Rad Power Bikes Shipping

[FocusOnBikes]

So...after 3200 miles on my 2019 Rad Mini, I had to replace the tires that had worn down. Rad charges a fixed shipping and handling fee of $20.00 per tire. I bought 2 replacement tires. Here is what you get for $40.00 S&H fee, a zip tie and a shipping label!!!

 

[ki11a]

Yep, I was shopping for new tires and saw Rad had some decent choices, saw their shipping prices and noped right out.

Got some Vee Speedster Whitewalls from super73 with free shipping, and they came wrapped in a cling wrap.

 

[FocusOnBikes]

Yep, I was shopping for new tires and saw Rad had some decent choices, saw their shipping prices and noped right out.

Got some Vee Speedster Whitewalls from super73 with free shipping, and they came wrapped in a cling wrap.

The Vee Speedster Whitewalls look like a great tire. Super73 is sold out. I wanted to stay with the Kenda Krusade because I ride at nite and only Rad has the Krusade with the reflective ribbon in the sidewall.

How do you like your Vee Speedsters?

 

[ki11a]

The Vee Speedster Whitewalls look like a great tire. Super73 is sold out. I wanted to stay with the Kenda Krusade because I ride at nite and only Rad has the Krusade with the reflective ribbon in the sidewall.

How do you like your Vee Speedsters?

The Speedsters were an awesome upgrade, instead of the angry bees from the knobby tires...I get a nice quiet ride thats super buttery smooth with the road tread. I like the reflective wall on the Rad tires too, but I was not going to spend extra on shipping for them. I also ride at night but I have a MonkeyLight Automatic rechargable LED spoke light on the front wheel that gets attention. Also, they have these reflective spoke covers that do the job way better than the reflective tape on the tire, plus they look super cool when they spin; very Tron like.

 

[ki11a]

Exactly what were you expecting though?

Did you want Rad to wrap the tire with bubblewrap and put them in a cardboard box?

I know it doesn't look like the best shipping job, just zip tie a label, but it doesn't look like tires were damaged either.

Yeah but Rad is making people pay 20 bucks a tire shipping, for that, basically a 20 dollar ziptie...coz it was probably 20 dollars to ship both of them.

Thats just robbery.

 

[sc00ter]

How often do you really buy tires? Yes, the shipping cost is a bit steep but you don't buy tires all the time. Plus there are other tire options that work so you now have choices. My boss always say its "The cost of doing business.".

 

[BlackHand]

Yeah but Rad is making people pay 20 bucks a tire shipping, for that, basically a 20 dollar ziptie...coz it was probably 20 dollars to ship both of them.

Thats just robbery.

Have you priced shipping lately? $20 would definitely be below their cost for shipments to the east coast and likely below cost for west coast shipments as well. Both FedEx and UPS have a surcharge for shipping items like tires that are not boxed and stackable.

RAD should be able to strap 2 tires together if you're ordering a pair to save significantly on shipping, but you'd have to try to talk them into that over the phone.

 

[FocusOnBikes]

Have you priced shipping lately? $20 would definitely be below their cost for shipments to the east coast and likely below cost for west coast shipments as well. Both FedEx and UPS have a surcharge for shipping items like tires that are not boxed and stackable.

RAD should be able to strap 2 tires together if you're ordering a pair to save significantly on shipping, but you'd have to try to talk them into that over the phone.

I did try to get them to combine shipping charges for shipping 2 tires together. They actually do ship well without any packaging, boxing or bubble wrap. My point is that Rad's policy is $20.00 per tire, regardless of tire diameter or number of combined tires shipped. In this age where free shipping is practically included in price for most items, including the original 80 lbs. bike boxed in cardboard box that is almost the size of a sheet of plywood, $40.00 did seem excessive for 2 tires without packaging. My contact at Rad did say that the issue would be brought up at a future sales meeting for consideration.

 

[BlackHand]

I did try to get them to combine shipping charges for shipping 2 tires together. They actually do ship well without any packaging, boxing or bubble wrap. My point is that Rad's policy is $20.00 per tire, regardless of tire diameter or number of combined tires shipped. In this age where free shipping is practically included in price for most items, including the original 80 lbs. bike boxed in cardboard box that is almost the size of a sheet of plywood, $40.00 did seem excessive for 2 tires without packaging. My contact at Rad did say that the issue would be brought up at a future sales meeting for consideration.

Glad you brought it to their attention- Rad should have more flexibility when bundling like items. My comment was more directed to ki11a whose assumptions about shipping costs didn't seem realistic.
I don't know specifics of Rad's situation but I have some familiarity with shipping accounts. I would bet that besides whatever base discount they get that Rad has negotiated a waiver on oversize fees but not on the $14 handling charge from FedEx for unencased tires.
Vendors that don't charge extra are probably much higher volume shippers or ship the tires direct from a distributor that has negotiated a waiver on those fees.

 

[sc00ter]

I found it interesting that when I purchased my 'Runner accessories included with the bike order were free. But none of the accessories (fenders and extra tubes) didn't ship in the ebike box but came shipped separately. I thought they would be crammed in the box with the ebke. So if I ever order another Rad ebike (considering a Rad mini for the wife) I'm gonna load up on 2 more tires, 4 sets of tubes, racks and anything else I know I need or will wear out! That's if its still free shipping on accessories when you purchase a ebike or they don't put a cap on the accessory amount. Oops, if they read this thread I just gave them a great idea!

 

[Tars Tarkas]

I suspect Rad's shipping policy hurts their business. They are pretty much up front about it though and there are usually aftermarket alternatives.

I'm a buyer at work. I had one vendor that tacked on shipping charges based on the amount of the purchase. A $10 ton of rocks would ship for a dollar. They didn't sell rocks, but if they did you could have a ton of them delivered overnight for one buck. We bought very high priced and tiny items. We could easily spend $4000 on something that would fit in a thimble. They would tack on 10% for shipping and handling, so $400 to ship it. I have a shipping background and knew the actual shipping expense would be maybe $28 for overnight delivery. Strangely, their charges had nothing to do with packaging or effort involved and maybe more strangely, if I had them ship on our FedEx account their shipping and handling charge went to $0. Needless to say, we opted for them to ship on our account. And before long we mostly found another vendor.

TT

 

[legsofbeer]

I suspect Rad's shipping policy hurts their business.

Maybe, maybe not. They've held the price on the kenda tires, and in this rubber tire shortage $49+20 shipping is still a competetive price for a 26x4 knobby tire. Note that other types of fatty tires with a less stiff bead ship in a small box. But yeah, $12 shipping for brake pads seems excessive.