I dont get it ( hobby stores )

[losikid]

Around here, the LHS is a dying breed. They are stuck in 1993 run by old men who are talking park flyers and nitro trucks. No lipo batteries for sale. No events sponsored. No helis. Same inventory as 12 months ago when I went in. Not to mention, prices are 30% more than on-line shipped.

Must be a tough business brick and morter, stuck with inventory from only manufactures extending lines of credit while the rc landscape changes so quickly.

We got one of those...but they're literally next door to a university, so i think they sell the living poo out of traxxas junk...they've always been complete A*****s though anytime i go in there. So i usually try to avoid them....our other hobbyshop is mostly just a indoor track that carries spare shortcourse stuff. But i usually buy deans/velcro/bolts/ and other misc stuff down there. I also just have them order parts in too. Surprisingly around the same price as online before shipping and sometimes cheaper. So unless i'm ordering stuff from rcc vendors most my stock parts are ordered thru the lhs.

 

[Postclanker]

Funny...there was the same argument back in 89...
The only exception is now the online stores actually ship the next day and there is some healthy competition on-line
I would much rather support a LHS ...but most don't give a damn

 

[BRANDON1987]

Hey guys i though i would let you know my point of view. I am an owner of a hobby shop and raceway. i know what you guys mean about waiting on parts trucks ect. but the internet prices are killing us store owners. I mean when tower hobbies and a main sells the stuff for what i pay at cost i cant make any money, therefore i cant afford to stock this stuff because you wouldnt buy it anyways. All i stock is what i know will be gone on a race night i know my shop walls look bare but its all i can do and im sure most other hobby stores are the same.

 

[Duuuuuuuude]

Hey guys i though i would let you know my point of view. I am an owner of a hobby shop and raceway. i know what you guys mean about waiting on parts trucks ect. but the internet prices are killing us store owners. I mean when tower hobbies and a main sells the stuff for what i pay at cost i cant make any money, therefore i cant afford to stock this stuff because you wouldnt buy it anyways. All i stock is what i know will be gone on a race night i know my shop walls look bare but its all i can do and im sure most other hobby stores are the same.

You have to make money or there is no sense in keeping your doors open, so you stock what you know will sell. Nothing wrong with that at all.

We all bitch about hobby shops and their huge Traxxas selection, but that is what sells. The only thing we can do about it is special order parts through our lhs's until they figure out what they can stock that we will buy. Same as any business.

I don't compare prices when I go to a hobby shop. If the asking price is reasonable I'll buy it. Its worth it to me to pay a few extra dollars for something if it means they'll be there the next time.

 

[BJoe]

... If one should need a puzzle or a kite.

Granted luxury industries have it tough to warehouse large widgets. Rc is worth more in parts than as a whole in general.

Truly. Or modeling clay.


They're slowly becoming Hobby Lobby.

Well, chances are those are probably a better seller than crawler stuff for them too.

Hey guys i though i would let you know my point of view. I am an owner of a hobby shop and raceway. i know what you guys mean about waiting on parts trucks ect. but the internet prices are killing us store owners. I mean when tower hobbies and a main sells the stuff for what i pay at cost i cant make any money, therefore i cant afford to stock this stuff because you wouldnt buy it anyways. All i stock is what i know will be gone on a race night i know my shop walls look bare but its all i can do and im sure most other hobby stores are the same.

Brandon's got a point, and it is aggrevating. I had a customer complain about how overpriced we are on OS glow plugs, yet the online place he was buying them from (either NitroHouse or A-Main, can't remember for sure) was selling them for less than my store could buy them for, I want to say for about 2/3's of our cost! Same thing with the cars, some places on line sell them at or less than we can get them from GP or Horizon, how is a brick and mortar supposed to compete in that situation. That's what really kinda pisses me off about Great Planes too, not only do we buy stuff from them (and when it comes to Axial, Associated, Revell, and now it seems HPI too, we have no choice) but they then screw the stores by undercutting them on line and in their catalogs. Horizon at least seems to try and give their retail store customers a fighting chance with their on line pricing.

 

[Duuuuuuuude]

That's what really kinda pisses me off about Great Planes too, not only do we buy stuff from them (and when it comes to Axial, Associated, Revell, and now it seems HPI too, we have no choice) but they then screw the stores by undercutting them on line and in their catalogs. Horizon at least seems to try and give their retail store customers a fighting chance with their on line pricing.

That's wrong for a supplier to sell to the general public like that.

As much as I love shopping at RPP, if I had a hobby shop nearby they would get a good portion of my business.

