Originally Posted by
mtlvelo
Great to see that the discussion has started about vela.ca folding bikes. Vela.ca is a Canadian based company which is focused on the Canadian Market. For all of our friends south of the border (US of A) please allow me to explain some of the differences in pricing. Canada has higher import duties and sales tax (GST) for bicycles, not to mention universal health care, rich ethnical diversity and apparently a more securely structured banking system. Vela.ca's price of $450 CND also includes shipping within Canada (shipping costs are also higher in Canada). Let's do a comparison... A comparable downtube model sells for $379 USD. Import duties= %13 GST=%5 If Canadians order from an American company they will also be charge a customs brokerage fee which is about $20-$40. So, Downtube's $379 is now up to approx. $450. Downtube charges $80 for Canadian shipping... we're up to approxly $530, not including the possible $20-40 brokerage fee. So, for the moment Vela.ca's bikes are not ideal for American customers but are very competitive for Canadians. The bikes are stylish and customer service is great. It's great to have comments in any forum but I don't think anyone has done a fair comparison of the bikes or the price. Maybe the company will eventually open a branch in the US. Cheers
mtlvelo - Having read your thoughtful post, I think that you hit up on the solution at the end.
Instead of having your Chinese made bikes imported into Canada, have them imported into the US and distributed to retail outlets in the northern part of the country. Then when Canadians come down on their frequent buying trips they can add a Vela folder to their shopping list.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/...rticle4478423/
Don't worry about those disgruntled US shoppers in Bellingham - the Chamber of Commerce will calm them down. In fact, may I suggest locating one of your stores at the Bellingham Outlet Store Shopping Center to take advantage of the heavy Canadian shopping traffic already well established at that location.
It would be a win-win-win situation. You would sell many more bikes, Canadians would save $100s on the purchase and US business would prosper, increasing tax revenue to support our new health care system.
However if you really want to stay in Canada maybe you should check out Halton Hills, but be prepared to lower those prices (interesting comments from your fellow Canadians about this issue follow the article):
http://www.thestar.com/business/pers...ort_shows.html
As for the effect of Canada's ethnic diversity on cost of goods, I would need to understand more about how this works, as the relevance is not clear to me and I always thought the US was fairly diverse.