I just ran into that site. These guys charge for shipping. Is there anyone else closer to Los Angeles?
They do have a warehouse in Santa Cruz and sell and provide service at basically every race and track day on the left coast. A phone should find the tires at one of their vendors close to you.
The idea behind the online marketplace is that it has removed the expenses of the brick and mortar store + plus the unskilled work force making it possible to offer free shipping saving the retailer a lot more money. Think about the savings the retailer has now saved by no longer spending on labor, tax labor, insurance, lease, and whatever else comes with a physical store. This is why amazon has blown the old school mentality away from existence.
Amazon still charges for shipping on many things. The merchant still pays for shipping, so they pass on that cost to the buyer in some form or another.
You will NEVER be able to buy true racing tires from a gigantic on line retailer because they are so specialized. And the guy shipping your race tires is usually the guy at the track explaining why you tore the shit out of of the rear when your sag was 80mm and the hot pressure was 12lbs. So your expectations of racing tire sales are not at all realistic.
I have amazon prime, which comes with a lot more besides free shipping. I agree the racing tires will be hard to get on amazon for now, but it's not far fetch. CT is at most of the west coast events so I will be able to pick them during the events. I talked to some guy at CT yesterday and stated the tires are bit less than his online store. I just did not know how to go about getting race tires. I was able to get an SC1 online, but then it became a little bit impossible after that.
Amazon Prime isn't free either. As has been said, free shipping isn't free, the costs are just included in other ways. Do you really believe that most on-line retailers actually pass the savings from their operation on to the consumer rather than increasing their profit margin?
With prime I do get a savings, because I purchase practically everything there. Don't forget you get other things with prime besides the free shipping. Also consider the time it takes to go to a store and search for an item when it can be easily delivered. Out of curiosity what era did you mainly experience? 80's?
I disagree with almost all of this. The idea/purpose behind online retail is convenience and accessibility. I can own a machine shop for example and make the best quality specialized parts for particular kind of car lets say. But if I have no online presence then the only way people can purchase my quality parts is to visit my location. However, if I have an online store now anyone with internet connectivity can buy whatever they need from me and get the best product while sitting on their couch or whatever. Also, the expense has not changed a bit. I still have to manufacture the parts and hire a staff to run that machines and maintain the machines and pay for electricity in the building and property insurance and SHIPPING which is actually a new expense now that I am online to PROVIDE A SERVICE TO YOU. So really I have increased my costs but arguably increased my market share. It is for this reason why certain retailers who have enough throughput can provide free shipping but for boutique items that dont have the volume its not a viable business model to eat that cost. As to your comment about amazon, yes they have done a good job of putting certain business out but keep in mind a very important concept which is that they can never provide the same level of service an in person sale can. Never. You can argue that until you are blue in the face but in their business model being able to get professional advise from qualified people who can give you hands on information for your particular needs is non existent. Brick and mortar businesses are important and without them you are begging for a severe drop in both quality of product and service.
You can certainly defend the use of Amazon Prime, due to the accessibility and convenience it provides for purchasing product and media. I use it all the time, as well. It serves many of my needs. However, I recognize that it is a service for which I pay, but am happy with the value I receive. I do not pretend the the shipping is free. When I lived in Alaska, there were many of the sellers on Amazon who would not ship to Alaska for "free". I am pretty sure I don't know what you mean by "era" that I experienced? I have experienced all of them in which I have lived. If you want to look at decades, then I am experiencing my 7th and my 5th racing with WERA.
But when Amazon sends a truck with an experienced tire tech, tire & balance equipment, and the correct dry compounds and rains to the races... wait
Bro you have understand how automation works. A vendor that purchases an already made tire is just exchanging hands. This model mainly applies to unskilled or repetitive task that machine or software can eliminate the human from doing. May be in your case it may be different, but that is not even one percentile in the direction purchasing has gone. Also amazon didn't put these stores out of business. The stores themselves put themselves out of business by not moving with the trend or change of the future. Sears was one a catalog retailer, then went to brick mortar and started to sale shit product, where it once sold quality products. Hmm, what could have happened? An another simple fact you can compare this to is the automobile industry where once you had people putting the cars together then replaced by machine. The same is happening to the workforce. People are being replaced by software. You can see this with receptionist, accountants, techs, cab drivers (ride share apps), and others. I know because I work in this industry that automates unskilled labor. It's just fact bro. You need to see at the bigger picture. Unfortunately the displacement of unskilled labor has been happening since the sixties or even longer.
A possible future conversation between Cam Beaubier & Garrett Gerlof at a MotoAmerica race in the future according to Moto Trackside? Yo Cam how you doing and did you know your Amazon tire shipment is at will call?
So you don't think that's why the tires are cheaper than a local shop? They should sell them cheaper AND offer free shipping? BTW - Amazon has a wee bit more quantity with which to leverage their shipping costs compared to a guy selling tires. And they do charge for shipping.