We are a specialty cycle shop representing the most recognized brands in the e-bike and e-scooter industry. Many of our carefully selected brands prohibit us dealers from advertising prices below the Minimum Advertised Price (MAP).
Any dealer of a commercial brand must sign what is known as a dealer contract in order to represent that brand. In that contract, there are clear guidelines on what we as the dealer for that brand can do to advertise and sell the product, and what we can't do. Each brand is different. Some brands have almost no restrictions, while others are highly controlled. Generally speaking the more exclusive the brand, the more restrictions that are applied to the brand's advertising policies.
For those of you unfamiliar with retail operations, this next part may help you to understand a bit about prices and why some dealers charge so much more than others. We want your business, but we also want you to feel good about your purchase.
We have over 5000 listed products in our catalog. Where appropriate, we advertise at the manufacturer's MAP. What is MAP? MAP stands for "Minimum Advertised Price" and is the absolute bottom price a dealer can advertise and sell a product. This is stated in the dealer's contract with the manufacturer of the product. The MAP is different than MSRP in that MSRP is what a manufacturer's suggests a retailer to sell their product. MSRP is a "suggested" price. The MAP is the absolute lowest price.
Many name-brand manufacturers do not have MAP policies. And many products in their catalogs may not even have an MSRP. For these products, it's whatever the retailer needs to earn to cover his/her operating expenses to carry that product. But the more exclusive the product, the more a manufacturer may want to control dealers from getting into a price-war which ultimately devalues the product. This is why you will see a lot of dealers selling the same product at the same price. When you spot this, you can be certain that the manufacturer has a MAP on that product.
There are other restrictions as well. For some of our exclusive brands, we are not permitted to ship products to customers. Instead, customer's must come in to the shop and have our team fit the product to the customer's particular riding style. Usually, for higher-end products that require adjustments or custom configurations, the manufacturer will prohibit online sales and shipping. This does not mean that dealers cannot advertise online. It simply means that us dealers cannot advertise that we sell and ship that product. You can have confidence that we are abiding our dealership agreements for the brands we represent because we state in the product description whether the product is eligible for shipping or not. Usually, you will see some highlighted text that will say "For in-store pickup only".
Back to the purpose of this page - the Voltaire Cycles BEST PRICE GUARANTEE policy. We will beat any legitimate (authorized dealer) pricing of any product we sell. That's it! If it's a choice between buying from shop X, and buying from shop Y, we will always strive to be the shop that you can count on for service, repairs, returns, exchanges, and a first-name relationship. For any of our e-vehicles over $1,000, we always include a substantial discount on at least one accessory - and usually, if you are new to riding, we will give you a bundle discount on all of the gear you might want to have 'on-hand'. This adds up quickly. We have customers who purchase an e-bike from us at MAP, then receive discounts on accessories which total over $1000. That's a lot of savings!
Why do we do that? Because when you are out riding, and people ask you where you got your ride (which many will do), we hope that you'll give us a referral. And if that referral turns into a new customer, you will hear from us with an additional gift certificate.
Today, for a lot of us, shopping online has become very impersonal. You look at products, you purchase, and if you are not satisfied, you return the product by mail or to a local store outlet. This is convenient which is what we value. you also add the extra peace-of-mind knowing that if something doesn't work the way you think it should, or is making a noise you aren't sure about, or even want to upgrade a component or two, you will find that having the relationship with us is priceless.
If you find a better price online or in person anywhere, you can count on The Voltaire Cycles to endeavor to meet or beat that price. We want to be 'your' electric -vehicle resource.