HobbiCo / Great Planes / Tower Hobbies

[soze]

Maybe in the future every store will be Amazon...

[svt923]

Originally Posted by soze

Maybe in the future every store will be Amazon...

I, for one, embrace and support our new hobby overlords of Amain.

[cmbscx10]

Originally Posted by svt923

I, for one, embrace and support our new hobby overlords of Amain.

Will be a easy transition for me so to speak. Other than RPP, LockedUp and very few others Amain gets my $$ and has since 94' Not the best pricing but 99% of the time they had what I wanted and vey good choices of product. The last year or more when they started carrying Vanquish, then SSD, Holmes etc gave me a clue to stick around. When they made a Scale / crawler only section put the nail in the coffin.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by soze

Maybe in the future every store will be Amazon...

Hell no! I avoid Amazon like the plague.

Originally Posted by svt923

I, for one, embrace and support our new hobby overlords of Amain.

Another company I can't get behind. Their "free" shipping takes a week or more to get to my house. Completely unheard of in this modern world where you have so many shipping options.

[Ditchrat]

You down with R.P.P.? (Yeah, you know me)
Who’s down with R.P.P.? (Every last homey)
You down with R.P.P.? (Yeah, you know me)
Who’s down with R.P.P.? (All the homies)

[txbart]

Tower is selling Vanquish Products now, so there’s that.

But damn they need to get their shit together, the Tamiya drought is infuriating.

[skinnyj]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

Hell no! I avoid Amazon like the plague.


Another company I can't get behind. Their "free" shipping takes a week or more to get to my house. Completely unheard of in this modern world where you have so many shipping options.

The "free" shipping is probably the cheapest option they have to them. Typically, UPS or FedEx should take 4 business days from CA to most parts of PA using ground service. If they are using USPS, add another 1-2 business days, as the post office isn't what it used to be.

Small and mid-sized retailers don't have the financial muscle of a place like Amazon, whom can negotiate what is likely a flat contract with a carrier like UPS. That is why Prime can do free 2-day shipping. They are paying pennies on the dollar for what someone like myself would pay. Also, that free shipping is really an illusion. If your customer base is large enough and your average rate is low enough, you can spread that rate out via pricing and still make money.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by skinnyj

The "free" shipping is probably the cheapest option they have to them. Typically, UPS or FedEx should take 4 business days from CA to most parts of PA using ground service. If they are using USPS, add another 1-2 business days, as the post office isn't what it used to be.

Small and mid-sized retailers don't have the financial muscle of a place like Amazon, whom can negotiate what is likely a flat contract with a carrier like UPS. That is why Prime can do free 2-day shipping. They are paying pennies on the dollar for what someone like myself would pay. Also, that free shipping is really an illusion. If your customer base is large enough and your average rate is low enough, you can spread that rate out via pricing and still make money.

Places smaller than AMain offer faster free shipping.

[OSRC]

Of all the places I've dealt with online, Tower has the best customer service, hands down. Longtime customer. I went to pick up a DT03 2 weeks ago and noticed most Tamiya kits were out of stock. As of last night, they only have about 8-10 Tamiya kits/RTR's in stock. No more Parma paints either - in fact, nothing I was looking for was in stock. I had to go over to Amain to get a few things I was looking for.

(Got my order in 3 business day I might add)

I'm hoping they weather the storm, whatever it is.

[skinnyj]

It is never free. They have it somewhere in the pricing.

For example, my company is a small distributor. We spent about $22,000 on shipping this year. That is 99% inside New England, so the per package rate wasn't huge. No small business is going to eat that money out of goodwill.

I'm not trying to argue with you Jato. You do what works for you.

I'm just trying to illustrate that there is no such thing as "free".

[Col_Sanders]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

Another company I can't get behind. Their "free" shipping takes a week or more to get to my house. Completely unheard of in this modern world where you have so many shipping options.

RPP has been getting most of my orders for years but I have recently started ordering more from A-Main. Their free shipping gets my order to me the next day, plus they have a larger selection.

