allenthen831

I call all my local hobby stores and ask if they have redcat parts none of them have redcats what the hell i regret getting this car i should have bought an hpi How come none of the hobby stores have redcat parts?

zack221

because redcat is a fairly new company and not as big as the others like hpi, traxxas etc

allenthen831

are they going to send parts to the hobby store anytime soon?

zack221

the hobby stores buy from redcat if they want to sell their products redcat dont give it to them.i do agree though redcat needs to advertise some more

rclynx

Not likely allen but there are a few of us working on it right now / if your around the RC business long enough you will understand whats going on. The model you are refering to is put out by others beside RCR so its hard to get a handle on it. Compaired to all the same problems you get with all the rest you probably got a steel on the price. If your an addict like some are you need 2 or 3 cars just so one is running all the time while the others are being fixed Keep smiling man its all good. The others break and need parts you can't get all the time to [:-] good luck with the Hobby m8

zack221

hey rclynx do you own a hobby shop

MiniCwik

There was a hobby shop near me and they closed sometime like mid 2006, I was thinking of moving into their space and selling Redcat or Himoto RC's. Of course I would sell other brands as well.

I'm pretty sure people would buy them up quickly, and having parts available locally would be very good as well.

Whatcha think? Should I quit my day job and get into the RC business?

AllAboutFunHobbies

It sounds like a good idea, but I would contact the guy that owned the shop and find out WHY he went out of business. Was it a bad location, not enough intrest in the area, bad management, rent to high, etc........

ehroof

i was going to do the same thing but there is a lot to it. Alot of distributors want a picture of your brick and mortar store, not to mention there is a big $ amount to lay out in order to get up and going. Talking to alot of people in the business, they say the internet is and has killed their business, more on the sale of the rc cars then the parts.

MiniCwik

Thanks AllAbout and ehroof, I appreciate your feedback and I was wondering the exact same things. I figured that the Internet was hurting many LHS's, I tend to shop online almost exclusively but I know in our area it would be nice to have somewhere to go locally for things.

A few people I have talked to at other LHS's further away wondered why that hobby shop closed? I'll see if I can't track down and talk to the owner.

With so many buildings becoming vacant in my area, and the desire to be self-employed, the ideas just keeping coming if I opened a LHS, I would surely have two indoor tracks, an on-road and an off-road. I would have ventilation of course so that I could run nitro indoors as well. I know it wouldn't be easy but there is a "Kart 2 Kart" place that has go-kart racing indoors and I would think those give off more exhaust fumes than our little nitro engines.

AllAboutFunHobbies

You really really really need to do alot of research, we spent over a year doing research and deciding what our best way to start would be, fortunatly for us we live in Dallas/Fort Worth Metro plex so the internet has virtually no impact at all on our business. Let me put it like this, to be competative with the internet and surounding hobby shops in our area it would cost on average $250,000.00 just to get a competative stock and open the doors and survive for at least two years and pay your self and any employees. After all of our research going to locations and venuses sitting for countless hours counting people traffic and looking at locations we decided to do mobile shops that roll out of our warehouse on the weekends and go to different venues all over the metro plex, one goes to the same place every week, that shop sees 1 to 2 weeks worth of people in two days we make deliveries for parts orders on the metroplex, on site repairs house calls when someone needs help. Run races on tuesdays and fridays. It's alot of work and patience. Good luck if you have any questions please ask, were here to seed the new comers when they need it.

allenthen831

they should start sending parts to hobby stores its killin me i have my car for about 2 weeks and i ran like 5-6 tanks and i crashed and i went to the hobby store and they had no parts for redcat tornados and i have to order the parts online and i hate waiting

AllAboutFunHobbies

It's not about them sending the parts to hobby stores, the Hobby Stores have to WANT to buy them. Your LHS may or may not know about Redcat/Himoto, but they have to want to carry them if they don't want to carry them then they won't buy them.

allenthen831

Why dont they want redcat parts ?

bluecaka69

Why dont some people buy a new car when it comes out like Daewo cars? because they want to have to be the one to let the compantyknow whats wrong In the business world today you have to prove yourself before people will buy from you or come to you

well i dont know what this attachment is i dint attach anything wierd

nantucket

Hey MiniCwik, are you by any chance talking about Anchor Bay Hobby (23 Mile & Jefferson area)? If you are, they closed due to road construction and location, The owner is now either a partner or the owner of P&D Hobby at 13 Mile & Grosebeck.

