Buyers & Sellers...Who's in Charge at MBc?

[gone_fishin]

well, it seems our un-favorite seller has made his presence known yet again...time to clear the air around here.

MotoredBikes.com is a gathering of buyers, builders, & riders of motor-assisted-bicycles (motoredbikes), and we do allow sellers to interact with our members but under a strict set of guidelines.

seems we've gotten the attention of sellers and makers, both on ebay & private websites. that makes sense, because any time enough consumers gather it will have an influence on the market. in the case of the "happy time" industry, that's been a long time overdue. we've seen shady representation of engines and components, extortive shipping practices & charges, and we've been directly attacked here on the forums.

now, MBc has been threatened by the above mentioned seller with hacking of our site. it's also been mentioned that perhaps a leading importer could force us to comply with a seller's wishes to edit our content to meet his needs.

so, i ask you, the MBc member & consumer: who's in charge here, anyway?

and...please, post your feelings on this matter so certain folks finally get the message...no names (yet), they know who they are.

 

[Large Filipino]

the whole buyer/seller idea reminds me of......which came first, the chicken...or the egg?

The buyer came first cause he had to buy from a seller before becoming a seller....but someone has to make it to sell to a buyer that becomes a seller...but it can go back even further to the ones that make the materials to build the product that bought it from someone....seller.
The seller came first.

 

[5-7HEAVEN]

I like MotorbikeMike's comments the best.

i like bargains, but i also like "good stuff" on my project. sometimes the latest mods aren't the best quality, like the chinese happy engines. since they look the best, i bought them. if they ever offer one with better quality components, i'd buy that too.

i almost bought a WHIZZER locally, but it's too heavy and too much bling. all the little pieces have WHIZZER prices on it. the fact that it'd have to be registered as a motorcycle is also a big turnoff for me.

i would LOVE to buy a new WHIZZER engine alone and mount it onto an old cruiser frame. I'd use a bare-bones approach: all engine, balloon tires, springer fork, excellent brakes, maybe chain and jackshaft or sheave pulley.

BTW, i vote for "buyer".

Myron

 

[uncle_punk13]

Unless the seller / importer / manufacturer is giving out freebies (and I mean big dollar freebies), there ain't no way in heck they can control this site.
MB.c is mainly consumers working with other consumers. Sellers beware of bad business practices,,,, we spread it by word of mouth, which can be either good or bad, sellers choice!

Papa

Here, here!!! I couldn't have said it any better!!!

 

[Dockspa1]

Maybe we should set up a little sellers room and play the gas wars game except we would be using MBs. Let them bid how low they will go, instead of how high we will?
That would be nice for a change.
This place is getting big enough to start swaying good and bad dealers. That is why the monster keeps popping his head up. That and maybe a personal vendetta.
Doc

 

[scrollerguy]

Buyers and Sellers

Hello fellow members. Just came across this tonight, and thought I'd like to add my 2 cents. While I haven't been a member for very long, this forum is the main one I read before I turn in.

Being on social security, most of the money is earmarked for expenses, so toys and other things come last. Whenever I can find an in expensive part, I do buy it. If I cannot afford it, I will try to get by with what I can.

I buy only from reputable sources, and stick with them. They have proved to me that I owe them my business because of their responsibility, quality of product, etc.

If somebody wants to bash this group, I'll avoid that business at all costs.

The buyer rules!! Maybe my bike doesn't have an expensive kit, but I got by with what I could afford, so my total cost would be considered low.

When I get to the point where I can afford an engine kit, I will buy it from where the guys here on the forum recommend. Not from some greedy, bashing, hypocrite.

Scrollerguy

 

[Jim H]

Definitely buyer! I believe everyone has a right to capitalize on a product or service up to 33%... go over that and you've gone greedy and you'll get no business from me...

 

[dbigkahunna]

Thanks to MBc,I know which engines are which, and who markets to whom. In learning as much about this as I can, I settled on a rack mount set up. Nothing against the HT engines, the rack mount is more my style. ANd they seem a trifle more civil towards each other.

 

[SirJakesus]

I have a KingsMotorBikes "happyTime" engine kit and I'd have to say for the price it's a **** good kit. From the pictures I've seen its probably practically the same thing as all the other 70/80cc kits out there but I've had no problems what-so-ever that I can blame on the engine or components. As long as you take your time setting these things up correctly, maintain them well and try not to beat the **** out of them they hold up really well. I have over 1,000 miles on the kit and the only problems ive had were either my fault or my bikes fault. Things such as broken spokes were the lightweight rims fault and I got a blown tire aswell (also my fault for using the same tube and tire that the bike has had on it for about 10 years)
I'd say this is more a buyers forum than a sellers but I think having the vendors here makes it all the better. The more the vendors can interact with the community the better they can serve us. They'll hear what we want and what kind of problems people generally have whether it be a somewhat common mechanical defect from the factory they buy from or a simple oversight most of us wouldnt realize without finding out the hard way.
I'm an optician so I know all about interaction with my customers. What I've found is that no matter how inexpensive, easy to maintain or use somebody will manage to screw something up or complain about price. You ALWAYS get what you pay for and when it comes to these kits i really hand it to our vendors for putting up with people buying them. I have enough people complain about their lenses getting scratched which is obviously their fault. I'm sure a majority of the time seized engines and the like are also the operators fault. To those who sell these kits and specifically kingsMB thanks for offering these products. It's been a hobby of mine for years now and for the price of these engines nobody has a right to complain about needing to improvise for a few things unless the kit came damaged to begin with. If you want great reliability get a moped, rackmount 4-stroke or Ebike. Leave my happytime alone *HugsHT*

 

[srdavo]

Well said!

 

[smitty]

The customer may not always be right, BUT, he (or she) is always the customer. Without a customer the business is not a business. I like the fact that this forum is (mostly) consumers talking about their experiences, good or bad. If this forum were controlled by the sellers it would become mostly advertising, and we know how trustworthy most of that is. It seems to me that an unethical seller would want to undermine this sight because of the power we have to spread the word. I also like the fact that we have ethical sellers willing to share their knowledge. Being in a business gives one insights that consumers alone cannot experience.