Bye Bye Traxxas

[WickedFog]

I'll be thrilled when this thread dies out.

It's all good fun

 

[DavidB1126]

The guy above who doesn't want to sell Traxxas batteries is shooting himself in the foot, stock a couple of batteries and chargers and let your customers decide. The worst thing a retailer can do is tell their customers what they should want.

But the thing is
He doesn't get enough people in for the hobby shop part of his business. Not to mention, those traxxas batteries and chargers are junk and stupid expensive for what they are.
He lost his track as he couldn't keep up with rent and not enough people buying stuff. It was booming when he opened up. 2016 - 2021. After covid (September 2022) it was gone. He couldn't just keep up with rent. 6500 bucks a month for a medium sized shop in a shopping center.

 

[Grizz03]

They won't supply to my buddy's shop anymore because he refuses to sell there poopy batteries and chargers. they're so fuckin petty

This is kind of hard to believe. Your comment doesn't make any sense.
Even if they required them to have a battery and charger in stock it doesn't mean it couldn't be put on a shelf somewhere never to be sold.
What happens to unsold stock that is already there? Traxxas would also stop supplying parts because it?

 

[DavidB1126]

What happens to unsold stock that is already there? Traxxas would also stop supplying parts because it?

He has all of his left over traxxas parts in boxes. If I needed something, I'm sure he can look if he has it in there, but he won't buy from traxxas again. If I needed something traxxas, id just go to the other hobby shop. or online.
Traxxas doesn't care about their customers or people buying from them. They only care about themselves.

 

[corneileous]

I'll be thrilled when this thread dies out.

I’m not taking up for it but nobody’s telling you to comment on it or even keep tabs on this discussion if it doesn’t have your interest.

 

[Panko75]

I'll be thrilled when this thread dies out.

I'll take the blame for reawakening this "beast". I just wanted to say my piece on what LHS's put up with.

There's much worse companies out there than Traxxas. There's one in particular that many RC people (who probably hate Traxxas) get their cheapo electronics from, a company who's name is very similar to the word "Amazing".

And yes, there's Horrifying Hobbies, who's been buying everything up and just messed up Tower Hobbies. I just gave away my only HH RC (an ECX Torment).

If you like your Traxxas, or your WLToys 1234567, more power to you!

 

[Chubaka]

This is kind of hard to believe. Your comment doesn't make any sense.
Even if they required them to have a battery and charger in stock it doesn't mean it couldn't be put on a shelf somewhere never to be sold.
What happens to unsold stock that is already there? Traxxas would also stop supplying parts because it?

If they will do this, I wouldn't be surprised if they did.

https://hobbyfever.com/

 

[WickedFog]

I'll take the blame for reawakening this "beast". I just wanted to say my piece on what LHS's put up with.

Honestly, there's much worse companies out there than Traxxas. There's one in particular that many RC people (who probably hate Traxxas) get their cheapo electronics from, a company who's name is very similar to the word "Amazing".

Nearly everything is made in China. You either buy direct, or through a middleman. But the Chinese get their cut. I remember back when they really pushed people to buy American. Not anymore. I'm doing my part. I stopped buying Hellmann's mayo after a Chinese conglomerate bought them. That set the Chinese economy back a smidge

 

[Panther6834]

This is kind of hard to believe. Your comment doesn't make any sense.
Even if they required them to have a battery and charger in stock it doesn't mean it couldn't be put on a shelf somewhere never to be sold.
What happens to unsold stock that is already there? Traxxas would also stop supplying parts because it?

You, unfortunately, don't understand how Traxxas operates in this matter. They don't just require a ship to purchase "a few units"...they require the shops to purchase large quantities. Just to give one example,v when a new vehicle is released, of the street price is above a certain dollar amount, shops are required to purchase a minimum of one of each color...and, for vehicles below that price point, they are required to purchase more of each color. If I remember correctly, when the 4Tec 3.0 Corvette was released, shops had to purchase at least 3 of each color. This wasn't 'optional'...it was a 'requirement'. Put another way, in how Traxxas deals with LHSs, they don't just act like an "800lb gorilla"...it's more like an "8,000lb gorilla". And, if a shop doesn't want to purchase the minimum number of units Traxxas is requiring, Traxxas removes them from being an authorized Traxxas.

Look at it from a distribution perspective. Horizon Hobby is a huge company (much larger than Traxxas), with several brands names under their ownership. As such, they operate their own distribution network. With the exception of Traxxas, all other RC companies, large & small, use other distribution networks. Traxxas, on the other hand, handles their own distribution. Why? One could say, it's too "save money on distribution costs"...and, if you don't look any deeper, you'd be at least partially correct. But, if you DO look deeper, that's when you discover the strongarm-like tactics that Traxxas uses. Is it legal? Possibly (I'm not a BAR-certified lawyer...plus, my areas of legal knowledge are landlord-tenant rights, and employee rights). But, is it 'right'? Definitely not.

 

[Grizz03]

If they will do this, I wouldn't be surprised if they did.

https://hobbyfever.com/

View attachment 180418

That's opposite from what I quoted. Refusing to sell parts (batteries and chargers) is much different than being a mail-order store.

EDIT: I know Traxxas has pushed for a Brick and Mortar stores over online.

 

[corneileous]

He has all of his left over traxxas parts in boxes. If I needed something, I'm sure he can look if he has it in there, but he won't buy from traxxas again. If I needed something traxxas, id just go to the other hobby shop. or online.
Traxxas doesn't care about their customers or people buying from them. They only care about themselves.

They may not be known for the best customer service but to say that they don’t care about their customers is quite the stretch. Example given, they warrantied my close to two year old ESC out of my Maxx for the dreaded red lights of death and all it cost me was about 10 bucks in shipping to send them my ESC and my motor so that they could make sure it wasn’t the motor that caused the ESC to go bad and less than a week later, they sent me a brand new ESC with my motor in the same box.

