Upway is a Gennevilliers, France-based startup ebike reseller with an excellent attention-grabbing gross sales mannequin. The corporate takes overstock new ebikes from producers, final yr’s or flooring fashions from bike shops, and even buys ebikes on-line (perhaps yours!) to refurbish and promote at a 20-60% low cost with a one-year guarantee. It not too long ago opened a US location in Brooklyn so as to add to its Paris and Berlin warehouse areas and invited us by for a go to…

A couple of yr in the past, Upway landed a $25 million Sequence A funding spherical led by Exor Seeds and Sequoia Capital. A few of that cash went into beginning its Brooklyn location and opening the US market.

Upway presently operates out of warehouses outdoors of Paris and Berlin and, apart from Germany and France, additionally serves Belgium and the Netherlands. The staff took the learnings from the European distribution factors and constructed a terrifically organized warehouse in a nondescript wholesaler space of Brooklyn. I’m advised it’s scouting for a second US location alongside the West Coast outdoors of LA.

The Upway US HQ/warehouse is situated at 143 Morgan Avenue 11237, Brooklyn, NY. I went there final week, and wow, is it spectacular.

From the time the bikes roll in through supply vans/vans, they get tagged and bagged with the total background of the bike in addition to equipment/chargers. Every bike, irrespective of whether it is new or used, goes by a 20-step inspection and restore course of to convey it as much as “bike store”-level tuning.

As soon as inspected and licensed by professional bike mechanics, they shortly get photographed in a formidable 360-degree automated digital camera room for posting on the web.

Bikes that arrive within the morning are sometimes on the market and typically offered later that very same day. Right here’s a small sampling of Upway’s present stock (it solely does ebikes, no acoustic).

Nearly all the ebikes listed here are top-shelf “bike retailer” stage ebikes, together with Riese and Mueller, Specialised, Cannondale, Yuba, Large, and so on.

Curiously, due to New York’s new legal guidelines about ebike batteries, Upway will quickly solely have the ability to promote bikes which can be UL-listed or have UL-listed batteries. That is likely to be for the higher.

Upway additionally buys high-quality ebikes off of Fb Market and different on-line gross sales platforms if it thinks it may possibly make an honest margin on fixing and reselling. Cargo bikes and mountain bikes are notably in excessive demand within the US proper now so these are the sorts of bikes Upway is scouting for.

Curiously, whereas within the warehouse, I noticed my good friend’s Sondors Mad Mod arrive and undergo the consumption process. Unbeknownst to me, he was on the lookout for one thing lighter and ran by the straightforward three-step trade-in course of the earlier week. Hours later, it was on the positioning, prepared on the market.

As soon as bought, Upway containers and sends out bikes absolutely assembled and calibrated like a motorcycle store would and places a brand new one-year guarantee on the bike. The one factor the client has to do is tighten the handlebars and screw on the pedals. This implies Upway’s containers are a little bit taller, and naturally, they are going to be labeled “HDTVs,” a trick Van Moof invented in order that the handlers are a little bit gentler on the containers.

Containers arrive through FedEx or XPO, relying on geography, and will be anticipated to reach in 2-5 enterprise days from buy, once more relying on the space from Brooklyn.

Electrek’s take:

I actually love this concept, particularly as a result of second-hand ebikes are blowing up after the pandemic – however the execution looks as if it may very well be a troublesome slog. I’ve obtained my eye on this purple Specialised Turbo Vado for commuters listed for about half the retail worth. There’s additionally a brand new Large Roam E+STA in new situation for $1848 ($1000 off). Checking the new and sale objects has already turn out to be a passion for me, and I’ve even bookmarked the pages.

Even should you aren’t shopping for an Upway bike, the bike finder app means that you can determine which bike manufacturers/fashions meet your particular desires, and I’ve really helpful the finder to individuals who ask me what sort of ebike they need to get.

At first blush, it looks as if a win-win-win state of affairs. Customers get high-quality bikes in new or nearly new situation with a one-year guarantee. Bike producers and outlets have a simple technique to offload bikes that they didn’t promote. And there’s a thriving market for used ebikes.

You may most likely take into consideration Upway as an ebike Outlet Mall or maybe the TJ Maxx/Marshalls/Ross of ebikes.

Nevertheless, the satan is within the particulars. A motorbike shipped to and from Brooklyn goes to price lots lower than one shipped to Seattle, as an example. So Upway’s easy free transport pricing goes to be a loss chief in some instances. Cargo bikes are much more costly to ship, and the bucket/baby carriers are required to be placed on pallets. These logistics costs all eat closely into margins so placing the proper offers with shippers is essential.

I had a Trek occasion after my go to to Upway, and an worker stated it was working by itself model of this second-hand market. If different retailers get into the sport, Upway shall be at a major drawback. In reality, some have already got. That Sondors Mad Mod I discussed earlier than is $2199 shipped from Upway, however Sondors itself has Open Field pricing beginning at $1799. However who is aware of how a lot transport will add, will it have a 1 yr guarantee and can it’s “bike store tuned”?

Nonetheless, although, I believe Upway is onto one thing right here if my utilization of its web site is any indication. What do you suppose? Is that this an effective way to avoid wasting some huge cash on an authorized bike with a one-year guarantee?