Hobby Stores

[dezrik]

Is it cheaper to buy parts from the local hobby stores. Ive noticed they usually have parts that are backordered on towerhobbies

[THnCS]

I always try to support the LHS, but they are always on backorder also. I have had real good luck with the vendors on this site. I have used Rockwerks, TCS and RC4WD. All of them have been great. You will pay a little more because of shipping than your LHS, but they seem to have more things in stock.

[Cake Eater]

Originally Posted by dezrik

Is it cheaper to buy parts from the local hobby stores. Ive noticed they usually have parts that are backordered on towerhobbies

It depends on your LHS. I have two near me. One is more expensive than Tower, One is less than or the same price. One LHS is further away, one is closer...

[THnCS]

I have a couple by me, prices are about the same. One of them will match Towers Prices, I always check before I go in. Might want to check with them and see if they will price match. I think alot of them actually get there items from Tower.

[S1NN3R]

Originally Posted by THnCS

I think alot of them actually get there items from Tower.

As a hobby store employee, I can pretty much guarantee you that no hobby shops get their stock from Tower Hobbies. Tower is a retailer, just like the hobby store is, not a distibutor. If we were to buy from Tower, they would charge us the same price they would charge you, so we would have to sell everything for more than Tower does just to cover shipping to us, not to mention trying to pull any profit. No, most hobby shops get their R/C ralated stuff from one of three places, Horizon Hobby, Great Planes or Global. They are the main distributors, so they'll sell businesses products for less than the average person can buy them for, allowing us to sell for reasonably competitive prices and still make a bit of money. As a matter of fact, Tower is nothing more than a very large retailer, so most of what they sell, they get from the same distributors that we do.


As far as it bein cheaper to buy from a local hobby store versus getting things online, I'd say no, or at least very rarely. The more inventory a store moves, the more of a break they get on prices, so they can afford to sell the same product for less, because they spent less on it. A lot of times, larger dealer can sell their stock for less than a smaller shop has to pay for the same item.

However, there are benefits to buying from a local store. You can hold the item in your hand, you can look all over the thing instead of reading a description. If you have a good store with employees who are actually into R/C stuff, they can help you install parts if you need it, they can tell you from experience what works with what and what doesn't. They can usually point you in the direction of other people in your area with the same interests. Lots of times people will bring in a car that they bought from us and I'l spend an hour or more tuning on it, making it right and when they ask how much they owe me, I'll say don't worry about it. If somebody buys a charger or a speed control or something and they bring it back because it doesn't work, we hand them a new one. We try hard to give the best service that we can, because generally, we can't compete with internet prices so we have to do something to make it worthwhile for the customer to come to us.

Of course, there are hobby shops that don't do that (cough, HobbyTown USA, Las Vegas, cough), shops that don't care aobut the customer, don't know anything about what they're selling and tell you to send defective merchandise back to the manufacturer and wait 4-8 weeks to get it back.

[binaryterror]

Originally Posted by S1NN3R

As a hobby store employee, I can pretty much guarantee you that no hobby shops get their stock from Tower Hobbies.

No, most hobby shops get their R/C ralated stuff from one of three places, Horizon Hobby, Great Planes or Global. They are the main distributors, so they'll sell businesses products for less than the average person can buy them for, allowing us to sell for reasonably competitive prices and still make a bit of money.

You should then also know that Tower, while being a retail store is the retail front end of Great Planes and Hobbico. Hobbico being the parent company to both Great Planes and Tower. So yes Tower is a retailer, but not completely a seperate retailer that goes to outside distributors. Their major distributor is Great Planes, meaning they buy from themselves to sell to you. Buying from Tower actually makes Hobbico more money, and is also why Tower tends to offer $25 off codes and other promotions. They make more on every Tower sale.

[doctorducttape]

Originally Posted by binaryterror

You should then also know that Tower, while being a retail store is the retail front end of Great Planes and Hobbico. Hobbico being the parent company to both Great Planes and Tower. So yes Tower is a retailer, but not completely a seperate retailer that goes to outside distributors. Their major distributor is Great Planes, meaning they buy from themselves to sell to you. Buying from Tower actually makes Hobbico more money, and is also why Tower tends to offer $25 off codes and other promotions. They make more on every Tower sale.

yep it all comes out of the same building
we are lucky enough to pick stuff up from hobbico/tower in the reno warehouse

[SeanD]

I always weigh the pros and cons carefully of ordering from either the LHS or online. I live in Canada so I often have to take into consideration "International" shipping when ordering from the US (at least exchange on the dollar is longer an issue!!!). My LHS does not charge extra shipping (although I am sure they factor that into their final price) so somtimes its a little cheaper to order through them. Othertimes I know there are things that either they will not have access to or the price will be way off so I'll order online. Unfortunately the only HS (boats, trains and planes) in my area is staffed by a person who has little to know knowledge/interest in RC trucks - let alone crawlers. So advice and expertise is not available.

