How to buy a scooter online
Looking for something else?
by Rony CohenIf you are looking to buy a scooter, ATV, dirt bike, mini
chopper, motorcycle, moped, electric scooter, kids scooter or
go-kart online, it can be a frustrating and costly experience.
You may have heard some horror stories about scooters that fall
apart after one hour, shipping damage, inability to find spare
parts... If you are not careful, your online scooter shopping
experience can turn into a real online shopping nightmare. This
page is aimed at giving you pointers on what to look for when
selecting a scooter and an online motor scooter store.
Obviously, we want you to buy your scooter from us at http://evosales.com,
but if we do not carry the item you are looking for, or in the
extremely rare situation you find a better price, these scooter
buying tips may come in handy.
There are many Chinese scooter factories and only a few body
parts manufacturers. The result is many models that look exactly
the same; the internal parts however are not. Many scooters look
alike but they are not created equal. Unfortunately, there is no
way to distinguish between the good and bad quality scooters
looking at the pictures online.
- Search for your scooter online. When you see a model
you like, write down the following information:
- Scooter type - gas scooter, electric scooter, mini chopper,
pocket bike, super pocket bike, dirt bike, mini bike, ATV,
motorcycle, moped, go kart...
- Engine type - electric, 2 or 4 stroke for gas scooters.
- Engine size - cubic centimeters usually indicated by cc i.e.
110cc for gas scooters and watts for electric scooters - usually
indicated by a number between 200W and 1500W.
- Transmission type - automatic, semi-automatic or manual
clutch, 3, 4 or 5 gears
- Price
- Shipping cost.
- URL of online store offering the scooter. This is important
because there are many sites offering many bikes, you may not
remember where you saw the one you really like or the site that
offered the best price.
- Beware of the specifications given by the website. For
example, if you find the same scooter and one place says it will
do 40MPH and another says 65MPH, one of the 2 sites is wrong.
The better online scooter stores will make an effort to give
accurate specifications.
Once you are done with your preliminary search and selected a
few models you like, go back to your search engine and perform a
more detail search, for example, if you found a mini chopper
110cc you like, enter 110cc 4 stroke gas mini chopper in your
search. This will insure you are comparing apples to apples.
Don't get stuck on one body style, we understand you want to get
a scooter you like but giving yourself only 1 choice may be a
big mistake, be flexible.
Most online scooter stores assign their own model number to each
item so searching by model number is useless. You should also
know that some scooters come with different engines, the picture
looks the same but the engine is different.
- Compare
the prices and make sure you include the shipping cost. Do
not assume shipping is free if the site does not clearly state:
"free shipping" on that particular model. A good online scooter
store will show you the shipping cost up front. Please note that
shipping can account for up to $200 of the purchase price.
Please be careful with this one; some scooter.com sites
advertise free shipping but then charge extra for residential
and lift gate (can run more than $120 extra). Others give free
shipping but only to the closest terminal; you may end up having
to drive 100 miles + to get your scooter. You should also check
if the shipment is insured or if they charge extra for
insurance.
- Carefully read the online scooter store's
warranty and return policy. What you can expect is a 7 day
return policy if the scooter has not been used and 30 day
warranty. Make sure the warranty also covers labor (or at least
part of it). Check the refused and cancel order policy. See if
there is a restocking fee and what your are responsible
for.
- Pay special attention to the shipping damage
policy. Scooters are prone to shipping damage; some company
hold the buyer responsible for shipping damage. If there is
shipping damage (about 5 to 10% of the shipments get some kind
of damage), you should note that DHL, UPS and FedEx do not pay
the claims on scooters (shipping insurance only works if they
lose the package or if they totally destroy it.) If the online
scooter store holds you responsible for shipping damage, you may
be out of luck. They will tell you to make your claim with the
shipping company, this may take months and in most cases, you
will not get paid. If the online scooter store you select ships
via an LTL trucking company (such as we do at http://evosales.com)
as opposed ot the common carriers (UPS, DHL and FedEx), you have
much less to worry about as LTL shipments are insured in most
cases and the carriers will pay the claims for damage 95% of
the time. Most people do not take the time to read the policies
before buying; this can be a big mistake. It's only an
investment of 5 minutes of your time and can save you lots of
money and headaches. You may also want to print the warranty and
policies and keep it as a record.
- See if they offer
part and product support. Don't be shy. If you have
questions or concerns, call or send an email to the online
scooter store and ask them. Some online motor scooter stores do
not have any parts and are not able to get them.
- Check the store's references. For example, see if they
have a Better Business Bureau report. Go to
bbbonline.org/consumer/ and enter the company's name and zip
code. Many companies have a BBB report even if their website
does not display the BBB logo. Try to do a search for the
company name on your search engine. If a company has more than 3
complaints with the BBB, they can't signup to become a BBB
member.
See if the store has a rating on bizrate.com, shopping.com,
pricegrabber.com and other shopping portals.
- Pay by
credit card or paypal. If you have a debit card, pay by
check or wire transfer, you have no recourse if you do not
receive the right merchandise (or do not receive any
merchandise). If you pay by credit card or PayPal, you are
protected so long as you follow the policies as shown on the
online scooter store. Please note that if you don't have a
credit card, you can open a PayPal account and pay by check even
if the online scooter store does not accept checks.
We hope this information useful. If you have any other buying
tip or suggestion, please use our online contact email
form.
This article is copyright of http://evosales.com.
Rony Cohen is the owner of
http://evosales.com.
The has 4 years experience in the sales and distribution of
Chinese made motorcycles and gas scooters. He likes to share his
experience with consumers who own or are looking to own a
Chinese motorcycle or scooter.
©2006 Rony Cohen. All rights reserved.
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