Tire Pricing for Shops: How to Price Tires Right

Tire pricing for shops comes down to two decisions: how much you make on the tire itself, and what you charge for everything that goes with it (mounting, balancing, valve stems or TPMS parts, disposal and any state fee). Customers compare tires online to the dollar, so the tire margin is usually thin. The installation package is where a shop gets paid for its time.

More on this topic: Pricing and shop numbers, every guide in one place.

This guide compares percent margin with a fixed profit per tire, builds the installation package line by line, covers the TPMS and registration rules that come with selling tires, and finishes with an out-the-door quote you can say on the phone. Every price is an example; use your own costs.

The short answer

Tire pricing for shops, in short: price the tire at a fixed profit (say $25 to $35 a tire) or a modest margin, then add mount and balance, a valve stem or TPMS service kit, disposal and any state fee (California $1.75, Florida $1 per new tire). Quote the out-the-door total; our four-tire example comes to $739 before tax.

Key takeaways

• Decide between a percent margin and a fixed gross profit per tire; fixed profit keeps expensive tires competitive, percent protects you on cheap ones.
• The installation package (mount, balance, valve stem or TPMS kit, disposal) pays for technician time. Price it as labor, not as tire margin.
• State tire fees must be stated separately on the invoice in California and Florida. Check yours.
• Federal law requires independent dealers to give buyers a way to register new tires, and bars shops from knowingly disabling a working TPMS.
• Quote one out-the-door number for four tires. Callers compare totals, not tire prices.

Disclosure: we make BayRobin, an AI receptionist and front office for independent repair shops, and show where it fits. Everything here works without it. Figures from other companies come from their public pages, checked in October 2026 and linked at the end.

Should you price tires by margin or by a fixed profit per tire?

Use a fixed profit per tire if you sell a wide range of tire prices, and a percent margin if most of your tires sit in a narrow band. The difference shows at the ends. Here's the same tire priced four ways (costs and prices are examples):

A percent margin pays you more for selling a $250 tire than a $70 one, but the $250 tire is exactly the one a customer will price online. A fixed profit keeps that tire close to internet prices and still pays you properly on the cheap tire. You can also blend the two: a fixed profit with a floor, and a lower percentage above a set cost.

Margin and markup are different numbers: a 25% margin is a 33% markup. If you're unsure which one your system uses, see our parts markup matrix guide, and keep tires out of your parts matrix so they don't pull its blended margin down.

What goes into the tire installation package?

Everything except the tire is your installation package, and it's priced per tire. A typical list (example prices):

Price mount and balance from the technician time it takes, not from the tire price. If four tires take about 0.75 hours and your tech costs you $40 an hour, the example's $100 for mount and balance leaves about $70. Write the package up as a canned job so every service writer quotes it the same way. When a wheel's lug nut spec is given in N·m and your torque wrench reads lb·ft, the free torque converter switches between the units.

Is a disposal fee a shop supplies charge? No; it's a real cost per tire you can name. Disclose it before the work and show it as its own line. Our guide to shop supplies fees covers the state rules on separate charges.

What state tire fees do shops have to charge?

Many states charge a fee on new tires, and the rules on who pays and how it shows on the invoice differ. Two examples, read from the statutes:

• California: Public Resources Code 42885 requires the buyer of a new tire to pay a California tire fee of $1.75 per tire (through 31 December 2033; $0.75 from 2034). The fee "shall be separately stated by the retail seller on the invoice", and the seller may keep 1.5% to cover collection costs. Retreaded and used tires are excluded.
• Florida: Statute 403.718 sets a $1 fee for each new motor vehicle tire sold at retail. It "shall be stated separately on the invoice to the purchaser" and is paid to the Department of Revenue by the 20th of the next month. Recapped tires are excluded.

Check your own state's environmental or revenue agency before you build the fee into a canned job; some states charge per tire, some per vehicle registration, some nothing at the point of sale. This isn't legal advice: rules change, states and cities add their own, so check the current text or ask your state agency or a lawyer before you change your invoices.

What are the TPMS rules when you sell tires?

Federal law says a repair business "may not knowingly make inoperative" a safety device installed to meet a federal standard, and a tire pressure monitoring system is one (49 U.S.C. 30122). NHTSA explained how that applies to tire shops in a 2011 letter to the Tire Industry Association:

• A sensor that was already dead and can't be repaired may be replaced with a standard rubber valve stem without violating the rule, but disabling the warning lamp would be a violation.
• Installing new tires and wheels "that do not have a functioning TPMS system" on a car whose system worked is a violation. Decline, move compatible sensors over, or sell new sensors.
• A violation happens when the shop returns the vehicle to use with a system it made inoperative, so fix anything you damaged before the car leaves.

