ORIGINAL: molo_30
ORIGINAL: luv2flyrc
ORIGINAL: VF84sluggo
ORIGINAL: Jim Cattanach
I suppose the theory is, make the price of individual items more expensive & this will show how much a bargain the combo deal is. As always the price of anything will settle at what the buyers are willing to pay.
True...kind of like if you determined the price of a car based on replacement parts at the dealer, a Ford Escape would sell for $150,000.
Still, $350 for one of these Skymaster cockpits is a rip-off, period, much less $600+!! Flimsy, brittle plastic that cracks if you touch it. And the paint job is amateurish. I understand the goal of getting the buyer to buy one with the initial kit, but accidents happen (I'll spare myself the embarassing details here) and replacement parts need to be ordered. Getting bent over for $395, $695, whatever, is just plain wrong. I lucked out and Jeff at RCI worked with me. That will not be forgotten, and I will not hesitate to do business with him again.
I agree that $350 plus is a ripoff but, I wonder what the actual price would be if you contacted Skymaster directly (as opposed to a dealer) for replacement. I had to replace the under belly tank on my 1/5.5 Skymaster Hawk when I knocked the gear off on a hard landing, list price is $60, Skymaster sold me the replacement at $20.
I broke the canopy on the same bird when it got bumped in transport. $4.50 for the replacement (this is a huge canopy) and nominal shipping charge from China. In contrast, I botched the install of the canopy on my 1/5 CARF Hawk. Replacement canopy was $49.95 plus $30 bucks to ship! It's a hair bigger than the skymaster one.
Another thought; if we weren't insistent on buying through a dealer network here in North America, we could all be paying a lot less (by eliminating the dealer margin). What does the dealer do besides take your money and forward it to China? They don't hold inventory so, the product gets dropshipped directly to you from China. And for all that effort he puts X amount of $ in his pocket. I'd rather buy direct and keep the $ in my pocket.
Mike
What does the dealer do besides take your money and forward it to China?
Are you serious? I can tell you what I do here in Australia but the list would be too long.
Full support from start to finish for all my customers. My prices match the factory so if customers want to buy direct then they need to speak to the factory when they have issues. I'm sure most of the North American dealers would be the same.
yes, I am serious, I can only speak for myself but, I have bought 4 jet kits and 3 turbines in the last 3 years and never once have I needed any kind of "service" from the dealer. One kit was received with a damaged hatch, I contacted the manufacturer myself and received a replacement. So for me , the dealer holds little value, I would rather save $1000 bucks or whatever his margin is on the jet. If you are a fellow who likes to call the dealer for advice on every step of the build then be aware of the cost for doing so. I get my advice on RCU
Mike