Hobby Shop 4 Sale !!!!

[Toyotatogo]

Wow! This has to be the coolest ebay auction I've ever seen. Anybody want to partner up with a additional 25K ..... lol :D

Hobby Shop 4 Sale (http://cgi.msn.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=15825&item=4315543626&rd=1)

[potatoe_bird]

Sweet :cool:
Too bad I don't live in california...

[TrickSpeed]

Anyone wanna loan me 50k?

[itdood]

I wonder if having a store front can stand up to Internet shopping?

I have over $1,200+ into the hobby since May of this year, and I never once stepped foot into a store. I did call around at one point but none of the LHSs around me carried what I needed. They kept telling me "I don't have it but I can order it for you". Why bother when I can do that myself cheaper?

[calvin3]

hmmmmmmm....I'll have to take a ride out there, since I live about 20 mins. from that shop and have never seen it before.

[atm92484_3]

Why bother when I can do that myself cheaper?

Depending on the part, it can often cost the same and take the same amount of time. Plus you're doing nothing for the local economy sending the money to other states just to save a buck or two on parts.

[ApriliaRacer]

I wonder if having a store front can stand up to Internet shopping?

I have over $1,200+ into the hobby since May of this year, and I never once stepped foot into a store. I did call around at one point but none of the LHSs around me carried what I needed. They kept telling me "I don't have it but I can order it for you". Why bother when I can do that myself cheaper?

When I first saw this ad, I thought cool, that could be something I'd like to do, own my own hobby shop.

But your post reminded me something I posted not too long ago. I too find that I do most of my shopping on-line. I did buy my AE MGT and Savage at the LHS, but when it comes to parts I order them on-line.

As you state, they rarely IF ever have the part I need and then they tell me they can order it. That means paying more not to mention the trip to and from the hobby shop when it can be dropped at my door.

The one thing I'd do if I owned a hobby shop is "try" to stocks all the frequently broken parts for the RC cars I sell. So that if there are many different MT, I'd stock say the MGT and REVO and make sure I carried parts for those particular kits....

[Rdub202]

Why bother when I can do that myself cheaper?

why bother? becuz if u dont then they will all end up closing and we will have to rely on the internet (not hard to do). but ive never bought ne thing online all from the LHS. u gotta support those guys, yes u can get it a lot cheaper online but thats not the point. what happens when u break a part and u dont have a spare, and theres no lhs becuz it closed, u gotta wait for it to come to your house (granted its not like it takes weeks) but still u could drive a few miles (or more depending on ur situation) and get it-go home and install it-and ur RTR again. tru they dont always have the part and i agree with u there either u order it or they order it but at least get what they have instead of "oh its cheaper on tower" or somethin along those lines but the kits and motors and batteries (the $$ stuff) support them there
this is not a flame by anymeans but you gotta remember these things.
this is just my 2cents im greatful for my lhs!!

-dUb-

[NitroBoy24]

Rdub,
I'm sorry but spending around $400 at my lhs for an NTC3 RTR is rediculous. And I have given my lhs plenty of money along with my dad (he bought a Factory Team GT with an os .15 cvrx and jr radio from them, they overcharge everything extremely high too) so I dont feel guilty buying off tower and saving money. Not to mention it is an extremely big store and there are plenty of other newbies to go spend too much money on their rtr's and kits to keep them in business :D

But yes, it is very nice to have a lhs you can drive over to in 10 minutes to get a $4 part that could have ended your day.

[Baja-Destroyer]

yeah lhs is pricy for the most part and they dont have what u need about 75% of the time and i order most of my stuff off tower but im trying to do more business at the lhs but $4 for deans pro bar 3 and forget aluminum parts there $$$ and my lhs "hobby town" its clean but they sure dont have any good fuels just omega and blue thunder and about 3 losi parts and there for like the 1st losi buggy lol but they have alot of ae traxxas and hpi parts and a ton of rtr evaders and other noob like cars

[itdood]

why bother? becuz if u dont then they will all end up closing and we will have to rely on the internet (not hard to do). but ive never bought ne thing online all from the LHS. u gotta support those guys, yes u can get it a lot cheaper online but thats not the point. what happens when u break a part and u dont have a spare, and theres no lhs becuz it closed, u gotta wait for it to come to your house (granted its not like it takes weeks) but still u could drive a few miles (or more depending on ur situation) and get it-go home and install it-and ur RTR again. tru they dont always have the part and i agree with u there either u order it or they order it but at least get what they have instead of "oh its cheaper on tower" or somethin along those lines but the kits and motors and batteries (the $$ stuff) support them there
this is not a flame by anymeans but you gotta remember these things.
this is just my 2cents im greatful for my lhs!!

-dUb-


I definitely see that side of the argument.

I just don't think these guys can compete. I could be wrong.

If I were to go into this biz, I would focus much harder on the web front and supply chain than I would on the store front.

It costs a ton more money for a LHS to stock inventory and unlike a web front, they can't be open 24x7. Those 2 issues can just hammer them.

Even worse, you might get a lot of customers come in to just look and feel products, then hit the 'net to buy them cheaper.

Like the ad says, this is perfect for someone who is retired. It will give you something to do and you don't have to do much better than break even.

If you want to make a good living, I think it would be a good strategy to focus hard on the web front and keep the store front up for the local guys. You could even use that space to host the servers.

