State or Federal fees when buying an Electric Bike

[TallMinnesota]

Has anyone been charged a tax or fee, other than your state sale tax, when purchasing an e bike? I was in the process of purchasing a bike when the dealer suddenly added a "recycle fee" claiming it was a required charge for him to be able to sell the bike. I have researched it and found nothing but wanted to know if anyone has paid this or any other fee or taxes when they purchased their bike. Thank you.

 

[Nova Haibike]

I bought my bike online and paid no extra fees, not even shipping. I would call another e-bike dealer in your area to confirm that such an up-front fee exists.

 

[pxpaulx]

Nope, never heard of that in Minnesota - I only purchased my first e-bike here, all others purchased in WI.

 

[rich c]

Could have to do with the battery, not the bike itself. Just guessing, never heard of it.

 

[TallMinnesota]

Thanks for your input. After digging deeper and talking to the dealer who tried to sell me the bike I found that after he quoted a price for the bike he then added a shipping and "HazMat Fee" as well as a fee for "ebike: Assemble/Calibrate/PDI/Prep & Test" and tried to slip it past me as I was paying for the purchase. My guess is he does this to many customers and makes it look like it is a Federal or State fee etc. when in fact he is simply pocketing the extra fees. It would appear to be at the least misleading and at worst dishonest. In checking with other bike shops in our area none charge to set up the bike or add bogus charges at checkout time.

 

[Nova Haibike]

It would appear to be at the least misleading and at worst dishonest.

I would go further than that and say it is illegal, most especially if he does not have any posted signs or other paperwork saying these fees would be added to the bill.

 

[MisterM]

Thanks for your input. After digging deeper and talking to the dealer who tried to sell me the bike I found that after he quoted a price for the bike he then added a shipping and "HazMat Fee" as well as a fee for "ebike: Assemble/Calibrate/PDI/Prep & Test" and tried to slip it past me as I was paying for the purchase. My guess is he does this to many customers and makes it look like it is a Federal or State fee etc. when in fact he is simply pocketing the extra fees. It would appear to be at the least misleading and at worst dishonest. In checking with other bike shops in our area none charge to set up the bike or add bogus charges at checkout time.

Well, at best it's misleading and dishonest. At worst, it's criminal. But you now know what a slimeball the guy is and know never to go back.

 

[LS3Miata]

Would you be willing to share the name of the bike shop?

 

[TallMinnesota]

If you want to private message me I will share privately but I don't want to rip this guy as he is a private shop and extremely knowledgeable and spent a good deal of time educating me on ebikes. I did talk to him about either including his extra fees in the price he quotes or when quoting the manufacturers required sale price he also make clear there are other fees his store charges. He appeared to be shaken up when I raised the issue but that was probably because no one had called him on this very questionable practice.