Tamiya prices at Tower/MAP Pricing

[Wooders28 4719]

https://internethobbies.com/blogs/news/tamiyas-new-minimum-advertised-price-program-starts-june-1-2018

[chazekxt 7]

On ‎6‎/‎1‎/‎2018 at 11:49 AM, racer1 said:

I noticed this yesterday but I'm having issues finding some of the models I want to buy.  Unfortunately Tower has been such a huge presents in the states that their aren't a lot of good options. 

One thing I know for sure is that i'm not buying from them at the current price.  

 

AMain has the Grasshopper for $99 - 

Tower wants $132.....Umm NO!!!

same here no more tower for me 

 

[Rb4276 803]

Even my local shop raised their prices on some kits i saw last week wheni went to get paint. They used to be towers old prices

[Biz73 603]

Amain prices are the same as Tower, as are any official dealer of Tamiya items in the US.

[theshopkeeper 39]

Not sure if anyone has realised this, but this is a minimum advertised price only.  It doesn't actually force shops to not discount below that price but instead says they can't put a price on display that's lower.

I don't know about Tower etc, but I would be VERY surprised for those of you using independent USA shops on a walk-in basis, if you can't say to the guy behind the counter "I know about the minimum advertised price on Tamiya, but what price are you prepared to sell XYZ to me today for if I buy now?" - as that would not actually breach it from my reading.

[tamiya3speed 463]

3 hours ago, theshopkeeper said:

Not sure if anyone has realised this, but this is a minimum advertised price only.  It doesn't actually force shops to not discount below that price but instead says they can't put a price on display that's lower.

I don't know about Tower etc, but I would be VERY surprised for those of you using independent USA shops on a walk-in basis, if you can't say to the guy behind the counter "I know about the minimum advertised price on Tamiya, but what price are you prepared to sell XYZ to me today for if I buy now?" - as that would not actually breach it from my reading.

I agree completely that is the case, however good luck finding a Tamiya dealer in any given US city,  and then again finding one that will turn down making extra from a given sale that the MAP price allows them.  

[d4dawg 35]

I have seen online retailers' website says: "Put item in cart to see price" without breaking the MAP policy. Though I doubt Tower will implement something like that on their antiquated website anytime soon. I can't believe Tamiya USA has not felt the impact (and sales feedback from major retailers) of this MAP bullsh*t. Have they not heard of this thing called eBay and international shipping?

[skinned 134]

im sure this is killing sales tremendously..it sure has made me mad as I was thinking about purchasing a hornet for the shelf..but not for $160.00 usd.

[NWarty 1325]

4 hours ago, tamiya3speed said:

I agree completely that is the case, however good luck finding a Tamiya dealer in any given US city,  and then again finding one that will turn down making extra from a given sale that the MAP price allows them.  

I haven't seen a Tamiya RC kit in a US hobby shop in 20+ years 

[tamiya3speed 463]

24 minutes ago, NWarty said:

I haven't seen a Tamiya RC kit in a US hobby shop in 20+ years 

Exactly.  The only Tamiya I see locally is what I have had ordered in for me.  

[skinned 134]

33 minutes ago, NWarty said:

I haven't seen a Tamiya RC kit in a US hobby shop in 20+ years 

couple years ago I asked my local hobby shop ..."why don't have a frog in here or something?"...he laughed and said "last Tamiya kit I sold was about 9 years ago and it was a lunchbox and I ordered it for a customer."

[78Triumph 2610]

I guess I'm lucky, my LHS carries tons of Tamiya kits.  I'm waiting to see if the prices there go up too.

[NWarty 1325]

2 hours ago, 78Triumph said:

I guess I'm lucky, my LHS carries tons of Tamiya kits.  I'm waiting to see if the prices there go up too.

Definitely the exception and I'm kind of jealous

[Raman36 1655]

This is for now a TamiyaUSA thing. I’m fairly confident it will stay that way.

The US hq is definitely on the decline. The Tamiya track is hosting its last race next month as the property was sold. I doubt they will have another one. As for the site.. they’re not doing a good job of maintaining inventory over the past year. Replacement parts are frequently out of stock. Now they are resorting to this? 

its a stupid protectionist approach. TamiyaUSA should instead be working harder to promote the product and meeting demand. 

I recall Novak implementing a MAP.. a year later they were done for.

This is bad business approach. When new kits arrived.. towers pricing with their coupons were more or less the same as ordering a kit from Stella + shipping. Now Stella / RC Mart will definitely be cheaper 

 

[Hobbimaster 190]

1 hour ago, Raman36 said:

This is for now a TamiyaUSA thing. I’m fairly confident it will stay that way.

The US hq is definitely on the decline. The Tamiya track is hosting its last race next month as the property was sold. I doubt they will have another one. As for the site.. they’re not doing a good job of maintaining inventory over the past year. Replacement parts are frequently out of stock. Now they are resorting to this? 

its a stupid protectionist approach. TamiyaUSA should instead be working harder to promote the product and meeting demand. 

I recall Novak implementing a MAP.. a year later they were done for.

This is bad business approach. When new kits arrived.. towers pricing with their coupons were more or less the same as ordering a kit from Stella + shipping. Now Stella / RC Mart will definitely be cheaper 

 

If sales do decline to the point of no return, I would think Tamiya USA will close its doors like Schumacher did a while ago. Could we see another USA Importer like MRC? Seems like R/C is in a recession state right now.

