So...an adjustment to MAP started yesterday

[Saito2 6686]

So, it seems drastically inflating the prices of Tamiya models imported to the US through Tamiya USA in an effort to protect all Tamiya dealers may not have worked out quite so well. Tower sent me an email trumpeting "new lower prices!" on Tamiya kits. Indeed most kits sold through US sources have dropped a good bit. We're not back to the pre-MAP prices from before this began, but it is an improvement. Here's some of the prices changes (the pre-MAP prices are from recollection, but I have a pretty decent memory for some of these)

Super Clod Buster  pre-MAP was $299,  post-MAP $412,  now $361

Blackfoot  pre-MAP was $169,  post-MAP $211,  now $184

The Bruiser and Mountain Rider bloated from the $500-$600 range to $1000 and over. The Mountain Rider is down to a sane $645 while the Bruiser, though cheaper, still hovers near $1000 at $929. Guess that sleeper cab cost a lot to mold. The Big Wig is down to a pleasing (and somewhat tempting) $200 now. Even the Top Force (although, on order at the moment) is down to $205, just $15 more than its old pre-MAP price of $189. Not perfect (and these new adjusted prices are still MAP according to a statement issued by Tamiya USA), but all-in-all, some good news for a change. I might even spring for the SW01 Lunch Box which is only a tidy little sum of $81 now. I like supporting US hobby dealers and this darn-near makes it a possibility again.

 

[geniusanthony 361]

Good news, thanks for sharing. I had all but stopped looking at tower. All my business was going to Tamico.

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

Sounds like an improvement.  After MAP was announced, I pretty much did anything except buy Tamiya product locally in the USA.  Old projects, other brands, overseas vendors, and even house/car projects took precedence over accepting such a step change in prices.  TamiyaUSA did me a favor; they broke most of my impulsive buying habits.

[WillyChang 1814]

Perhaps there's just a glut of RC kits lying about their warehouses?  

LHS here has been doing Tamiya kit specials just about constantly all year, currently 15% Off the "classic" range. Never seen them do discounts, let alone so long running.

Even Lego ain't moving... TLM2 kits down 40-50% and there's still stock on shelves. Jeez 5yrs ago even 15-20% discount on Lego would've emptied the shelves pronto.

 

[Superluminal 3750]

Theres a feel of recession in the air again. People nervous of splashing cash? 

[Saito2 6686]

2 hours ago, Superluminal said:

Theres a feel of recession in the air again.

Not to drag politics into this, but some economist in the US have been saying this uptick in our economy isn't sustainable. It may look good around election time, but will be followed by a long downhill slide. I'm certainly bracing for it. 

[Problemchild 2149]

MAP? Is this the trump effect?

im worrying that places like tamico and lots of eBay sellers are going to cease to be an option for U.K. buyers once we leave the EU (and vice versa - U.K. sellers selling to the EU) due to import duty

Ive sold stuff into the Europe for years and postage has been barely more than U.K. postage 

all that’s happening with all these trade deals is companies are making less profit to try and remain competitive. That means less tax paid to the govt and less money spent by business owners in the host nation’s shops - which impacts the profit of those local stores again with less tax paid. 

Man economy is strong through the flow of money around it - not by taxing the **** out of things 

JJ

[Superluminal 3750]

7 hours ago, Saito2 said:

I'm certainly bracing for it. 

Yep, me too. Theres been a definite market slow down in the industry I work in since the christmas just gone.

[Raman36 1656]

Thanks for the update Saito!  I’m attending IIC (international indoor championship) today through Sunday, competing in F1.  The managing director of Tam USA sometimes shows Upton the event.. if I see him I’ll definitely bring up MAP

[Raman36 1656]

The M08, I ended up ordering mine from RCMart due to MAP..

It is now showing $173 (30% off retail) .. less $15 coupon would have come to $158.  Previously it was $198 (20% off retail) and to qualify for $30 coupon you needed a $1 more..  

RCMart was about the same and had stock sooner than TamiyaUSA.. 

Tamiya USA lost that sale and many others due to poor business decision. 

Now prices have improved.. 8-10% higher than before 

[geniusanthony 361]

Another pricing thing to look forward to is the Black Friday sale.  Should be on at Tamiyausa in 6ish weeks. I got an M05R last year for 150 shipped. I  will definitely save a few purchases until then. 

[markbt73 5316]

You mean suddenly and drastically raising prices to "help" your sales outlets turned out to be a bad idea? Who would have guessed?

This is good news, and it brings prices at "free shipping" outlets (Tower, A-Main, etc) close enough to the price of Hong Kong sellers plus shipping that I would be more inclined to stick with USA sellers. I have never liked ordering stuff from overseas; I hate waiting and worrying for weeks for something to arrive. Too nerve-wracking.

Now I'm curious what the new price is on that TA-02 Lancia...

[Juggular 4964]

MAP was a good way to keep loyal customers out. 

While the economy was good, they could have sold a lot more.  But it could have been the sellers asking for it too.  Obvious as it was, they had to give it a try, I guess.  Now that people are bracing for slow economy, I wonder if they could sell as many as they could have.  

I wanted to build something while my wife went on vacation with her folks.  2CV Rally from Hong Kong was $132.  But Tower hobbies had it for $148.  I was hesitating to spend 11% more for faster delivery.  Especially since I just ordered M07 from Hong Kong, which will take 2 weeks.  But my wife felt bad enough, she allowed me to spend my money.  When I went to think it over one last time, it dropped down to $132.  Exactly as @markbt73 said,  after MAP, I paid the same amount as Hong Kong price.  Now that Tower took my money, Hong Kong will lower several dollars.  US price may fall a bit more before it settles. 

