Tippin' 40s for the Homies

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ArcticFox
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Tippin' 40s for the Homies

forallthehomies.jpg

I was visiting an apparently old site that listed quite a few business in the US that import scooters and mopeds and were set up for drop-shippers. There had to be over 50 sites listed, and in all, I found about 3 that were still in business. The rest either had websites that are no longer online, or if I found contact information for them, the email address bounced back, letting me know nobody was there anymore.

What happened to all of them? Where do all these scooters and mopeds go now?

What can I do to make sure my Homies won't be tippin' 40s for me in a few years? //planetsmilies.net/eat-drink-smiley-5160.gif)

spinningmagnets
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Re: Tippin' 40s for the Homies

There are no guarantees in life but..

You need to have a reliable full-time job you can depend on, and be willing to expend all your free time on your business, evenings and weekends, for as long as it takes. Don't operate at a loss, but don't expect a profit for a while.

Drop-shipping is good for cheap things that are not fragile and people KNOW what they want. Amazon.com got big selling books and CD's because people can order an item from work for themselves or for a birthday gift. You can't sell expensive things, or things that come in sizes as a drop-shipper.

When it comes to E-Scoots, why would YOU pick YOU to buy from?

If items are shipped to you directly, and you have to occasionally fix some minor tweak from the shipping process, that will be part of the cost of doing business. Initially you might donate some of your time by removing panels from the E-Scoots and custom-painting them with auto touch-up paint for $20.

If I was "Green-minded" but uninformed, I would want to buy from someone who was willing to "hold my hand" through the process. Answering the same 20 questions over and over will be boring, but is this a "passion", a business, or both?

After you "get on your feet", you must sponsor performance events, endurance events, actively promote media coverage, have an informative web-site with "painfully truthful" information about cost, range, performance, and also become THE reference in your area for performance upgrades.

Test-rides being avilable would be worth their weight in gold, but...the liability issues might sink a small company. Form an LLC?

LinkOfHyrule
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Re: Tippin' 40s for the Homies

Wow, Tracy couldn't find fault with that?

This guy's good...

;)

And what is "tippin' 40s"? Somthing to do with alcohol?

The author of this post isn't responsible for any injury, disability or dismemberment, death, financial loss, illness, addiction, hereditary disease, or any other undesirable consequence or general misfortune resulting from use of the "information" contai

ArcticFox
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Re: Tippin' 40s for the Homies

Gringo Translation: "Tipp'n 40s" is old school gangsta respect. When you're out drinking with friends, it's usual to have a 40 ounce container of beer. You open it up and cite that the first drink is for your Homies - friends who have died or are locked up and can't be with you to enjoy it. Pouring a small amount on the curb or ground before you drink is showing "much love" to those who deserve the respect.

LOL Sounds stupid when I explain it, but that's how it was in the day.

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LinkOfHyrule
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Re: Tippin' 40s for the Homies

You waste beer because your gangster buddies can't get any? :?

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spinningmagnets
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Re: Tippin' 40s for the Homies

I think we've all bought something (or know someone who has) and had it delivered via FedEx/UPS. Not a problem for a book or a CD/DVD.

My fear (and I believe many others fears) is that IF I have an E-Scoot delivered to my house...

A. I have to take a day off of work, realizing I may be told at 2PM that it was pushed back to tomorrow.

B. If there's major shipping damage, I usually won't know till after the truck drove off, and if I want it fixed by the US distributor, I find out that his so-called "Guarantee/Warrantee" means I have to pay the shipping to send it back to his warehouse (plus I have to deliver the broke one myself to the trucking hub during business hours) and wait till he "gets around to it" (after all, HE already has his MONEY) Meaning he will eventually ship a different E-Scoot (the wrong color this time), and I have to go through the same whole circus AGAIN!!

C. I know there is a very high likelyhood there will be minor damage that will annoy me greatly, but will cost less than the shipping price to fix myself.

D. I'm afraid the batteries will "work...sort of", and as soon as the worthless one-month warrantee expires the stock batteries will be sagging way too much, and the distributor won't return your E-mails or phone messages. Then, when you finally corner him, he just says that "YOU must have not conditioned the batteries properly" (and you know you did, he just used cheaper batteries to put an extra $10 in his pocket)

An E-Scoot thats marketed as a money saver (in my opinion) will be very difficult. Gasoline scoots are cheaper, very reliable, can be re-fuelled in 5 minutes, and can travel 80 miles on their one-gallon tank.

The customer that is willing to spend a couple hundred extra dollars for an electric is green-minded, probably middle class+, and will travel and spend more to get good customer service.

