Build vs. Buy
Should You Build Your Own Tire & Wheel Ecommerce Site?
Before you hire a developer or spend months building a fitment engine from scratch, see exactly what that costs — and what you get by signing up for Fitzy instead.
The 3 Hardest Things to Build Yourself
Every tire ecommerce build eventually runs into the same three walls. Fitzy ships with all three already solved.
Real Fitment Data
Bolt pattern, offset, load rating — get it wrong and it's a liability issue, not just a bad review. Fitzy's fitment logic runs across 1M+ SKUs from 75+ suppliers, already built and tested.
Package Builder & Visualizer
Letting shoppers pair wheels + tires and see the combination before buying is a real engineering project. It's already built into every Fitzy storefront — see it live.
AI Sales Assistant
Answering "will this fit my truck?" at 11pm converts sales. Building your own AI agent is a separate product. FitzyChat does it for $49/mo.
Cost & Time: Build It Yourself vs. Fitzy
Estimates below reflect typical custom-development scope for the same feature set Fitzy ships with out of the box. Your mileage may vary — but the gap doesn't.
| What you need | Build it yourself | With Fitzy |
|---|---|---|
| Fitment engine (bolt pattern, offset, load rating logic) | $15,000–$60,000+ to build, then ongoing upkeep | Included from day one |
| Supplier/inventory integrations | Custom API work per supplier, months of dev time | 1M+ SKUs already connected |
| Checkout, tax, shipping, financing | $5,000–$20,000+ in dev + compliance work | Included — Affirm/Snap financing built in |
| Package builder / wheel visualizer | $10,000+ for a custom visualizer tool | Included, live on every product |
| AI sales assistant | Build or license separately, $500+/mo typical | FitzyChat add-on, $49/mo |
| Hosting, uptime, security patching | Your responsibility, ongoing | Fully managed |
| Time to launch | 3–9 months typical for a custom build | Days to weeks |
Fitzy: $500/mo (keep 100% of profit) or $0/mo (10% revenue share) — plus a one-time $2,500 setup. No dev team required.
See Pricing & Book a DemoThe Hidden Nightmares of Building It Yourself
The developer invoice is only the start. These are the project-management black holes that sink most DIY tire ecommerce builds — rated by how painful they are for a shop owner (10 = worst).
10/10 pain
Lost-in-translation developer tax
Web developers understand carts — not bolt patterns. You pay $10,000–$30,000+ and still spend months explaining why 5x114.3 won't fit a 5x120 hub. They ship a generic cart that sells the wrong rim; you eat the return.
9/10 pain
Distributor API gatekeeping
A wholesale account is not a live data feed. Major warehouses require security audits, volume guarantees, and compliance paperwork most independents never clear. Fitzy already negotiated the master pipelines — you inherit them.
10/10 pain
Multi-supplier data mapping chaos
Supplier A, B, and C name the same Michelin three different ways. Your developer writes thousands of mapping rules — then adds wheels and the mess multiplies. Fitzy normalizes the catalog for you.
9/10 pain
Broken-bridge maintenance trap
Feeds change without warning. Prices go to $0. Checkout dies on a Tuesday night. You keep a developer on retainer just to stand guard. Fitzy monitors supplier pipelines so your storefront doesn't skip a beat.
| Problem | Pain | DIY path | With Fitzy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wrong fitment returns | 10/10 | Manual guides & tribal knowledge | Automated bolt pattern / offset / clearance checks |
| Upfront inventory capital | 10/10 | Buy stock, hope it turns | Zero-inventory live supplier catalog |
| Lost-in-translation developer tax | 10/10 | Explain offsets to web developers for months | Automotive team already built the engine |
| Multi-supplier data mapping | 10/10 | Normalize chaotic SKU naming yourself | Universal cleaned catalog across 75+ suppliers |
| Distributor API gatekeeping | 9/10 | Audits, volume guarantees, compliance forms | Inherit Fitzy's master supplier pipelines |
| Broken-bridge feed maintenance | 9/10 | $500–$1,500/mo retainer when APIs change | Platform engineers fix feeds globally |
| Hot-shot capital float | 9/10 | Pay warehouse first, wait for customer | Customer pays retail; wholesale routes automatically |
| Manual stock updates | 8/10 | Sell what a stale CSV said was available | Live inventory sync |
Backed by Limitless Tire Group — 5 physical locations in Ontario, Canada, $50M+ sold, since 2008. Fitzy is built by people who've run tire shops, not just software.
Common Questions
Isn't it cheaper long-term to build my own tire ecommerce site?
Usually not. A custom fitment engine, live supplier inventory, checkout, and a wheel visualizer typically cost $30,000–$100,000+ to build and require ongoing engineering to maintain. Fitzy includes all of it for a flat $500/mo (or $0/mo on the revenue-share plan) plus a one-time $2,500 setup.
What if I already have a website?
You don't need to rebuild anything. Fitzy is a widget — it drops into your existing site and instantly adds guaranteed-fitment tire and wheel shopping, live inventory, and checkout.
What do I actually get with Fitzy that I'd have to build myself?
Three things shops usually underestimate the cost of building: (1) a real fitment engine across 1M+ SKUs, (2) a built-in package builder / wheel visualizer, and (3) FitzyChat, an AI sales assistant. All three are included or available as a low-cost add-on.
Can I switch from my current platform to Fitzy?
Yes. Most shops keep their existing site and simply embed the Fitzy widget, or let us build a new site around it for $29/mo. Book a demo and we'll walk through your specific setup.
What's the hardest part of a DIY tire ecommerce build that people underestimate?
Teaching non-automotive developers fitment, winning live distributor API access, mapping messy multi-supplier catalogs, and paying retainers when those feeds break. Fitzy eliminates that entire stack — see the pain table above.
Skip the build. Start selling.
See the exact platform your customers would be shopping on — live, in your browser, right now.