ehroof

Hey guys, i need your honest opinion on something i am thinking about doing. i am thinking about doing repair/upgrades on the himoto''s thru the website. Basically you ship me the car/truck/RC, i will repair/upgrade/modify it and ship it back to you. Only thing i see is the shipping issue, basically i would have to charge for the return shipping and of course the repair/parts charge. I wouldnt do anthything until the repair cost were approved, either thru an online estimate before it was sent in and if there was anything that would cost more before i got it.

The reason i want to offer this is i am sure there are alot of people who dont have a local shop to bring it to and alot of local shops dont want to work on an rc unless they sold it to you. It may keep more people in the hobby. Maybe offer break in services.

What do you think??

Eddie

hrdcoreglf

Do you have the time and staff?

ehroof

Time or staffing is not a problem, its more if its a good idea or not. I dont know if people would do it.

ranger4x4

i think it''s a great idea

ugly duck

From the point of view of someone who''s not afraid to do anything on a full size vehicle, and from someone who lives in a foreign country, the idea seems kind of bad to me. Unless you''re talking about custom, higher end work that the average guy cannot perform or stuff where special tools are required, I don''t see the cost/benefit ratio from the consumer end. I just smashed the hell out of the front of my Tyrannosaurus and the repair bill will only be about $15 in parts (and that gets me a bunch of spares), so what''s the labour and shipping going to add to that if I didn''t do the work myself? Even if we were talking shipping the truck from one state away, by the time shipping 2 ways and labour are added in, I''m betting my bill would be about $100. $85 saved and experience gained if I do it myself - win/win.

Now, if someone wanted to take advantage of your knowledge of what works on what and your vast parts availability, that''s something different. Say I wanted you to duplicate Rich''s Volcano, and got you to install Avalanche drivetrain & suspension, a .28 engine, custom wheels/tires, and then break it in for me... that''s probably worthwhile sending the truck out to you. Still, waiting for someone willing to drop $1000 on modifying a $200 truck isn''t going to pay the bills, so if this is your JOB I still say it''s not a good idea. If it''s just for a bit of extra income, go ahead and offer the service!

Edit #1: Doing the custom work can bring about a bunch of other headaches, too... What if the truck goes missing on route? Who covers the truck and who covers the new custom parts? What if the colours of the new anodized suspension doesn't match the shocks and the customer isn't happy? They're getting you to mod the truck sight unseen and have to trust that you'll do the work to the same standards as they believe they'd apply if they were building the truck themselves.

Fake Edit #2: What's up with the quotation marks instead of an apostrophe?

need2drag

My Feedback: (1)

Like most things in life Eddie, this has it''s up and downs. Shipping an RC car isn''t very cheap, but having an experianced person working on your car is a plus. I am sure you will get some kind of good deal worked out for everything. It would have to be one of those things, where you try it out, and see if anyone bites and does it.

Lordmik

As far as repairs go, I''m not sure that would be worth doing. These are pretty cheaply fixed, and not much trouble to do. As far as the break in service goes, I think that''s a great idea. I probably would have had you do that to mine, just to save me the hassle, and to have it done right. Also a plus to break in service is that when the person recieves their vehicle already broken in, they can beat the crap out of it right out of the box.

hrdcoreglf

If you were to offer a break-in service for engines, but most people will likely blame you when there is problems with the engine even they probably caused the problem. With the hop up service you have to be able to offer mods you can''t buy off the shelf. Like removing material from the front lower a arm to get more travel from your steering linkage. Or crossover parts that are better than what the model brand offers, like certain kyosho parts for himoto/redcat. That is a tough one, with fuel prices the way they are shipping is only getting more expensive. You would have to set yourself appart from all of the others who offer the same, or for those of us who prefer to get dirty and do it ourselves. If you stand out in a crowd, people will take notice.

ehroof

this would be more geared for the novice, someone who has no idea how to repair their rc and has no one to go to. Its just an idea, i have had people send me a few of their things, including the whole car. its basically $20 shipping in the USA each way and from what i see, the local shops usually charge $25-$35 p/hr. to work on your car plus parts and it can add up pretty quick. It wouldnt be my job, i own a construction business and that for right now is my full time job, if this himoto deal takes off and it looks like it will seeing the amount of emails, posts on this forum, pm''s and orders i am steadily getting without a professional website up yet, it was just something that i would offer as a service.

