Beijing-based bike rental company ofo today increased the deposit new users must pay to borrow bikes to RMB199 (US$29) from RMB99 (US$14.5) previously. Despite the increase, ofo's deposit price remains significantly less than the RMB299 deposits required by rival Mobike.
ofo can charge a smaller deposits because its bright yellow bikes are relatively cheap to buy, at between RMB200 (US$29) and RMB300 (US$44). Mobike's bikes, which are higher quality and include more technology, cost the company RMB2,000 (US$293) to RMB3,000 (US$439) per bike.
Allen Zhu, managing director at GSR Ventures, an early investor in ofo, said that it takes two to three months for each ofo bike to recoup its costs, while it takes as long as two years to recoup costs for ofo's rival, referring to Mobike.
Both companies have faced complaints related to deposit...
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