I don't get it - maybe someone can set me straight...or MAYBE one of the local shop owners would care to speak up!!!

Why does having a retail store & service shop suddenly give the owner permission to extract every possible cent from their patrons???

I just purchased 5 35" Nitto tires. Called several stores locally - the best price was $370 per tire and the worst price was $396 and this was all in the same town!

Discount tire had them for $296 per tire. I believe in supporting locally...but even with the best local pricing that is still a $420 difference for 5 tires!!!!

$150 in freight gets them to my town....still saving $270! There are plenty of us who would be willing to maybe pay a little more, etc. Plus when do you ever purchase "just tires" when you're in the shop!

I've run service shops (ok - boats, not trucks, but still...), I've worked retail and understand margins, bulk buying power, customer service, customer loyalty, etc...

It's this kind of lack of customer service (and extravegant pricing!) that pushes me to online parts ordering and spending more of my hard-earned-$$ out of state than in .

 

I'm all for a bargain but local companies generally fell they just need to compete locally. Gasoline prices vary by economic area as much as other commodities. I can drive into areas of Birmingham and see price reductions of .10 a gallon or more on nearly any day. I wouldn't want to get out of my truck there, but many do.

 

I quit having local loyalty a long long time ago. I have no problem telling a store or a shop that I bought the same thing/service cheaper with shipping out of the area or state. It's not just AK, but in other states I've lived in. I'm not into giving away my hard earned money.

 

Haven't bought tire locally in years. Since 1992.

 

Yeah i know exactly what you mean. Discount tire is the only place i buy tires now. Theres a place here in "TEXAS" that sells "TIRES" maybe some know what i mean when you put both of those together. But they are the best at ripping somone off.

 

A lot of them feel as long as they are close the price at other local places, that's all they need to worry about. There is still a fairly sizable market of people out there that won't shop online because they are a) afraid of shopping online, b) don't know anything about shopping online, c) would just rather deal locally and not worry about dealing with non-local businesses.

If that group doesn't know what range of prices are really available, they're happy to pay the prices being offered and the vendor is happy to charge them.

As for tires, I'll cast another vote for Discount Tire. Not necessarily because of prices or service I've received at any particular shop, but because of the convenience that I can walk into any Discount Tire with my receipt and get a tire fixed or replaced under road hazard/warranty while on the road. When I was dealing with a local shop, I always had to get back to their shop if I had any trouble I wanted covered.

 

If you had rather spend your money at the local tire shop, get the pricing from Discount and talk to the manager/ owner. You never know he may match the price. Give them the chance to try before bashing them.
You can’t blame someone for setting the price that high if others are willing to pay the price. By you showing that you are shopping around it will give the local guy a chance to get the business.
Or he can say no then you have the lowest price and he has had the chance .

 

That's like $55 extra per tire? Does that include tax? If it doesn't that extra 30 or so pays for their shop and handleing of the product.

 

I agree with Bigfoot.

Do you want some of my money, or none of my money?

I give them the chance to play ball before I go elsewhere.

 

Thats pretty funny. Had a very similar experience. Found some step bars I really wanted but hated paying the $80.00 shipping charge from the online guys so I called the local places. HAHAHA they averaged $120.00 more even after the shipping charge, they must be nuts. Online $419 + $80 shipping = $499 no tax. Local places $599 plus tax. I cant believe the local guys are still around.

 

Something is only worth as much as people are willing to pay for it. I always shop online for tires and such and have always found the best deals that way. The way I see it, those businesses are cutting their own throats and if we quit buying from them they will slowly dissappear. This does not hurt my feelings one bit. Greed is what got our economy where it is now and until we can get past the "Lets sell our junk for at least a 300% mark up" mentality our economy will always be in a slump.

 

Lots of good advise above, Most of it is buying power. The little man buys 1-2 sets at a time-maybe, Big guy buys 100-200 at a time. Sales tax is another chunk of the difference. Big guy also has less operating costs because its just a warehouse too. Maybe the little guys price included mounting and balancing, road hazard etc..?

Its just much easier to price shop online where you can do most of the work in front of you. I am guilty of this myself. I would not consider the little stores being rip-offs though. Would you say that Walmart ran off the little stores because all they did was rip people off? I doubt it.

 

I try to buy locally when I can. I also wont hesitate to bring a copy of an online deal in and ask them to match it or Ill go down the street. I have no problem making the locals compete with the rest of the world.
So far, they have matched it (in the case of my XD, beat it by about $20). Im willing to go a bit more, we can always negotiate. If you tell them you want their $400 tires for $350, they may tell you they can go $375 with mount and balance.

 

If a guy gives you a final price and then you check your local discount tire and beat the price by over $35 a tire or higher I would rather deal with DT. Obviously the final price is what they are giving you. The thing I like about DT is that I can just verbally tell them the price they need to beat and they won't even need to look it up, they just give it to me. We buy all our tires from them, and what they don't have they always order it and don't charge freight.

 

Discount Tire has served me well over many years. As I travel around the states I have discovered that I can stop at any DT anywhere and once they have my phone, I am in. Never go to the same store twice.
Flat wheel? No problem sir, wheel it in and we will fix it AND balance it free of charge. Last trip my car developed a high speed vibration so took in to yet another DT. Once again, no problem sir, we will balance all four tires and no charge, Have a good day. 20 minutes in and out.
That is the type of customer service that keeps this customer coming back again and again.