Buying direct from Asia; Alibaba

[Mike Smith]

Does anyone have experience buying e-bikes directly from Asia through a site like Alibaba. Some of the bikes can be purchased individually. The more research I do, the more it appears that most of the e-bikes sold in the US are coming in from Asia as many of the bikes on Alibaba for example look very familiar to those being sold by US companies, just without the brand name on them. And the prices from what I have seen for buying direct for example are about 50% of the price of the "similar" bike purchased here in the US. I am not promoting this site or any other just looking for information, like are these transactions reliable, and are there any issues with duty, etc.

Thanks

 

[eDean]

http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/2015-250w-new-electric-bicycle-hidden_1692400677.html
$450, disk brakes and integrated battery. Just need to order 650 of them, so that is $292,500.00. Where can I get funds like that with limited terms on the investment and maintain all the equity myself.

 

[George S.]

Curiously, they will generally sell you a sample, even if there is a large order requirement. My guess is that information will gradually filter out, from experience. It would be a crap shoot to go in and buy something, just on a listing. My guess is Alibaba, like Ebay, will start to filter sellers, and I guess they already do in some ways. There is some kind of seller assurance.

I just bought a sports cameras from China. It's a nice camera. There are reviews and links on YouTube. To me, a camera is more complicated than an ebike.

 

[PowerMe]

The minimum quantity for that particular bike is: 10 Piece/Pieces. So 10 bikes.

 

[Mike Smith]

Thanks George. Your e-mails always seem to be the voice of reason and insightful. As I mentioned before, many of the bikes on the sites like Alibaba allow for a minimum of 1 per order and look like they provide all the specifications clearly, to address the previous e-mail. I think the dirty little secret in the US e-bike industry is that most vendors are just ordering from somewhere in Asia anyway and having their name slapped on the bikes. I'm pretty certain that this is the case with the Sonders/Storm e-bike. Order enough and the Chinese factories will do what ever you want. If I can order direct and cut out the middle man and big mark up in price why not. I live in MD and without a local vendor here I would have to go to a local shop to have a bike serviced anyway, or pay the high price to have it shipped back to the supplier in CA or somewhere. If I decide to buy direct, I will update the forum on my experience.

 

[JoePah]

Does anyone have experience buying e-bikes directly from Asia through a site like Alibaba. Some of the bikes can be purchased individually. The more research I do, the more it appears that most of the e-bikes sold in the US are coming in from Asia as many of the bikes on Alibaba for example look very familiar to those being sold by US companies, just without the brand name on them. And the prices from what I have seen for buying direct for example are about 50% of the price of the "similar" bike purchased here in the US. I am not promoting this site or any other just looking for information, like are these transactions reliable, and are there any issues with duty, etc.

Thanks

Have you priced the thing, including shipping and any import fees? I know from experience, that buying just a quality eBike kit from Cellman, will cost around $110 for the battery and about another $80 for the conversition kit (no bike just the pieces you install on a donor bike).

After you add the shipping cost etc, how much are you saving, for real? And is that amount saved worth not having any real warranty or dealer support?

To me it would be a lot more satisfying to buy a quality eBike or eBike kit, put it on your favorite bike or buy a used one on CL and put it together, or have someone do it for you.. You'll end up enjoying at lot more because it will be better quality.