[Raman36 1655]

So I’m wondering, when an MAP is implemented.. I’m assuming the dealers still maintain their wholesale pricing... eg 40-50% off retail. 

So in essence the brand is requesting the dealer to sell at price MAP.. which increases the dealers margin.. yet they money that the brand received is still the same.. 40-50% off retail.

If the dealer succeeds in selling at MAP, they will sell less units guaranteed, therefore order less frequently from Tamiya. 

So the end result will be, Tamiya will increase the value perception of their brand, but sell less kits. 

That is a sound marketing strategy. 

[yogi-bear 2315]

10 hours ago, Raman36 said:

So I’m wondering, when an MAP is implemented.. I’m assuming the dealers still maintain their wholesale pricing... eg 40-50% off retail. 

So in essence the brand is requesting the dealer to sell at price MAP.. which increases the dealers margin.. yet they money that the brand received is still the same.. 40-50% off retail.

If the dealer succeeds in selling at MAP, they will sell less units guaranteed, therefore order less frequently from Tamiya. 

So the end result will be, Tamiya will increase the value perception of their brand, but sell less kits. 

That is a sound marketing strategy. 

you'd be surprised, but it is a widely used business strategy. Done right it leads to a better profit margin and in some cases it can even lead to an increase in sales (strange but true). However in this case, if this is Tamiya's plan, I don't think it will work. Not when they cheap out and don't even include proper bearings in a kit.

[Jonathon Gillham 4605]

On 7/22/2018 at 9:25 AM, Raman36 said:

The US hq is definitely on the decline. The Tamiya track is hosting its last race next month as the property was sold. I doubt they will have another one. As for the site.. they’re not doing a good job of maintaining inventory over the past year. Replacement parts are frequently out of stock. Now they are resorting to this? 

 

I've heard of the Tamiya track, and if you own a Tamiya you can go and use it, and they have races where the whole car has to be Tamiya, ie no aftermarket turnbuckles or anything, everything Tamiya. Is this the same place and is there only one? Pictures I've seen look amazing

[78Triumph 2610]

There's videos featuring the Tamiya track on Youtube.  It looks amazing, what a shame it will no longer be.  If I lived near there I'd go everyday. 

This vid shows the track, they guy is kind of a goober but it gives you a good idea what it looks like.

 

[Raman36 1655]

11 hours ago, Jonathon Gillham said:

I've heard of the Tamiya track, and if you own a Tamiya you can go and use it, and they have races where the whole car has to be Tamiya, ie no aftermarket turnbuckles or anything, everything Tamiya. Is this the same place and is there only one? Pictures I've seen look amazing

Correct. That was the track. The races were part of the Tamiya Championship Series. They hold them throughout the US and the final is at the track. The winner goes onto Tamiya Japan to compete there. 

The track used to be right next to Tamiya HQ. Then they moved the HQ but maintained lease on track.. until property that track was on sold

[Raman36 1655]

12 hours ago, yogi-bear said:

you'd be surprised, but it is a widely used business strategy. Done right it leads to a better profit margin and in some cases it can even lead to an increase in sales (strange but true). However in this case, if this is Tamiya's plan, I don't think it will work. Not when they cheap out and don't even include proper bearings in a kit.

Then you have the TRF kits.  TRF doesn’t exactly have a racing team to promote the kits. 

The buyer that shops these chassis already have X-ray, Yokomo, Infinity and now Mugen to choose from.  Tamiya no longer leads in this segment and is presently playing catch up. 

The current MAP strategy places the TRF kit way above the competition. 

So its either buy the competition or buy from RCMart. Now if they are also forced with MAP.. then there will be a serious problem 

 

 

[Juggernut 120]

Having been inactive in the hobby for a few months I come back to check out products and prices and WAMMO!

All I can say is wow.  Insane.  I love Tamiya for nostalgia's sake but their quality does not warrant that kind of price.  Who exactly are they marketing to with those kind of prices????

Also, I see I can now get a knock-off Bruiser for 75% less then the real thing.  RTR and of apparently decent quality no less!

On what bizzaro world do entry-level 80's style RC kits cost more then high-quality, high-tech RTR's?

I could barely justify paying what I paid before this massive increase.  Sad Sad Sad

[Juggernut 120]

Here's what I found:

https://www.tamiyausa.com/articles/tamiya-map-policy-746?category_id=1&type=article#.W2SO7tJKiUk

Looks like all the US dealers prices went up but I can still get kits from rcMart for a reasonable price if I want to pay $50+ for shipping.

[Saito2 6677]

Wow. It would have been nice if that article had been in place back when all this went into effect. If I'm reading correctly, this policy will drive US online customers away from online US retailers to places like rcMart or to local hobby shops. At the local hobby shops (if one can be found) the customer can then "bargain" with the shop owner for a realistic price below that of the required minimum advertised price? Makes me wish I had a local hobby shop less than an hour away that actually carried Tamiya products.

[GTodd 1342]

I believe this is US only. I just ordered an Egress from RCMart for "just" 340 (ps that's the exact price it sold for in 1990) plus 44.00 shipping. Still about 200 less than tower shipped