[Skribble]

yeah lhs is pricy for the most part and they dont have what u need about 75% of the time and i order most of my stuff off tower but im trying to do more business at the lhs but $4 for deans pro bar 3 and forget aluminum parts there $$$ and my lhs "hobby town" its clean but they sure dont have any good fuels just omega and blue thunder and about 3 losi parts and there for like the 1st losi buggy lol but they have alot of ae traxxas and hpi parts and a ton of rtr evaders and other noob like carsWow, guess I never really realized how lucky I am with my LHS. They stock pretty much HPI, AE, Traxxas, Losi, Duratrax, and a few other non major brands. Kits are generally cheaper here. Losi LST for $525, Traxxas Revo for $435, AE Monster GT for $440, Losi MF2 for $215, AE FT T4 for $215 (Makes choosing the T4 and MF2 that much harder!). If parts are more expensive, it's only like $5-10, which essentially would making ordering off the net not needed, unless it's something in which they don't stock (Kippster, UE, Panther, Kyosho, Yokomo, Mugen, etc).

They have what I need 95% of the time, plus a small touring car track and a small dirt oval w/ offroad in the middle.

[tylerbac]

I guess I am lucky here also. My local race track is cheaper than most of the internet, and rarely is the part not in stock. If you race, you should always support the hobby shop attached to the track.


As for the internet hobby shops, almost all of them have a storefront somewhere. The distributors (horizon, eagle, global, etc.) require them. Tower is the exception because of how long they have been in business. (catalog before the internet).

I spend a lot of money on my hobby to race and I need that lhs to pay for the track. I feel I should support them.

[MurcielagoR-GT]

Sure is cheap! :rolleyes: And only 880sqft! A business' cash flow is usually about 40% of what they are asking. So a $50,000 hobby shop is going to make you at the most $20,000! Definitely not worth my time! :rolleyes: :(

[Rdub202]

by no means am i one sided guys i agree where u are coming from nitroboy

[swami]

I'm in sales myself and I realize there's alot of internet shopping that goes on. It's convenient and you can do it 24 hours a day. The point people are missing is...you can't pick up a gallon of fuel on your way to bash, on the internet. I guess I'm kinda spoiled as I have 4 LHS that are close, location wise. There's something about the touchy, feely thing that you get at the LHS. You know, seeing a NovaRossi 28 or a Mugen MR12 sittin on the shelf. For those that have an LHS in the area, I encourage you to spend some money there. I explained the situation as far as pricing goes, to my favorite LHS owner. He's knows all about it, as he hears about it everyday. When I'm looking for a high dollar item, I call him on the phone and make the deal. Don't walk in a crowded store and start asking for a discount. Odds are if you call ahead, and explain what you want, your gonna buy it for around the same kind of money you would if you ordered online. I just bought a JR XS3 for $209.00 which I didn't think was too bad. The other thing is, if the LHS doesn't carry parts for your rig, tell him what he needs to stock. In the short time I've been into nitro, it's amazing that the parts I've been ordering, are now parts that are in stock. The people that complain about their LHS's, obviously aren't communicating with them. :cool:

[Greg_Hager]

My hobby shop (I say "my" becuase I helped build it and I work there) will always match an online price if you say so. Our HS-645mg sell for 42.99, if we match Tower (or ServoCity for that matter), it's 39.99. Our Savage is $429.99, $419.99 if we match Tower.

[Baja-Destroyer]

i have 4 lhs used to be 5 till one closed lol and skribble when i said 75 percent of the time i ment for every one who comes well me and my friends... but just for me i dont really need any super exoitc parts so its usualy around 98 percent of the time for me and im all for the lhs but the biggest rip off at my lhs is the nitro hammer they want $350 :eek: i got mine off tower for $220 and right now its $210 on tower! i got every thing i needed for the boat for $250 so i definately saved on that one lol :D

[surfer]

oh come on guys, be quiet!


just buy it already!!

better yet, senor steve P. you buy it, for us!

[swami]

Don't get me wrong, I'll buy something if it's a great deal, from anywhere. All I meant to say was...the people that don't have a LHS to shop at, probably did at some point. Let's face it, someone's gotta pay the electric bill. On second thought...maybe they don't. If the LHS doesn't sell anything, it kinda defeats the purpose of owning an LHS...don't ya think?

[seagull22ds]

man thats what i want to do, own my own hs, just gotta finish hs go to college get a job and eventually open my own hs, any one have any tips for helping me? haha
Dave

[MurcielagoR-GT]

man thats what i want to do, own my own hs, just gotta finish hs go to college get a job and eventually open my own hs, any one have any tips for helping me? haha
Dave

Start saving now! :D You will need about 20% of what your loan is. My dad and uncle have owned alot of business and they looked into Hobbytown franchises. To do the ultimate store which they were planning on (10,000sqft.) it was about $750,000. For a 2,500sqft it was about $250,000! :D good luck.lol :D

[trw]

what I would do is get a main stream job....then buy an LHS and hire employees to run it while im at my main stream job...that way i have 2 sources of income, and would hang out in the LHS on weekends or whenever im off.

I used to have like 5 LHS here but 3 closed due to internet shopping....but there are enough people here in Houston to keep the last 2 alive since they do charge to run on their tracks.

[MurcielagoR-GT]

what I would do is get a main stream job....then buy an LHS and hire employees to run it while im at my main stream job...that way i have 2 sources of income, and would hang out in the LHS on weekends or whenever im off.

I used to have like 5 LHS here but 3 closed due to internet shopping....but there are enough people here in Houston to keep the last 2 alive since they do charge to run on their tracks.

Which hobby shops are still open? We used to have to drive an hour from The Woodlands to one off Chimney Rock I think. Somewhere near the Galleria.

[trw]

yea the one on Chimney Rock is still open....but their onroad track stinks....the other one is off Highway 6 and Briar Forest called Lunatic Hobbies...with a really good onroad and offroad track.