dgz69er

I always see all these posts where people are posting links for the best deal on rc stuff.

I'm just curious as to where most of you buy the majority of your hobby needs.

I'm also curious as to why you buy it there.

I buy most of my stuff from my lhs. I'm good friends with the owner, and while I could get better deals elsewhere. I prefer to spend my money with him. This way he stays in business.

SOILWORK

I almost buy everthing from the internet. www.towerhobbies.com www.amainhobbies.com www.rccustomcars.com www.speedtechnitro.com

The lhs never carries what I need could be weeks or months before they do get what I need and we cannot forget EBAY

Nick2618

I get the majority of my stuff from ebay. Having a jato the parts listings are unbeliable. I also you tower pretty often too when ebay can not give me a lower price. I still go to the lhs for fast parts or when i just need like 1 or 2 things.

rcnitrohead

Ebay is my best friend[8D]

NitroDemon18

I use the internet and my LHS.

Snaut Rocket

you can find it on ebayyyyyyyyyyy.

duckedup

LHS is about 10%, Internet is about 90%....

Fiegs

I get everything from my lhs.

Spending a few extra dollars on parts is well worth the comfort of knowing i have someone within 15 mins to go to that really knows what hes doing.

And the fact that they sell fuel at cost is sweet.
$18 for a gallon of 30% sidewinder fuel

91litesho

i agree on spending money with your LHS its nice to have friends where u SPEND money,and if you can help keep them in business theyll be there for when u need an "emergency "part ... i personally use ebay/internet then the hobby shop . thats only because of the deals i get. we only have 2 shops here, one is a HOBBYTOWN, theyre franchise, they have set prices and noone there has the authority to budge on it.no matter how much u buy there AND they have a website!!!...i doubt there goin anywhere.the other shop is across town! i havent been to it since new ownership. i need to check it out , but like i said its across town. IF i had a local shop that was smalltime owned. id be all over it . so for now its EBAY/internet- then hobbytown.

andy92

net

happywing

I get my best price from the internet and take it to my LHS. They will usually match...even Tower prices.

fordaholic72

I get almost everything from the internet. Mostly because the nearest LHS that is open regularly is 60 miles away, so I guess it is not really local for me though.

jombo

online, i rarly go to the hobby shop because every time i go there he tells me i can order it. i use to let him order me stuff but i always waited a month for it ( he only orderd things untill he had a big order to send in). well after a year of that i just buy whatever he has on the floor and everything else online.

Missing Pieces

Online, because my LHS specializes in helicopters, and traxxas, I buy my fuel there but thats about it. I wish I still had a choice, twenty years ago, we had a couple of LHSs, but nobody races anymore, and now there is only one,it sucks.

Foxy

SUPPORT YOUR LHS MORE, PEOPLE!!! I see a thread every week coming around saying, 'my crap lhs which never stocks anything anyway is closing down'. Yeh, it's cos you never bought anything from them. You may pay a bit more for stuff, sometimes they may have to order it for you, but those little bits and pieces that you DO actually go there for (body clips, shims, glow plugs, etc), will be sorely missed when they're gone. We should all support our LHS better. Personally I get everything there, and yes, I do pay over the odds, but then one day they'll give you something back, count on it. The other day I had a problem with a new RB728 engine I bought. We chatted for a while and they swapped it for the 928, no extra charge. I bought my last three kits there at WAAAY over the internet price, but I get great support, when I lost a peice of the rear suspension in a race, my LHS guy dug into his persoanl stock for me. No need to order 12 other parts I didn't need, OR wait for delivery... When you buy local you pay more but you GET more for your money too. My 2c, rant over.

TheJedi

+1

I feel the same way. I personally love my LHS. Great support, huge inventory. Above all that, I feel confident going in there and saying...I want to try "xxx" out and they wont try to shove the most expensive kit or part down my throat. I hate waiting for shipping and if they have it in stock my time is worth the few extra dollars.

daveholm

If I had an LHS I would use them but the closest hobby shop is 100 miles 1 way. When I was first getting into RC's I went there as I wanted to see what they had and ask some questions, but when the guy (Manager of store) that I was talking to found out I was not buying that day he basically dismissed me. Worst thing there was no other customers int eh store so it was not like I was keeping him from waiting on other people. Now if he would have treated me reasonably I would have made the drive and paid the 30% inflated prices they charge and purchased my major stuff there. I would have done this just to have someone I could turn to if I needed hep but when he blew me off that was it. I should mention that this is one of the chain hobby stores, explaining the inflated prices. I now get everything from the internet.

