Still rip-off UK for motorists? :( Winter tyres

[irocfan]

So I decided to have a little looksee for winter tyres and was (un)surprised by the very first example I found


http://www.wintertyres.com/catalogsearch/advanced/...


SAME tyres in Germany £100 cheaper (PER TYRE!!)

http://www.reifen.com/de/TyreSize/List/CarWinter/2...

only diff I can see is that the Germans will charge you a HE-UGE €9.90 to deliver and the UK one is 'free'

certainly a bit of an eye-opener

[Riknos]

How much to deliver to here? Even if that firm wont deliver - surely you can pay third parties who will receive it and ship it over for less than £400?

[C.A.R.]

Wow. Such a low-profile tyre, no wonder they're pricey!

Have you weighed up whether
- They are worth it
- You actually need them
- It would be cheaper to get smaller wheels with a different sized tyre for the winter?

[Grenoble]

Not really.Supply / demand, etc.

2 mins on Google:

Vredestein Wintrac xtreme 255/35 R19 96W XL with rim protection ridge

£182 delivered

http://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?details=...

[Watchman]

Buy earlier in the year. Prices here are significantly cheaper. Supply and demand... there won't be much supply while the demand is still low (relative to Europe). Pretty sure you'd know this though.

[MoelyCrio]

Aren't reifen.com and mytyres.co.uk the same place anyway?

[irocfan]

MoelyCrio said:

Aren't reifen.com and mytyres.co.uk the same place anyway?

if they are then that is a total shocker

[Ozzie Osmond]

irocfan said:

SAME tyres in Germany £100 cheaper (PER TYRE!!)

Supply and demand. 99.9% of the UK population don't need them.

[Grenoble]

irocfan said:

if they are then that is a total shocker

Why is it a total shocker?

"Ripoff Britain" only exists in markets where there is limited supply of providers or a group are skewing the market.

Those criteria don't apply. Plenty of potential suppliers, plenty of potential providers. A seller can put whatever price they want to on a website - it's the customer that decides if they want to pay it... If you don't like their price, buy it from a rival.

[irocfan]

Grenoble said:

irocfan said:

if they are then that is a total shocker

Why is it a total shocker?

"Ripoff Britain" only exists in markets where there is limited supply of providers or a group are skewing the market.

Those criteria don't apply. Plenty of potential suppliers, plenty of potential providers. A seller can put whatever price they want to on a website - it's the customer that decides if they want to pay it... If you don't like their price, buy it from a rival.

I guess I just don't like people taking advantage, if the same tyres were offered here for £20/30 more I'd be thing ho-hum fair does (and to be fair a previous poster came up with another site where they are) but £100 per tyre is (IMHO) taking the piss

[julian64]

All this country thing is immaterial now we have the internet.

I bought four tyres online having specified the cheapest UK company.

When I looked online for the tracking it appears they started in norway, then went to germany before arriving in the UK.

Surprising as the delivery was free, but now seems to be the way of things.

[Grenoble]

irocfan said:

I guess I just don't like people taking advantage, if the same tyres were offered here for £20/30 more I'd be thing ho-hum fair does (and to be fair a previous poster came up with another site where they are) but £100 per tyre is (IMHO) taking the piss

Yes, that was me...

They aren't "taking advantage"... buying winter tyres online implies:

• You know the product you want
• You are well informed
• You can exercise significant choice

Taking advantage is pressurising old ladies to change their gas suppliers on the doorstop with hard sell techniques...

[GreatGranny]

Your profile says you are in Essex, do you really need them?

Its not exactly the highlands is it?

I lived in Sheffield for over 20 years and never thought I needed winter tyres once.

If it was really bad I just didn't use my car.

[Mykap]

Grenoble said:

Taking advantage is pressurising old ladies to change their gas suppliers on the doorstop with hard sell techniques...

GreatGranny said:

Your profile says you are in Essex, do you really need them?

Its not exactly the highlands is it?

I lived in Sheffield for over 20 years and never thought I needed winter tyres once.

If it was really bad I just didn't use my car.

who supplies your gas?

Just got four Firestone Winterhawk 2 EVO (185/60/15) through oponeo for 46 quid each. delivered from Germany in 38hrs. Brilliant service and price.

Edited by Mykap on Friday 12th October 13:48

[irocfan]

GreatGranny said:

Your profile says you are in Essex, do you really need them?

Its not exactly the highlands is it?

I lived in Sheffield for over 20 years and never thought I needed winter tyres once.

If it was really bad I just didn't use my car.

normally I'd agree with you - however this december i'm off to the Eiffel region of Germany (so snow is pretty much guaranteed) and then April a week in Bavaria/Czech republic where winter tyres may well be advisable again... add in to that the advice about how winter tyres work waaay better than 'normal' at under c7 degrees and it seems worth a look