boza

iTrader: (14)

Generally online, local LHS generally stocks 80% off-road stuff so on-road is not always there. Its easier to just order online and get some extras while Im at it. Would love to support LHS but when they dont carry what you need, forget it.

FSSmikey

ill always scour the local stores before ordering online.


but, i wont order parts thru the lhs. if i need to order something, its usually online.

simplechamp

iTrader: (73)

The closest LHS is about a 2-3 hour drive away from me, so needless to say I do my RC shopping online.

If I did have one in my town I would try to throw some business their way, even if it was a bit more expensive. I guess it would depend on the service they give. I don't mind paying a bit more to a local business, but I expect them to go that extra step of being very helpful and supporting the hobby in my town (which is almost non-existent as it is).

I have been to quite a few different hobby shops while traveling, and most were very helpful. Because of that I'll throw them a few bucks, even though I can get it for 20% less online. But this hobby, like any, tends to breed a lot of "elitists" also. I've been to a few like that where if you don't run their brand or their style of vehicle you might as well go jump off a bridge. You walk into the shop and they stare at you like "How dare you come in here, you're not part of our secret club!" Those types would have to pry a nickel out of my cold, dead hand before I gave them a sale.

onroad dude

iTrader: (13)

as a person who works for a shop i buy most all my stuff there. if there is an item thats going to be a few weeks out ill go online. mainly to stormer cause ive raced with Bob a few times and he an awesome guy. A main lost me after there protek radio pack let the smoke out of my radio cause it was wired wrong.

as far as the guy who walks in we cant have everything all the time. most people understand this. and if you would like to special order it we work a deal most times its about 10% off.

if your a member of the local r/c club you also get 10% off for supporting them as well

fullout

try muchhobby.com, in Ontario. They have most tamiya parts in stock all the time.

stiltskin

iTrader: (103)

I get a much better deal ordering my parts from TOP and my LHS didn't stock their parts anyway. Now that they have seen the light and have 15-20 Photons in the back, they keep a healthy supply of parts on hand. I will definitely buy it off the shelf if they have it. It's nice to save some money on big orders but I'll do what it takes to keep the doors open at the track. Our LHS gives a 10% discount to racers anyway, so it works nice for everyone.

SammyZ

iTrader: (138)

i have to order online because Yokomo is not stocked anywhere, at any hobbyshop. But for stuff like shock oils, tools, tape, etc i support the shops I race at and ALWAYS pay race fee.

hotrod306

at my lhs they have a tamiya ford tl-01 SVT F-150 Lightning kit and want $220 hows that for prices?

Cyclone Bender

iTrader: (1)

My local track / hobby shop gets about 90% of my business, the other 10% is spent at the other 3 shops in my area.
I have nothing against ordering online, but when all the local shops close due to lack of business then who will help us all out when we need it?

swarb

iTrader: (15)

www.speedtechrc.com they are forum sponsor with their own section and I believe they ship to Canada. They always have good stock of tamiya parts.
www.driftspeed.com they are a drift car(full scale) shop, but they carry quite a few yokomo parts, kinda pricey but yokomo parts are not that cheap to begin with.

I run tamiya 416x so I try to spend all my money at my lhs that carries tamiya. www.speedtechrc.com, they always have my tamiya parts in stock unless back-ordered, but sometimes I need to shop online, for stuff they don't carry, like cheap lipos(safety/reliability reasons) or used parts like escs.

BrodieMan

iTrader: (3)

Now that I live in a town with a LHS I support them 100%. I used to order from US online stores which sucked. Shipping to Canada, brokerage fee's, waiting weeks for orders only to miss the UPS guy

My LHS is mostly a Horizon dealer so I just go onto Horizons site find the part #'s email my LHS and pick up my parts on Wednesday for the same price posted on Horizons site (with exchange rate but the CDN $ is worth more the the US $ now so that's not an issue) Thankully Horizon sells/owns the stuff I want

wcalaker

iTrader: (1)

I feel for on road rc you pretty much have to purchase parts online at this point. On Road just isnt popular enough for our local track to stock a wall full of parts; and when it did stock parts a lot of people just bought stuff online anyways to save a few pennies. Companies like XRay and Tamiya, who release a new model or version every nine months make it that much harder for a shop to justify stocking something that is going to be outdated in a few months.

I support the track as much as I possibly can. I buy all the consumable stuff like tires, tire sauce, shock oil, paints..whatever they have that i can use. I dont mind spending a little more money there because it helps keep our track there. Our track also discounts stuff they have to order. I dont mind doing that as well, although i am lucky that my track is only 10 minutes away from me.

SammyZ

iTrader: (138)

ya driftspeed is the only US online and retail hobbyshop that carries Yokomo. They havea massive inventory, high prices but liek you said Yok is expensive to begin with.

syndr0me

iTrader: (32)

Only chance I'll buy from a local shop in anything other than an emergency is if they have a track.

JR007

We only have 2 LHS, one is a "toy" shop that sells some RC, the other is expensive as hell. I try to get a few things from there as a tolken gesture, but I can't afford to be paying over 50% more all the time. Also, they don't support my cars so it's just consumables unless I switch to evil X-Ray.....