In practice: check and record TPMS status at check-in (warning light, sensor readings), price the TPMS service kit into every TPMS vehicle's quote, and quote replacement sensors as a separate line when a sensor is dead.

Do independent shops have to register the tires they sell?

Yes. Under 49 CFR 574.8, an independent dealer selling new tires must do one of three things: hand each buyer a paper registration form with the full tire identification number (TIN) and the shop's name and address filled in; fill in the buyer's details and send the form to the tire maker within 30 days; or send the same information electronically within 30 days, and say so on the invoice. Registration can't cost the buyer anything, and one form can cover several tires sold to the same person.

Build it into the job: record each tire's full TIN on the repair order line as you mount it, and pick one registration method for the whole shop. Registration is how the manufacturer reaches the owner if those tires are recalled.

How should you price a road hazard plan?

Price it from what claims will cost you, not from what chains charge. An example: if you sell a plan at $15 a tire, and you expect roughly 1 in 12 tires to come back with a covered problem costing you about $120 to make good, the expected cost is about $10 a tire, leaving about $5 for the paperwork. Change either assumption and the price changes.

Write the terms down: what's covered (punctures, impact breaks), what's excluded (vandalism, wear, improper inflation), how long it lasts, and whether replacement is full or pro-rated by tread left. Put it next to your written warranty policy. If a third party backs the plan, their terms apply; and check whether your state treats a separately sold plan as a service contract.

What does an out-the-door tire quote look like?

Here's a worked example for four tires on a TPMS-equipped SUV in California. Every price is an assumption for illustration:

Gross profit in this example is about $226 ($120 on tires, about $70 on mount and balance after technician cost, and about $36 on kits and disposal, assuming kits cost you $4 each and the recycler charges $3 a tire) for roughly an hour of bay time. Add an alignment check and the tire job often leads to the next one; see alignment pricing for shops.

On the phone, give the total, not the tire price:

"For four of those in your size, mounted, balanced, new TPMS seals, disposal and the state fee, you're at $739 plus tax. That includes a free check of your alignment while it's on the lift. I can do 8:00 or 1:30 tomorrow; which works?"

When the caller has an online price, compare totals including installation. More on that in how to handle price shoppers.

If a customer wants a different size from the one on the door placard, such as taller tires on a truck, compare the two in the free tire size calculator for diameter, sidewall and revolutions per mile. The free speedometer error calculator then shows how far the speedometer and odometer will read off, so you can tell them before they buy.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good markup on tires for a repair shop?

There's no reliable public benchmark for independent shops' tire margins. A fixed profit per tire is often easier to defend than a percentage, because tire prices are easy to compare. Work back from what the job needs to earn per bay hour, including the installation package.

Should a shop charge separately for mounting and balancing?

Yes, or at least show it as a separate line. It's technician time and equipment, and showing it makes your tire price comparable with online prices while still getting paid for the work.

Can a shop charge a tire disposal fee?

Yes, as long as you disclose it before the work and show it on the invoice. It covers what your tire recycler charges. Don't confuse it with a state tire fee, which is set by law and in California and Florida must be stated separately.

Do I have to register tires I sell?

Yes. Under 49 CFR 574.8 an independent dealer must give the buyer a registration form with the tire identification number, or send the buyer's details to the tire maker on paper or electronically within 30 days, at no charge to the buyer.

Should I install tires a customer bought online?

Decide once and say it consistently. One workable policy: install them at a labor-only price, with a higher mount-and-balance charge and no tire warranty. Record each tire's TIN and condition, and handle TPMS the same way as with tires you sell.

Where BayRobin fits

BayRobin's price book holds your tire installation package as flat-rate services and canned jobs; it has no tire ordering, parts catalogs or inventory, so tire costs and stock stay with your supplier. The AI receptionist gives callers only the price ranges you set and books the appointment. More for brake and tire shops. BayRobin is free until your first 10 booked jobs, no card up front. Start free or see pricing.

Related: brake and tire shops, parts markup matrix, shop supplies fees, alignment pricing for shops.

Sources

Competitor details in this post were checked against these public pages in October 2026. Products and prices change, so confirm with each vendor before you decide.

• 49 CFR 574.8: tire registration duties of distributors and dealers (Cornell LII)
• 49 U.S.C. 30122: the "make inoperative" prohibition (Cornell LII)
• NHTSA interpretation letter to the Tire Industry Association on TPMS service (22 Nov 2011; copy hosted by Les Schwab)
• California Public Resources Code 42885: California tire fee (CDTFA law guide)
• Florida Statutes 403.718 (2025): waste tire fee