Walmart Challenges eBay Motors With New Buy Online, Installed In Store Tire Deal
Tire shoppers can now buy from third party merchants on Walmart.com and have them shipped to a Walmart Auto Care Center for easy installation, rivaling eBay Motors offering that leverages installation partners to provide the same service.
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Today we’re accelerating both by enabling customers to order eligible tires from Walmart Sellers and have them shipped to a local Walmart store for easy installation at our Auto Care Centers.
This initiative expands Walmart’s total installation-eligible tire assortment across stores and online. With today’s announcement, Walmart Sellers have added 12,000 unique items, including specialty tires, to provide nearly 40,000 Marketplace offers that are installation eligible at 2,300 Auto Care Centers around the country.
Here’s how it works: Easily search the expanded selection and have the tires shipped to a Walmart Auto Care Center for installation, scheduling time for installation, all within the Walmart app or on Walmart.com.
Tires eligible for installation are clearly tagged “Available for Installation” while the online experience also allows you to check if the tires are appropriate for your vehicle. Expert tire installation starts at just $18 per tire.
The seamless integration prioritizes convenience by also allowing for easy returns of tires and amends for appointments at any of Walmart’s Auto Care Centers nationwide.
Competitor eBay has also been bulking up their tire installation offering as part of the Motors Parts & Accessories vertical focus push, but eBay is at a distinct disadvantage in this fight as they must complete rely on installation partners to complete the service rather than having an in house network of service centers like Walmart can leverage.
That in house network could be a huge differentiator for Walmart as eBay has struggled with making the third party partner experience smooth and seamless for buyers, especially when eBay runs promotions that their partners aren't aware of.
First time buying tires with eBay, took advantage of the free installation offer, paid for everything, the installation charge is on the order along with the full credit, so it is "paid" for and on the order but of course also zeroed out due to the promotion.
Set this up over a week ago, got numerous emails confirmting the appointment at the installer (Firestone in Hackensack, NJ) as well as confirmation that the tires arrived there a week before the installation date which is today.
Got there this morning to drop off the car, the guy working there said he had nothing in their system about any of this - went in the back to look for the tires, couldn't find them. I pulled up every email and confirmation and he went back to look again and said he found them in some other back room. Then he proceeded to take my info to set up the installation and then he quoted me pricing on the installation. I explained it was included and paid for - showed him the receipts and email confirmations. He said "it's not in our system" and advised that I pay for the installation and seek a refund later from eBay/SimpleTire.
I called SimpleTire on the spot (a number they provided in one of their emails to me) and the rep said I could proceed and be refunded. Of course, the price I will pay is slightly higher (about $10) than what they will refund me. But I'm stuck, so I proceeded, because over $10 it's not worth going back another day.
But the bottom line is that eBay and SimpleTire do NOT have their act together. Their installers are completely unaware of them or anything they do. Sounds like a bit of a scam so that they can get you to buy their installation package but then have an understanding with the installer that the installer will not have the installation in "their system" so they can do this charge and refund game.
This way the installer can charge what they want and SimpleTire just backs out by refunding what you paid them - the result being you pay more to the installer directly.
Motors Parts & Accessories has long been the silent workhorse category for eBay, reportedly driving over $10 Billion in annual GMV for the company but competitors are keen to take a bigger chunk of market share in this critical category with Walmart smartly leveraging their large in house network of car care centers and Amazon flexing their online market dominance to attract OEM dealers to the platform.
Liz Morton
Would you prefer Walmart's in house experience or eBay's 3rd party partner program for your next online tire purchase? Let us know in the comments below!
