Honestly, it shouldn't cost any more....cause from my understanding, the only
thing they are doing is placing the tire on the wheel at the correct
alignment points when they place it on the mounting machine.

I think it's more of an 'are you aware?' type thing for the tire installer. most
of them don't care because they can usually align it properly anyway on their
balance machine without matching the high and low points and most consumers
don't go 100+mph to be able to tell a difference.

 

I've actually done the match mouting on my tires and wheels myself. I was trying to learn the process involved in it. I just do not know how much shops are charging for the service. I know that if I would have to do a Match Mount on a set of tires and wheels versus just regular mounting and balancing, I would probably charge an extra $20-$25. But then, I don't know how much shops charge for regular mount and balance. I don't work for a shop or a store but deal with high perf cars and parts... Okay, I used to be involved in a motorsports program. Match mounting is actually a 2 step process that I am sure you are aware of. You mount the tires and wheels, put it in the balancing machine (not all balancing machine have this feature, BTW) and identify the alignment points of both tires and wheels. You then have to deflate the tires and brake the bead and match up your alignment points. You then reinflate the tire and proceed with your normal balancing process. The big difference is that you are adding less weight (as you've pointed out) to balance the tire and wheel set and you get close to a perfect circle as possible. It took me longer (an extra hour) to Match Mount because I do not do it on a regular basis and do not do it for a living. So I'd charge extra time spent for the service. But you are absolutely right that for the regular Joe, regular mount and balance is sufficient.