[Jimmy P]

I have been asked why I don't buy brand "x" helicopter....so and so sells them why don't you support him? Well the answer for me is in the stock that they carry. What good is it to sell me a helicopter you have to order for me , then when I crash it and have to have another one "rfn" they don't have one in stock , I must wait several weeks or months for a new one to come in. To me this is not exceptable, I buy where there is a new kit sitting awaiting a sale, there online store shows stock on common parts etc. This is the reason why I myself do my homework , when I crash it is "awesome" not much left to salvage , so 1-800 send me a new one is what I need, not no stock ,no stock ,no stock. If your going to play the game then have the stock to support what you sell. I take my sport seriously so should you.

[cassat]

Yep, and I have been watching a well known "basement hobby"
dealer here in Canada over the last two months also.
Lipo's : out of stock (on order)
Rotor Blades: out of stock ( on order)
Heli parts: out of stock (on order)
etc etc
$700.00 heli kits : yep we have those !

And yes, I have emailed the store with no reply
Go Canada !

[Elgyn]

Originally Posted by cassat

Yep, and I have been watching a well known "basement hobby"
dealer here in Canada over the last two months also.
Lipo's : out of stock (on order)
Rotor Blades: out of stock ( on order)
Heli parts: out of stock (on order)
etc etc
$700.00 heli kits : yep we have those !

And yes, I have emailed the store with no reply
Go Canada !

that about sums it up

[Myzee]

LOL, so true. hehehe

[6cuda6]

Keep in mind guys that we live in a society were one can purchase "said parts" via internet and have them within 2 days.....stores included.

I too would rather purchase localy but have given up [took 3 weeks to get nitro fuel] and now purchase via internet.

With the service that some of the Canadian retailers have given me [such as RotorQuest] i have gone the route of the internet as well......

[Max]

I guess I am lucky living in the GTA. A few shops around me carry lots of spares.

I had a wreck on a Saturday, drove to my LHS that specializes in helicopters and has tons of spares, and was in the air the next day. Ya, its a little more expensive than mail order but when you want to have parts ASAP, its worth the premium.

[Guest]

Used to have a hobby shop of my own. I sold a lot of fuel. It was damn good fuel, made in Canada. I did alright on that. Back when people bought fuel. My old fuel supplier doesn't even sell fuel anymore. Nor does the manufacturer he got it from even make it anymore.

I made next to nothing an almost everything else, because I just didn't have a large enough market to get large enough discounts from the suppliers. You needed something from Horizon ferinstance, well, you had to go through their supplier in Canada, unless you were big. Everybody in between you and the manufacturer took a slice of the pie, and my slice was small! And I'm not complaining, I knew that going in, I was OK with that, as long as the shop broke even. In the past, a small shop like mine had a hope of competing with mail order, and early Internet sales, especially from other countries. Not anymore!

In my opinion, the time of the (smaller) Local Hobby Shop is coming to an end, except in a very few markets. And once the good ones are gone, they're gone for good.

Was great, I had plenty of good customers that understood business, and bought stuff from me, even though they could often purchase it somewhere else for less. Thanks guys and girls, I miss ya. You know who you are.

Had plenty of the other kind, too.

Actually had a customer beat me up for the .69¢ difference on my $5/oz CA versus what they bought theirs for at the Toronto Hobby Show - after they drove 80 miles and paid to get in. Genius. But everyone loves a deal.

I'd have been happy to stock parts for customers, if only I could see into the future and know what airframe you were going screw into the ground next week, and need immediately. That way, I could use my time machine and go back in time 2 weeks - my suppliers shipping schedule, not mine - and fill my minimum order amount with stuff that would sell, and not just eat inventory.
Ya, no minimum order for you (or now me) on your parts on the internet. But no money in it for me, either, when my supplier sells it to you for the same price he sells it to me - or often even less.

There's all kinds of reasons that I loved having that shop. It was the customers. I closed it 10 years ago, partly because of the other kind of "customer" and haven't missed that BS at all.

I fully understand a customer's frustration at some of the stuff that has been mentioned in this thread. And I fully understand how impossible it would have been for a shop like mine to make that customer happy. I know how hard some shop owners try, too.

Here's a lesson in the economics, for those that aren't in any sort of business where they have to actually make their own money.

LHS sees supplier has special offer on $700 (retail) helicopter kits. Buy 3, get extra 10% or something. Great. minimum $2000 order problem solved.

Sell one kit @ $700, make maybe 30% - yay, $210!

