Why do so many people buy e-bikes off ebay?
- Thread starter morph999
- Start date
You'd be hard-pressed to find someone in their 20's who doesn't know about Ebay, and that often becomes their first stop to find out whats available when they become interested in a new product. Buying direct from a wholesaler off of Ebay can often save a big part of the price.
There is a huge percentage of the population that has never even heard of endless-sphere.com, e-bikekit.com, ebikes.ca, ping, or cell-man
There is a huge percentage of the population that has never even heard of endless-sphere.com, e-bikekit.com, ebikes.ca, ping, or cell-man
..they buy from eBay first because they don't know anything about eBikes at all and see really cheap prices..
..then they come here and whine about how their shit is broken after a few hundred miles.. we say welcome to the forums and usually tell them that they're boned or whatever.. :lol:
Most people just don't research things before they buy.
..then they come here and whine about how their shit is broken after a few hundred miles.. we say welcome to the forums and usually tell them that they're boned or whatever.. :lol:
Most people just don't research things before they buy.
AussieJester
1 TW
spinningmagnets said:
The major majority of e-bike users have never heard of endless sphere would be more correct, we are
the minority of e-bike users by a looooong shot.
KiM
dogman dan
1 PW
Low price is the attraction for the first Ebike. So Ebay can look good. Later, after they get the EV bug they find ES.
georgefromvt
1 kW
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2010
- Messages
- 352
So many people buy ebikes off ebay because bike shops seldom carry or even want to talk about ebikes. None of the local bike shops in my area carry ebikes and the owners snob anything to do with ebikes! The closest ebike shop in Vermont is 3 hours away in New Hampshire! It's a great shop but it's a 6 hour round trip for me.
http://www.ebikesofne.com/
http://www.ebikesofne.com/
I bought mine Ebay kit, because I didn't find anybody locally that really knew about it. I bought the Ebay kit, to see if I would like the whole ebike thing. I rather spend 240 bucks on my current kit, than a grand on something I didn't know if it would work out or not. But after 3 weeks of commuting with the Ebike, I allready knew I wanted to run a higher voltage, sensorless and a programmable controller. Bug got me good.
wesnewell
100 GW
Before buying, I looked at virtually every option, including complete bikes/scooters/etc. and found ES long before I bought my kit off ebay and came to one conclusion. There's really not a lot of difference in the quality of the kits from china. Maybe I just got lucky but I'm more than pleased with the $227.90 shipped kit I bought off ebay. Over 600 miles in the 2 months I've had it. Batteries are another story altogether. There are great differences in their type and quality. I already had SLA (from ups's), so started with it. Now I'm on lipo. Will never buy another sla battery.
parabellum
1 MW
My shipping destination seems to be difficult and manufacturer does not research about shipping for retail (it seems to be to much wasted energy and efficiency is very important in e-biking 
) , they just multiply the product price by 2 or 3, on other side I can buy the same product from eBay retailer, more expensive but they investigate about shipping options. End result is, combined cost (shipping and price) is often (in my case always) better from retailer. I was trying to buy from several manufacturers, never with success, always got back to eBay. :?
) , they just multiply the product price by 2 or 3, on other side I can buy the same product from eBay retailer, more expensive but they investigate about shipping options. End result is, combined cost (shipping and price) is often (in my case always) better from retailer. I was trying to buy from several manufacturers, never with success, always got back to eBay. :?zombiess
10 MW
neptronix said:
Spot on about going to ebay first, that is exactly what I did. When I saw everyone selling the exact same unlabled stuff and I was unable to find reviews; the red flag went up that it was most likely junk and I started doing lots of research until I stumbled upon this site.
I too got the bug after starting off with a mild setup (9C 2806 26" 12S3P LiPo). Should have my 9c 8x8 on 24S2P running this weekend
Project is then finished unless I want to go dirt riding, then I'll build a 2nd bike.
ecowheelz
100 W
georgefromvt said:
I think this is one of the main reasons so many people buy e-bikes off eBay. Because no one is there to educate them, even if they find other products or retailers, the first thing they consider is price because they have no one to talk to in person. That's why we opened up! This is an article I wrote last year about High Quality vs. Cheap Electric Bike Kits:
http://www.eco-wheelz.com/articles/quality-vs-cheap-electric-bike-kits.php
I'm sure I haven't hit every point -- and some of you might not agree with everything in the article (open to suggestions, corrections and improvements!). But the object was to "educate" people so they know what the differences are between buying from e-Bay and purchasing from an established e-bike dealer / supplier.
auraslip
10 MW
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2010
- Messages
- 3,535
Can someone please help me understand why the ebay kits are cheaper than kits sold by mot retailers? Looking at the wiring and connectors on the most popular motors here, and they aren't exactly quality. It seems like just about mass market product in the ebike world is cheap as hell.
TylerDurden
100 GW
Auraslip... you did read the linked page by ecowheelz?
MikeFairbanks
100 kW
Almost everything out of China is questionable. That country's products are ruining our economy (that and war).
We should be producing our own hub motors, batteries, etc.
This is going to get political, but there's no other way: I'm liberal, but I have to admit that regulations here in the USA often force manufacturers overseas.
