Supporting your LHS is a good thing

[Amoeba]

The economy sucks. Everyone knows it and some are feeling the pain directly due to layoffs, bad job market, or losing their shorts in house value drops. I wouldn't blame you for choosing to buy your RC parts & supplies online to save a few bucks, times are tight. But even so, I'm hoping you instead choose to support your local hobby store, you aren't saving as much as you think by shopping online.

I'm lucky in that I have an awesome LHS nearby. Unlike HobbyTown or similar, these guys only do RC; cars & planes/helis. The staff there is very knowledgeable and I've gotten to know the owner quite well. I did some number crunching and I figure I've spent upwards of $5 grand there in the past 3 months. As a result, the owner and staff have gone out of their way to help me out with questions, throw me some great discounts, and generally get 1st pick of new shipments. Sure cash talks and they treat me well because of it but I've seen them spend 30 minutes helping a guy out who only needed a $3 part.

I got to talking with the owner today about business in general and how the shop was doing with the price competition from online stores. We did some on the spot comparisons of parts, kits, and random stock prices between the store and places like amain and tower. The price difference in most cases was less than the cost of shipping, and in some cases the same price as online. That was somewhat surprising to me, save money *not* shopping online?

I got to thinking about the number of jobs & impact on the local economy should my LHS close its doors. It's not an insignificant thing, the ripple effect is real. So, if you have a good LHS nearby, consider paying the slight extra couple of nickels and order locally. Tell them that you're buying there instead of saving a few measly bucks ordering online. They'll appreciate the business and may even surprise you with a price match. Either way, it's a good thing.

Just my 2 pesos.

 

[RC Addict]

My LHS will order most anything I need, and the price is usually within 5% of online with shipping. I DO order some stuff online that my LSH can not get through his distributer, but only if I need a specific brand.

If Hal's were to go under I, and a lot of guys, would be shocked. They specialize in RC but have trains and plastic models as well. The place is like RCNT--home.

 

[Amoeba]

My LHS will order most anything I need, and the price is usually within 5% of online with shipping. I DO order some stuff online that my LSH can not get through his distributer, but only if I need a specific brand.

If Hal's were to go under I, and a lot of guys, would be shocked. They specialize in RC but have trains and plastic models as well. The place is like RCNT--home.

Yeah, I also only order online for things that the LHS can't get in or wouldn't be worthwhile for them to open a distributor account. Or used deals that would be stupid to pass on in the FS forum

 

[Rolex]

I agree 100%. Luckily I have a HobbyTown USA here, and all the employees are knowledgeable because they share the hobby.
If they carry the item, or their supplier does, they will order it for me and have it in 2 or 3 days.
The only parts I order on line are the parts they can't get through one of their distributors.
Just like you, I've spent several fortunes there, so they really treat me right.

 

[spee-d]

i agree as well i ordered my 5b ss at my LHS took a little longer to get but they go out of there way to take care of me. i have been going there since they opened 9 yrs ago and bought more then 20 diffrent R/Cs from them nitro,electric,gas. the owner flys comp stunt planes and the guy that works there runs with us on sunday then gos to work and orders what we all just broke. great place and great people family owned and run. just a quick walk trough my backyard and i`m there BRANDS THE HOBBY PLACE.

 

[Cupooterluvr]

Unfortunately, my LHS just isn't worth going to. They have a reasonable stock but if they don't have it they take forever to get it. They stock basically only tires for the Baja series of vehicles which is now my main rig. It's much easier and faster in the long run to order it from Tower.

I will, however, buy universal things like chargers, servos, and paints from the shop.

 

[brad55102]

I agree 100%, if you can give your business to a local business owner, i believe you should. When it comes to parts for your rig, LHS are very competitive. My LHS even told me that they try their hardest to match online prices. As you can imagine it's difficult or even impossible for a LHS to match every price that you find online. Keep in mind, they have to make money too.

 

[ThunderTiger]

This ones a bit of a balancing act for me.

My LHS, while carrying certain stock, inevitably ends up having to order my stuff in for me. OK, i don't mind that, but i DOP mind the three to six week wait for a part thats stopping me from bashing. I have now started building up a "Spares Bank" of every patrt for my t/tiger eb4 s2, bar the engine.

In essence, i know i should support my LHS, but there are times when i simply CAN NOT get the parts i need or want and HAVE to go and purchase "On Line" just to get up and running.

I have also had to "Import" several componants to the UK, purely because they are not available to me here.

YES, support your LHS if you can and when you can, but what about those times you just HAVE to go elsewhere ??

 

[Crunkvilletx]

I always support my lhs except when I find good deals on flea bay I can't pass up.

 

[bigjay]

I have no LHS.