I couldn't afford MAP price.  I got Konghead several months before MAP.  Citroen 2CV Rally was ordered on the day MAP dropped.  I didn't know why the price got lowered, but now I do.  During MAP, I got 9 second-hand Tamiyas.  None of my money went to Tamiya (except for M07 from Hong Kong).  If it wasn't for MAP, I would have bought 3-4 used and 3-4 new, instead.  All MAP helped was the used-RC and Hong Kong sales.  

If it wasn't for my wife's vacation, I would have waited Hong Kong price to fall, even if it's just $10 less.   Regardless, it's good to see that Tamiya has returned to free market economy.  

(I prefer Tower too.  It arrived in 2 days, and I'm building it already)

 

[TwistedxSlayer 1290]

For all us none Americans...

 

What is MAP?

[Saito2 6686]

MAP = Minimum Advertised Pricing. Tamiya basically sets a price that its distributors cannot sell below. The distributor may sell higher than that said set price, but not below for fear Tamiya will cut them as a distributor for their products as punishment. They had several arguments for doing this including providing a level playing field for all distributors (i.e. a big outfits like Tower Hobbies would, in theory, not be able to sell below a tiny LHS) and fear that lower prices on their products might devalue their product line. So, in their words, MAP pricing would enrich the brand. All well and good if the price was set at a reasonable level but Tamiya jacked the prices to ridiculous levels here in the US as seen by the numbers I sighted at the beginning of the topic. Evidently sales must have suffered because they've lowered the MAP. Most US customers I know simply began shopping overseas for cheaper kit prices when MAP first hit, thus completely cutting out the US suppliers, big and small, Tamiya supposedly hoped to protect.

[tamiya_1971 615]

I also noticed after years of no tax added, tax is now added. 

[Biz73 603]

1 hour ago, tamiya_1971 said:

I also noticed after years of no tax added, tax is now added. 

A number of states have started collecting tax on internet sales even when they are out of state. Everyone shops online so the gub'ment gotta get there cash from somewhere.

[tamiya_1971 615]

7 minutes ago, Biz73 said:

A number of states have started collecting tax on internet sales even when they are out of state. Everyone shops online so the gub'ment gotta get there cash from somewhere.

Yeah, I read that. Ebay has sent out a notice on it as well. I wonder if the tax addition may have added to the decision to lower the pricing. 

[Biz73 603]

1 minute ago, tamiya_1971 said:

Yeah, I read that. Ebay has sent out a notice on it as well. I wonder if the tax addition may have added to the decision to lower the pricing. 

I'd bet the price lowering had more to do with lost sales after they raised prices 25% across the board. Raising prices when the whole industry is slow is not the smartest business move.

[Killajb 1546]

Here in Japan, sales tax was increased from 8% to 10% and officially went into effect October 1.

[Superluminal 3750]

Its still 20% in the UK - for ever it was 17.5% then during the last economic downturn and to battle the borrowing deficit it was raised to 20%. The govt just seemed to forget to lower it again when the economy picked up a bit.

I cant believe anyone thought something like MAP could ever work considering how easy it is to buy from all over the world. The next step will be telling retailers to have different price bands when selling to different overseas customers or they will really step up on the charging duty at point of delivery.

[Saito2 6686]

2 hours ago, Superluminal said:

I cant believe anyone thought something like MAP could ever work considering how easy it is to buy from all over the world.

That's how I felt. Those that defended MAP, stated that Tamiya wouldn't see a dime of the revenue from the price hike. It was all to go into the hands of the distributors (now, equally, in theory). Everyone was supposed to win (but the customer).  The reality was people just shopped online, overseas and everyone lost. I'm an idiot and even I saw that coming the second MAP happened the first time. I want Tamiya (and the hobby) to succeed, not shoot themselves in the foot. 

[SuperJoeUK 56]

7 hours ago, Superluminal said:

I cant believe anyone thought something like MAP could ever work considering how easy it is to buy from all over the world. The next step will be telling retailers to have different price bands when selling to different overseas customers or they will really step up on the charging duty at point of delivery.

 

It's not just Tamiya or RC market that have done this, there has been a rash of it across other industries too.   My other cash dwindler is hobby board games. A lot of the big publishers like CMON / Asmodee introduced a MMAP  (manufacturers minimum advertised price) over the last couple of years. One of the reasons given was the same, level the playing field etc. Also to stop counterfeiting which was growing at a pace. See it cheaper than $xx and you know it's fake.  And also to preserve the brand. "Pay more because you know your getting quality"...….Hmmm have you seen what comes with this HBX in comparison to the equivalent Tamiya (much as I love Tamiya).  

Did some MD of a big company give a speech at a conference a couple of years ago saying MAP/MMAP's were a good idea in the internet age or something ?  

[Problemchild 2149]

So not a trump induced export levy to cut the companies nose off because the USA is best and can produce everything on shore?

 

JJ

[WillyChang 1814]

On 9 October 2019 at 3:22 AM, Problemchild said:

So not a trump induced export levy to cut the companies nose off because the USA is best and can produce everything on shore?

Used to buy world leading US-made RCs... Associated! Delta! ...40yrs ago!