As opposed to selling $700 worth of parts over a period of months, at a margin of maybe 15%, decreasing as time goes by. Oh boy, maybe $75 over a year, maybe not. As an added bonus, I have $350 in parts still left on the shelf at the end of the year that I now know are very durable as installed on the original heli, and unlikely to ever need replacement, and therefore, will likely never sell.

A person in business will know what to do here... sell the kit, you can order your own damn parts off the internet. Can't you? Won't you anyway, when you see they're .69¢ cheaper? Order some glue while you're at it, ya cheap bas...

Only examples.

I'm just like most of you now in Canada - a hobbyist that doesn't have a hobby shop in my small town anymore. I order off the internet, but I stop in on the shops in the cities I visit, and I'd buy something, but I don't even recognize half the stuff they sell anymore!

[jake_027]

It is rare for my LHS not to have the parts I need in stock. Their parts wall for the various cars and helis that they sell it huge!! They even have many replacement parts for the Park Zone and Eflite foamies. I understand the cost involved for them to carry such a large parts inventory and for that reason I like to support my LHS over buying online.

[modeler]

Originally Posted by cognos

Used to have a hobby shop of my own. I sold a lot of fuel. It was damn good fuel, made in Canada. I did alright on that. Back when people bought fuel. My old fuel supplier doesn't even sell fuel anymore. Nor does the manufacturer he got it from even make it anymore.

I made next to nothing an almost everything else, because I just didn't have a large enough market to get large enough discounts from the suppliers. You needed something from Horizon ferinstance, well, you had to go through their supplier in Canada, unless you were big. Everybody in between you and the manufacturer took a slice of the pie, and my slice was small! And I'm not complaining, I knew that going in, I was OK with that, as long as the shop broke even. In the past, a small shop like mine had a hope of competing with mail order, and early Internet sales, especially from other countries. Not anymore!

In my opinion, the time of the (smaller) Local Hobby Shop is coming to an end, except in a very few markets. And once the good ones are gone, they're gone for good.

Was great, I had plenty of good customers that understood business, and bought stuff from me, even though they could often purchase it somewhere else for less. Thanks guys and girls, I miss ya. You know who you are.

Had plenty of the other kind, too.

Actually had a customer beat me up for the .69¢ difference on my $5/oz CA versus what they bought theirs for at the Toronto Hobby Show - after they drove 80 miles and paid to get in. Genius. But everyone loves a deal.

I'd have been happy to stock parts for customers, if only I could see into the future and know what airframe you were going screw into the ground next week, and need immediately. That way, I could use my time machine and go back in time 2 weeks - my suppliers shipping schedule, not mine - and fill my minimum order amount with stuff that would sell, and not just eat inventory.
Ya, no minimum order for you (or now me) on your parts on the internet. But no money in it for me, either, when my supplier sells it to you for the same price he sells it to me - or often even less.

There's all kinds of reasons that I loved having that shop. It was the customers. I closed it 10 years ago, partly because of the other kind of "customer" and haven't missed that BS at all.

I fully understand a customer's frustration at some of the stuff that has been mentioned in this thread. And I fully understand how impossible it would have been for a shop like mine to make that customer happy. I know how hard some shop owners try, too.

Here's a lesson in the economics, for those that aren't in any sort of business where they have to actually make their own money.

LHS sees supplier has special offer on $700 (retail) helicopter kits. Buy 3, get extra 10% or something. Great. minimum $2000 order problem solved.

Sell one kit @ $700, make maybe 30% - yay, $210!

As opposed to selling $700 worth of parts over a period of months, at a margin of maybe 15%, decreasing as time goes by. Oh boy, maybe $75 over a year, maybe not. As an added bonus, I have $350 in parts still left on the shelf at the end of the year that I now know are very durable as installed on the original heli, and unlikely to ever need replacement, and therefore, will likely never sell.

A person in business will know what to do here... sell the kit, you can order your own damn parts off the internet. Can't you? Won't you anyway, when you see they're .69¢ cheaper? Order some glue while you're at it, ya cheap bas...

Only examples.

I'm just like most of you now in Canada - a hobbyist that doesn't have a hobby shop in my small town anymore. I order off the internet, but I stop in on the shops in the cities I visit, and I'd buy something, but I don't even recognize half the stuff they sell anymore!

Very true and sincere story open an internet store man

[Dennis Pedersen]

So true on many levels Cognos. I say you make your own money guys ,spend it as you wish but do not speak poorly of someone else till you have walked that mile in his shoes !
Take care and enjoy this great hobby of ours.