Taiwan VS USA scooter prices, FIGHT!

[jfrost2]

Buddy 125 (carb) $2,699
iBubu 125 (EFI) $1,900

Blur 220 $3899
G-Max 220 $ 3499

PGO doesnt have many of the models we have in the USA anymore listed on their website with pricing information, such as the rattler, rough house, or the 50cc buddy, etc.

Seems a better buddy with electric fuel injection is $800 cheaper than the MSRP in Taiwan. I can understand the cost of shipping and import fees genuine has to pay though which jacks up the cost of a standard carb'd buddy 125's MSRP.

What suprises me is the cost of the Gmax/blur 220 MSRP difference being so close! $400, that is less than what is costs to ship the bike over seas and all of the import fees. This leads me to believe that the iBuBu/Buddy could actually be sold cheaper without as much mark up possibly. Although I still beliebe $2,699 is a nice and cheap price compared to other 125/150cc bikes in our market.

[babblefish]

Taiwan has a MUCH bigger scooter market than we have over here. Plus PGO has a lot more competition for scooter sales over there, hence the lower prices.

[ericalm]

It's not as if a company's goals are to sell its product as cheap as possible. When it comes to setting prices, there are a number of considerations, and cost is just one. The margins may be totally different. Also keep in mind that the United States is a big mofo country. It costs hundreds just to get scoots across the country once they get here. Dealer networks may be totally different, requiring different margins and profits on that end.

Aside from all that, there are just basic economic forces like supply and demand. Look at all the competition, see what their prices are, and try to figure out what the market will bear for your product and how that jibes with costs and overhead.

In the end, I think when surveying all that's out there the Buddy remains not just the best scooter for its price but one of the best at any price.

They could sell it for $5 in Taiwan, but that would still be true in the US.

[Perkussion]

Very good points, Eric.

[illnoise]

Between shipping, homologation, and tooling/labor for changes for US/CARB specs, duties and custom fees, liability insurance, and the general expense of running a business in the United States, I'm surprised there's not WAY more difference.

That's why it's so scary that there are $800 scooters out there, how much do THOSE cost to make?

[chelsea]

There is a man who runs a biz out of a space in the same building as Scoot Richmond. He makes his living by buying containers of crap from China and selling it to QVC (or some other shopping channel thing). He has come to me a few times trying to talk me into telling him that it'd be a great idea to import some of the cheap nasty Chinese scooters. The scooters he was considering were 50cc units. If he ordered a couple of containers worth of scooters, the price per scooter is $92. That is pre-shipping and pre-customs, so obviously they'd be more once they arrived on US soil.

I am seriously OMFG over that number. To take your life in your own hands on a motorvehicle that costs $92 to produce is MINDBLOWING.

Another thing to keep in mind about the price of the scoots in the USA vs Taiwan is that Genuine's warranty and the roadside assistance and all of that jazz are extra costs that end up in the final number. So is EPA and DOT certification, as is noted by someone above. You've also got the stuff that has been changed from the Taiwan model to the USA model, and there are less of those things on the new Blur 220i than there are on the Buddy/Bubu. And last but not least, I can only imagine how much it costs Genuine Scooter Co to purchase all of the necessary insurance to cover them in terms of product liability and whatnot. Since the USA is likely to be the most litigious country in the known universe, it's going to be far more than PGO spends on the same thing.

[jfrost2]

There is a man who runs a biz out of a space in the same building as Scoot Richmond. He makes his living by buying containers of crap from China and selling it to QVC (or some other shopping channel thing). He has come to me a few times trying to talk me into telling him that it'd be a great idea to import some of the cheap nasty Chinese scooters. The scooters he was considering were 50cc units. If he ordered a couple of containers worth of scooters, the price per scooter is $92. That is pre-shipping and pre-customs, so obviously they'd be more once they arrived on US soil.

I am seriously OMFG over that number. To take your life in your own hands on a motorvehicle that costs $92 to produce is MINDBLOWING.

Another thing to keep in mind about the price of the scoots in the USA vs Taiwan is that Genuine's warranty and the roadside assistance and all of that jazz are extra costs that end up in the final number. So is EPA and DOT certification, as is noted by someone above. You've also got the stuff that has been changed from the Taiwan model to the USA model, and there are less of those things on the new Blur 220i than there are on the Buddy/Bubu. And last but not least, I can only imagine how much it costs Genuine Scooter Co to purchase all of the necessary insurance to cover them in terms of product liability and whatnot. Since the USA is likely to be the most litigious country in the known universe, it's going to be far more than PGO spends on the same thing.

The idea of the warranty and roadside assistance would make sense for the small price hike, but in Taiwan they have the same warranty and similar towing service for PGO bikes purchased.

I think the buddy is priced higher than in Taiwan just for USA competition. It could get bad reputation if they sold it so much lower than everyone else. People could begin thinking it's cheap chinese junk because of the cheap price. Another idea could be it's better to just have a similar price compared to other scooters for healthy competition with other brands. Wouldnt want vespa, and the others to undersell bikes too.

All just speculation, I'm no economist, so I could be wrong.

[Cheshire]

Taiwan doesn't have the land mass the USA does. Also, their parts factories are domestic to them. Makes a bit of a difference.

[TVB]

The idea of the warranty and roadside assistance would make sense for the small price hike, but in Taiwan they have the same warranty and similar towing service for PGO bikes purchased.

Roadside assistance has to be less expensive to provide in a compact country such as Taiwan than in the sprawly US. Last summer I was hundreds of miles from the nearest Genuine dealer, which is physically impossible in Taiwan.

I think the buddy is priced higher than in Taiwan just for USA competition. It could get bad reputation if they sold it so much lower than everyone else. People could begin thinking it's cheap chinese junk because of the cheap price. Another idea could be it's better to just have a similar price compared to other scooters for healthy competition with other brands. Wouldnt want vespa, and the others to undersell bikes too.

I don't think it's reputation or perception so much as maximizing profit. If Genuine could either sell 1000 bikes at $500 profit each, or 600 bikes at $1000 profit each, then the latter is the "correct" price point, even though it means not selling as many scoots. Taiwan's a different market with different supply/demand curves, so the ideal price point is different, regardless of the roughly-equal manufacturing cost.

[Cheshire]

Don't forget that outside the US, scooters and motorcycles are considered viable transportation. Here, they're considered luxury items, "toys", a hobby...anything but serious transportation.

[iMoses]

Taiwan doesn't have the land mass the USA does. Also, their parts factories are domestic to them. Makes a bit of a difference.

Shipping from overseas is not cheap... nor is the testing (and attaining) for the Calif requirements