I have a question for everyone........

[nitro dave]

I try to support the LHS when I can, but I haven't found a good one here in the south seattle area. I have a hobbytown USA, but I hardly consider them a LHS. I do buy stuff from them though, just not very often. Before I moved to seattle, I had the best LHS not far from me, and I bought everything from them.

 

[DarthRacer]

I guess I'm lucky.
I have an LHS that I have been going to for almost 10 years now that is 20 minuites from my house.
Field's Hobby Center in Cheektowaga NY.
It is the same LHS Chris hangs out at.
Their prices are very competitive to an online LHS, and if I order something distributed by Great Planes, I'd get it at the same price Tower sells it for without paying for shipping.
Plus, since I'm a loyal customer, I get 10% off all my purchases!
They stock lots of T-Maxx and other hop-ups, plus I can order just about anything through them.

 

[WoodiE]

I'm not so lucky - My LHS has about 3-4 R/C kits (T-Maxx, E-Maxx and 2 onroad electric cars) and has parts for the old RC10GT and such trucks. Nothing up to date, anything I need must be ordered. Granted I try to buy and order from my LHS regardless hoping they will expand their R/C stuff, but that means they would have to get rid of their train set and all their plastic models.

There's not a single track in 50+miles in either direction from me, or none that I have found. There is however a HobbyTown USA on the far north end of Indy which is about 1.5+ hr drive for me.

-Michael

ps. Speaking of Field's Hobby Center in New York - I've spent more money with them then anyother LHS including the HobbyTown USA, as my savage and JR XS3 radio both came from them along with a few small things.

 

[DarthRacer]

Originally posted by WoodiE
ps. Speaking of Field's Hobby Center in New York - I've spent more money with them then anyother LHS including the HobbyTown USA, as my savage and JR XS3 radio both came from them along with a few small things.

Did you order from www.fieldshobby.com or did you buy while you were visiting Chris?
Field's is a family own and run buisness. They love their hobby and it shows.

 

[WoodiE]

Chris had the Savage sent to me, and I bought the JR XS3 from them when I was in town a few months ago.


-Michael

 

[Candyman]

Well, I can officially say I'm in the middle of nowhere. Any major city (and NSLHS) is at least 1 hour away. So that's a 2 hour round trip. Not really efficient in my book. Yes, when I do go visit family in the "big city", I try to stop by the hobby shop. They stock pretty good stuff. At least for the Maxx and my GT. Not much HPI. They're primarily Traxxas, Associated and Losi. So I can do a fair amount through them. Their prices are a bit higher but I pay extra for the convenience of having it in my hands. On bigger items I usually go online. It's just easier sometimes because I don't get near my hobby shop that often. So I'm a mix. Just depends what I need.

 

[ImBroken]

I have a few hobby shops near me. There's 1 or 2 decent ones that I deal with for emergency quick repairs and supplies. Most of them are so overpriced, or the help is just clueless. There is 1 LHS owner that just makes me boil.... I argued with him over an hour about OS engines. I told him that I got one, & he sarcastically said "Why? , Well there's your first mistake.. You should've bought a Fantom from me " I wanted to hit him so bad... The guys been selling Electric R/C's for 15 years, starts selling Nitros & in a week becomes an expert... Go figure..
I mention the internet, and he just shrugs his shoulders in disgust. I finally told him to go poop in his hat......

 

[Çh®i§tiªñ]

:breakdown Right On IB! Problem is, most people can't run a business to save their ass! Unfortunately, bad LHS's can cause people to get out of this hobby as fast as they got into it.... Which, is the very reason I shop at Fields here. These guys have it together! BIG TIME! ALWAYS willing to help, even when they may be having a bad day. They treat me with respect and everyone is on a first name basis. Sometimes that is even worth paying a little more for.... Although they do match prices and then some. Like Darth said, if you are loyal to them they are loyal to you when it comes to pricing.

There is one other hobby shop, about an hour from me, which I can say has some killer parts on hand too. However, I have only been there once. Just too long a ride for me. Havent needed a part that bad YET. But they were very nice too.

The 3rd one around here is a HobbyTown USA. Do I need to say any more? lol

 

[maxxtrac]

I order about half from the internet and half on the web, My lhs will meet the internet price on somethings but he said he can't match them all.So anything i can get a good price on i buy from the lhs and the rest i buy on the net

 

[FlyinRazorback]

We have 3 hobby shops here in Memphis. If you own a TMaxx, RC10 or Losi then you should be able to find what you need. I don't own any of these so I'm SOL. The only thing my LHS's are good for is fuel, fuel tubing, bodies, etc. 1/8 scale parts are non-existant. The knowledge base is pretty poor at all of the stores. A group of us are trying to build a large offroad track but none of the stores want to support that idea. Pretty damn stupid if you ask me since it would increase their sales if we had a good track that would make RC a little more popular in the area and would bring in additional $ on the weekends with racers coming into town. Their sales tactics are piss-poor. A group of us decided to go with a certain brand of fuel. What do they do 3 weeks later? They increase the price by $4 a gallon on that certain fuel. I tried to make an order through them and I was told I had to order at least $100 worth of stuff for an order to be placed. So, I say piss on them. I will continue to order the stuff I need off the internet.

