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Depends Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Mon, 17 Nov 2003 13:40:47
In Reply to: tirerack.com vs local reseller, numeric, Mon, 17 Nov 2003 11:50:11 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
In my area there is a local chain that offers a bunch of services that Tire Rack doesn't - free flat repair, no questions asked, tire replacements, etc. I find these are decent value-added features that I'm willing to pay for.
What I do is find the best price from Tire Rack, figure in a reasonable mounting/balancing cost from a local garage (typically $12-$15 each, cheaper some places), tax, shipping, all the goodies.
I then go to my local chain, and bargain with them. In general, I'm willing to pay about $10-20 a tire (about $50-75 for a set) more for the conviencene and extra services of my local reseller. For that extra money, I don't have to shlep the tires around, worry about the wrong ones showing up, or dealing with the hassle if one is defective. That's my personal opinion, and that price threshold will vary from person to person.
I'm usually willing to pay a small premium to buy something locally over mail order, because if something goes wrong, local with good service will win out. I've even been able to get the local place to be very price competitive with Tire Rack.
However, sometime the local guy just can't get close enough, and then the price difference is worth the hassle. Figure out how much you're willing to put up with, and make that the break-even. If Tire Rack was $1 cheaper than the local guy (after shipping, mounting, taxes, disposal fees...), would it be worth the hassle? Probably not. If the local guy were $500, TR would win hands down. Your threshold is somewhere in the middle.
And again, some resellers have nice feature mail order can't match. Like dropping off a tire with a nail in it and having it fixed no charge, or free snow tire changeover (except I use separate winter and summer rims, but it's a nice idea).
posted by 192.249....
, Mon, 17 Nov 2003 13:40:47 <-- Viewing This Message
, Mon, 17 Nov 2003 13:35:25
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