Almost the same thing happened to my stepson… I know I said earlier it was one of his cheaper NiMh Batteries, but it was actually one of his 3C Lipo batteries that after a year and a half decided they didn’t want to charge anymore and they sent him a brand new battery.

 

[blaster27]

If you don't want to buy a Traxxas, Don't, Whats more to be said? Oh I get it ? They , little boys. Are you kidding me. Don't want one don't get one. Why stop there? Let's talk all of the people in the world to hate Traxxas. Wow that's really smart. If you don't like China, don't go to Walmart, or Sam's club. My best friend is a trucker. He told me people flip him the because his truck is slow. He told me . Without me all of you are without.

 

[9x19]

He has all of his left over traxxas parts in boxes. If I needed something, I'm sure he can look if he has it in there, but he won't buy from traxxas again. If I needed something traxxas, id just go to the other hobby shop. or online.
Traxxas doesn't care about their customers or people buying from them. They only care about themselves.

Whenever I stop in to the factory store, they always seem to care about their customers... and are super friendly too.

Maybe they just don't like yankees

 

[Grizz03]

You, unfortunately, don't understand how Traxxas operates in this matter. They don't just require a ship to purchase "a few units"...they require the shops to purchase large quantities. Just to give one example,v when a new vehicle is released, of the street price is above a certain dollar amount, shops are required to purchase a minimum of one of each color...and, for vehicles below that price point, they are required to purchase more of each color. If I remember correctly, when the 4Tec 3.0 Corvette was released, shops had to purchase at least 3 of each color. This wasn't 'optional'...it was a 'requirement'. Put another way, in how Traxxas deals with LHSs, they don't just act like an "800lb gorilla"...it's more like an "8,000lb gorilla". And, if a shop doesn't want to purchase the minimum number of units Traxxas is requiring, Traxxas removes them from being an authorized Traxxas.

Look at it from a distribution perspective. Horizon Hobby is a huge company (much larger than Traxxas), with several brands names under their ownership. As such, they operate their own distribution network. With the exception of Traxxas, all other RC companies, large & small, use other distribution networks. Traxxas, on the other hand, handles their own distribution. Why? One could say, it's too "save money on distribution costs"...and, if you don't look any deeper, you'd be at least partially correct. But, if you DO look deeper, that's when you discover the strongarm-like tactics that Traxxas uses. Is it legal? Possibly (I'm not a BAR-certified lawyer...plus, my areas of legal knowledge are landlord-tenant rights, and employee rights). But, is it 'right'? Definitely not.

You obviously didn't read what I was quoting and replying too. It was said the Hobby shop had to close because they refused to sell Traxxas batteries and chargers.

Maybe read what was written before making a response to something different than what was said.

 

[corneileous]

Nearly everything is made in China. You either buy direct, or through a middleman. But the Chinese get their cut. I remember back when they really pushed people to buy American. Not anymore. I'm doing my part. I stopped buying Hellmann's mayo after a Chinese conglomerate bought them. That set the Chinese economy back a smidge

What? Hellmans is Chinese owned now?

 

[WickedFog]

What? Hellmans is Chinese owned now?

Yeah. Along with a bunch of US farmland.

 

[blaster27]

What about the guys out there that hate Arrma, Axial?

What? Hellmans is Chinese owned now?

Levis are now made in Mexico. Yes or no?
The best thing about America is that Flag. . Just me sayin.
. Nothing more to say here.

 

[9x19]

You, unfortunately, don't understand how Traxxas operates in this matter. They don't just require a ship to purchase "a few units"...they require the shops to purchase large quantities. Just to give one example,v when a new vehicle is released, of the street price is above a certain dollar amount, shops are required to purchase a minimum of one of each color...and, for vehicles below that price point, they are required to purchase more of each color. If I remember correctly, when the 4Tec 3.0 Corvette was released, shops had to purchase at least 3 of each color. This wasn't 'optional'...it was a 'requirement'. Put another way, in how Traxxas deals with LHSs, they don't just act like an "800lb gorilla"...it's more like an "8,000lb gorilla". And, if a shop doesn't want to purchase the minimum number of units Traxxas is requiring, Traxxas removes them from being an authorized Traxxas.

Look at it from a distribution perspective. Horizon Hobby is a huge company (much larger than Traxxas), with several brands names under their ownership. As such, they operate their own distribution network. With the exception of Traxxas, all other RC companies, large & small, use other distribution networks. Traxxas, on the other hand, handles their own distribution. Why? One could say, it's too "save money on distribution costs"...and, if you don't look any deeper, you'd be at least partially correct. But, if you DO look deeper, that's when you discover the strongarm-like tactics that Traxxas uses. Is it legal? Possibly (I'm not a BAR-certified lawyer...plus, my areas of legal knowledge are landlord-tenant rights, and employee rights). But, is it 'right'? Definitely not.

None of that is an uncommon practice. Many manufacturers have purchase requirements in order for a dealer to carry their brand... from Automobiles to fast food franchises, guns, and computers. In the late 80s/ early 90s (maybe still?) Ruger and S&W would not deal with any distributor who wanted to carry both brands. You had to choose which of the two best selling companies to go with.

Traxxas is the Glock of RC, the brand everyone loves to talk about.

 

[Tunedfrog]

.

 

[Doom!]

Simple solution is to buy what you like, and don't worry about what you don't. Now wasn't that easy?

Sometimes life sucks, and you don't always get what you want.... Hey starting to sound like The Rolling Stones.

.View attachment 180419

I'm not really sure if it was the pretzels or the peanut butter, but yep I'm thirsty!