 

[MotoGod]

I really need to support my LHS more than I do. They are 45 min out of the way for me though which makes it hard when I just need to buy less than $10 worth of parts. Costs me $2 more online....but saves me another $2+ in gas to get there. I do buy my consumables there at least...plugs...fuel...etc etc etc. They really are an amazing shop, and they just built and opened a KILLER off-road track as well...so I may be going there more often as I hit the track since they are @ 3 miles from each other.

 

[Lessen]

YES, support your LHS if you can and when you can, but what about those times you just HAVE to go elsewhere ??

There's no question there. You just go elsewhere. I don't feel bad about how little I go to my [not so] LHS. Generally, even when I do need something I know the have I find that I also need something that they don't have. I'm not gonna drive there for one thing and order the other online, that's dumb. I just end up buying it all online. For instance I'm going to be putting in an order to AMain in a couple days and I'm sure one of my LHS's probably have a number of the items I need, I also know that they do not have a lot of that stuff as well. Why drive 30+ miles AND pay tax AND shipping when I can just pay shipping? It's a no brainer and when you're looking at a relatively large order of parts the difference is substantial.

 

[Metalhead Matt]

I try and stay loyal to my lhs's. Just yesterday, I priced some batteries there. $70 for 2 3000 piranahs. You can get 4 3800 for the same $ at allbattery. That really was the biggest price difference, the batteries. Fuel, parts, bodies, tires, ect... are all really reasonable and you can't beat face to face service(this dude knows what he's doing). Support when you can, but don't rip yourself off.

 

[traxxas t-maxx]

My hobby shop f$@&ed me over they sold me a screw set for my t-maxx and said it was every screw for it but its only like 5 different screws.

 

[ThunderTiger]

man thats bad t-max. Check out "JE Spares on flea bay they might have a screw set to suit. They are good, i had a set for my EB4 from them. EVERY screw/nut/bolt/grub screw you could ever need.

Anyway, back to topic. As i said b4, my LHS takes upto 6 weeks at times to get me parts, so NOW, i hit the bay instead. For fuel, glow plugs,fuel line, servo's batteries and "General" stuiff i will support them. Parts for rig ? i'll go to the bay. Unless i REALLY need them. Either that, or i will import. THEN i don't mind waiting as i can understand why it takes so long.

C'mon tho, why support a LHS that takes an age to get your parts for you ? then only get PART of the order in while you have to wait for the rest evenj longer ?? I REFUSE to let that happen. Even though i dont like fleabay, it is my new friend for parts for my rig, and so are "Certain " other "Online" shops. It's just easier.

"It's Easy to support your LHS, But why should you if they screw you around over the important stuff"

 

[Skwerly]

I agree 100% with that as well. I'm off to my LHS in about an hour with a 100 dollar bill in hand, ready to drop what it takes to get my Maxx rolling again.

After you pay shipping and whatnot on some of these *deals* online, I find that the price is usually competitive, and agree that for the few bucks you'd save, go down to the LHS and support 'em.

If you don't have a shop near you, then I suppose there isn't much choice, but if there is one within 30 minutes, I recommend dropping some coin there .

 

[WoodiE]

I've said this time and time again and believe it means even more in this economic time... well put Amoeba.

 

[Webbage]

Well now I've got a LHS worth supporting (it's not *that* local but it is massive ), and the guy who runs it is committing to making his store one of the best in the country, I *will* support it.

I think you should always try and strike a balance, it's all well and good supporting a LHS but if they are a useless 2-bit store that overcharge and give poor service there's little point keeping them going. A *good* LHS should be supported and even if they charge a bit more than the next guy on eBay, if the service is worth paying for it's worth paying that little bit more.

 

[aaron030886]

I agree 100%. Luckily I have a HobbyTown USA here, and all the employees are knowledgeable because they share the hobby.
If they carry the item, or their supplier does, they will order it for me and have it in 2 or 3 days.
The only parts I order on line are the parts they can't get through one of their distributors.
Just like you, I've spent several fortunes there, so they really treat me right.

The guys at my hobbytown usa hardly know anything about RC. I've been in there a couple times to get simple stuff, and I sometimes ask questions, and they usually either say, "well the guy that works on them will be in on Sundays, you can ask him", or "I just work here, and make it look like I know about this stuff", it's really sad actually. So I have to go all the way across town, which is across the river into Kentucky to go to my LHS. There the guy actually just caries RC, Planes, models and actually knows what he's doing.

 

[Crunkvilletx]

The hobby town USA by me is awesome for parts I need but the employees are useless. They didn't even want to help me at all the first time I was there untill I said I wanted to buy a rig then they all jumped up and wanted to help.