Bringing Merc to the USA
 

Thanks Wavshrdr for the images & review of your new Merc, I'm impressed.

I will try to get the Merc in for sale in Santa Fe. Tonight I wrote to Sheeaune Limited in England. Best I can tell they are the ones that bring in them in. If you know of any other contacts, please let me know. Perhaps, there is a direct Asian source.

I'm still waiting for our first shipment of Downtubes, hopefully they will be in next week.

WPF

Talk to Anita there. Here email address is anita.clare AT mercbike DOT co DOT uk . I did it that way so the SPAMBOTS don't pickup her email address. Tell her I sent you her way. I was pretty easy to deal with. They made a lot of progress in this bike. I honestly didn't think I would like it as much as I have so far. If it keeps up the way it has so far and is reliable it will be in second place on my favorite folder list.

Thank you very much. I just wrote her.

It looks like we'll probably be able to get them. Pricing will be largely dependent on shipping costs. My goal will be to market them in the USA cheaper than they be can be shipped in from England.

they look interesting , i could be a player

I know the review is coming.... looking forward to it.

I may be interested in one or two.

+1

I am still working on the details of bringing in the Mercs. Shipping cost, as is usually the case, is the hangup. Right now it looks like it will run 90 GBP per bike which is equivalent to $158 US dollars, then there is still customs to apy.

I am looking into the shipping issue. I think there are ways to get it down.

Do the customs/duties fees run per item, or per shipment? If some of the charges are the same regardless of whether it's one bike or one cargo-container of bikes, then economies of scale may be good.... but as a small-business owner, I'd be frightened to take on such a large shipment of an unproven name-brand (at least in the US).

In another thread, someone mentioned the possibility of folding bike manufacturers forming a retail association..... I think this would be a good thing, especially if it allows small-business owners to co-operatively order large shipments of product, and split them up once they reach US shores.

Double reply, sorry. It'll be really swell when the new forum servers get their traffic handling down. :)

the duties are based on the value of the shipment, but there is a little savings in port fees etc. with combined shipments.

We will be getting our first Merc order in soon. However, after consideration of shipping costs, we will not be able to sell them retail at any significant price saving over what an individual can buy them for directly from England. Nonetheless, it wil be good to have Merc on the showroom floor. The 3 speed is the only model currently available to us; the 6 speeds should be ready later in the summer.

Any idea when you might be getting the Merc's in. I would rather support a fellow member and US retailer if the price is the same.
Kenal0

We have in one Merc3 so far. The Merc6 bikes are not yet available. I think the price is roughly the same as what you can order one in for. The customs charges for wholesale vs retail price makes the comparison a bit tricky. If anyone wants has bought the Merc 3 directly, I'd be interested in their total charges.

So what your impressions so far? Even if people can't "save" any money it might make them feel more comfortable purchasing locally so to speak.

I do like the bike especially several features which have previously been discussed and viewed as improvements over the Brompon. However, I think the pricing which when retailed in the USA must necessarily account for shipping which ultimately may prove to be a big drawback for sales. As I've said a few times on the forums, Brompton really has their shipping act together. We don't have to pay shipping costs from England on any new Brompton, only customs fees. By contast the Merc costs about 80 British pounds (approx. $144 US dollars) to send over.

Since the Merc is so new and witout a proven record unlike the Swift or Brompton, I'm hesitant to push them too hard at this stage of our experience with Merc.

Kenalo, after reading your note which I appreciate, I've been thinking how to market the Mercs in the USA. I think there is certainly an advantage in getting the bike checked out through a dealer especially if there is no additional shipping charge within the USA. I personally love to see Brooks Saddles on a bike so I think we'll do as we've done with Brompton, that is make the Brooks Saddle an irresistable, inexpensive option. Accordingly on Mercs we'll give a $35 credit to the purchase of any Brooks Saddle available through our distributors. Thus the standard B17 saddle will run less than $20 when purchased with the Merc.

Thus far, it looks like the Merc people in England are good to work with.

Finally recieved my final bill on the Mercs so I can give a very close estimate of what it will cost to order a Merc 3 direct retail from Merc in England.

Merc 3 400 British Pounds = $756

Shipping:
DHL 80 British Pounds = $151

Import Fees 11% customs, plus $5.00 Duty Advance = $88

Approximate total cost = $995

Keep in mind that the Merc comes with a lot of extras that would drive up the cost of a Brompton quite a bit. It has a front bag and carrier, rear rack, lights and dynamo, etc. If there was a way to drop the shipping a bit it would be a smoking deal.

I'm periodically tempted by the thought of getting a Brompton, and now there's the very similar Merc. Temptation will probably win out, in the long run, over the facts that I don't need any more folders, for crying out loud, and that it will probably not come close to the performance of my Bike Fridays. But there is that take it anywhere fold. ;)

Between Merc and Brompton, though, I'd need a fairly big difference in price to tempt me away from the Brompton at this moment. That's not based on hard facts, just caution, Merc hasn't established the track record that Brompton has. Even factoring in the extras with the Merc (some of which I wouldn't want anyway), the difference in price wouldn't do it for me.

But maybe it will seem different next year.:rolleyes:

Is there any way they can ship direct to USA from Taiwan? This way the double shipping is avoided in the final price...

Merc
 

Aren't there any legal measures from Bromptons side and didn't they patent/copyright the bike and its folding mechanism etc.........just wondering.