Okay, I’ll bring it on. What ever. I purchased and imported 30, 49cc, 4 stroke bicycle motor kits from Elon Tools (they also go by several different company names, look them up to check this out). I went with this company because they were Gold Members and offered the Trade Assurance (buy now, pay later). Also they stated they would help you with importing into the USA and give you 6 month warranty on the kits.
Please note, these classifications don’t mean anything and anything they tell you may or may not be true. It is up to you to verify everything. Also, you are dealing with China, if any of your products are defective, (remember you wanted cheap) you will be stuck with the bad product no matter what warranties they promise you. Out of 30 kits, so far three drive units are bad. I contacted Elon Tools about this and got NO response. Did I tell you they will not back up their products? They won’t.
They are master negotiators. Once you make a contact be prepared to hear from them daily and they will be your best friend. So if you are lonely, make a contact with a company and you will have a very good friend in China until they get your money, then… ha, they can care less about you. I thought I was smart, like most of you out there on this forum, and figured I will get the best price for purchasing a few kits. Well I did have to order 30 kits, it really isn’t worth it to get fewer due to the fees you will be paying for importing these kits. I started at 20 kits for $160 per kit, ended up buying 30 kits at $165 per kit. I found out I paid too much for each kit, now after the fact I should have only paid $110 max per kit.
Negotiations took about 2 weeks of daily back and forth emails. Once you come to an agreement, they will require you to wire the money to them. Forget about buy now pay later. I think that is for seasoned importers and large quantity purchases. At 30 units, forget it. $45 wire fee from your bank, this will be the first of many fees you will be paying! Hope like **** they will send your product, at this point your money is gone. I went with the Gold Classification of this company and they did send me the product.
It took about 3 weeks to get the order ready for shipment. Once this is done the fun begins. You, and I mean YOU, will have to get the forms ready. Also, at this point you will need an import broker. Don’t even think you are smart enough to do this yourself, then again I am sure most of you are smarter than me, if so go for it! Get the import book for dummies and read it.
Pretty much Elon Tools shrink wrapped the kits on a pallet and moved them to the shipping yard in China. Then it was up to me and the broker to get the forms completed and filed. I did paid Elon Tools $300 for shipping from China to Los Angeles. After that you are really on your own. It took 2 months from when Elon Tools confirmed the pallet was at the shipping dock in China to when I picked up the pallet in Denver CO, shipping time and customs time. Total time, about 2 ½ months to get the kits. Agreement on terms, Dec 1st 2015, received kits in Denver Feb 18th 2016.
There were many fees to be paid, I won’t go over all of them, your broker can help you with this. End result is… cost from Elon Tools $165 per kit plus $45 per kit for shipping, import and customs fees; total cost per unit $210. This is too high to buy these kits to make any money on them. I would recommend to purchase 4 or 5 kits from a local dealer at a better price if you are only building motorized bikes. I bet you could pick them up for under $200 each if you buy 5 to 8 kits, (I sure hope they had better luck getting them at a better price to what I paid).
Don’t get 30 of them, the demand isn’t there. I contacted 3 people who are building these motorized bikes in the Denver area to unload some of my kits. They told me no thanks, there wasn’t much demand for the 4 stroke kits, people liked the 2 stroke motors, lighter and more powerful. So, I have 19 kits left after a year. Sales are really slow. Hope this helps. BTW, Elon Tools isn’t on Alababa any more. So much for the “Gold” classification! Then again, they could be out there under a different name?
Oh, also check the current regulations regarding EPA certifications for importing small engines. This could be a killer on importing them. Elon Tools told me I didn't need it, Customs told me I did, who are you to believe? I think I got lucky where the customs agent missed this certification when he inspected my kits. BTW, they opened 18 of the 30 kits for inspection. I had to repackage each one they opened, they will make a mess of your packaging!
Any ideas on the best way to market these kits. Sold one on Ebay only to get $210 for it, after shipping and fees for ebay and paypal, I lost $60 on that kit. Craigslist sales are very slow here, not much interest locally for these kits. So far I have built 5 motorized bikes at a profit of $25 per bike, ugh, lot of work for little pay, but it better than loosing money.
But you've helped me a lot in trying to make my decision. Thanks.
