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"Sears will expand its DieHard partnership with Amazon next year to include tires and batteries." How can they ship something so heavy and large and still make

"Sears will expand its DieHard partnership with Amazon next year to include tires and batteries." How can they ship something so heavy and large and still make any money? Doesn't it cost a huge amount to ship those things?

ct0 9y ago
Surely it is expensive. But think about the cost to make them. Its a simple combination of water, metal and plastic. FYI, shipping batteries is considered hazardous. In my experience Amazon did not accept return shipments for a battery they sent to me that was defective.
- joezydeco 9y ago
  Its a simple combination of water, metal and plastic A lot of them still contain lead and sulfuric acid. That's why they are hazardous.
jbob2000 9y ago
Not only that, but most people don’t install their own tires and batteries.
- CodeWriter23 9y ago
  The ~25-foot long top to bottom shelf space dedicated to car batteries at most Walmart Stores would suggest it is a significant market.
- Broken_Hippo 9y ago
  You are correct on tires. Batteries, though? Where I'm from many know how to do it and only a few pay. Sometimes the guys at auto zone will replace it for free or some dude in the parking lot is happy to help. Or that friend at work. And so on. A few cars have a more complicated path to the battery and you have to remove things, but it isn't usually a problem.
- cthalupa 9y ago
  I'm about as mechanically un-inclined as it gets and I still install my own batteries. It's trivial. I'm pretty sure I know far more people that install batteries themselves or with a friend than pay for someone to do it.
  - speedplane 9y ago
    Have you ever tried to replace the battery on a Corvette? You need to take apart a dozen parts... it's ridiculous, I'm convinced they do it to keep mechanics in business.
brudgers 9y ago
UPS delivers tires from TireRack to my door. Granted, I don't own a Big Foot replica, a mining dump, or a large John Deere. But ordinary tires are not that big and not that heavy and ship at ordinary rates...or in Amazon's case a heavily negotiated rate.
CamelCaseName 9y ago
Larger businesses get extremely steep discounts on shipping. As a small business I get 15-30% off, but billion dollar businesses can get as much as 70% off counter rates.

ct0 9y ago

Surely it is expensive. But think about the cost to make them. Its a simple combination of water, metal and plastic. FYI, shipping batteries is considered hazardous. In my experience Amazon did not accept return shipments for a battery they sent to me that was defective.

joezydeco 9y ago
Its a simple combination of water, metal and plastic A lot of them still contain lead and sulfuric acid. That's why they are hazardous.

jbob2000 9y ago

Not only that, but most people don’t install their own tires and batteries.

CodeWriter23 9y ago
The ~25-foot long top to bottom shelf space dedicated to car batteries at most Walmart Stores would suggest it is a significant market.
Broken_Hippo 9y ago
You are correct on tires. Batteries, though? Where I'm from many know how to do it and only a few pay. Sometimes the guys at auto zone will replace it for free or some dude in the parking lot is happy to help. Or that friend at work. And so on. A few cars have a more complicated path to the battery and you have to remove things, but it isn't usually a problem.
cthalupa 9y ago
I'm about as mechanically un-inclined as it gets and I still install my own batteries. It's trivial. I'm pretty sure I know far more people that install batteries themselves or with a friend than pay for someone to do it.
- speedplane 9y ago
  Have you ever tried to replace the battery on a Corvette? You need to take apart a dozen parts... it's ridiculous, I'm convinced they do it to keep mechanics in business.

brudgers 9y ago

UPS delivers tires from TireRack to my door. Granted, I don't own a Big Foot replica, a mining dump, or a large John Deere. But ordinary tires are not that big and not that heavy and ship at ordinary rates...or in Amazon's case a heavily negotiated rate.

CamelCaseName 9y ago

Larger businesses get extremely steep discounts on shipping. As a small business I get 15-30% off, but billion dollar businesses can get as much as 70% off counter rates.