How much discount do you need to purchase wheels on the net?

[Chris Murray]

Let's say you've called your dealer up and they've either been helfpul or not so helpful in giving you options for new wheels for your car.
You know that you want genuine oe wheels so there are no insurance/warranty/safety issues, but we live in the information age and when you get back home you search the internet in the evening when the dealer is shut and find the wheels cheaper. The site seems nice enough, has all the info there, but because it's out of hours you can't call up to haggle or chat about all the options.

How much cheaper do they need to be for you to purchase there and then?

 

[h17n dj]

I would say atleast £50 odd quid??? if both are genuine then thats a fair bit of cash to overspend by.... that cash could go towards other things

 

[A210AMG]

While location and ease is handy at the end of the day its probably price that will sway your decision, even service will play a part but for just swapping wheels I would think most people woun't be too bothered waiting in the service room for a few mins..

So on a £1000 set of alloys I would think £250 saving so 25% otherwise if its 'just' £50 - £100 you may just think I would rather 'mercedes garage' sort them.

There must be a fair mark up on alloys / tyres so buying off the net would have to be a reasonable amount cheaper.

 

[Chris Murray]

Hi!
How much discount do you think the main dealers purchase the wheels at?

 

[Rory]

Don't forget the shipping cost will be chunky if bought online.

I'd be worried about them coming damaged so the discount would have to substantial to counter that.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I would agree with A210 - 25% would be where it make's buying online instead a very realistic candidate. Anything less and it would have to be a business that has an absolutely rock solid reputation and consistently great service.

 

[C240Sport97]

hi!
How much discount do you think the main dealers purchase the wheels at?

40%?

 

[Chris Murray]

40%?

It's 26%.
So far the conclusions are that no forum member would purchase wheels on the net on the basis that the discounts aren't enough

 

[Will]

At the end of the day, a lot of people will be swayed by price primarily, provided that in other respects they are getting a like-for-like product.

Most people would never pay full RRP or even close for wheels. Eg £1000+, then tyres on top - total at least £1500/2000+ or whatever - a lot of money for a set of wheels for some.

Obviously serious enthusiasts like many on here, and other people who can/do buy new/expensive cars might be the more typical customers for upgraded wheel packages.

My point being, quite a few people would pay £500-750-1000 or whatever for a nearly new/NOS/new set of AMG wheels and tyres for a MB that is say a few years old. They're less likely to think of a few percent discount on a large price as being sufficient grounds to justify a purchase.

In summary, and IMHO - very few members on here have bought brand new MB wheels at full (or close to) full RRP from what I gather, but a larger number of people would snap up a set of genuine used/good wheels if they were going for a bargain price

Will

 

[Rob77]

At the end of the day, a lot of people will be swayed by price primarily, provided that in other respects they are getting a like-for-like product.

Most people would never pay full RRP or even close for wheels. Eg £1000+, then tyres on top - total at least £1500/2000+ or whatever - a lot of money for a set of wheels for some.

Obviously serious enthusiasts like many on here, and other people who can/do buy new/expensive cars might be the more typical customers for upgraded wheel packages.

My point being, quite a few people would pay £500-750-1000 or whatever for a nearly new/NOS/new set of AMG wheels and tyres for a MB that is say a few years old. They're less likely to think of a few percent discount on a large price as being sufficient grounds to justify a purchase.

In summary, and IMHO - very few members on here have bought brand new MB wheels at full (or close to) full RRP from what I gather, but a larger number of people would snap up a set of genuine used/good wheels if they were going for a bargain price

Will

What he said

 

[stats007]

This is why there is a huge market in secondhand wheels on eBay.

 

[280gee]

As I'm approaching the "get some new wheels because of difficulty in getting refurbishment to a high standard" problem, this poll is interesting.

With some things market forces don't seem to apply, like genuine MB wheels for instance! A handful of enquiries from dealers reveals that all are within a few £'s of each other on price. No surprise there I suppose.

So a discount of circa 25% is what I'd need to shop online for them, assuming that I could also personally pick them up a reasonable distance away.

Not much hope of that... unless you know different. As Esther might have said.

 

[A210AMG]

Just to add, courier costs I arranged myself for some wheels on my car cost £35 and that was insured for 4 * wheels and tyres. (Durham to Chester)

wheel are 9*20" tyres are 275/50/20 so not small or light wheels... I would think a company that is a specialist in wheels / tyres could arrange this even cheaper.

 

[Chris Murray]

I would think a company that is a specialist in wheels / tyres could arrange this even cheaper.

Why would a wheel/tyre company have cheaper shipping costs?

 

[npuk]

If you always use the same carrier and ship a high volume of orders per month then you will be able to negotiate a discount with a carrier.

When I ordered my AMG alloys from you recently, you shipped them with Interlink, who I have always found to be good. Their new online feature which gives you an estimated delivery time was very helpfull and accurate. The tacking page showed the estimated time of delivery was between 12.49pm and 1.49pm. The alloys arrived at 1.44pm.

Regarding pricing I got a quote from my local dealer. I also made a part request on parts reunited and got quotes from many national main dealers. The quotes varied by a couple of hundreds of pounds! My local dealer wasnt interested in matching other dealers. All the best prices were from dealers up north so would have had to have the wheels delivered. Alloywheelsdirect price was higher than some dealers so I contacted them. Chris emailed back the price was out of date and he updated the price on the site. Ended up ordering from alloywheelsdirect whose price including centre caps and delivery was less than the best main dealer price I had just for alloys without centre caps and delivery.

 

[LTD]

Must admit that I would look at the prices online before approaching a dealer.

At that point you can make the decision.

Free fitting of the tyres / rims to your car might be money well spent - especially if they scratch them.

 

[BTB 500]

Getting some discount is important, but being able to arrange a complete wheel/tyre package (ready to fit, with a good choice of different tyres) is also handy and one of the reasons I bought from Chris.

 

[Chris Murray]

Thanks for all the comments. You have to sell a LOT of product at 5% NP to live on..
I'll test some ideas and see..

 

[Will]

I think that there's perhaps more margin in buying used wheels, having them refurbed to 'as new' condition and selling them for a lower price?

Brand new wheels are nice, but unless they're heavily discounted they're just too expensive for most people.

Will

 

[Chris Murray]

Hi Will..
It's not very scalable though > did that for 4 years and even a fantastic month sold <£20k