For Immediate Release 08/14/00 Contact: CYCLEBYTEL LAUNCHES SITE UPGRADES; INSTITUTES FEES; AND EXPANDS STAFFING Phoenix, AZ - August 14, 2000 - Cyclebytel, http://www.cyclebytel.com, the premier online market place for anything motorcycle related, is pleased to announce significant site upgrades, and the introduction of a new and more customer friendly purchasing process. In addition, the company will be increasing its staff and launching a new marketing campaign. "The most noticeable change to the site, will be the fact that we are now charging customers for the new motorcycle purchase requests" states Julia Nord, a company spokesperson. Effective immediately, anyone who requests a price quote on a new motorcycle will be asked to pay a fee of $7.50. This was done to qualify our users as sincerely interested buyers thereby allowing us to devote our full attention to their purchasing needs. Furthermore, by not collecting our revenues from the dealer base, we can be certain that our loyalties lie with the consumer. If for any reason a customer is not satisfied with the end result, there fee will be refunded immediately. To further justify the fee, Cyclebytel offers more purchasing options that its competition. By logging on to http://www.cyclebytel.com an interested buyer can choose up to five local dealers they would be interested in working with. Futhermore, Cyclebytel monitors each dealer for responsiveness and customer satisfaction, and makes this information available to potential buyers in the form of a dealer rating. Competitor sites generally require buyers to use a pre-assigned dealer with whom they have a pre-negotiated advertising relationship. Cyclebytel does not collect ANY revenue from dealers and in doing so creates the ideal environment for serving the consumers best interest. When we started Cyclebytel, our goal was to develop a motorcycle site that rivaled the quality of service experienced by the major automotive web portal, and I believe we have succeeded," states Roggensee. By charging the fee, we were able to qualify our buyers in the eyes of the dealerships and insure that they offer our customers competitive, no-haggle pricing. Coinciding with its new technology, Cyclebytel will be launching a series of site upgrades including a new watersports line, the addition of motorcycle apparel, and an in-house financing department to further facilitate the purchase process. The company has retained a public relations firm that will implement an online consumer awareness campaign. In addition, it has expanded its internal staff, and has recently finalized promotional relationships with http://www.buysellbid.com as well as http://www.carprice.com.
Background Based in Phoenix, Arizona, Cyclebytel, http://www.cyclebytel.com is a privately held corporation, founded in 1998. As one of the first online motorcycle buying services, it has become one of the largest Web sites in this category, facilitating more than $6 million in product sales each month. The company has a nationwide dealer network of more than 4,000 dealers and currently receives some 300,000 visitors per month. The Cyclebytel.Com site proudly offers most popular motorcycles - everything from Harley Davidson cruisers to Ducati sportbikes. |