I don't order from Tower very much anymore. Pretty much just RC4WD stuff since they still allow coupons and I'll get anything that ships from the NV warehouse in a day or two.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by skinnyj

It is never free. They have it somewhere in the pricing.

For example, my company is a small distributor. We spent about $22,000 on shipping this year. That is 99% inside New England, so the per package rate wasn't huge. No small business is going to eat that money out of goodwill.

I'm not trying to argue with you Jato. You do what works for you.

I'm just trying to illustrate that there is no such thing as "free".

Obviously nothing is free. But it's a rare occasion when I can't find something cheaper, including faster shipping, at other places.

I'm not arguing either. Just having a civil discussion.

Originally Posted by Col_Sanders

RPP has been getting most of my orders for years but I have recently started ordering more from A-Main. Their free shipping gets my order to me the next day, plus they have a larger selection.

I don't order from Tower very much anymore. Pretty much just RC4WD stuff since they still allow coupons and I'll get anything that ships from the NV warehouse in a day or two.

I've heard AMain has fast shipping for people that live close. I'm on the opposite coast.

[skinnyj]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

Obviously nothing is free. But it's a rare occasion when I can't find something cheaper, including faster shipping, at other places.

I'm not arguing either. Just having a civil discussion.


I've heard AMain has fast shipping for people that live close. I'm on the opposite coast.

It's all good. Never said you were arguing. I was afraid I was coming off as a know it all, and that wasn't my intention.

Of course, if you live close, you get faster shipping. That is how ground based shipping works. People in most of CA and southern NV should get A-Main stuff next day unless they live in the sticks. You stuff likely goes to a rail hub and gets put on a train. That gets freaky as there are no tracking updates from the time it leaves A-Main's local hub and gets to your local hub.

[TheLetterJ]

On the subject. I received a phone call yesterday from an "Illinois" number so I actually answered my phone for once, assuming it was Tower in regards to my latest order that was en route. It turned out to be a customer service rep from "Tower rc advisor" just checking in on some of my purchases to see how I was getting along with them, and if I had any questions, or needed advice on anything rc related. He asked about a "crawler" (Wraith) that I'd bought a couple years ago, but I'm guessing that my recent purchase of a Redcat Gen7 for my 4 year old must have put me on a "lost noob" list (which I'm not.) Either way, I genuinely appreciate the gesture. I've never received a call like that from Tower before, but it definitely shows that they are trying to keep moving ahead and trying new approaches to keep their piece of the pie.

...now if they could just keep their inventory up...

I have been buying from RPP a lot more in the last year or so, and occasionally Amain. Let's face it, there is no "one stop shop." The deeper we get into any hobby, the more we will find ourselves dealing directly with "boutique" manufacturers to get what we're after. I doubt we'll be seeing Dlux super parts or Dahu chassis at mail order sites anytime soon.... and I'm okay with that.

All that said, I'm going to try my damndest to find something to blow my e-cash on, the day I get it!

[Alexander_0_1]

I got a call from Vanquish regarding some Q&A I had emailed about a NIP scx10 honcho I aquired. I never answered the call, instead I googled the number, and followed the bread crumbs back to what I thinks is VP shop. After I figured out it was VP calling I decided that if VP is going to take the time to call then I’m going to try and be a loyal custie.

[skinnyj]

I get calls once or twice a year from Sweetwater (music equipment) checking to see if I'm happy and if there is anything I need or have questions on.

[JatoTheRipper]

This is getting way off topic...

I was in at my LHS today. I asked him what was going on with HobbiCo and he said he couldn't get a direct answer from his rep, but that they were dropping product lines like crazy.

[Ditchrat]

They also lost their vp of marketing 6 months ago. Personnel turn over happens, but aligned with the rest of the situations it does sound like a sinking ship.

[Greatscott]

Getting parts together for my next build, putting a Tamiya hard body on my Kyosho Blizzard, I bought the body from my LHS. Now I am trying to find the rest of the parts and the first link took me to Tower's site, where they have everything I need listed, but nothing is in stock...

[Basicbilly]

Maybe the people that bought out Horizon will buy Tower