Abstract: A method of purchasing tires includes providing a web site stored on a web server accessible from a computing device. The web site displays a page for a consumer, including instructions for locating a placard containing tire information, a request to take a photo of the placard and a request to upload the photo. Once the photo is uploaded, it is stored on the web server. An optical character recognition program is in communication with the web server and is used to analyze the photo. Characters in the photo corresponding to tire size information on the placard are identified. The identified tire size information is correlated in a database to a listing of pre-stored tire information to verify whether the identified tire size information is appropriate for the vehicle. A message is returned to the web site from the web server including the results of the identification and correlation.