NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.— A new Internet site—TireDex.com— aims to be the first global business-to-business marketplace for tires and wheels. TireDex.com, which stands for Tire Dealers' Exchange, was launched Oct. 21 to provide what its founder and CEO Terence Scheckter of Newport Beach calls a "neutral trading ground for retailers, wholesalers, brokers and manufacturers of tires and wheels."
The site is intended to eliminate the prolonged negotiations and numerous telephone calls otherwise encountered in such transactions and permit buyers and sellers to trade with anyone anywhere in the world, Mr. Scheckter said.
"TireDex.com is the ideal way to liquidate excess inventory without having to incur additional expense."
Buyers can use the site to list the tires and wheels they seek. In addition, buyers can search for tires based on size, brand, model, shipping point and other criteria. Similar searches for wheels are conducted on the basis of bolt pattern, offset, size, etc.
Buyers and sellers decide the minimum amounts they are prepared to trade and negotiate online. TireDex.com also offers an escrow service to protect both parties in such transactions.
No fee is charged for listing tires or wheels, searching the database or buying tires. However, once a trade is completed the seller is charged a fee amounting to 3 percent of the transaction cost in the case of tires and 6 percent for wheels.
Additional features on the site include classified listings of equipment and job openings, a calendar of events, industry stock listings and links to related sites. More will be added later, Mr. Scheckter said.
By the end of the first month of the site's operation, approximately 140 participants in 35 countries had registered, and listings were received for approximately 20,000 tires and 10,000 wheels, he said.