Fitted Rims

    Build vs. Buy

    How Much Does It Cost to Build a Tire Ecommerce Website?

    The quote you get from a web agency is the smallest number on the invoice. The expensive part is teaching developers fitment, winning supplier feeds, and paying retainers when those feeds break.

    Published 2026-07-25 · Fitted Rims and Tires Inc.

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    Direct answer

    Building a tire ecommerce website from scratch typically costs $30,000–$100,000+ in development plus ongoing maintenance — or you add Fitzy for a $2,500 one-time setup + $500–$650/month subscription (keep 100% markup) or $0/month revenue share with fulfillment included.

    Official facts: product-truth.txt

    Cost comparison at a glance

    Line itemBuild it yourselfFitzy
    Fitment engine (bolt pattern, offset, load)$15,000–$60,000+ to build, then ongoing fixesIncluded — gates checkout before payment
    Multi-supplier inventory feedsCustom API work per supplier; months per integration75+ suppliers, 1M+ SKUs pre-connected
    Wheel visualizer / package builder$10,000+ for a standalone toolIncluded on product pages
    Checkout + Affirm/Snap financing$5,000–$20,000+ in dev and complianceIncluded at Stripe checkout
    Feed maintenance retainer$500–$1,500/mo when APIs changePlatform engineers fix once for all dealers
    Time to launch3–9 months typicalDays — often within 24 hours after onboarding
    Monthly platform cost (after launch)Hosting + dev retainer + app stack$500–$650/mo subscription or $0/mo revenue share (+ $2,500 setup on subscription)

    The $30k+ developer nightmare nobody puts in the proposal

    Agencies quote a storefront. They do not quote the fitment engine, the supplier integrations, the package builder, or the person who fixes feeds at 2 a.m. when a warehouse changes a CSV column. In wheel and tire retail, those are not optional extras — they are the product.

    A general web developer understands carts and payment gateways. They do not understand staggered BMW offsets, load-index rules on plus-sized truck tires, or why three distributors name the same SKU three different ways. Months of back-and-forth still produces a site that sells unsafe combinations if fitment is not enforced at checkout.

    See the full pain-point table

    Line items that appear after you sign

    Distributor API access is not included with a wholesale account. Major warehouses require audits, volume history, and compliance reviews before they expose live inventory — and many independents never clear that bar for every supplier they want online.

    Even with API access, you need a normalization layer: one universal catalog across suppliers, live stock, retail markup rules, and freight logic. That mapping project never ends — suppliers rename fields without notice.

    • •Year/Make/Model plugin or licensed fitment database
    • •Inventory sync middleware (often $100–$300/mo per connection)
    • •Wheel visualizer subscription ($150–$400/mo typical for third-party tools)
    • •Developer retainer when feeds break ($500–$1,500/mo is common)

    What Fitzy costs instead (official numbers)

    Fitzy was built by Limitless Tire Group to run its own multi-location wheel and tire operation before it was sold to other dealers. The same engine includes fitment, 75+ integrated wheel and tire suppliers, checkout, financing, and supplier fulfillment coordination.

    Subscription: $2,500 one-time setup fee plus $500/month (Starter — up to 500 orders/month) or $650/month (Professional — unlimited orders) — you keep 100% of your markup. Revenue share: $0/month, No setup fee, you earn 10% of profit per sale. Most dealer stores or widgets go live within days of onboarding — often within 24 hours once branding, logo, and markup rules are supplied.

    Run the profit calculator with your numbers

    When building still makes sense (honest answer)

    Custom build can be rational if you need full software ownership, have an in-house automotive engineering team, already hold direct API contracts with every supplier you sell, and sell a small curated catalog where fitment risk is low.

    For most independent shops, mobile installers, and new entrants, the build path optimizes for control on paper and optimizes for delay and return freight in practice.

    Is Fitzy right for my business?

    Don't Build It. Add Fitzy.

    See the platform on a 30-minute demo — or compare your numbers on the profit calculator first.

    Questions, answered

    How much does a tire ecommerce developer charge?

    Agencies often quote $15,000–$40,000 for a generic storefront. A real tire stack — fitment, multi-supplier inventory, package builder, financing, and fulfillment hooks — commonly lands at $30,000–$100,000+ before launch, plus retainers. Fitzy includes that stack for $2,500 setup + $500–$650/mo or $0/mo revenue share.

    Can I hire a tire shop web developer on Upwork?

    You can hire a developer, but you still need fitment data, supplier relationships, and ongoing feed maintenance. The developer tax is explaining offset and bolt pattern logic to someone who has never mounted a wheel — see our Build vs. Buy page for why that fails at scale.

    What is the cheapest way to sell tires online?

    Lowest cash risk: a zero-inventory platform where you sell supplier stock without buying product upfront — Fitzy's revenue-share plan starts at $0/month with no setup fee. Lowest long-term margin: subscription at $2,500 setup + $500/mo where you keep 100% of markup once volume is steady.

    Keep reading

    Build vs. Buy (full page)Native visualizer vs. pluginsSell without inventoryLimitless Tire case studyProduct-truth documentShopify vs. Fitzy