Rad Power Bike Availability

[Diarmuid]

Hi rad rider,

Mike and Ty from Rad Power Bikes here. We wanted to take a few minutes to talk to you about product availability and our business process. As many of you have seen, we are currently out of stock of all models of our electric bikes, and when they do come back in stock they are selling out in a matter of minutes (despite having hundreds available) due to demand. We started RPB because of our love for electric bikes and our dream to share them with the masses. The last thing on Earth we want is to be in the position where we can't offer you what you want and truly apologize if we have caused you frustration, heartache, and anything else besides pure joy.

We project our inventory needs and begin manufacturing months prior to ebikes arriving at our facility to ship because of the long lead time. This spring, because our customers are so amazing, sales exceeded our original projections resulting in out of stock inventory and rapid sellouts. To remedy this, we have exponentially scaled up both the number of ebikes being manufactured and the frequency in which they arrive.
As we follow along with the conversations online and with our Customer Experience teams, the number one thing we are seeing/hearing right now are people asking for the ability to pre-order (back-order) out of stock inventory. Because this is such a hot topic, we wanted to share some insight on our business and rationale for not offering pre-orders on out of stock inventory along with why we believe it leads to a better experience for you, our customer. Overall, we want everyone to have an equal chance of getting an ebike as soon as possible.

Early on in our business, we actually did offer pre-orders when items went out of stock and found that it led to a poor customer experience as customers were placing orders without an exact arrival date. Though we typically have an accurate arrival date, delays beyond our control can happen, and when they did it was extremely upsetting to customers. We believe that when you place an order it should be in stock and ready to ship. You may see that other ebike companies offer pre-orders. This is often done out of necessity. Many require pre-orders to fund their next order as they do not have the capital to place a large order prior to selling them first. What this leads to is placing an order and then waiting often months for enough orders to be placed and for the bikes to be manufactured and shipped. This is just not the way we like to do business.

Not offering pre-orders on out of stock inventory will lead to a higher likelihood that customers will get a bike and get riding faster. Had we offered pre-orders on out of stock items over the last few months, the bikes that are complete and ready to ship now would be used to fulfill orders that were placed months ago, while pre-orders placed now may not be fulfilled for months while inventory catches up with demand. By only selling in stock inventory (which for most models is replenished weekly) you have the opportunity to order right away and get it shipped within days of purchasing.

Now, as we mentioned earlier, when bikes do come back in stock they often go fast. We have sold hundreds per minute because of high demand. We want to let all of you know that we are committed and working tirelessly to ensure that we have enough inventory to fulfill the current demand and then some, all without increasing pricing. With 50+ employees ranging from supply chain to support, product to marketing, R&D to finance, we will not be happy until this is resolved, that is our promise. More ebikes will be available very soon, so please visit the bike's product pages to sign up for email notifications once items are back in stock, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for inventory updates.

Because we are so busy making sure we get inventory ready to ship ASAP, we are sorry to say that we will not be able to reply to responses to this message, but hope that we were able to shed some light on the current situation and let you know that everyone will be able to #RideRad before you know it!

Stay Rad,
Mike, Co-Founder / CEO
Ty, Co-Founder / CMO

This pretty much echos what we're seeing with other brands, namely Juiced.

 

[Trooper5707]

They had a release today, got it in the cart and tried to order and had credit card problems Then they were out of stock. Only took a few minutes.

 

[BPINE]

I got my Rover ordered this morning but I am sure they will be very busy shipping so it might be a bit before I get it.

 

[Investor9872]

They had a release today, got it in the cart and tried to order and had credit card problems Then they were out of stock. Only took a few minutes.

I had the same issues checking out using Amazon Pay last month using the Chrome browser. I've been trying to order two of the Rad Rover, City Step-Thru, or Mini (whichever two I can get my hands on first) for over a month now. This week , when they became available again, I tried checking using Safari and the page still kept reloading when I hit the final Order button. This time I decided to manually input my credit card information, shipping and billing addresses and the order finally went through.

So if your order didn't go through this time, try manually input your payment information next time. Good luck!

 

[BPINE]

Unbelievable they could get things shipped so quick, already recieved my rover.

 

[mrgold35]

Rad is missing out on so many sells because of world wide availability issues. I'm just glad Rad hasn't raised prices because of the high demand.

 

[Barry S]

Rad is missing out on so many sells because of world wide availability issues. I'm just glad Rad hasn't raised prices because of the high demand.

Kudos to them. Voltbike just increased their Yukon 750 another $50 but no mention of any equipment upgrades to warrant the increase. Looks like they're just taking advantage of demand.

 

[Rakku]

Rad is missing out on so many sells because of world wide availability issues. I'm just glad Rad hasn't raised prices because of the high demand.

Tbh? They dont need to.

Last batch of Step-Thru were about 300 bikes.
They sold out in under 5 minutes.
Thats 450.000 $ made in 5 minutes.

But its sad, that they dont manage to sort out more then 300 bikes for a batch, when they know people are going to rip that number apart in under 5 minutes.
What people are getting mad about is rather, that they dont take preorders and go first come first served.

I like my Rad, but imo that company is really overhyped at the moment and people tend to look irrational.

 

[Asher]

Tbh? They dont need to.

Last batch of Step-Thru were about 300 bikes.
They sold out in under 5 minutes.
Thats 450.000 $ made in 5 minutes.

But its sad, that they dont manage to sort out more then 300 bikes for a batch, when they know people are going to rip that number apart in under 5 minutes.
What people are getting mad about is rather, that they dont take preorders and go first come first served.

I like my Rad, but imo that company is really overhyped at the moment and people tend to look irrational.

300 is probably what comes into an ocean container.

Overhyped compared to who?

 

[Rakku]

300 is probably what comes into an ocean container.

Overhyped compared to who?

The number 300 was stated by one of the ceo´s or whatever from rad in the facebook group.
I already told them what I think about their methods of handling shortage and business issues, its their choice of course and the business is going great for them, for now at least.

Overhyped compared to pretty much all brands.
I take that from my experience in the Rad facebook group and you wont believe what many people there spout out.
Like saying every other bike or brand in the price category is s*it etc.

The general stance people take who favour the company rad, lets me believe that the brand/bikes are overhyped.
Might not be true, but this is my experience I took out of my encounters with other people who own a rad bike.

I myself own one, but I rather tend to look at things rationally.