I wish I had an LHS that I could go to for help and parts when I need them...but that is not the case so I just try to make sure I have spares of everything that I might need. I usually get them from ebay chop shops because if you are not in a hurry you can get new parts at less then half the retail price.

HerrSavage

Here in Germany as far as I'm concerned most of the LHS's can burn to the ground for all I care. They only want to sell what they have in stock, so they sell off stuff cynically babbling on about how great it is, regardless of the truth, and their prices are %30 higher than online.

That being the case, I have no qualms about saying "screw'em"....

I WILL support shops or people who I think deserve it, but the fact is MOST LHS's I've come across don't.. I visited a shop back home in the US last time I was there, and they were cool, had tons of stuff, and were cool with the prices... So in the States I guess things are different...

But these German shops are useless - I cringe even going there to buy fuel.....

rcnitrohead

Yeah ^^^ Thats one of my lhs's. The guy is in love with Traxxas, ever since I told him I bought a Savage he talks crap to me now. He doesnt sell/ work and refuses to give any advice on the topic of HPI cars The other LHS is ok, but the guys can be a bit dumb at times[&:]

Snaut Rocket

I cant stand traxxas guys like that. They make traxxas look like the walmart of rc cars if you know what i mean.

IL2mSturmovik

If my LHS sold Losi stuff, you bet I would shop there, and support them; its not an easy business to make it in.

Missing Pieces

I think my ONLY LHS, is just trying to stay alive, by selling what people are buying, I don't blame them for that, you can't keep a store going by selling whats not moving off the shelf. That being said, I wish there were more people in my area that wanted to run all the time. it's just shrinking around here, and it would be really hard to build a following back up, with the prices of quality models getting the way they are.

Fiegs

Wow, I must be really lucky or something.
You guys all sound like your lhs stink.
Mine is less then 15 mins away and has been there for over 40 years, and its actually a shop. Not a store like most hobby "shops".
They have also been ordering from Horizon Hobby since it opened(20+ years ago) so they place an order every mourning no matter how small and it takes 2-3 buisness days to get the part.
The owners husband/wife are amazing.
The husband knows everything there is to know about r/c and the wife is crazy when it comes to paint and air brushes.
The best part is they are actually nice people.
I just got a free paint job on my new tc5 body for helping them paint a bedroom.
It was $28 for the body that was painted,cut, and decaled.

Im going there tomorrow to have Kerry(husband) solder my new 7700 mamba motor and set the droop/camber/toe on the car.

HerrSavage

It's an interesting dilema.. On the one hand, it's a shame to see the huge warehouses take over the small private shops. On the other hand you can't argue much against a better price..(and if the service at the small shop is as horrible as it is here, good riddens...) It's like with book shops over the last 20 years - people complaining about Barnes & Nobles displacing the small corner shops.. BUT, the REALLY good corner shops get their following, and survive. It's like that with EVERYTHING - supermarkets, hardware stores(as an English teacher I have a hard time with this one, and generally tell students that it's now "home improvement center"...), etc.. So yeah, if there were a half-way decent LHS within an hour of me, I would go out of my way a little bit to support them..

On the flip-side I will never go to Walmart...

Anyway, there were some normal guys who tried to open a more MT-oriented shop here recently, to compete with the main shop in town who sells everything and are real jerks.. I wanted to support the guys, but there prices were just simply ludicrous.. €20 for ex for a Savage tank.. With the current exchange rate that's like what, $27... And so on.. Cheap, second-rate company bodies for €45... Sometimes when I go to these shops in Germany I just stare with my mouth open in disbelief and walk out in a daze having bought nothing.. It's THAT ridiculous...

tommie!

A Hobby store that has good customer support and technical expertise deserves to get business.

I personally do not mind paying a little more for parts and service. But when you pay more and get crap support and crap 'technical' expertise, it makes it difficult to justify paying more for less.

That pretty much sums it up for the entire consumer industry.