Caution - Do Not Put A Deposit On a Pre-Order!

[Tom@WashDC]

Do not give an ebike company money if the bike is not already in stock. If you send money for a "Pre-Order" or some such promotion, you are participating in their financing scheme and you are financing their cash flow. It means their cash flow is weak, and they lack a sufficent line of credit with their vendors. In most cases it usally turns out all right, until it doesn't.

If the company experiences a cash crunch, your balls will get placed in a vice, and you will become an unwilling creditor. If the company has a healthy cash flow, a working vendor line of credit, and they are ethical, they don't need your deposit, and should not ask for it. If there is big pre-demand for their future product, they can easily create and manage a wait list based on first come, first serve.

If you do give them your money, caveat emptor.


*For those of you ladies in the group, please don't feel left out. The phrase "your balls will get placed in a vice" is a metaphor, it applies equally to you as well.

 

[Rome]

Yeah I got suckered into that scam 2 years ago from wattwagons I paid in advance for an emtb waited 10 months for a bike that never materialize. I had to file a credit card dispute in order to get my money back that took another 6 month for my money showed up in my account, thankfully.
I took another gamble and used a local dealer as broker to purchase a $7000,Emtb delivered to Hawaii from Biktrix Canada just a little over a month I got an email and a call saying my bike is at the port waiting to be picked up.
I'm still riding it just passed 3K miles on 2nd Bafang M620.
Buy Smart and Ride Smart everybody!

 

[justforfun]

Good tip.

 

[scottsdalecommuter]

Great advice, I can't recall ever giving money for a product that didn't already exist. I gave some thoughts to the Sondors Metacycle and glad I waited on that one.

 

[Deacon Blues]

Good advice, Tom. I did that once with Watt Wagons. Never again.

 

[twy]

That is certainly good advice, especially if the economy sours this coming year.

I did pay in advance for a Swytch Kit for my son's Rockhopper. They required a deposit up front and then the balance when the final order was locked in. They were pretty clear on the site that the units were made to order (at least the replacement front wheel which is supposedly made for your specific bike). I did not have any problems but I know some people on the forum reported long delays.

 

[PSm]

Do not give an ebike company money if the bike is not already in stock. If you send money for a "Pre-Order" or some such promotion, you are participating in their financing scheme and you are financing their cash flow. It means their cash flow is weak, and they lack a sufficent line of credit with their vendors. In most cases it usally turns out all right, until it doesn't.

If the company experiences a cash crunch, your balls will get placed in a vice, and you will become an unwilling creditor. If the company has a healthy cash flow, a working vendor line of credit, and they are ethical, they don't need your deposit, and should not ask for it. If there is big pre-demand for their future product, they can easily create and manage a wait list based on first come, first serve.

If you do give them your money, caveat emptor.


*For those of you ladies in the group, please don't feel left out. The phrase "your balls will get placed in a vice" is a metaphor, it applies equally to you as well.

This post made me wonder what the biggest concern is with doing this. Is it for bikes that aren’t already been designed and are in-production?

I’m about to place a pre-order for this bike
https://ride1up.com/product/cf-racer1/ and this made me have second thoughts. But my positive experiences with my current bikes and interactions with them, put me more at ease. So likely still going ahead and ordering.