 

[Greatscott]

I got VERY spoiled by a hobby shop down in SD, one of the guys that worked there was in our club, so he had a good idea of what would sell in the shop and made sure they stocked it. Up here in Washington, on the west side of the Sound, the three hobby shops that are relatively close have a 1'x3' section dedicated to crawler parts, and most of those are Integy (so shinny). :roll:

To take this rant one step further:
I know guys with PhDs in RC trucks are hard to come by, but why are most of the people hobby shops hire totally brain dead? I would rather these guys tell me they don't know than to try to sound like they have a clue and try to sell me parts that are wrong.

Case in point:
- I was in one of the local shops last weekend looking for aluminum links, the guy grabs a set of the SCX plastic links. I tell him again that I am looking for aluminum, he says, "Really, plastic is what you want, it is very flexible and won't bend like aluminum..."
- The same shop a couple of weekends ago... They have one MRC pro kit, another customer was looking at it and asked what all he needed to get it running. The salesman told him it was ready to run, just needs a battery. I butted in, told him everything it really needed. Instantly pissed, the salesman asked, "Well, how do you know that?" I replied, "Because it tells you everything you need right on the box..."

Even though a radish has a higher IQ than the people working in this hobby shop, I still try to shop local. They do have THE WALL O'TRAXXAS, and if I am going to break a part, it will likely be on one of my Traxxas trucks, so I like being able to go to town and get what I need instead of waiting for a week. Again, I was spoiled in S.D., when I'd order a part it was ready for pickup in about three days. This place here takes almost a full week, I can get a part shipped pony express in less time and not have to pay the taxes...

 

[Duuuuuuuude]

People who work at hobby shops are there to sell stuff. Most don't seem to know half of what they're talking about, but chances are a good deal of their customers don't either, so it works out in their favor.

But boy do they get pissed when you one up them. :ror:

 

[War Pig]

Tammie's is 30 minutes from my place so I guess I'm a little spoiled too "thumbsup". Plus In have a Hobbytown 15 minutes away, and another "flying" Hobby shop called Coyote Hobbies that has just about any electronics related item I need, and the owner is really cool. He loves it when I come in and show him the new project I'm working on. If I need a specialty item or a bunch of parts and nobody local has them, I order from RPP. I get it in two days.

 

[AX10wannabe]

dammit i typed up a whole bunch of stuff and hit something on the keyboard and its all gone:shock::evil::evil:..

the closest hobbyshop to me is 30 mins away, but he sells lots of good stuff, mostly a plane guy but us crawler guys are starting to get him to stock some parts for us. he order's from towerhobbies, greathobbies and now will from rc4wd too plus matches their prices. he's gots lots of RTR's and kits sitting on the shelves, wraiths, slashes, ax10's, xr10's, scx10 honcho and he brings in the new products as soon as they hit the market.. im sure when the exo-terra buggt is up for grabs he'll bring one in. i like it because i can look at towerhobbies make a list of parts i need with prices go into the LHS and go shopping and i have an idea of what its going to cost me.. last thursday i went in there with a small list of parts i wanted, walked around and grabbed a servo, hex drivers, tires, and a spur gear no problem.. i knew it was gonna be around the $250.00 mark and it was just under.

the next closest HS is 1 hour away, a friend of mine used to work there and one other guy.. the other guy used to talk you out of parts. i walked in one day looking at a set of swamp dawg boggers for my savage dead set on buying these tires by the time i walked out he talked me out of buying them and they werent cheap either they had like a 130.00 price tag. my friend races short course trucks too and flies planes and on race nights he would bring in a bunch of a certain item that he knew would sell.. like tires or spur gears.. cheap but if you brought in say 8 of them and only had a price tag of like 5 bucks someone is gonna walk in all frantic during a race needing a spur something and rick's got them sitting on the counter.. and people will buy like 4 or 5 of them because they are so cheap.

i used to have a credit card but dont anymore so its hard for me shop for parts online.. so a hobby shop like lester's i can go there confident knowing that im gonna be able to get the parts i need. i've spent a lot of money there, bought my rtr honcho (the old version with beadlocks) plus probably 250-300 bucks in upgrades, then i just bought my ax10 for 292.00 went in last week spent another 250.00.. so im up over a grand spent there with no worries.. all my friends go to lester's to get parts. a family friend just bought a savage 4.6 and he's buying his parts from lester's too..

last month i think it was first week of the month and i walked there and he said that he was already making money for that month.. just because the service is good and he'll sit there and BS with you all day.

with a hobby shop like this i have no need for a CC and online shopping.. there's a couple friends and i that are going to be making a big battery order to hobbyking it'll be like 15-20 batts and a friend will use his credit card and i'll just give him the cash to pay back what he is buying for me.

sorry its a little long.. i hate waiting for parts and unfortunately with my STS .28 nitro engine in my savage hong kong is the other place i can get parts for it and its like a month to get them....