Hi Guys I guess this is where I need to jump in and put a few things straight. We are not try to rip anybody off, we definitely aren't making R 5000 on a frame I promise you, spray jobs aren't $5, in fact they are closer to $55 and then you pay for frame stickers around $20 as well, we pay extra for things like seatpost etc too. We started the brand to supply the guy out there with choice and the possibility to do custom spray jobs, what our difference is that we have a office, somebody running the brand during the day, we have a store room with around R 400 000 stock at any one time, we do this so that we can warranty any stock quickly without the customer having to wait a few weeks to get a warranty from the east. We insure stock on the way as we pay upfront, as a solo person the government states that you are only allowed to import 3 times for personal use and after that you are flagged as a business or importer, due to this we registered a company, got a import / export code and are clearing our payments through the South African Reserve bank, we also pay Vat and we pay admin fees. Add to this that the $ was close to 10 a few months ago there are a lot of factors that make up a business. We also advertise, for eg like here on the HUB, we do sponsorships as well, at the moment we have around 8 sponsored athletes and around 10 Brand ambassadors which get products cheaper enabling them to carry on living their dreams. We also sponsor TEAM MECCER as a up and coming team, so put a lot back into the industry and into people You can make a burger at home too, cheaper than you can buy at a restaurant, but we are a Registered business, pay auditors, bank fees etc and so there are a lot of costs involved here, we aren't just a single guy bringing in 1 or 2 frames on his credit card unpainted and undeclared. We are doing things properly and trying to grow a brand and continue to offer great value for money bikes to people, I understand we arent everybodies cup of tea, but then we aren't trying to be. I come in piece and do not want to get into a mud slinging fight with people and nit pick on why and who is better, the pie is big enough for all of us. We also support the local industry by getting all of our build up bits and groupsets locally from local suppliers and get our bikes built by local shops and use local couriers to send product around, so we are not raping the cycling industry but building it. We build bikes up for the individual according to his budget, and can build one off spray jobs which means that he will be the only person out there with that bike, that is special. If you know me, you know that i am not out to hussle anybody or screw anybody over, I've been a hub member almost since the beginning and always the first person to help somebody out, I don't drive a porsche or live in a penthouse...ha haa Thanks for all the support from the people who have supported us and continue to support us so that we can continue to delivery great quality products are great prices and build a Black Spade Family of people who see the world as we see it. Peace and Love to all of you and may 2013 be an amazing year for you all.