There, I feel better.

 

[SkyMaxx]

Originally posted by twiztid25
Trust me, there are no shops around here at all. The ones that are on the beach are a BIG JOKE. I go to Debbies RC in VA Beach when I am up that way. :OT:LOL No hillbillie here, my entire family (incl. myself)was born in Cali. This is the best place to surf on the East Coast in my opinion. Any surfers out there, give the OB a visit for great surf.

Dude that is my LHS. Debbies rocks.

 

[TwiZtiD25]

Debbies is the closest shop to where I live. They do have a nice shop but it is a far drive. I've been ordering from fields hobby lately. They are very nice people with super fast shipping. I usually recieve my packages in 2 days from them!!! Debbies wants a flat $8 for shipping no matter what you get. I found this out the other day when I needed a exhaust gasket. hehehe But I do buy all my fuel from Debbs when I'm in VA.

 

[SkyMaxx]

Next time you plan on coming up this way, let me know. I live about ten minutes from Debbies. Maybe we can get together for some construction site bashing or something.

 

[TwiZtiD25]

I'm heading up there Thursday, but my MT is waiting on a part so thats no good. What days can you use the track at Debbs, and is it any good? Everytime I'm there I am in a hurry and have never actually seen it.

 

[SkyMaxx]

You have to be a member to use the track. If you're a member, you can use it anytime the weather allows for it. I am not a member, because I prefer rougher playgrounds. BUT from what I have seen of tracks, this one is a pretty decent one. They hold ROAR sanctioned races there when it is the season.

 

[Nitroaddict]

JEEZ! I go home for 12 hours, and come back to this? Wow did this thread ever blow up!

RacinJason - u say ur LHS is 30 minutes away? so what, thats not far, i drive further than that to go have dinner!

Medsoldier - your story about your LHS is a shame, but u did learn something that more people need to remember. You can negotiate! The LHS is entitled to make as much as he can. If AE says retail is 499.99 for the NTC3 - then by god, i would certainly charge that. But......if someone came in and said he could get it for 299.99 at tower, then i would sell it for that.

Massivex - u mention that not every shop can match the internet. they all CAN match it, the just CHOOSE not to, which is a shame. You being up in the great northern tundra, I can understand your prediciment, as your taxes are different then here in the USA.

=======================================

And another great story - I goto my LHS last night, because i decided i wanted the centax clutch. Before I go - i look online, and it is being sold for 89.99 but is currently out of stock. My LHS has it in stock and was selling it for 109.00. After an hour of BSing, I told him i was really trying to keep my cost below a hundred dollars figuring that is what it would cost online after shipping. No sweat, he says - total price after tax? 92.27 and he even threw in a handful of body clips. Hows that for a deal?


I liked an idea brought up a few posts back about me taking some photos of the shops - my digicam is just my cell phone, and it sux, but i will borrow the one from my work sometime and take some photos of these places.

 

[Çh®i§tiªñ]

Originally posted by Nitroaddict
u mention that not every shop can match the internet. they all CAN match it, the just CHOOSE not to, which is a shame. You being up in the great northern tundra, I can understand your prediciment, as your taxes are different then here in the USA.

I just have to quickly disagree with you on this one. There have been a COUPLE of times where I have found prices online that were less than cost for my LHS. They have even shown me the Great Planes orderring page just to prove it. Keep in mind, some online shops are VERY tight with a manufacturer and get better deals than some of the huge distributors. Again, only a couple of times, but it does happen.

 

[Nitroaddict]

ill agree with you on this christian - but also keep in mind - that sometimes u have to lose to win. if i had someone that spent huge amounts of money with me, i would think twice about losing 10 or 20 bucks on a sale, just to keep their business. but for a single purchase, ur right, i would have to pass on the deal.

 

[robriguez]

Yeah, some of the shop owners I've talked to showed me their order forms and "their" price is usully higher than what some of the online stores 'sell' for. The reason, VOLUME. Towerhobbies prolly sells a couple hundred cars/trucks/planes a week. Not to mention all the misc parts and supporting equip needed for a new car/truck/plane. They get huge discounts from the manufacturer because of that volume.

One of the shop owners I've talked to around me have even admitted to, in the past, stocking his shelves with things he bought off Tower because they dont do enough volume to get a reseller agreement with the main distributors. Finally, now that hes more established hes selling about 10 Ofnas a week so hes able to go straight to Ofna but he still gets the odd ride here and there from Tower just to keep things in stock.

 

[TWIZTIDNINJA]

I have not purchased anything online for this hobby everything I buy I go to the lhs to get. I have about 7 shops around here but only a couple are even friendly enough to ask questions to all the rest are just a bunch of asses. The best shop around is right on my way home from work so I stop by there about every other day and them guys help people out all the time.