As the big sales of the year approach, many drivers start looking for a place to buy tyres online for less – winter, summer or all-season. Yet along with the good deals, online scammers become more active too, trying to take advantage of our haste and our urge to save money during a tyre sale.
Here are the key tips on how to shop online safely and choose tyres for your car in a trustworthy online store.
4 rules for safer online tyre shopping
- Buy tyres only from trusted, official online stores
- Always check the website address (URL) – look for misspellings, odd characters or extra letters. Reliable online tyre stores use a clear, easily recognisable address.
- Take a good look at the page itself: if the design resembles a well-known tyre store but something feels off, do not take the risk – do not buy tyres on such a site.
- Check the reviews of the tyre store
- Other buyers' experiences help you judge whether an online tyre store can be trusted.
- If there are no reviews at all, or they look artificial, be on your guard and choose a different tyre seller.
- Take your time with payment details
- Before paying for winter tyres, summer tyres or wheels, make sure the website is familiar to you and secure.
- Check that the padlock icon is visible in the browser bar and the connection is encrypted (https) – a must for buying tyres online safely.
- A deal that looks too good is often a trap
- If the discount seems unrealistic (for example, tyres from well-known manufacturers at a fraction of the price found elsewhere) and you are being pushed to "hurry before it's gone", it may well be a scam.
If you pay with Smart-ID or Mobile-ID, always check carefully what action you are confirming and what numbers are shown on the screen before entering your PIN1 and PIN2 codes – this is especially important when paying for tyres online.
Beware of "miracle" tyre offers on social media
Social media ads increasingly hide behind the names of well-known companies, promising "closing-down" or "season refresh" tyre sales with enormous discounts.
What to look out for:
- Scammer accounts tend to be very new, with just a few photos and almost no activity history – a serious hint that the tyre seller cannot be trusted.
- The link opens a very basic page with a handful of products and a bright "Buy" button, with no further information about the tyres, the warranty or the return policy.
If you land on such a page, the best thing to do is close it immediately and never enter your details – no matter how cheap the tyres look.
Stay alert to messages from "delivery services"
When you order tyres online, it is natural to expect a delivery from a courier or to a parcel locker. Scammers exploit this by posing as delivery services and sending emails or text messages.
You will stay safe if you:
- Check the sender's address or number. Foreign numbers or odd, long email addresses with extra characters are a serious warning sign – whether you are expecting a delivery of tyres or anything else.
- Do not click suspicious links. Especially those urging you to "confirm your address", "pay an extra fee" and the like – a common attempt to steal your login details or money.
- Track your parcel only on the official website. If in doubt, check the status of your tyre delivery by typing the delivery service's official address into the browser yourself, rather than following a link you received.
Scammers keep getting more creative, but your attention and a critical eye are the best protection – both during tyre sales and in everyday online shopping.
By choosing a reliable online tyre store responsibly, you can calmly pick the right tyres for your car, make the most of good prices and stay safe both financially and on the road.
