TireDex.com Inc., a new Orange County-based business-to-business tire and wheel Web site , has seen a boom in traffic as the result of Firestone’s recall of its tires, but that hasn’t meant a boom in business.
“There’s been a lot of action looking for replacement tires,” said Terence Scheckter, founder of TireDex, a company based in Newport Beach.
However, the lack of lack of tires in the marketplace has cooled the trading action at TireDex.com.
“There’s no product around,” he said, as wholesalers are able to sell their inventories directly to established customers, rather than having to offer them on the Web site.
TireDex is not trading any of the tires that Firestone is recalling. But Scheckter said his firm just began talking with Firestone officials about improving its e-commerce. Scheckter said Firestone’s recall is definitely hurting that company’s sales of all of its tires.
Scheckter began the company last year, with the name being a semi-acronym for Tire Dealers Exchange.
TireDex does not buy or sell inventory, but lists tires and wheels being sold by wholesalers. Thus far, tire and wheel companies have listed over $30 million worth of merchandise on the Web site. TireDex, which takes a percentage of each deal, says it’s the first in its space.
“There’s always been an imbalance of inventory,” he said. “One company always has too much and another doesn’t have enough.”
At the Web site, customers negotiate price and shipping methods and can use TireDex’s
