Interesting RC Economy Article

[Finnster]

What a douche. Not the kinda douche I expected tho. I had pictured him more like this:


It is hard for retailers tho. One one hand I am glad to have all the online places to find good deals and prices, as the LHSs can get so overpriced. OTOH, if there are no LHS it makes the hobby a real PITA, as you end up having to order and pay shipping one goddam specialty screw that fell out and sidelined your truck for a week. Eh.

Tower (great planes) is one of the largest distributors, and are effectively undercutting the stores they dist to. Hard to compete w/ that. Plus, coming from a few LHSs I've talked to, it sounds like a lot of the RTRs are too good now, as they have decent radios, servos, etc that the store doesn't have a chance on accessories. You wonder what the long term effect on the hobby will be.

I think the best strat for a LHS is to provide the type of service that onlines don't, and come up with some sort of niche. RCM is a great example of a niche retailer (albeit not LHS.) They have to have at least competitive prices, good service, stuff you want to buy actually in stock, and a number of compelling products/advantages to keep people from running online for everything. Not easily done tho. This is def weeding out the crappier businessmen & stores.