LClarke

Mfishel,
What I meant by the "hostage" statement was with the advent and huge success of on-line retail some, and by no means do mean all, hobby shops started the mantra "If you don't support your local hobby shop it will go away" in an effort to fight back against the on-line retailers by playing on its' customers peceived fear that if they go out of business they (their customers) will no longer have a place to continue their hobby. I do buy from the local shops and I do expect to pay a bit more. I have no problem with that. I don't think anyone can deny the fact that some are openly hostile toward people who buy on-line or consider it as an option to what is available at the local shop. I've read quite a few threads here where some people almost go militant about it. I think everyone would rather have 10 cars on the track than 5. This is a very expensive hobby, so I think it is incumbant on all of us to give the new folks as many options as possible (without prejudice) to get more people to the track.

mfishel

I'm certainly not militant about anything. Like I said, anyone that runs at my track is going to be made to feel welcome wherever they buy their stuff.
But it is a fact that if I had 10 cars coming to practice every day, and didn't buy anything from the shop, I wouldn't last a Month.

jfc_tech

iTrader: (4)

this is a very informative thread.
i for one support my LHS. especially the one who started me into this business. eventhough he sells a bit higher.. but thats ok. the support is important. between online retailer... well, im a bit phobia when producing my credit card no to online counter. thats just me.
i rather buy from fellow forumer.
all in all, it does come back to how much you wanna spend. how much is enough. just for info, my lhs even sent the parts to my house free... and afterwards we went for beer after burning some nitros

LOWGEARED

iTrader: (2)

This thread rocks has some great debates and info... I like the heart that we all have for this topic, which is a pretty good descusion .... I know there are times when It will be an absolute must for my LHS it just hasnt came yet. The name of the outfit is Tolin Hi performance trainshop Dosent even sound like my kinda shop.... but does carry a few good nitros at prices that I cant afford!! but he seems like he has valuble time with them so I will stick with the cat for fuel.

LClarke

Mfishel,
I never accused you of being militant about anything. I was just pointing out some observations of the statements people have made elsewhere in this forum. If a track I go to to race has a hobby shop I do think it is appropriate for racers to show their support at the cash register. Much the same as I don't think it is appropriate to use a convienance stores bathroom without buying something from them.
I don't think I've ever been to a track where its soley a business venture, normally the owner/operator is into the hobby also. I've heard some people complain about track fees or this and that and it just makes me cringe. Invariably those same people will make a bad pass on someone and not pull over to relinquish the position also. The support of the local hobby shop should be more about etiquite than bad business tactics. Just my view on the issue.

Turbo Joe

iTrader: (41)

I think in a lot of cases, track rental is TOO cheap. I'd rather pay more and have a nicer track/more service.

mremtr

iTrader: (1)

Now I own and operate an offroad track with out a hobby shop. I must say that this does have a serious dis-advantage ! You just don't get the people traffic you need . I make changes constantly to the track to keep it interesting and challenging but still the turn out is just not there. I have asked people about this and they all are afraid if they break there day is done. Funny thing though, they go to the track that has a hobby shop , break and their day is still done because they don't support his brand. What gives ?
My track is bigger ,better surface, WAY better grooming and driver's stand! I have lights for night time racing too.And incredible pit lane ??
Should I also open a shop on sight ? If I do I would be bent on sole domination ,as this is now a sales war ! Then what ? All attention goes to the store and not the track ...... Nah I like the track better ,far more fun for me What should I do ?

tony montana

iTrader: (76)

I tell you whats bad, I can go to my lhs and have a pretty big pocket and cant find anything i want to buy. It never was this way before but here recently the only kits they really sell are like jatos, mini stuff, tmaxx, and revo, and xtm. Not that Im saying there is nothing wrong with those kits but Im a racer and would like to buy high end racing stuff. Yeah they can get most of anything I want but sometimes it makes me angry saying to my self here I have a 1000.00 in my pocket and I cant even find a servo that I want. So I have been forced to shop online, because were I order from I get it in 2 days were my lhs take about a week but yes I do pay for shipping. I would love to support my lhs again, since we do have a track,not a very good one but its a track but I just really cant go there and find anything I want except maybe a magazine.

Tres

iTrader: (14)

Tony, you have just hit the nail on the head for the most part.

When racers buy online only, the LHS is forced to only stock what sells.

Most of the new guys in the sport are looking at mini's & monster trucks.
As they don't see the value in a race kit.

To them a Jato is a better value than a XXX-NT.

Why should the LHS stock parts it doesn't sell much and they know racers will go else where to save 10% anyway?????

The LHS is a biz and "MOST" will only stock what the market demands.
If the market demands Revo's they will stock Revo's & parts for them.

$.02

tony montana

iTrader: (76)

tres I agree. But to be honest, I would pay extra to my lhs if they had it in stock. Not a huge amount but 5% or so

Cain

iTrader: (294)

mremtr: Since your track right now caters to the race crowd by default as you are a track only, Maybe get the racers together , see what a consensus is on the most common vehicles (not sure what classes you run, but electric should be an easy one, losi and AE) and start from there. Maybe pickup 5 to 10 spares each of the common broken parts. I know a LHS that did that right away when he would get new vehicles in, and based on what sold the most, he would stock more of that.

Starting out, I would say for electric vehicles at least like the XXXT and T4, front arms, carriers an steering knuckles would be popular.

You could also sell them at retail. I know this won't be some big money making scheme on parts, but, if it means more people are willing to race at your track, that could make a world of difference in turn out. I say give it a try for a month, if it doesn't work out its not like you can't stop doing it and you don't have to invest too heavily either.

Good luck.

MAUSTIN

My nearest lhs is 50 miles away, I'm not going to spend 20 in gas to buy a $2 part. But when I do go to a shop I usually buy stuff even if I don't need it. I bought several magazines and some candy at RCPlus in Salem because they don't even charge for practice time on their track.

I prefer to do my parts shopping online.

mfishel

Good advice here. This is basically my business model. We have an indoor off-road track of clay. I stock parts that are consumed during racing. Other good turn over stuff would be tires and wheels (get tires specific to your track), motors and accessories (brushes, springs, oil, etc.), certain tools that fail like hex driver tips. If you get nitro then stock fuel and glowplugs. Another good money maker at a track are snacks. We have chips and soda and candy, as well as a hot dog and nacho machine. If it's a good turn out I can do a couple hundred in just food.

mfishel

This is a big problem for me. I give Traxxas a lot of credit. They get out there with their advertising dollar and target the newbies. Great for them, but not so great for the race track. So as has been stated, the local shop is constantly restocking those types of rides and the race stuff gathers dust.
I think that any shop that has a track, as well as every racer, needs to express their frustration to the manufacturers. Ask them why they spend all their advertising dollars going after the same people over and over. If Team Losociated has a new product we will find out about it (case in point: RC8). Use all that money to promote the great SPORT of R/C racing and the community tracks that offer good competitive racing every week.

infanterene

iTrader: (18)

Some of those online stores are actually a LHS in another city. One of my LHS is a big ebay seller. Most shops should be able to match or almost match internet prices.