I just looked at the spares on the Eleglide site and they sell bare motors for £115 and complete motor wheels for about £132. I didn't want to enter all my details to get the shipping cost, but hopefully it's not too much. You get a £25 discount code if you sighn up to the newsletter. They also have a load of other useful parts - controllers, sensors, LCDs, cables, etc.
Cheapish Motor Wheels
- Thread starter saneagle
- Start date
I sell complete motor wheels for about £150. Is it worth getting them from abroad?
Do you only sell complete motor wheels to your existing customers, and to those buying an entire conversion kit?
Many factors. Firstly, they have a 210 rpm 36v one, which is perfect for 48V. After that, it's a question of whether you can get the right speed motor in the right wheel size, then you take the price, add on the shipping and apply the discount code, then compare what you get for the price with alternatives. They say that most accessories are shipped from UK warehouse, so no extra VAT or duty.
That's probably what most people would do, but there are other important factors, like quality and support, which we're not yet in a position to evaluate, or you decide whether you have any old friends that supply this stuff, and whether you owe them any favours, or you decide to support your favourite supplier because they're struggling and you don't want them to go out of business.
When I buy stuff, it's often for other people with their money, so the decision tends to be down to just the things in the first paragraph, unfortunately.
let's pause a minute for thought.
You and I have been on here many, many years. We have seen many more departures of traders on here than newcomers. The reason is simple: businesses outside the UK do not support this forum and every purchase made at a Chinese website weakens UK traders a little more.
I am very sorry to see Kudosdave selling up his old stock. I guess he'll leave the forum for good when his stock is sold.
Many Chinese shops even cheat on VAT, through their UK warehouse, which is not the same as having a UK shop where customers can bring something back or take the shop to Court. They don't pay UK taxes, don't employ Brits, don't pay product liability insurance, don't need to comply with UK laws. Perhaps there should be an unwritten rule that we should point first to where the enquirers can find the goods in the UK before pointing them to a Chinese shop.
You and I have been on here many, many years. We have seen many more departures of traders on here than newcomers. The reason is simple: businesses outside the UK do not support this forum and every purchase made at a Chinese website weakens UK traders a little more.
I am very sorry to see Kudosdave selling up his old stock. I guess he'll leave the forum for good when his stock is sold.
Many Chinese shops even cheat on VAT, through their UK warehouse, which is not the same as having a UK shop where customers can bring something back or take the shop to Court. They don't pay UK taxes, don't employ Brits, don't pay product liability insurance, don't need to comply with UK laws. Perhaps there should be an unwritten rule that we should point first to where the enquirers can find the goods in the UK before pointing them to a Chinese shop.
I strongly disagree. Why do you buy goods from China? Consumers will always look for the best deal, and while support exists on this forum and others like it, why wouldn't they buy from China at lower cost? Times are hard out there, and folk will buy cheap wherever possible regardless of rules written or not. Pointing out less expensive products helps wallets of people looking to fix their ebikes.
IMHO You not selling parts like controllers, motors, complete motor wheels, displays etc. separately to new customers, is business self-sabotage. Why continue to shoot yourself in the foot? It's not like economic conditions will be improving anytime soon.
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does that take into account the cheating that is going on with Chinese shops? A lot of Chinese shops do not pay UK taxes, none of them can be fined or jailed if they are caught cheating.
If your parcel from PSWPower is investigated by Border Force, you are the one that will be fined, not the shop, because you are the importer.
We know that UK traders will be fined or jailed if they cheat on VAT.
Yes. And we'd all better learn Chinese, because they'll win the long game - people who didn't buy Chinese will be first against the wall.
I for one would be willing to pay a little extra for parts, if you sold them separately, to new customers.
Put yourself in my place.
One obvious powerful reason is the advice freely given by forum members how to push the motorwheel or controller or whatever it is beyond what I agree to warranty and support. So when it breaks, I have to spend more than I should though no fault of my own.
That's the same boat Chinese sellers inhabit, and they still turn profits by sheer force of numbers. Sell many separates to new customers. Increase your sales.
Good points, but it's sad that most punters just want to get stuff as cheap as they can, and they're not millionaires like us, so even if they did care, they're restrained by their finances.
The problem is Chinese businesses are truly outstanding, trustworthy and trusted people.
It's only the Chinese internet shops that cause problems.
Aside from crappy cheap and nasty batteries, dangerously used on the wrong motors, from what I've seen of Chinese motor and controller purchaes on this forum over the past couple of years, it's been ok for most if not all. Sell separates to new customers. Increase sales, profits.
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No, that is not correct. If they charge the correct fees and taxes, they cannot compete against bona fide local businesses. I recently imported a new frame. Here is the breakdown of fees:
Documentation (Docs) £100
Chinese Import Service Fee (CISF) £110
LCL Handling £45
£55 for a customs clearance
Bonded warehouse rent: £40 per day
That's the normal tariffs for forwarding services. You can ring up any forwarding agents to check if you like. My agent was David Turner ltd in Dartford.
There is no way you can make a profit importing less than a full container and Chinese internet shops are not going to do that.
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If you start struggling, it'd be a good idea to start drop shipping those fraudster's products. Use Shopify shopfronts, it's almost impossible to get refunded from those. Buy a bunch of Facebook ads to fuel Shopify with punters, they all seem to get taken in by Facebook ads.
you have to live outside the UK to cheat, either directly or use a Chinese intermediary (dropshipping and transshipping). If you live here, Border Force can catch you.
I can set up an internet shop but I live either in France or in the UK.
I can set up an internet shop but I live either in France or in the UK.
If things get really bad, you'd have to move anyway.
They have to prove it. Crypto tumbled into other crypto and back again etc. in small amounts is almost impossible to trace, mostly.
I own the premises and the stock is fully paid in advance, so I have a lot to lose if I get caught cheating on VAT. My main problem is this, I need to sell a sufficiently large number of units for each and every model of wheels such as XF07, XF08C etc. I can't afford to change very much a kit to suit a particular requirement of a customer, especially if it enables him to push it until it breaks. Every time Saneagle tells someone to run a 36V wheel on 48V, I pray that's it's not one of my wheels.
One of my customers didn't pay any tax on his business earnings for 15 years... then early one morning at 4am... a small army of HMRC officials descended upon his house and went about ripping up floorboards, skirting boards, wall cavities, his loft, garage etc. looking for cash and jewelry. Over those 15 years, he'd amassed a fortune in commercial and residential property, and he didn't lose any of that in the end: He paid a big fine, and pays a big number in monthly installments towards tax the HMRC calculated he should have paid. Overall, he's better off than he would have been than if he'd paid tax on time. I don't have the balls to do anything like that, but rather envy those who do. I suspect he's a genuine psychopath. Has the handlebar moustache and everything.
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