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🛵 Running a scooter sales & repair shop

Scooters, mopeds and e-bikes sold and fixed under one roof: the season, the bench and the batteries.

What the market is worth

New motorcycles & scooters: −7.6% U.S. sales in 2025: 486,468 units, down from 526,625 (Motorcycle Industry Council, reported by Common Tread, February 2026)
New scooters: −29.4% 11,104 sold in 2025, down from 15,720, as city buyers chose e-bikes instead (MIC, via Common Tread)
Smaller models: 73.3% of new units in 2025 were motorcycles and scooters, and buyers moved to smaller models (MIC, reported by Powersports Business, February 2026)
Injuries: 149,100 emergency-room visits with e-scooters, e-bikes and hoverboards in 2024, up from 37,300 in 2017; 79,300 were e-scooters and 59,200 e-bikes (CPSC, April 2026)
Deaths: 135 in 2024, up from 5 in 2017: 533 over the eight years, 310 of them on e-bikes and 206 on e-scooters (CPSC, April 2026)
What causes them: Traffic collisions with cars and losing control were the top hazards in e-scooter and e-bike deaths, then fires (CPSC)
Battery fires: 45 deaths in 29 lithium-ion battery fires involving e-bikes, e-scooters and hoverboards, 2017–2024 (CPSC, April 2026)
New York City: Certified only since September 16, 2023, e-bikes (UL 2849), e-scooters (UL 2272) and their batteries (UL 2271) must be certified to be sold, leased or rented (NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection)
California: Since 2026 new e-bikes and replacement batteries must carry an accredited lab's certification, such as UL 2849 or EN 15194, under SB 1271 from January 1, 2026 (City of Moreno Valley)
Over 750 W: Not an e-bike in California a bicycle whose motor exceeds 750 W is a motor vehicle, with a license, registration and a plate (City of Moreno Valley, citing Vehicle Code §312.5)
Battery packs: Never rebuilt use only approved replacement packs and the charger made for the device; never a pack reworked by unqualified people or built from used cells (CPSC)

How it actually grows

Year 0–1 A bench and a few scooters

A shop can start on the repair side: a bench, the tools, a parts account and a few models on the floor. Repairs bring people in from the first week, and every scooter you fix teaches you which ones fail and how.

Watch out: Filling the floor with cheap, uncertified scooters or batteries. Where certification is the law they can't be sold, and anywhere, a battery fire can end the business.

Years 1–3 A storefront: sales, the bench and the season

New scooters and e-bikes become most of the revenue, and they follow the weather: spring and summer sell most of the year. Inventory is the biggest bill you carry, so order for the season you can sell it in, and keep the bench busy when the floor is quiet.

Watch out: Ordering for the summer on last summer's best month. Stock still on the floor in November was paid for in May.

Years 3–5 The bench is the business that lasts

Repairs, parts and batteries grow steadily and carry the winter. Service plans sold with each scooter, tune-up specials, and fleet work for delivery riders, rental companies and campuses keep the techs busy all year, and every scooter fixed is a customer for the next one.

Watch out: Battery work you can't do safely. Replace a failing pack with a certified one; never rebuild or rework one.

Mature A second bench, a van or a second store

Growth comes from more bench hours (a second tech, a mobile service van) or a second location in the next neighborhood. The brands you carry and the terms they give decide how much of each sale you keep.

Watch out: One distributor supplying most of the floor. A line that's dropped or repriced empties the showroom.

What each revenue stream is good for

Revenue stream	Pays	Scales
New e-scooters The front of the store. A buyer can check an online price in a minute, so the sale is won with the fitting, the first service and the bench next door, not the price alone.	Per unit, at retail	Seasonal
E-bikes Where many scooter buyers have gone: U.S. scooter sales fell 29.4% in 2025 as city buyers chose e-bikes (MIC). Higher tickets, and the same battery rules.	Per unit	Growing
Gas scooters and mopeds Still a commuter's machine, with more to service (carburetors, oil, inspections), but a smaller share of buyers every year.	Per unit	Shrinking
Repair labor No inventory behind it, and much of it on scooters you didn't sell. Price it by the job, posted at the counter.	By the job	Your techs' hours
Parts, tires and batteries Tires, tubes, brake pads, throttles, controllers and certified replacement batteries. Stock the parts your most common jobs use.	With the repair	Follows the bench
Service plans A first-year plan sold at the counter books the tune-ups that bring the buyer back, many of them in the quiet months.	Up front, with the scooter	Grows with sales
Used and trade-ins A trade-in sells the new one. Service every used scooter, and check that its battery is a certified one, before it goes back on the floor.	Per unit	Good
Accessories and gear Helmets, locks and lights go out with a new scooter. Offer them at the sale, not after.	With the sale	Follows the floor

If you're starting this month

Sell, rent and stock only certified devices and batteries: UL 2849 for e-bikes, UL 2272 for e-scooters, UL 2271 for battery packs. New York City has required it since 2023 and California since 2026; check your own city and state.
Never rebuild or rework a battery pack. Replace a failing one with an approved pack, and sell each device with the charger made for it.
Take dead and damaged lithium batteries to a battery recycler or a hazardous-waste collection site, never the trash or the recycling bin.
Offer the service plan at every sale, and book the first tune-up before the buyer leaves.
Order inventory for the season you can sell it in, and plan the winter in the spring: tune-up specials, battery checks and fleet work.
Note on every bench ticket whether you sold the scooter. The ones you didn't are your next buyers.
Ask your insurer about product liability for what you sell and what you fix: batteries are the risk in both.

Before you act on any of this

Lithium-ion batteries are the risk in this trade, and the rules are local and changing. New York City has required certified e-bikes, e-scooters and batteries (UL 2849, UL 2272, UL 2271) for anything sold, leased or rented since September 2023, and California requires certified new e-bikes and replacement batteries from January 1, 2026. CPSC warns against packs reworked by unqualified people or built from used cells, and against throwing lithium batteries in the trash. In California a bicycle whose motor exceeds 750 W is a motor vehicle, and a moped needs a license and registration too; tell buyers before they ride away. This is general information, not legal advice.

Run this against real numbers → The same handbook inside the tool, on a worked example you can swap for your own spreadsheet. Free, no account.

Guides for this business

Scooter shop numbers: the season, the bench and the service plan →

The other 33 handbooks

Figures are sourced from published industry research (IBISWorld, trade associations and regulator data) and are stated with their year. They describe typical conditions, not your situation. This is general information for business owners, not financial, tax, or legal advice.