Team Knowitall

They've been around since October 2005. the problem is NOT that they haven't been around for 20-30 years like HPI, Associated, Traxxas, and Losi, the problem is that all their advertising directs people to buy from their website, NOT to inquire their local hobby shop about the product. I'll guarantee more hobby shops are carrying the Robitronics Mantis now than have even thought about carrying Redcat's cars, simply because of their lack of marketing and the general WAY that the cars are marketed. Has anybody else seen the featured classified ad with the guy selling a NEW Volcano SV for $275 because he bought it from the website for $300, and then bought a Hurricane Pro?

Show me how many ads for HPI Savages, Traxxas Revos, Associated RC10GT2s, Losi XXX's, or anything else that the person selling it specifically states that they bought it direct from the website and never ran the truck.

Another problem is that Redcat themselves was selling the cars on ebay!! if Redcat actually CARED about selling their cars in hobby shops, why would they have done that?

MiniCwik

AllAboutFun - Thank you again, I appreciate your advice and thoughts, and I will definitely be in touch when I have more questions. I keep getting the feeling that I do want to enter the small biz segment, with the RC or other ideas I have had. Just thinking things through now.

Nantucket - Hey, no way! The "road construction" has been over for a few months now there on Jefferson and he's partnered at P&D's? I have been there a few times, is he the older guy or the younger dark-haired guy I see working there?

The older guys seems very knowledgable, but of course has never heard of Himoto or Redcat. I have bought a couple things there, supplies, and Traxxas goodies that are compatible.

nantucket

Well, apparently the construction put the proverbial "nail in the coffin" because it made it difficult to get in and out of there, and business went way down. If were thinking about the same two people(which I think we are), it would be the older gentleman (mid 60's?) as he's the one who explained to me why they had moved. Hey, you should check out Larry's Performance R/C's on Mound and 18 1/2. That place is huge, and they have just about everything (except Redcat I'm sure) even an indoor track!!

http://www.larrysperformancercs.com/...cgi?category=0

MiniCwik

Yeah, that's the guy ... I'll have to mention it the next time I am in there, he's a good guy.

I've known about Larry's but never been there, and when I called for some suggestive support on an early issue I had with my truck, P&D seemed more knowledgable over the phone than Larry's did. So, I went to P&D's and have gone there anytime I needed to get something locally, except now that I know there is a Rider's Hobby Shop not too far from work.

A bud of mine went to Larry's looking for parts since on the Exceed RC/Inifinitive website Larry's was listed as a dealer, and when he went there, no one at Larry's knew what he was talking about and he actually had to show them on a computer that they were listed as a dealer, LOL. So, he also checked out their indoor track and it's for electric only [:@] which I can understand some due to the exhaust fumes nitro engines put out.

mozzzy_2000

dont forget that there is a healthy amount of himoto parts on the net. Since these buggys & trucks are rebranded, they are exactly the same build and hence other brands fit. For me, Himoto seems to be one of the only ones who has their act together.

arlo1

I love the fact that I can order cars directly from redcat even if it meens I cant get them at the local hobby store. It meen we the public can get them cheeper and thats realy what matters. From the other side of the coin redcat should not sell there cars to the general public because they are compeating with their distributors and that is not fair for their distributors because redcat can sell them cheeper!

drewmeister

DONT SHOP AT P&D!!! they are just a bunch of overpriced *****hole$!!!. one of the sales men got into a arguing match with me because i would not spend almost double for a futaba servo. there is also a nother hobby shop i think it is named the prop shop a 9 1/2 and van dyke. so far they seem pretty nice. i would rather support a hobby shop than shop online, but i am not going to pay the high price most hobby shops want. i also agree larrys performance rc is a good place to shop so far. cheap prices on odonnel fuel too

MiniCwik

Yeah I have heard their fuel prices are better, when I am in need of a new gallon I will surely have to check them out.

Wow, I bet that was the other guy you dealt with at P&D's and not the older guy? I hope anyway.

Only things I have bought there have been glow plugs, fuel, RC mag, and clutch shoe springs. I'll have to check out the other place to see what they have. I work kind close to a Rider's Hobby shop so have that as an alternative too. They have one of those in Madison Hts as well and may have good prices?