I put it out there just to get some input and i expect to hear the good and bad so just keep it coming so i can take it all in and as always, thanks for your input and help!!!

Macanan

I think its a good idea, there is a lot of people out there like you said that dont have a LHS around where they live, and a lot that are afraid to work on them there selves. and it cant hurt to post it regaurdless what anyone thinks, if it flies it flies if not your not out anything.

ehroof

Thats what i am thinking but i will offer some services to people, just want to get some input on it.

need2drag

My Feedback: (1)

I would agree with the break in deal. That one I think would work. I think I would definitely hit you up for that one. That way once I got it, I could go full out right away instead of straining myself to not pull the trigger all the way. lol As far as the repair I think some people would still take you up on that offer as well. I think you should offer it, and give it a couple of months and see how it goes. If I ever get to buy another car, I will most likely let you do the break in for me.



P.S. lol I like the smilies. ha ha ha

ehroof

i noticed

once the new site it up, i will see after i let this post run its course.

papax5p

Has it''s good and bad points. Being a newbie, trying to learn from pictures or words from other people is not always that easy. If I break something, sometimes looking and trying to figure out exactly what is needed to get back up and running is frustrating. Sending to someone with experience would definitely be a benefit. Down side is the shipping costs and being able to track the shipment. I think maybe this is something to offer and see how it works.

AllAboutFunHobbies

I''ve tried that and it''s not worked out so good, every so often I''ll get one to work on, but I think for the most part people don''t want to have to pay the $20 or $25 shipping extra on top of labor and parts, unless they are in total dire straight and at a total loss.

ehroof

thats pretty much what i figured it would be good for, when someone has no place to turn.

firebird78

personally I like workin on mine...but being a mechanic im not scared to tear things apart..lol..I can see this working for some people though...I think its a good idea to offer it...trying to get more people in my parts intrested in the hobby...soem I know I will have to work on em to keep em goin fer the person...not really wanting to do that but if thats what it takes I will...offer it Eddie....especailly a porting service...that I would have you do

mrlee2071

I say go for it bro. I''d think there is a lot of people that might like some help when the chips are down.

firebird78

good to see ya on the dark side bro...lol....

jumpanddrop

i think this is a great idea for someone who lives within reasonable shipping/ range from you. for people like me who live in canada its not realy pratacal to send it there for you to fix it.

bkfamily1

My Feedback: (1)

It seems to me that many if not most people that are really into this hobby like to tinker. My kid commented that I spend as much time working on my truck as driving it. And I told him that is part of the fun. I would rather do it myself and figure it out as I go with some guidance and comment from other people in the forums. When you fire up and run after making some mods, you get that satisfaction of success when the engine sounds better, it screams down the pavement and shreds the dirt. And I would guess that is true of most people that really stick with this hobby for a long time. I can not really imagine mailing off my truck for someone else to work on it.

Having said that, it seems like there are a fair number of people out there who expect to open the box, fuel up and let ''er rip fast and hard without ever checking or loctiting their screws or breaking in their engine. Those are the people on the forums that whine that this hobby is a money pit. And they do not realize that "racing" is a hobby that takes more time invested off the track than on it and constant investment in time and parts as we try to make our rides faster and better than the next guy''s. As one of you says in your signature, if you didn''t break anything, you didn''t have fun. And these folks that only get satisfaction from driving and not from tinkering seem like your more likely target.

Although you may get some good business from repair or upgrade services after the sale, I would consider offering modified and broken in packages new. That would avoid the extra 2 way shipping, and would better target the people looking for that immediate "out of the box" experience. And it may also set the stage for return business. Who among us would not love to have an Ehroof Signature Series Himoto?!

At any rate, good luck!

ehroof

lol, thanks bro

i like that signature series himoto

kuppler

Now thats a good one...
i think this would work. some people dont know how to brake in and rc... and some just dont want to sit around braking it in.. im sure some people would pay the Extra Cash to have it broken in. and all they have to do it add nitro and go bash.... GO BIG OR GO HOME... thats what they can do....HEHEHEHE

{GBI}Harryball

Could be a can of worms you might not want to open. I know your busy now. Imagine cars needing repair on top of that. The idea is kewl, but im not sure if it will be profitable. Just my .02

ehroof

one of my biggest concerns is going to be working or breaking it in and having the customer breaking something or something breaking on the car and me getting the blame since i worked on it or broke it in.