Tire pricing

I called around to a number of places to get a price on a tire and for the most part all were giving me a price around $100 for the tire I needed. Well then I get an email for a special one of the tire places here in Indy is having and it’s about $40 less then all the quotes I got. So I called the places back and all said they would match. Are tires that greatly marked up in price or what?

Be sure you find out of mounting and balancing are included in the prices.

I honestly don’t think they’re greatly marked up. The prices often include mounting and balancing as well as new valves. Often they’ll even include free tire rotation if you buy a full set. Some shops will “include” alignment, but IMHO that’s often just a way to “find” things wrong and generate unnecessary repairs. I prefer to keep the alignment checked seperate from my tire purchases.

Yes, you’ll commonly find them on sale, ‘buy 3 get one free’ (25% off). And if you find a great sale (40% is great), others will match it. Have you checked places like Sams, Costco, and Discount Tire? Their ‘everyday’ prices usually are pretty good.

My profit percentage on tires in half of what we make on replacement parts.
The supply chain , from mfgr to jobber to wholesale to retail, often dictates the selling price.

  • plus -
    Tire manufacturers make a staggering number of different lines of tires, appearing to the novice eye to be the same tire but with differences which also dictate price.
    – for example there are Goodyear labeled tires you can get at WalMart but that you can NOT get at the Goodyear store.

Price matching is currently the rage. But personally it is a gimmick and I would prefer to do business with people who set a fair price and leave off the need to call competitors on every purchase. It is such a pain.

There are three or four HUNDRED “BRANDS” of tires sold in the U.S. market. Most are imported, many from China…“Name brand tires” always cost more than “private label tires” made by the same company…I have always had good luck with private label tires, and tire stores always seem to be able to “find what you need” before they watch you walk out the door…

You can use online sellers like Tire Rack to give you an idea where the price-points are for the tires you are interested in. Then see what the local vendors can do. Be careful of the extras and gimmicks they like to add on greatly increasing the “down-the-road” price…