Mail order on the increase?

Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge:

I TRY to support my LHS as much as possible. (H&H Hobbies, Mystic, CT.)

The problems are:

While he has an extremely well stocked store (much better than the majority of LHS I have been in ), he can not possibly carry everything.

He does match Tower prices on the large items - kits, radios, engines, etc. He is slightly higher on the small stuff - nuts bolts screws, props, etc. I have no problem with that.

As for customer service, if he doesn't have it in stock he can and will get it for you (no extra charge as SOME places do). (I usually have a list, and any "questionable items" I call him to see if he has them in stock). Getting them in takes about 4 - 7 days. This is where the major problem comes in. The store is 35 - 40 miles from my house. With the price of gas I can't afford to make 2 trips to the store.

I will continue to get as many items as I can from him, however, there are times the online stores are more convenient.

Gig Wrote:

In My section of our country, the north east and yes I am being vague, some so called hobby shop's are being operated out of hardware store's, garage's and any local peddler on any given street corner, well not that just yet but I think you know what I mean. When I was in the business I had to have a legitimate HOBBY SHOP before I was able to get the big boy account's, lol. It seem's now the big 5 can't give these account's away, what's that about? To drive 28 mile's for any hobby would make me search for another hobby but this one is so addictive. I only have to drive 1 or 2 minute's from our field but don't feel bad, we are getting grief from 1 :censored: and now we can only fly when the park is open. We used to be able to fly year around but there is always' 1 :censored: to spoil the fun. I would like to believe that we model aviator's, boater's, driver's and all around R/Cer's can get together and function as 1 group, with 1 voice and make a statement, leave us alone we are just having good clean high octane fun. Flying field's are being lost all over the USA and it is not getting any better. If any one has any idea's, other than all those that have come before(, there not working) I would like to hear your voice. Maybe from this little forum a loud voice can be summoned, it's needed for the future of flying. The number's are saying so. AMA is losing member's, flying field's are being lost, boater's are losing their water's and driver's are losing their track's. We are all in the same boat,lol. Let's get together and feel alright.

Geoff, Yup, Redland as in rural Oregon City, though not quite suburb status yet. I also like Tammies but find that the drive to Beaver Town just isn't worth it for me. I haven't been there in over a year. I do my business with Coyote in beautiful down town Oregon City, it's close. Russ is expanding his store and I really like the fact that his main emphasis is aircraft. If he doesn't stock something I want, he'll order it for me and price it the same as Tower w/o any shipping charge. Having said all that, you sound like a scratch builder ($100 worth of balsa) my hat's off to you, I wish I had that kind of time. Are you with one of the area clubs? Where do you do your flying? Paul ...............in Redland

Sam:

With the eight bucks Tower is going to charge you for shipping, is it really worth ordering from Tower when you can get the covering on the spot for a few cents more?

Harlan

What's an LHS? Do they still exist?

ROFLOL!

Sorry, but I have yet to see the reason I should pay my LHS guy more than is printed on the outside of the freshly manufactured product (he covers that up with his upcharged prices) when I can get it from mail order for less than the printed face value. Of course I do have a bad attitude and don't think he is really running is a hobby shop anyway. Grumble....

"Six_O'Clock_High"

I heard the same story from a hobbyshop owner sixteen years ago. He bitched about how tight R/C flyers were and how prosperous R/C truck people made him. I asked him why he bothered stocking airplane stuff at all. He admitted that he had considered dropping the airplane stuff. I said fine, walked out and haven't been back since.

I have worked as an outside salesman that had to generate his own leads and didn't eat if he didn't sell. I would never tell ANY customer what that shop owner told me. It is rude, impolite and bad business. Any business that acts as though it doesn't appreciate my business can be sure that they have moved to the bottom of my resource list.

Ed Cregger

But the upshot of that is, that he probably majors in trucks, and makes money.

Time was when every town had a craft and hobby shop...everything from balsa kits to marquetry and scraperboard supplies..

..as kids at school we built these things sometimes under supervision..using your hands was a thing that was encouraged..

Its not that way today, for better of for worse. We are in a small minority hobby...accept it and support the mail oder places that DO supply goods and suchlike at keen prices, and forget the LHS. There isn't enough business at the margins you guys want to have them sell at to render them viable.

I think the differance is that most R/C car and truck people are pre teens and teens, and only do this for a short time till they go to college. They never learn about the mail order outlets, unless their parents bother to look. IMO if they are selling at a huge markup, this too will change and their business will dry up as people buy mail order.

You go Gig! mk

Notice I said I went home and checked the price. I did not say I ordered it. I have learned to do without, rather than spend my money foolishly. But when I need a larger item, guess where I will not be going to buy it.

Sam

I agree with you, Sam. In my case, Tower is in Illinois and so am I. This means I not only pay attention to the shipping cost but also to the effect of the state tax on my purchase. In some cases, I'll order from an out of state company depending on total cost. For most small stuff, I'll still visit a local shop ....... especially if I need something now.

Harlan

Take your revenge by makeing him explain every function. Make a point to act real stupid, and ask most thing twice.