lickrim - I wish I could buy stocks (especially packaged or "PRO" stocks) for that cost - You can't even buy handout motors that cheap anymore......
Trust me, the mfg's and distributors make a bigger profit margin than the hobby shops. Being on all sides of the equation with CEFX and Halo Hobbies it's amazing the costs and differences from each side. It would be nice if the places that are on the front lines (the hobby shops) could make more $$ to put into advertising or promoting the hobby to more people out there.
Biggest % margins for a hobby shop are on the things under $20.00 (generally speaking). As the price increases the profit margins drop as customers will price hunt around for the bigger ticket items to save $$. To be competitive, most kits are only marked up 8% to 15% over hobby shop cost......