Stop Depending on Online Shopping, support your Local HobbyStore

[Jnr Kuzi]

Hey Guys, this has Been on my mind for a very long Time, but now i think its time i take action.
*Note*
"I Have Nothing against Online Shopping but i Hate it when it starts affecting something i Love with a passion."

Rc Hobby website Have Really started Taking over the Hobby Market which is Good For "The ease of Access, Good Prices, availability of services in Many Regions of the World" however Like the Philosophy of Yin&Yang Says "for something to survive it needs as much Negative energy as it does positive"
Hobby sites Offer Ridiculously Cheap Items which affect small businesses & in turn will start affecting the entire Hobby.
"How? you may ask."
~when the Hobbystore in your Town Runs out of Business, it will shut down. When it shuts down, Huge hobby websites & coporations Gain, because they have Gotten Rid of Competion. And once they Manage to Get rid of small Hobby Businesses. They will be in Control of The Hobby, they will decide what products to put Out there, if they decide to stop producing 9g servos, you will never see them."

Most People will Go like "whats does this crazy little african boy think his Talking about?"

Well, Growing up in africa, i have seen Mind Control my entire life so This is what they do. They offer cheap product, make us want it & when we start Depending on it. They Give it to Us On there Conditions because we have Nowhere else to get it.

So Please Dont Cut the Middle Man Out. Save the future of this Hobby.

Please like my Facebook page too : www.facebook.com/marzzambia

 

[stay-fun]

Hmm, I don't fully agree with you. When buying from a website, you're not necessarily cutting the middle man out. The middle man is now a webshop instead of a physical store.

Yes local hobby shops are nice to have, but I usually only go there for the small stuff to be honest. I buy most stuff online, the three webshops I buy most are Helidirect for my helicopter needs, AMainHobbies for heli/plane stuff and Hobbyking for cheap stuff/crazy projects where I don't want to spend as much money.

The problem with the LHS is simply the choice in products. I love shopping online, taking my time (sometimes hours!) to find exactly what I want, and not have a sales person telling me what to buy. I know I'm a little more advanced, I know most of the stuff, I find reviews online for a certain product as I'm shopping, while in the LHS you have to rely on the biased opinion of the sales person. I don't like that, sorry.

I often make up my mind and want a certain specific product, and not something else (such as a motor: the sunnysky V2216-800kV - I want THAT motor and not something else! Not a different brand, not a different size...)

Yeah I know I'm picky.

And when you go to the LHS and they don't carry it, they can 'order' it for me. Yeah... Or I can order it myself and they'll bring it to my home, too!

I do realize that not everybody shops the way I do, and for a lot of people the LHS can be very helpful, also for advice. But sorry, not for me.

 

[RoyBro]

Well that's just not going to happen. For me anyway. At least not until my local hobby shops start carrying the stuff I need. The last time I checked, they were way out of line on their prices for ESCs and didn't even carry the amperage I needed (20-25 amp). They had 12 amp and then jumped to 35 amp. And the 35 amp was around $40. There's no better way to keep me out of the hobby.

I'm more than happy to pay a few dollars more to support a local shop that meets my needs, but there is a limit. I'm also happy to support (local) shops in other towns that also sell online like Altitude Hobbies in Denver, or Aloft Hobbies, and of course LazerToys.

But please don't ask me to support my local hobby shop because it's local. I'll support it if it deserves supporting.

 

[Jnr Kuzi]

Stay-Fun & Roy-Bro i hear you & respect your Opinions. i like Grayson Hobbies & wifly too. But most hobbystores are pricy because they lack business, while they still need to survive & earn ends meat. My suggestion is Us the consumers Help them Get there stuff out there & in turn they start reducing there prices, we have to Help each other. And if a store decides to stay as pricy, we Let it fend for it self, this is More than Just a Hobby, its an art. Because it lets people expand there immagination when they Build or Fly. Theys nothing wrong with online stores, but dont give them power over you.

 

[FAI-F1D]

90% of what I need cannot be found in a store of any kind. I do buy all of my large model balsa in person because I select individual sheets based on grain, density, etc.

In terms of other things, I can't justify $5 for a battery that costs $1.50 ordered online. Hobby shops don't carry the motors I use or the props I use, and I don't need high performance servos, so it's hard to justify $25 for a 4 gram servo when I could get one for $4 online.

 

[Andre]

They are pricey because they subscribe to the name brand lines.

That works for some people but when they want $5 for a 1S 160mah and I can order them online for under $1.40 I'm sorry as much as I want to support local... Money Talks.

 

[RoyBro]

But most hobbystores are pricy because they lack business, while they still need to survive & earn ends meat.

It's not my responsibility to subsidize the LHS. I give them feedback as to what I need when I'm there. The next time I go in, if they still don't have what I need, I'm going online. It's as simple as that. If they aren't smart enough stock what their customers want, they don't deserve to be in business.

Theys nothing wrong with online stores, but dont give them power over you.

Nobody's giving power to anybody. This has all been discussed before. "Support your local hobby shop!" If I get value from my LHS, they will receive my support. That value may be in merchandise or it may be in the form of education, or support after the sale. Don't try to make this out to be some sort of conspiracy by online stores to put the LHS out of business. We are the customers, we have the purchasing power. We decide where we get the best value. Saving the LHS will NOT save the hobby. If the LHS needs saving, they need to take steps to save themselves.

 

[Jnr Kuzi]

wow, i guess i should have researched more your stores.. Here in africa, most of the stuff we Get is chinese & korean, the chinese stuff is pricy & the Korean stuff is cheap

 

[themajik1]

Not only that, but if your local hobby shop is not about flying and that is what you are into, I am not going to go there and have them order it for and pay the extra cost when I can order it myself and cheaper and quicker. That and since they do not cater to flying they are not much help with anything.

