I have purchased dozens of electric scooters online, found wonderful scooters at excellent prices, and also been scammed quite a few times. In this review I’ll share with you what to look out for when buying an electric scooter online, how to find a great deal, and which sites to avoid.
Read my full article on buying scooters on Temu/AliExpress here.
Read my full article on buying scooters on Ebay/Amazon here.
Check Multiple Sites
Usually the exact same electric scooter will be available through a number of different online retailers, and you can probably get a better price and overall experience by shopping around. Here are my go-to sites, with comparisons between price, shipping speed, and customer support, all based on my personal experience.
| Store | Price | Shipping Speed | Customer Support |
| Temu | Very Low | Slow | None |
| AliExpress | Very Low | Very Slow | None |
| Ebay | Low | Average | Poor |
| Amazon | Average | Very Fast | Average |
| Walmart | Average | Fast | Average |
| Direct from Manufacturer | High | Average | Good |
Does a 5-star Rating Matter?
Comparing the two scooters above, we see that one has a 5-star perfect rating, while the other has roughly a 4.6-star rating. Which scooter would you be more likely to purchase based on the rating numbers alone? Perhaps you’d want to pick the 5-star rating, assuming that these ratings have been left by legitimate buyers. However, a much more relevant metric to look at when assessing a purchase is the number of units sold. We can see in the picture on the left that the seller has only sold 8 of these models, and thus has nowhere near the credibility and historical success of the seller on the right, with 144 sold.
A 4.5 star rating aggregated from 100+ confirmed buyers is much more trustworthy than a handful of perfect 5-star ratings.
Ignore The Crossed-Out Price
It is tempting to see a crossed out price of $2299 (such as the scooter in the right image), and assume that you can get a scooter valued at $2299 for the price of $1595. The reality is – the value of a scooter is merely what someone (in this case you) is willing to pay for it, and often companies will completely make up figures for the “list price” or “regular price”, and then offer a perpetual “sale” on the scooter to make buyers think they are getting a deal. The best way to navigate online shopping is to pay attention to only the final price, and compare it with the final price of other scooters with similar specs/features.
Note in the image below, the seller is offering an incredible 70% discount on a $2,368 scooter. I have checked this particular listing periodically over the past 6 months, and the price has been consistently in the $700-750 range. I am confident this scooter has never sold for $2,368.
Sites to Avoid
I would avoid sites that don’t offer free shipping. Many online retailers will lure you in with a low sticker price, and then tack on $299 shipping right as you are about to check out.
I would also avoid smaller sites with extremely low prices that don’t offer any buyer protection. If I see an ultra-low price on Amazon, I’m much more likely to buy it and risk a refund or return, than if I see a ultra-low price on a site I’ve never heard of before.
Scooter Example: Kugoo M4 Pro
Let’s take a specific scooter as an example: The Kugoo M4 Pro. This scooter has been copied by dozens of brands, and when I’m picking an electric scooter I’m not picky about the specific brand, as long as the price is right and the specs are identical.
I have included the links to purchase this scooter on 6 different sites. By the time you read this article, there is a good change these listings will no longer be available, as Temu and AliExpress listings especially tend to come and go within a matter of days.
Temu
This is the cheapest listing of the 6, and also advertises 3-day shipping. Some Temu items shipping from local warehouses indeed do ship rather quickly, but I have learned to never trust their actual shipping estimates, as they are sometimes up to a week off in either direction.
Link here
AliExpress
AliExpress has the second cheapest M4 Pro for sale, and the delivery date is over 2 months out (I wrote this article on October 9th). In addition to being extremely slow, often AliExpress items will turn up at my door and my order page on the website won’t even register that the item was delivered until 1-2 weeks later.
Link here
Ebay
There are over a dozen listings for the Kugoo M4 Pro (or iEnyrid M4 Pro) on Ebay, I just chose the cheapest one. This seller seems to be brand-new, as they only have 1 verified rating. I would be wary of this listing.
Link here
Amazon
It’s hard to go wrong with Amazon, as they have established themselves as both the largest and one of the most trusted online retailers. This is an impressive price for Amazon, but the extremely poor rating for the seller, 3.8 stars, might turn me off from this purchase.
Link here
Walmart
Walmart has a large selection of electric scooters, and usually offers fast shipping. I have only ordered a few scooters from Walmart, since their prices tend to be relatively high compared to Temu or Ebay, but I have never had a bad experience with a Walmart scooter.
Link here
Direct from Manufacturer
This is almost always the most expensive option, but as you can see in the listing, usually comes with a warranty from the manufacturer. Depending on your confidence in your own ability to repair scooters, it might be best to purchase directly from the manufacturer for your first few scooters.
Link here
Conclusion
Where you purchase your electric scooters depends on what you value – whether you value free returns, quick shipping, a 24-month warranty or the rock bottom lowest price will dictate where you end up doing most of your shopping. I like to repair my own electric scooters, so I usually just look for the absolute cheapest price. I’m also happy to wait a month or two for shipping, since I always have 5 or 6 other scooters in my garage. My position is somewhat unique, and you should make your own purchasing decisions based on your own situation.
Final Thought: Margin of Safety
At the end of the day – if the price is low enough, you might as well just buy the scooter. There is a principle in Warren Buffet-style stock investing called the “margin of safety” – even if a company doesn’t have strong sales growth or healthy profits – if the stock price is cheap enough, it’s pretty hard to lose by buying in. Similar with scooters – if you’re unsure whether a scooter can actually reach the listed speed of 40 mph but you’re only paying $650, and it turns out it only goes 35 mph, you’ve still scored a great deal.
Scooter Comparison Tool
Use our Freshly Charged Scooter Comparison Tool to evaluate more than 500 electric scooters. Compare and organize scooters by factors such as price, top speed, battery size, weight, water-resistance rating, and more!