Do the sums. For $1k flights, 4 nights accom @ $150, $150/day food, $500 transport we can send someone to do recon on origins of frames. Investment = $2,700 Divided by, say, 6 purchases = $450/purchase $600 per frame + 450 = $1050 per frame.
Hmmmm! we're down to about a sixth of the price of a proper finished one (assuming $6,000).
Or we all put in, buy the frame, any good someone can pay us out (whoever wants it). If it is bad we can build it up and sell it. It looks genuine. Sure it's being done as we speak.
Careful. One of my customers has just paid for a full bike $700 and the answer was no bike. They did the same, between 6 of them they bought the bike. I will find out the website and let you know.
Which website did they buy from. There are alternatives to ebay which seem to be zones for this scam. The factories producing this stuff are called OEM's and seem to be getting widespread. Its interesting to note that Japanese manufacturers did the same thing in the 70's, particularly with music items. Guitars in this period are often referred to as Lawsuit, I assume because the US took steps to stop it. Almost without fail though, these copies were better than the originals because the Japanese workmanship was much better.
http://range.wordpress.com/2009/09/03/oem-taiwanese-carbon-fiber-bike-companies/
ReplyDeletehttp://pedalforce.com/online/index.php
Still digging on this topic, but it seems that the same factories that make the real ones simply copy and sell on.
Do the sums. For $1k flights, 4 nights accom @ $150, $150/day food, $500 transport we can send someone to do recon on origins of frames.
ReplyDeleteInvestment = $2,700
Divided by, say, 6 purchases = $450/purchase
$600 per frame + 450 = $1050 per frame.
Hmmmm! we're down to about a sixth of the price of a proper finished one (assuming $6,000).
Or we all put in, buy the frame, any good someone can pay us out (whoever wants it). If it is bad we can build it up and sell it. It looks genuine. Sure it's being done as we speak.
ReplyDeleteCareful. One of my customers has just paid for a full bike $700 and the answer was no bike. They did the same, between 6 of them they bought the bike. I will find out the website and let you know.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback. Its true what they say "if it's too good to be true"
ReplyDeleteWhich website did they buy from. There are alternatives to ebay which seem to be zones for this scam. The factories producing this stuff are called OEM's and seem to be getting widespread. Its interesting to note that Japanese manufacturers did the same thing in the 70's, particularly with music items. Guitars in this period are often referred to as Lawsuit, I assume because the US took steps to stop it. Almost without fail though, these copies were better than the originals because the Japanese workmanship was much better.
ReplyDelete