March 16, 2010
Rolling with the punches
1-800EveryRim.com adapts to changing wheel market
By: Mike Manges
“We’re not in the luxury item business,” says Billy Eordekian, president of 1-800EveryRim.com LLC, which sells used wheels to independent tire dealerships, body shops and other businesses throughout the country. “We sell a necessity.”
In a bad economy, when fewer car owners are exchanging their original equipment rims for shiny, new custom wheels, you would think a used wheel broker like Billy Eordekian would be hurting due to lack of inventory.
Fewer wheels taken off translates into fewer wheels available for re-sell, right?
Not in Eordekian’s case. He reports that his company, Pico Rivera, Calif.-based 1-800EveryRim.com LLC, has had no trouble sourcing second-hand rims. “I could spend myself out of business every month just buying wheels.”
While aftermarket custom wheel sales have been on the downward slide for several years, the used wheel business remains healthy, he says.
In fact, 1-800EveryRim, which ships used wheels all over the U.S., had its best month ever this past January.
In some ways, it’s a sign of the times, says Eordekian, whose father, Steve Eordekian, was an independent tire dealer in Southern California.
“We’re not in the luxury item business. We sell a necessity. The bulk of our inventory is the good, old-fashioned used rim that’s still accepted by the tire dealer. And the reason is that the tire dealer is selling to the retail customer, who is paying out of pocket. That customer will accept wheels that are of like kind and quality.
“The retail customer driving a four-year-old car already has a few scratches and maybe a little curb rash on their other wheels, so why would they want to pay for a wheel that’s shinier and more expensive?”
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