 

[Andre]

Scratch build is still catching on but it is nice to see Great Hobbies stepping up to the plate.

Still if they want the masses to come to the hobby/fly the prices have to drop further.

I mean a basic out the door setup is around $250 I'd say. (All online ordering)
Small scratch built plane, parts, electronics, charger and so on.

Heck $250 was what I paid for my old AM radio 15 years ago.

Still that price has to come down even further if they wish to compete.
Plane vs ipad kind of battle.

 

[Tactical Ex]

I've had this talk with many people on the field. Most of them are retired old men with a budget that includes fun and cant understand the budget constrains of a modern day 26 year old. I myself have very little money and it MOSTLY comes down to cost when it comes to where I shop. I have no excuse to NOT buy from a local hobby shop because I live in a dense city and there are at least 4 within a reasonable reach of me but there are only a few items I will buy there.

• Props (even at this I sometimes have to go to 2 stores before I find the type I need, pusher props are a nearly extinct where I am)
• Balsa
• Wire

... that's pretty much it

Reasons I could care less about the LHS:

• Price -Everything else is SOOOO expensive I would be stupid to pay those prices. In this modern day ANYONE can make an online store and save money instead of having a brick and mortar shop. No paying employees to sit behind the counter all day when you might only get a few in to buy, no time stocking and price items for shelves, no sales taxes for out of state orders and plenty of non-tech friendly systems to help computer-noobs sell online. There are even ways to bypass inventory constrains by drop-shipping methods, there is absolutely no excuse for a LHS to NOT have a web store as well and get in on the online action.
• The people - There is only 1 of the 4 hobby shops near me that has employees that aren't totally opinionated jerk-wads. I'm sorry, but if you are going to make fun of a customer for using the obviously superior XT60 connectors instead of your traxxas monstrosities, you just don't deserve my business.
• Selection - LHS never have what I want unless it's a staple item like propellers. If I need a motor or an ESC or even particular landing gear its incredibly unlikely they will have it and even if they do it is always at least 3 times more expensive than online sellers.

 

[Jnr Kuzi]

Looking at the Points you guys are Making, you are really making sense. LHS need to get there stuff together

 

[Tritium]

If someone builds a Local Hobby Shop THEN I will spend money there. It will NOT be built in this century though . A town of 900 cannot even support a tiny shop (probably not 3 persons in the entire county Fly RC)! We are lucky to have a Grocery Store, Feed Store, Hardware Store and Blacksmith in town.

Thurmond

 

[RickC]

Jnr Kuzi, I agree with you on a lot of things. I do try to support my LHS and do buy there whenever possible. I ran a autoparts store years ago and people would come in buy the oil I had on special, ask all kinds of questions about their vehicle then tell me they can get the oil filter they need for a dollar cheeper at at walmart and drive down the road to get it there. I always wanted to ask this type of customer "hey will you run down to walmart and get me a quart of brake fluid, I'll pay for the fluid and give you a dollar for your trouble."
I don't think I would have gotten any takers.

I do order online if I can't get it from my LHS but I love being able to drive down to the shop and get a prop or a tool I need right now. I would sure miss it if the shop closed down.

just my opinion
RickC

 

[Jaxx]

I like having the option to run down to the local Hobby Town with my scratch-built foamie and size stuff. I always seem to get a lot of interest from other customers, who have no idea planes can be scratch-built with foam. When I need small things (music wire, CA glue, spinners, wheels etc.), that's where I go. I do this specifically to support them in some way. The prices for these items are usually not much more than online prices, so I don't mind spending a little more.

Unfortunately, like many others, I can't justify the price difference on items like motors and ESC. When I nose dive a scratch-build into the ground (like I did with my FT Mustang yesterday), I don't worry too much about the damage to the motor, because it was only about $14 with shipping included. Now, if I had purchased it at the LHS, an equivalent motor would have cost me $45 or more. Online stores make the hobby accessible for many people, who would otherwise, not be able to afford it.

 

[Jnr Kuzi]

Sorry about your Store

Jnr Kuzi, I agree with you on a lot of things. I do try to support my LHS and do buy there whenever possible. I ran a autoparts store years ago and people would come in buy the oil I had on special, ask all kinds of questions about their vehicle then tell me they can get the oil filter they need for a dollar cheeper at at walmart and drive down the road to get it there. I always wanted to ask this type of customer "hey will you run down to walmart and get me a quart of brake fluid, I'll pay for the fluid and give you a dollar for your trouble."
I don't think I would have gotten any takers.

I do order online if I can't get it from my LHS but I love being able to drive down to the shop and get a prop or a tool I need right now. I would sure miss it if the shop closed down.

just my opinion
RickC

I Too worked a Good Man who had a Small Garage in an industrial area, he Had Small repairs & maintainance Contracts with Mazhandu (equivalent to the Greyhound Bus service in the U.S.A)

But then Engen, Bought 2 factories & turnt them into a Full workshop, then Offered Half His Prices for 3Months, the man lost His Business & is Currently recovering from stroke.
Now Engen Is shutting Down there operation in the industrial after making there Money, Now they are Moving to Kafue (The Province's Number 1 fish supplier) to do the Same.

 

[Jnr Kuzi]

i've always wanted to Know where you Live.

If someone builds a Local Hobby Shop THEN I will spend money there. It will NOT be built in this century though . A town of 900 cannot even support a tiny shop (probably not 3 persons in the entire county Fly RC)! We are lucky to have a Grocery Store, Feed Store, Hardware Store and Blacksmith in town.

Thurmond

Your profile is So Unique.. Where are you from? Lol