Why selling these is so hard? There is a huge market for second hand bikes. I would think you can always get a better price than scrap metal for a functional bike. Any non zero profit is better than zero.
They actually tried to sell them off after the company folded, but no takers. None!
> "We explored donating the remaining, older-model bikes," Uber said in a statement.
> "But given many significant issues - including maintenance, liability, safety concerns, and a lack of consumer-grade charging equipment - we decided the best approach was to responsibly recycle them."
Translation: selling the bikes would remove those buyers from our pool of potential renters.
All it takes is one person who does something stupid and burns down their house with a used scooter to negate any benefit from selling them. Not because that person would automatically win, but because Uber would have to defend.
Plus, if this was a concern how on earth is the used car market able to survive? I just don't think liability factors in here at all. My guess is that scrapping them is easier and nets about the same amount of money as selling them. Selling that many scooters off piecemeal would take quite a bit of time & effort, plus costs to store them in the meanwhile.