If I can get a 48V drop-shipped to my house for $2,000, I will pay $2495 to YOU because...

All of yours are already 60-volt, with a controller bypass "Turbo" button.
Batteries have been pre-conditioned properly, and all glitches on scoot are repaired.
You have at least 3 in stock, so I can pick out the color then drive it away.
All your controllers already have beefier FET's, and any other common upgrade, properly installed.
You keep in stock a spare controller, battery, Michelin tires, Porterfield brake pads,...?
When a customer wants to spend extra for a 60/72V DeWalt pack, you keep one "drop-in" set with charger in stock.
You make a single-wheel trailer that can hold one dog, two bags of groceries, or a long-range extra battery pack. (Thrift store aluminum crutch and 20" wheel?)
For the first 20 customers you offer a custom Scoot/Helmet paint job, just $30 (cost of auto touch-up paint, "match your car with "Prius green", miss?)
Be clear up front about saying what you'll do, then do what you say.

C'mon, guys!...we've all been customers...post some more suggestions?

jdh2550_1
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Re: Tippin' 40s for the Homies

For what you describe I'd expect the price to be nearer $4,000 than the $2,500 you say you'd pay. I'm not doubting you'd pay - however, I don't know about the next hundred people. Folks these days are too conditioned to go to the local store to check out the merchandise and then go home and find the cheapest price for what they think is equivalent.

Unfortunately this drop ship model is also killing the market. We've created a false expectation that you can get a dealer like experience for a wholesale like price.

I wonder how much mark up a dealer makes on an ICE scooter? And how those markups compare between a Vespa and a Chinese import? And how much stock and parts the ICE dealer carries? I have a lot more questions than answers... :(

John H. Founder of Current Motor Company - opinions on this site belong to me; not to my employer
Remember: " 'lectric for local. diesel for distance" - JTH, Amp Bros || "No Gas.

spinningmagnets
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Re: Tippin' 40s for the Homies

What are the real drop-ship prices for the top 3 E-Scoots direct to my house (with no dealer support) Within 100 miles of San Fran, Los Angeles, Sandiego, Seattle?

Just round figures, doesn't have to be exact. Plus voltage and average top speed for the model as priced.

"$3,500 will get you an Unobtaina-Scoot Ultra with 48 volts that will reach 25 MPH"

ArcticFox
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Re: Tippin' 40s for the Homies

Well, what are the top 3 and I might be able to answer for one.

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spinningmagnets
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Re: Tippin' 40s for the Homies

I recently heard on the radio that Sacramento (California) has bought a fleet of Vectrix E-Scoots for their meter maids (parking enforcement), so apparently they are sufficiently developed to be useable in the real world. (Aren't they over $8,000?)

Apparently the R-20 is the cheapest, but has the most "issues"

also in the running is:

XM-2000, and

Zapino

I know anything can be upgraded, but what is the stock (in round figures)

Price, Volts/Ah, top speed, and range (50% lead/acid DOD)

Mik
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Re: Tippin' 40s for the Homies

If I was to condition a Vectrix battery for a customer, I would have to charge about AU$700.- to brake even - valuing my time at AU$50.-/hr, not taking into consideration costs for maintaining storage space, rego costs to be able to drive the bike on the road, insurance, etc.
The customer would have to pay up front to get the bike registered and insured, then wait a full week to pick up the bike perfectly conditioned, with about 350km on the clock! Or pay a hefty premium for me to do night-time discharge runs to speed things up.
I'm not a salesman (who would have guessed that?) or a dealer, and the whole thing is impracticable.

Here is how I think the problem should be addressed:

EV's should be constructed in such a way that the battery can be discharged for conditioning purposes without having to ride the bike or actually spin the wheel.

The electric charge from the to-be-conditioned battery should be fed into the grid via converters and/or inverters, with the dealers meter running backwards as with grid-connected solar panels.
The software controlling it should be adaptable so as to be specific to the EV, the battery and the customers needs. It could run fully automatic and would avoid all driving around in a non-roadworthy condition and reduce the time needed to complete the conditioning for a Vectrix to about 60hrs. It would also do a much better and more consistent job than can be achieved in Real World driving conditions.
A dealership could then (almost) always have a bike in each color ready to be driven out of the shop, in top condition, no fuss for the new owner. No need to register the bike prior to conditioning. No kilometers on the clock, no risk of crashes during conditioning.
But how much would the necessary hardware and software cost, and how many bikes a week would you need to sell to brake even?

Mr. Mik

This information may be used entirely at your own risk.

There is always a way if there is no other way!

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