Why are DT/DTD private label exclusive tires

[slacktide_bitog]

so expensive?

The Road Hugger, and Yokohama's YK580 are among the highest-priced tires. Why Shouldn't the private labels be cheaper? The exclusive tires are usually among the cheapest! Their exclusive Falken Pro G4 (a DT version of the Sumitomo HTR A/S P02, which in turn is a slightly reworked Falken Ze950) cost more than the regular name brand versions!

We all know that the exclusive/private label tires are usually inferior to the regular name brand versions.

Imagine if Walmart's Douglas tires cost more than the real Goodyears!

 

[HTSS_TR]

They don't have to price match other brands and models.

No, DT/DTD exclusive/private label tires are not inferior to the regular versions. The reason is they move at fairly high volume therefore manufactures want to satisfy their request. Also, DT/DTD and manufacture (in this case Yokohama with YK580) don't like to ruin their name with inferior products.

Douglas tires at Walmart is another story. There is no Goodyears stamped on the tire and not many people know they are owned by Goodyears. Also, people who buy Douglas tires at Walmart knows that this tire is cheap because it isn't as high quality as Goodyears.

 

[hansj3]

Those sumi tires can be nice. The price point is less than the Michelins they compete with. Sometimes you got to compare who they compete with, apples to apples

 

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
so expensive?

The Road Hugger, and Yokohama's YK580 are among the highest-priced tires. Why Shouldn't the private labels be cheaper? The exclusive tires are usually among the cheapest! Their exclusive Falken Pro G4 (a DT version of the Sumitomo HTR A/S P02, which in turn is a slightly reworked Falken Ze950) cost more than the regular name brand versions!

We all know that the exclusive/private label tires are usually inferior to the regular name brand versions.

Imagine if Walmart's Douglas tires cost more than the real Goodyears!


First, apply the lessons in the Law of Supply and Demand: More demand = higher price, less supply = higher price.

Second, Yokohama is a tire manufacturer with its own brand = it is NOT a private brand.

Private brands come in a variety of flavors, and some are exclusive to one outlet and some are not.

And lastly, why worry about how things are priced. You can't changed them. So just deal with what is there.

(In other words, the world doesn't always make sense!)

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
They don't have to price match other brands and models.
Douglas tires at Walmart is another story. There is no Goodyears stamped on the tire and not many people know they are owned by Goodyears. Also, people who buy Douglas tires at Walmart knows that this tire is cheap because it isn't as high quality as Goodyears.


Walmart also has Goodyear-branded exclusive tires (the models with "Viva" or "Authority" in their names), and they are priced below nationally-available GY equivalents.

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer

Yokohama is a tire manufacturer with its own brand = it is NOT a private brand.


I know that, but this particular Yoko tire, the YK580, is only sold at Discount.

 

[rhhsiao]

DT/AT/DTD's private label would probably be their Arizonian line which I overheard a manager once say was made for them by Cooper.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Yeah I know about Arizonian (which isn't available online at DTD), but those tires are actually cheap.

The Road Hugger (also a private label, and made by Kumho) cost more than regular Kumho-brand tires! They might be a slight reworked Ecsta LX Platinum, because Discount doesn't sell that tire. It does cost more than other places charge for the LX Platinum, though!

 

[CKN]

The issue is most people don't research tires. I believe tire buyers now wait until the last possible minute to make a purchase decision because tires have gotten awfully expensive.


At least I see an awful lot of bald tires around here. They need to get them replaced before their semi-annual inspection for tags.

 

[Benito]

Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
so expensive?

The Road Hugger, and Yokohama's YK580 are among the highest-priced tires. Why Shouldn't the private labels be cheaper? The exclusive tires are usually among the cheapest! Their exclusive Falken Pro G4 (a DT version of the Sumitomo HTR A/S P02, which in turn is a slightly reworked Falken Ze950) cost more than the regular name brand versions!

We all know that the exclusive/private label tires are usually inferior to the regular name brand versions.

Imagine if Walmart's Douglas tires cost more than the real Goodyears!


It's marketing to extract maximum profit from the average customer who does not shop around.

1) They can claim it's exclusive to them which excites some people
2) They probably get an even better deal from Yokohama
3) You can't price shop vs the competition or easily compare tires with online resources
4) If you buy 1 or 2, then you have to come back to them for matching tires

I have always gotten a good deal from DT, so sent a friend to them when they got a flat. They ended up buying 1 YK580 for way too much money. Worked out perfect for DT and if I hadn't expressed surprise to my friend when I next saw them, they would have been happy too.

 

[IndyIan]

Canadian tire has their own branded tires as well, and they aren't cheap. What they do though is have them on sale often, so you can "save" 25-33% and pay about what they are worth.
If someone comes in on 3 baldies and a flat, then they get to make tons of money off them selling the tires a full price as they are always $5-10 cheaper than a good brand name set, so people just wanting to get out of there with the cheapest tires still pay alot...

 

[CapriRacer]

It might be time for my lecture on private brand tires.

We are all familiar with name brand tires - Goodyear, Firestone, Bridgestone, etc. These brands are advertised and are available pretty much everywhere. Each brand has a variety of tires under that brand - with differing characteristics. Some tires are for good wear, some are for good grip, some in between both of those. Winter, Summer, All Season,, All Terrain, etc.

The problem is that every tire dealer wants NOT to compete with the guy across the street. In the old days, it was easy - different brands. Sure there was some competition, but there wasn't any direct comparisons possible.

Then along came the mass retailers - WalMart, K Mart, Sears, Sam's Club, etc. They had outlets scattered everywhere - and even across the street from existing tire dealers. The mass retailers want to carry many, many brands - and their sheer volume gives them the clout to do it.

One way around this problem is a private brand - a brand that was distinct from the name brand. Some of these would be completely unique, some merely name changes. Some private brands would be owned by the dealer itself, and some owned by the tire manufacturer, and some owned by a distributor. To confuse matters even more, some private brands are produced by multiple manufacturers.

With these private brands, everyone can say they have a unique product. But sharp eyed consumers will see some which are quite similar and be able to identify who makes what.

To further complicate things. even tires which are visually the same, might be built to different quality standards. For example, one tire might be screened for balance to a certain level, and it almost identical brother screened to a different level of balance.

And there are quite a few different properties that can be used for differentiation.

So a word of caution. Not only are there tires which are virtually identical to name brand products, there are visually identical tires that are quite different.