Today I called Batteries Plus and started talking about what they had. Eventually we got to talking about certain kinds of chemistries, and the manager told me that they struggle to get certain batteries because of regulations, shipping regulations, etc. Then the manager said, "it's frustrating, because individuals can just order this stuff from China on Ebay, but can't stock or ship it as easily."
Kind of a bummer, eh?
We should be producing our own hub motors, batteries, etc.
This is going to get political, but there's no other way: I'm liberal, but I have to admit that regulations here in the USA often force manufacturers overseas.
Today I called Batteries Plus and started talking about what they had. Eventually we got to talking about certain kinds of chemistries, and the manager told me that they struggle to get certain batteries because of regulations, shipping regulations, etc. Then the manager said, "it's frustrating, because individuals can just order this stuff from China on Ebay, but can't stock or ship it as easily."
Kind of a bummer, eh?
auraslip
10 MW
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2010
- Messages
- 3,535
Yes, twice now.
TL;DR thinner windings on the motor that are more likely to overheat, cheaper plastic gears in geared motors, heavier motor housings, poor quality soldering in the controller, poor quality connectors, tiny wires, and crappy kit extras.
TL;DR thinner windings on the motor that are more likely to overheat, cheaper plastic gears in geared motors, heavier motor housings, poor quality soldering in the controller, poor quality connectors, tiny wires, and crappy kit extras.
nuevomexicano
100 W
MikeFairbanks said:
Which exact regulations prevent battery building in the USA? There are laws about disposal of byproducts and waste batteries. But these don't prevent anything. Battery manufacturing still occurs in the USA. The things that moved overseas had nothing to do with over regulation. It was mostly pure greed to pay substandard wages and pollute at will while still charging the same price forwhat vgot made.
ecowheelz
100 W
lester12483 said:
Really? You don't fix other bikes? Although we'd prefer to sell our own bikes and scooters, fixing e-bikes is relatively simple -- no matter where they came from. To be honest, most repairs are EASY MONEY (ie: new batteries, fuse!, bad connectors, etc.). Consider a $25-$30 troubleshoot fee + the cost of parts. Obviously, there's some stuff we'll turn away -- especially if it seems like a headache and we know we can't get parts. But in my opinion, you're closing your door to lots of easy business.
Plus, it builds good customer relations and when they decide their bike is a piece of junk and want to upgrade... guess who they'll talk to
Jason27
10 kW
How do you fix an A2B electric bike when the battery and components are inside the frame?
liveforphysics
100 TW
lester12483 said:
Lester- you know damn well All-cell has never and will never make a cell, not in the USA or anywhere. They assemble Chinese or Korean cells into packs in the USA.
im bought my kit from ebay.. I like the pricing ,, as long a is affordable i really don't mind. My kit from Conhismotor , some guys who bought their kits had fail, but many have run them quite happily too!. i bought my kit cheaply from them, becasue i wanted to reduce my loss.... over a wrong invest in cyclone kits . i don't have luck when i run them 1year plus/ under 6000km.
i hope to run this kit as long as posssible, it seem this ebay kits seem to be strong , promising to run another few thousands km without any problems. by then i will have save enough cash to upgrade to HS one day.
i ever had problems finding the hall sensors.. as i have damage them. I call them, they have the halls sensor sold me very cheap too. 70cents for a hall sensors, but i didn't used. i fix my hall sensor from a ebike dealer friend who has extra hall sensor gave me. Hub motor kit has nothing much to worry, as long the troque/ troque arm plate build must be solid and well design. My hub motor 48v 1000watts is very first kit run until now 3800km+. I hope to clock something above 10,000km.
kent
i hope to run this kit as long as posssible, it seem this ebay kits seem to be strong , promising to run another few thousands km without any problems. by then i will have save enough cash to upgrade to HS one day.
i ever had problems finding the hall sensors.. as i have damage them. I call them, they have the halls sensor sold me very cheap too. 70cents for a hall sensors, but i didn't used. i fix my hall sensor from a ebike dealer friend who has extra hall sensor gave me. Hub motor kit has nothing much to worry, as long the troque/ troque arm plate build must be solid and well design. My hub motor 48v 1000watts is very first kit run until now 3800km+. I hope to clock something above 10,000km.
kent
There's one thing I just can't bring myself to do. I can run over raccoons with my car. I can do some bad things but one thing I can't do is rain on another man's parade after he's bought an e-bike. It usually goes something like this, "hey guys, I just bought this awesome e-bike on ebay 48v 1500w blah blah" . I can't bare to tell them that it's probably junk because I've been in that situation where I got my e-bike and it was such a good day and I don't want to spoil it for them even if the thing only runs for one month.
ecowheelz said:lester12483 said:
Really? You don't fix other bikes? Although we'd prefer to sell our own bikes and scooters, fixing e-bikes is relatively simple -- no matter where they came from. To be honest, most repairs are EASY MONEY (ie: new batteries, fuse!, bad connectors, etc.). Consider a $25-$30 troubleshoot fee + the cost of parts. Obviously, there's some stuff we'll turn away -- especially if it seems like a headache and we know we can't get parts. But in my opinion, you're closing your door to lots of easy business.
Plus, it builds good customer relations and when they decide their bike is a piece of junk and want to upgrade... guess who they'll talk to
That could be true. Be upfront with how much it will cost, maybe some will go for it and then you've gained a customer.
