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Old 05-13-2010, 01:43 PM   #9
culcune   culcune is offline
 
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Join Date: May 2006
Location: Yuma, Arizona
Posts: 9,035
I think the problem is what we have in the US--bikes seem to sell for far less than pretty much all other countries/regions. So, there is no margin of incentive for the most part. Canada tends to sell bikes at retail for more money across the board, so Chinese bikes that kind of compare in features to big brands can seem like bargains to a consumer. Maybe not bargains, per se, but at least it would be worth the "risk" to purchase a somewhat backed bike for half the cost or less than a Yamaha or kawasaki. Which brings us to the backing of the bikes.

Europe, Canada, and other parts of the world who tend to charge end-users more (maybe due to VATs or higher taxes, not the distributors/retailers idea) are able to make it worth someone's time and effort to distribute them properly, which make them a more desirable product in the consumers' eyes (warranties especially!). IN the US, we have pretty much cut and pared out the profits. This has to do with perceptions, too. Many people will argue that it is much more worth it to buy a top brands' bike for $4000 than Qlink's for $2100, although in Qlink's defense, the bikes have gained a reputation as a bargain for the $. Which leads us to distributors to make the bikes worthwhile. Qlink, Pitster, I think Benneche, and a few more have and will start to bring in bikes with backing, but we will have to accept the mark-up.

BTW, the top of the line Shinerays shown are probably priced about right, wholesale. They are supposed to be good bikes.


 
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