Whats is killing the local hobby stores?

[50%plane]

	Quote: Originally Posted by DadsToysBG
	I've got to jump in on this one. I have a LHS and the only pricing I can go by is Tower. Did you think to ask him if he could match pricing? I know if I can I will match any price? I fly GS and turbines and there are many companies that won't sell to me wholesale. I stopped selling electric because of Hobby City in China. With the price wars going on in gas, how can a small store even stock gas engines. I'm putting together a new 42% and I have to go to the net to get certin items for the plane. What I can offer is knowledge, experience and time. YES the small store is between a rock and a hard place. When GP sells me a plane and Tower offers $60 off it makes it hard. This is still fun for me. When I opened the store the club had 20 members now over 80. We now have 800ft of black top and 13 turbine holders. I was the first with a trailer now the parking lot is filled with trailers and large planes. I like to think I am part of the reason we've grown. Really what is the problem with giving me a shot at the sale. I can have it in my store in two days at the same price. If something is wrong you come to me to fix it, not some voice on the phone. Some of are right I can't get everything and a lot of country has no store to go too. But for those that do use them if you can. Dennis

I asked him if he could price match, and I told him the current prices. $125 was his bottom line.( Tower was cheaper)

[juicesqueezer]

	Quote: Originally Posted by TeamFlatout
	I would love to see your face when you pulled up to my hobby shop I fly and buy at!!!!

Ya, everything is big in Texas! Have been there as well as just about every state in the lower forty eight. There are some great hobby stores owned by Mom & Pop out there. My Uncle ran one in Mass. for over 30 years.
If I head down to Ft. Lauderdale, there is a couple of great LHS there. Just nothing in our immediate area. 35 mile drive to the closest and like I stated before, which I got flamed on, his customer service is horrible. And it is just not me. I have seen others come in, pick out their product and then stand there and finally walk out the door, leaving product selected on the counter. I'm not happy, but at least I do stick around and finally pay for what I need.
Oh, and Tower just put the DLE 55 on their web site and in stock. Going to be hard to beat!

[Craven]

Tower Hobbies DLE 55 $409.98
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...E+55&search=Go

HobbyKing DLE 55 $319.95
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idProduct=6377

TBM DLE 55 $409.98
http://www.troybuiltmodels.com/items/DL55ENGINE.html

Now I don't need to here about service, I just wanted to show it wasn't hard to beat Tower's price by $90.

[DadsToysBG]

Let me tell you a story about why some LHS don't make it.
Had a young man come in to buy glue and some other things be assamble a trainer he bought at another store. Looking at the manule the plane turned out to be a GP Minnow (130mph). Now the man that ownes the store knows nothing about RC and doesn't fly either. I put him on the flight sym here and showed him the difference between a real trainer and a high speed plane.
I felt real bad for him, but told him to hang on to the plane until he was ready to fly it. I did sell him a Alpha trainer and gave him the phone number of a local club to get help.
There are a lot of on line companies like Troybuilt, Cactus, DA Bill Himple and others that really do use what they sell and will spend the time talking to you. This hobby needs LHS that have owners that are in the hobby. We are the front line to new members. I really got mad and bad mouthed that store (shouldn't have) but I really like what I do and love to see one of my new customers solo for the first time.
I know i can't sell everything to everybody, but I will take you in my shop here and help build your plane. You can watch me assemble a new plane. (3-w 330). I will spend my time at the field helping you.
I don't take my store to the field, but if you need something on Sunday I'll drop what ever I'm doing and take you to the store so you can continue to fly that day. This is the fun part.
On the things that I can't sell in my store. I keep a list of companies that I have checked out and their phone numbers so you can call. All I ask is a shot at the business if I can.
Many areas don't have LHS or if they do there run by idiots and for that I am truily sorry. But this is one place where you'll get fresh coffee in the morning and a place to eat lunch and talk planes.
I can't fix the world, but I can help in my little corner. Also I believe enough in the AMA and what it stands for to be a AVP for dist. 6 and visit other clubs in the state to try and help them if I can. Other then the sign on the trailer I don't take the store with me. My flying time is for me.
I fly GS and turbines. Am I one of the best? NO, but I do get them up and down in one piece (most of the time) and that whats counts. Well enough talking.I've got to get back to hauling out the trash and paying the bills. Then start working on the new plane. If your ever in the area stop by and eat lunch with me, you don't have to spend any money. Your company is enough. Dennis

[f5air]

its also depends of shipping and stock factor. Sometimes i go to my local hobby shop...and ask about getting a part...sometimes is 2 weeks, the same part i can get it in almost 3 days from online store...so why i will wait 2 weekends of flying just to support a local hobby shop?. As i said it depends of what do you need and what are you ready to pay for. Also online shops has a lot of discount, something that LHS cant do, of course they need to make business, but we have to save money to be in this hobby.

