a tire in their lives.

In other words, they don't know what they're talking about, where they can
only fear the unknown.

There's nothing wrong with being fearful, but guess what happens to those
tires six months, ten months, twelve months, two years into the driving
cycle?

Are they still balanced?
If not - what happened to all that unbalanced fear?

> Personally, I just have my friendly neighborhood Ford dealer
> do the whole job.


While there's nothing wrong with being overly scared of tires, you seem to
be unduly scared, if the fact you go to a dealer for such things is any
indication of your state of mind.

Most people wouldn't go to the car dealer for mounting and balancing tires,
so you're probably highly unusual, in that the only reason most people go
to the dealer is to get parts that can't be gotten elsewhere without
ordering.

Of course, if money is no object, and if fear is the main object, then the
dealer is the "safest" place to go. I understand that tires scare a lot of
people.

But the next time you have someone else mount your tires, consider that the
guy who just got arrested for setting the fire that collapsed that Atlanta
interstate bridge is quoted in the Washington Post today as having stopped
off under the bridge with his two other buddies to smoke crack before he
went into to work at a tire shop.

"Eleby told investigators he regularly passes through the area on the way
to his job at a nearby tire shop".
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...85-in-atlanta/

  #19  
Old April 2nd 17, 01:50 AM posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
Ed Pawlowski
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Posts: 202
Default I used to buy tires from TireRack - now SimpleTire (how can theydo it?)

On 4/1/2017 4:48 PM, Jonas Schneider wrote:

>
>> 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?


Very few of us mount our own tires. I can't justify the investment when
I buy a set of tires every18 months at best.


>
> 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?


Let's call it "good value". I don't mind paying a little more at times
but I certainly don't want to get gouged. I try to check out prices
before buying anything. Lowest price is not always the cheapest buy.



>
> 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.


Ask the guy that has a flat spare because he never check it.




>
> 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.


You'd be right if I was driving my '62 Corvair with 13" wheels. I need
245/45R18 and cheap ones ar $92 and go up to $260. I drive enough to
justify a good tire over one that just has to go 2 miles to the grocery
store.


>
> 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.


Questionable. I want a good tire when I hit 100 mph so I;m willing to
pay for it.



  #20  
Old April 2nd 17, 01:58 AM posted to alt.home.repair,ca.driving,rec.autos.tech
Ed Pawlowski
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Posts: 202
Default I used to buy tires from TireRack - now SimpleTire (how can theydo it?)

On 4/1/2017 4:58 PM, Jonas Schneider wrote:

>
> In researching how many tires TireRack sells in a year, I found that the
> average online profit on a tire is about $25.
>
> On a typical ultra high performance tire which is, say, $75, that means
> that 1/3 the cost is pure profit online.
>


What is pure profit? Are you talking the difference between the price
they pay and the price they sell the tire? That is far from pure.
OTOH, if you did a cost analysis of the labor and overhead of running
the business I may agree.

 




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