Buggman60

Hey guys, I could use some help. Where is the best place to buy an ElMod board for my M16 Half-Track? I tried to buy from Germany but they sent me to their US distributor who prices out at $70.00 higher than the factory price. Even with international shipping, it would still be cheaper to buy from the factory. Are there other, more reasonably priced distributors in the US? Help would be much obliged.

TigerTankMan

I make the US distributor only $30 USD dearer on a M16 board. Not sure what the difference is in shipping.
ElMod Shop: 154.90 EUR = $170.00 USD - at todays exchange
US Dist. = $200.00 USD

He may have an older or newer version of the board than ElMod has in stock - maybe just contact the US distributor for some info

Buggman60

Actually, the factory board is a lot cheaper than that since they remove the European VAT charges when shipping to the US which in this case is 29,37 euros. My actual price less shipping would be 125,23 euros or $ 139.62. Of course shipping is not included in that price but that's a difference of $60. When I had the M16 Half-Track shipped from Germany, the shipping was $50 for that sized box. We're only talking about a circuit board so the shipping costs should be considerably less. I just thought I should check to see if there were other US distributors. The factory website only lists one distributor for both the US and Canada.

ausf

I never know what to expect when getting shipping estimates from Europe. I've had 1 oz tank parts have a shipping rate of $30, but then much larger sub parts for $5. Heck, I had a 1/72 Revell U boat (a 4 foot box) ship from the UK for $12. It's a crapshoot, but I usually just hope it's below the VAT reduction.

In terms of distributors, it doesn't pay with small companies like this because of small volume. A distributor is another mouth to feed in the chain, it either comes off the producers profit, or the distributor raises prices. If El Mod only sells x amount a year, I doubt they'd be happy to knock 50% off so another guy could sell in the States, when they can just sell direct.

Years ago I imported 1/35 Voyager PE. It was a perfect system for both of us, I was placing getting shipments every two weeks from them, so I always had their new products and stocked what was hot. They would ship 2 day air, and in some cases, I'd be sold out in a day or two after. Extremely fast supply chain. In an example, they had a set of 1/35 German tool clamps, much better than Aber's. My wholesale was $1.25 per package. The list price was $7.95. I would sell them for $4. Did this for years and was really building their brand in the US, on my website and at shows. They would ask me to raise prices, but I didn't want to, my website was built on being a modeler first and only selling stuff I personally used. I pushed a lot of volume because Voyager was such a good product and it was faster and cheaper that Aber.

Then they let a few guys talk them into distribution in the US. Even those guys couldn't keep a straight face when explaining how much better it would be. Those German clamps were listed at $7.95, so I could now buy them wholesale in the US for, wait for it: $4.77! Yay! plus shipping! Yahoo!

But wait, it gets even better. Since they are now importing pallets via a ship, Stock roll over was gauged in months, not days.

I stopped selling Voyager, I don't know how their distribution ended up, but they came back to me a little over a year later to asked to go back to our original agreement, but I had moved on.

Buggman60

Thanks for the input ausf. The reason I posted this question is because as a newbie to the hobby, I just want to put this out there to others who are far more experienced at these types of purchases than I am. I'm on a fairly limited budget and if there is a way to save $60 on this board I'd really like to hear it. Truthfully, I don't think that the factory will even sell me the board as their ordering website is not even set up to accept orders from the US. If their US supplier, J&M Armor Creations, is the only source available to me then I have to accept their prices. If someone were to tell me that based on their experience, then I would simply suck it up and place an order with them. I just figured that it wouldn't hurt to ask, I would hate to just place the order without seeking advice first and THEN find out later that I would have saved a lot of money if I had only purchased from this or that particular supplier. This thread has been getting a lot of views but not a lot of responses so I'll give it a little while longer and then make a decision. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. Much appreciated.

sevoblast

Joey with J&M is good people and he knows the product. Any help you need with the unit he will provide.

ausf

I hear ya Buggmann. Maybe a German (or European shop) sells them cheaper even considering shipping if there isn't an option through El Mod.

I'm surprised by any small company that doesn't sell direct. Years ago it was a pain in the arse to fill out Customs forms, etc, but now everything is one click.

TheBennyB

Dominique at rctank.de sells Elmod boards and components. Don't recall what the shipping costs were but their customer service is fantastic. Just another place to compare.

http://www.rctank.de/ELMOD-ThinkTank...-Matorro-Modul

Buggman60

Benny, you may have just solved my problem. Except for a glitch with the way they invoice PayPal, I just may get the price I want. Will let you know when they respond to my email. Thanks brother.

CHIEFSONN

Try Joe aka yellowshaker from Bayonne N.J www.Armorcreations.weebly.com

Buggman60

Okay, I found a distributor that will sell me an ElMod board from Germany for a total price of $169.37 including shipping. BennyB, you are the man! Thanks to everyone who weighed in on this question. Your help is greatly appreciated. Now I just have to figure out my Paypal address so they can send me an invoice. Not sure how but I'll figure it out. Thanks again all.

TheBennyB

No sweat. Also remember you'll need a programming cord if you want to mess with all the parameters. They are around $20. rctank.de has them as well. Then you go to the elmod site and download the pc interface.

http://www.rctank.de/ELMOD-PC-configurator

Buggman60

BennyB, their description said that the pc interface cord was included. Did I misread that?

TheBennyB

NO it's not included.

"Full configurable drive parameters via PC and USB (requires the ThinkTank PC Configurator)"

ausf

Definitely give us a write up when you get it. I'd love to see them catch on here, the Thinktank board in my Xion Ketten works flawlessly.

TheBennyB

The M-16 board is nice. Fully adjustable parameters such as drag brake, 1st and 2nd gear change sounds, dead bang, momentum, etc. The Puma board on the other hand wasn't completely thought through in my opinion. No parameters on momentum or drag brake which makes it pretty useless in IR battling. Just not responsive enough.

Buggman60

The new ElMod board is on its' way. Will let you guys know when I get it installed. Perhaps sooner if I run into problems with the installation. Thanks again guys!