[50%plane]

	Quote: Originally Posted by DadsToysBG
	Let me tell you a story about why some LHS don't make it. Had a young man come in to buy glue and some other things be assamble a trainer he bought at another store. Looking at the manule the plane turned out to be a GP Minnow (130mph). Now the man that ownes the store knows nothing about RC and doesn't fly either. I put him on the flight sym here and showed him the difference between a real trainer and a high speed plane. I felt real bad for him, but told him to hang on to the plane until he was ready to fly it. I did sell him a Alpha trainer and gave him the phone number of a local club to get help. There are a lot of on line companies like Troybuilt, Cactus, DA Bill Himple and others that really do use what they sell and will spend the time talking to you. This hobby needs LHS that have owners that are in the hobby. We are the front line to new members. I really got mad and bad mouthed that store (shouldn't have) but I really like what I do and love to see one of my new customers solo for the first time. I know i can't sell everything to everybody, but I will take you in my shop here and help build your plane. You can watch me assemble a new plane. (3-w 330). I will spend my time at the field helping you. I don't take my store to the field, but if you need something on Sunday I'll drop what ever I'm doing and take you to the store so you can continue to fly that day. This is the fun part. On the things that I can't sell in my store. I keep a list of companies that I have checked out and their phone numbers so you can call. All I ask is a shot at the business if I can. Many areas don't have LHS or if they do there run by idiots and for that I am truily sorry. But this is one place where you'll get fresh coffee in the morning and a place to eat lunch and talk planes. I can't fix the world, but I can help in my little corner. Also I believe enough in the AMA and what it stands for to be a AVP for dist. 6 and visit other clubs in the state to try and help them if I can. Other then the sign on the trailer I don't take the store with me. My flying time is for me. I fly GS and turbines. Am I one of the best? NO, but I do get them up and down in one piece (most of the time) and that whats counts. Well enough talking.I've got to get back to hauling out the trash and paying the bills. Then start working on the new plane. If your ever in the area stop by and eat lunch with me, you don't have to spend any money. Your company is enough. Dennis

I wish all LHS were as you describe.

[juicesqueezer]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Craven
	Tower Hobbies DLE 55 $409.98 http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...E+55&search=Go HobbyKing DLE 55 $319.95 http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idProduct=6377 TBM DLE 55 $409.98 http://www.troybuiltmodels.com/items/DL55ENGINE.html Now I don't need to here about service, I just wanted to show it wasn't hard to beat Tower's price by $90.

Not bad, but once you check out the shipping cost from HobbyKing and then the time to receive product, no thank you, I'll go with Tower for my money. And remember, Tower has free shipping and when they come out with their specials, you will receive $60 off that $409 price. Not a bad deal indeed!

[juicesqueezer]

	Quote: Originally Posted by 50%plane
	I wish all LHS were as you describe.

Amen on that! Next time I'm up in that neck of the woods, I will surely drop in. Daughter went to Western. Just a hop skip and jump from Lebanon, TN.

[enephel]

Tower will sell more of these than all others combined. When Tower needs a giant crate they will get one. In fact the next giant crate will already be cued up for Tower also. They will take over by simply ordering all the engines they can produce. TMO .

[f5air]

	Quote: Originally Posted by juicesqueezer
	Not bad, but once you check out the shipping cost from HobbyKing and then the time to receive product, no thank you, I'll go with Tower for my money. And remember, Tower has free shipping and when they come out with their specials, you will receive $60 off that $409 price. Not a bad deal indeed!

correct i got almost all my radios from tower with $150 discount cupon. On the DLE i think i will think twice why? i dont wait a month for a repair or warranty, also i dont want to get an stupid email telling me that i did something wrong. I prefer to buy from a local dealer like Troy or VVRC will be behind the warranty no matter what and i will get the engine in a week.

Tower works great and their cupons are amazing...all depends of what are you ordering. I have spent at tower more than $5k in the last couple of months and saved a lot of money.

[Black Sheep]

I remember a few years ago I had a couple of friends that owned hobby shops and they said the standard was to add 110% to THEIR cost for an item. That priced them right out of the market as I could mail order stuff from Tower to here in Australia for less. When I told the LHS owners, they complained that they have to add that 110% in order to keep the doors open.
While customers might be partially to blame , I think the manufacturers and wholesalers are really to blame as they don't give a rats arse about customers since they mostly have no interaction with them.
Their attitude is deal in numbers and forget the individual, there is always someone out there who will buy it or the LHS gets stuck with it and is the one who has to take the loss when it has to be sold off at a rediculously reduced price to get it out of the store.
When my friends had their stores, I used to spend nearly $12,000 a year in each and that didn't get me any better deals because the LHS margins were too tight.

As far as I'm concerned, blame the people supplying the market, they created the drama!

[xtraflyr]

A couple of friends are opening a LHS knowing their not going to retire from the income. There's another Hobby Store down the street that everyone has nothing to say good about the owner. These two guys stopped in my friends store looking for Heli's and cars,they weren't actually open yet.. These guys told him the guy up the street treated them like S$%T saying we only sell top of the line Heli's here and turned them away..

I hope my friends new place makes them close their doors. There even going to deliver your stuff to your field for you if you want them to.

I delt with the other hobby store before..I asked if they had something in stock he said yes..then I asked him about how much $. He told me to go look it up on their website.. I guess he was to lazy to look it up!!

[Kirk]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Craven
	Tower Hobbies DLE 55 $409.98 http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...E+55&search=Go HobbyKing DLE 55 $319.95 http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idProduct=6377 TBM DLE 55 $409.98 http://www.troybuiltmodels.com/items/DL55ENGINE.html Now I don't need to here about service, I just wanted to show it wasn't hard to beat Tower's price by $90.

Curious what shipping costs from Hobby King?

With Tower's super saver discount, the engine actually costs $349 and shipping is free.

[Craven]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Kirk
	Curious what shipping costs from Hobby King? With Tower's super saver discount, the engine actually costs $349 and shipping is free.

Then I'd bet Tower's is the best deal. Check Hobby King's site for shipping costs. I'm sure it's not cheap.

[Grnd0]

Hobby King
slow $36.
fast$50.

Larry