PDA

View Full Version : Losi at Hobbycity



Doozie870
03-26-2009, 12:00 AM
Well looks like the days of importing products from china and reselling them at 300%-400% markup are numbered. Hope to see more of this. :beerchug:

Ub Hauled
03-26-2009, 12:12 AM
that's about right... it may sell there but here it will not... locally they are only $20 more.

Steven Vaccaro
03-26-2009, 07:36 AM
Well looks like the days of importing products from china and reselling them at 300%-400% markup are numbered. Hope to see more of this. :beerchug:
I wouldnt be so happy, so quick! :doh:

Local hobby shops are scarce at best. In about a 100 mile radius around Boston, there are about 6 shops. What you are happy about will kill them. This isnt bad if you don't mind buying online. But good luck getting Hobby City to carry all the little stuff that the hobby shops will carry.

Not to mention that if you buy a rtr in the shop around me, they will have support parts in stock to buy on the spot to get back up and running. That can't be done with an online shop.

I just quickly compared one of the rtr trucks. 1/18 Raminator Monster Truck, it was the same price in the USA as Hobby City.

Ub Hauled
03-26-2009, 12:03 PM
Steven, I think you guys are on the same page,
he's being pro USA shops... or at least that's what I understood.

Fluid
03-26-2009, 05:52 PM
Jan, perhaps that is what he meant, but that's not what I read into his post; perhaps he can clarify his position. I'm with Steven, we will be in a world of hurt if all our R/C items are sold outside the US. The Internet has put the hurt on the local hobby shop, and the game has changed - shops not willing to play by the new rules will continue to fail. But if we stop buying at the local level - LHS or on-line - we will regret it.

I am reminded of the fishing industry in Alaska in the 1980s. At that time all the boats took their catch to local onshore processors, who had a monopoly but employed a lot of local US citizens. Then the Japanese sent their big processing ships to the area and offered to buy the fishing fleet's catch for 50% more per pound. The fleet abandoned local processors, who promptly went out of business. Then the processing shops dropped their price offers and the fishermen had no recourse. They lost the local processing industry forever, and a few fishermen got a lot of money - but just for a few years.


.

Flying Scotsman
03-26-2009, 06:15 PM
Jay, on the button. I was up in Anchorage, Alaska a few years ago on sales calls and there was a huge fish processing plant that would be built on Alaskan goverment funds. It was built and I thought I was going to get an order for 1.7 million, it all faded away due to market conditions. Support your local hobby shop whenever possible.

Douggie

Ub Hauled
03-26-2009, 06:21 PM
Jan, perhaps that is what he meant, but that's not what I read into his post; perhaps he can clarify his position. I'm with Steven, we will be in a world of hurt if all our R/C items are sold outside the US. The Internet has put the hurt on the local hobby shop, and the game has changed - shops not willing to play by the new rules will continue to fail. But if we stop buying at the local level - LHS or on-line - we will regret it.

I am reminded of the fishing industry in Alaska in the 1980s. At that time all the boats took their catch to local onshore processors, who had a monopoly but employed a lot of local US citizens. Then the Japanese sent their big processing ships to the area and offered to buy the fishing fleet's catch for 50% more per pound. The fleet abandoned local processors, who promptly went out of business. Then the processing shops dropped their price offers and the fishermen had no recourse. They lost the local processing industry forever, and a few fishermen got a lot of money - but just for a few years.


.

Oh, I completely misread the post... I am with you guys, supporting local whenever possible! I thought the prices on the internet were not such bargain anymore and locals were starting to pick up sales again...
:huh:

Doozie870
03-27-2009, 09:45 PM
Has nothing to do with local hobby shops which I support BTW. The closest hobby shop to me is carrying minimal stuff from tower because of their online sales which are below his cost.. thats support baby! If its made in china I really dont need a middle man anymore :sorry:

Simon.O.
03-28-2009, 03:26 AM
Seeing as this has gone the LHS vs Online theme again I'll fire in a few rounds.
My closest LHS carries very little stuff that I actually want, I always go see him first and hope that he has the bits. K&S tube, balsa, CA and small servo horns etc.
If he does not have it then it is a 20 min drive up the bays to go to another lhs that specialises in boats. There are enough hobby shops this city to get the basics to build a hull, the sticking point is the motor-esc-batteries.
It is a lot cheaper for me to import from offshore as an individual. I want to support local business, but the bottom line is that I will bring in my big ticket items from overseas.