Why do you get such lowball offers for your used tires?
 

I have tried to buy used tires from sellers on this (and other) car boards before. The ads all say that the seller just wants a reasonable price, which is probably true. I make what I believe to be a reasonable offer, and they think (or even tell me) I’m a jerk.

What happened?

Well, let’s talk about what the seller is selling. A new set of tires has 10/32 of an inch of tread on it, and you paid, for purposes of this example, $1,100 for the tires + $100 to the tire shop guy = $1,200 mounted and balanced for them. Later, you got some different tires, so you loaded these in your wife’s SUV and brought them home to try to recoup a few bucks.

Now, let’s just say for a moment that you are one of the very few people who actually measures the tread depth. You measure 5/32. New was 10/32, so you say these have “half their tread left” in your ad. Then, you say to yourself, “Self, you paid $1,200 for these. They are half used. $600 is fair.”

What is the problem with this logic?

Well, first, you did not use half the tread. Tires are not legal in most states with less than 2/32 of tread left, and many (myself included) consider tires fully worn out for street purposes (where they might be driven in the rain) at 3/32. That means that only 7/32 of USABLE tread was on the tires when you bought them. You used 5 of those 7. So you did not use half the tread; you used 5/7 of the tread. I am only buying the last 2/7.

Let’s say you are convinced so far. So you say to yourself, “Self, this sucks. We only have 2 of our 7 usable units of tread depth left to sell. 2/7 of $1200 is $343. We are going to have to take $343 for these things, not $600.”

The world is hard, and it’s even harder than you see described here.

If I bought a new tire, I would get all 7/32 of USABLE tread life, mounted and balanced, for $1,200. That means for each of my 7 units (1/32 of an inch), I would pay $171. Now, I’m only buying 2 units of tread life, so you might expect me to offer $340. The problem with that is that I have to get them mounted and balanced, and I have to pay the whole $100. The tire guy is mounting four whole tires, not 2/32 of four whole tires.

For me to get 2/32 of tread life for $340, I can only pay you $240, because the mount and balance guy gets his $100.

So the preliminary price for your tires is not $600, but $240, and that is before we talk about the fact that your tires are not new and therefore have no mileage warranty, that if I bought new I might get free road hazard thrown in, that it is less convenient to buy tires with 2/32 of tread than with 7/32 of tread, etc.

So anyway, the next time you get an offer for $150 to $200 for your tires that you “estimate” to have 50% of their tread life, don’t tell yourself the buyer is trying to screw you. Say to yourself, “Self, a worn out set of tires just really isn’t worth anything.”

Excellent logic, bring on the haters.

You forgot to factor in (low) supply and (high) demand. We await your recalculation :tup:

I see what you're saying, good points

Best thing to do:

- Most large tire/performance shops carry a large inventory of used wheels. For example, I just got a pair of Bridgestone Potenza RE50A, 305-30-19 with 6/32 thread left...$250 cash for the pair

- Ebay! I was going to go there first but then took a chance locally but ya, there are 1 or 2 really good sellers selling our sizes...pretty much same price as above..

However...on forums its tricky, most people don't always factor in that depreciation and are trying to get as much as possible. Especially if as mentioned above, demand can be a factor...often lots of rims up for sale, not tires as much

My equation:

Used Tires = $0 (see bold above) so no one would in their right mind try to sell something that's worthless, which is why you never see used tires for sale.

You offer $150-$200 (see bold above). Funny so used tires = $0 = $150-$200.

Then we have to factor in your mounting and balancing, $100, which is the seller's problem apparently, which is why you offer $240 instead of $340 which they are apparently worth also.

Refresh: used tires = $0 = $150-$200 = $340 (not a math major but by this logic if I have $0 in my checking account I actually have $340)

Wow...phenominal post

fair enough.

So how much was he asking for his tires?

All good points, and well stated at that.

Allow me to point out the following tho:

1. Sellers generally do not factor what they paid for mount/balance when determining value.
2. Sellers do not care that you have to pay for mount/balance.
3. Sellers do not care that you do not get a warranty.
4. Sellers do not care that you have to pay for shipping.
5. Sellers figure: Hey, you can pay me $340 and roll for a given duration or you can pay $1100 and roll for a somewhat longer duration.

Either way, someone will come along and choose to spend the $340. Either that consumer can can be you, or not. It may be unfair, but it is what it is. :ugh2:

TGO was spot on with his recommendation of a large used retailer. I say go that route! :tup:

@diddy - Fair enough. So instead of "...isn't really worth anything" substitute "...isn't worth as much as I might hope."

... what was fair. $600. The tires (extreme summer performance) only had 12K miles on them, and he estimated that 50% of the tread was left.

@bmcd308 honestly it's just never fair, sometimes better for sellers sometimes better for buyers. if it's not the quality of the items it's the fact that people are charging for paypal fees. just don't take it personally if someone is asking $600 and you offer $200 and they get pissy. are they right? probably not, but offering 1/3 of the asking price is just bound to stir up some negative reaction.

Why did you make this post here?