As for Tower Hobbies, I won't even look at them to order anything. Their shipping prices to Canada are among the WORST I've seen - even when compared to the ebay sellers who give a good price but gouge you on shipping!! Case in point Novak Rooster esc goes for 84.99 with a shipping cost of 23.99 to Canada Almost 24.00 to ship a 2.66 oz (plus packaging) item. That's crazy!! Integy 55t for 18.99 plus 23.00 shipping!! Ouch!!! And for bigger packages, a Wheely King sells at Tower for 209.00 plus 58.07 shipping . My LHS has A Wheely king for 229.00 (CDN)

My Momma told me "you'd better shop around!!!"

Sean

[ctrwannabe]

my lhs dosent have to much i want, i do occasionaly get something from them, there are 2 simi close to me, but one of them has nothing but jerks working there

[Nerve]

Im with SeanD on this one.... Towerhobbies shipping price is out to lunch for Canadian orders. Which is why I only use towers as a "wish list" building page OR as a reference (pictures) to some parts I might be looking for.

I support my LHS whenever possible. You eventually build up relationships, get to know them on first name basis and they start throwing 5% discounts at you (like me). As S1NN3R mentioned, you can actually see the part before buying it, ask questions, get feedback, get some suggestions etc.

Now w/ the canadian loonie being on par with our pals to the south, I can order parts from the states much cheaper then up here. Providing of course, that you order multiple items. Otherwise the price difference is almost the same.

For instance:
Rooster Crawler - $109 CDN + 14% tax = $124.26 CDN
Rooster Crawler on TCS - $88.99 + $20 shipping USPS = $108.99

WK 4x4 from my LHS I think they quoted me around $269? When you add taxes on top of that, it just made cheaper money sense to go with a used chassis.

[4u2nv]

My nearest LHS is about 45 minutes from me. I like to stop by occasionally and pick stuff up there even if its a little more because you get to check out the new stuff. Local hobby shops are getting more scarce around here so it doesn't hurt to support them even if its a dollar or two more. After all there's usually no waiting for shipping.

[Old Way]

You should all support your LHS whenever you can. The hobby industry is one of the few industries were the Distributor competes with it's retailer for the same customer. Shop owners work on slim margins and when asked to match mail order they do take a hit in the wallet. I tell my shop owners when they give them the price, after they make the transaction, put the item back behind the counter and tell the customer to come back in seven to 10 days!

[Dragon51]

I have a Hobby town here in Tucson and so far they have been good they do have the part that I am getting too $10 cheaper than I an get from the online vendors here. So far they have been very helpfull but they are really crawler store from what I have seen. Then again I have only been there 2 times in the last 5 years. Just getting back into the hobby this time the crawler side.

[Col_Sanders]

Whats a LHS?



Oh yeah, that place nearly a 4 hour drive away!? I used to live in Virginia Beach and there were a couple good hobby shops pretty close to home. I bought most every day things from them, but normally motors and hard to find parts it was cheaper to buy online. Oh how I miss being able to really check out what I was buying before I paid for it.

[dezrik]

I Walked into the LHS for the first time and told them some part numbers and they looked at me for a second and said We dont have them.?!?!?!?!? they didnt even look at a computer or papers or on the shelf. Then i told them That the part numbers where, they said they didnt have it. I walked around and found it on the shelf :O! lhs is penis

[yjwill]

I also try to support the little guy and like to be able to actually see a product in person before patying. There were two nere me, one has since closed. The one that closed was mainly an airplane shop, and the employees were less than helpfull...The other is pretty new, the owner is very knowledgeable, and their prices aren't bad, but they know nothing about crawlers. I finally got sick of the owner trying to sell me an rc10 instead of helping me track down crawler parts, so now I just order online unless I need something for my Jammin or 4tec.

[jbrandt]

I try to support the LHS too, but more often than not, they don't have the crawler specific things I want, so off to the internet I go.

There's definitely something to be said for being able to fondle parts before you buy, though. I like to see what I'm getting before I take out the wallet, even bring in my crawler (or any of the 1000 pieces it's in right now) to see if the part will fit.

The vendors on this site are good too, most of them specialize in crawling parts, so they're more likely to have the parts in stock...