As Dawson Tire & Wheel’s business has grown to serve farm equipment dealers across North America, the ag tire supplier has accumulated a large inventory of used tires and wheels. “We needed to get in front of more farmers. In years past, we did a lot of print advertising in magazines such as Tractor House and Fastline and that’s just not working as well as it used to. As we talk to our farmer customers, they’ve been telling us they’regoing online. We realized we needed to get this stuff online,” explains Eric MacPherson, CEO, Dawson Tire & Wheel. The result is Ag Tire Outlet, an online marketplace for buying used ag tires and wheels, as well as a full line of new tires and wheels.

Ag Tire Outlet allows farm equipment dealers to list and sell their used tire and wheel inventories online.

In addition to selling its own used tire inventory, Dawson Tire & Wheel will be opening up the site to farm equipment dealers to list their used tires as well. “When the 9-store dealership bought out a 6-store dealership, now there’s 15 stores and they wind up buying stuff from us and then find out they have it on one of the lots of the stores they bought. So there’s a lot of used tires and wheels on the equipment dealers lot. It might be in inventory and it might not, but it has a value and they’re asking us, ‘How can we sell this stuff, how can we turn it into cash?’” says MacPherson.

Early in 2016, dealers will be able to list their tire and wheel inventory on the site, and Ag Tire Outlet will be a commission agent — similar to eBay — that takes a percentage. When a farmer places an order for a dealer’s tires, Ag Tire Outlet will take the money, arrange for the freight and pay the dealer, minus their commission, MacPherson explains.

He says Ag Tire Outlet is the first of its kind. “To my knowledge, it’s the only one out there. There are tire dealers that have their inventory online, but I don't know of any used tire and wheel inventory online or a service to help the equipment dealer sell their tires and wheels,” he says.

The major benefit to dealers, MacPherson says, is this solution turns their used tires and wheels into cash. “This solves the problem of old tires and wheels they have on their lots that they don’t know how to sell.”

To start, Dawson will assist dealers with getting their inventory listed on Ag Tire Outlet, but down the road MacPherson says they are working on an app that would allow dealers to list everything on their own. “It would help calculate tread depth and things like that for the dealer. He can snap a picture on his smartphone, shoot it over and most of the work is done.”

Dealers can learn more at www.AgTireOutlet.com.