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Good list of online hobby shops?

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2 minutes ago, burakol said:

So if buying through online shops, how much less should they be compared to the listed SRP from Tamiya USA's website? I ask because I am also lurking around several online stores; both overseas and here in the USA. I find that most online retailers are selling their kits at least 25-30% below SRP and that's without shipping or any store coupons... 

Would you say that's an acceptable price range? Example is Tower Hobbies. I am looking at their Dynahead. It is listed at $263.20 compared to $376 on Tamiya USA. If you do the numbers, that's about 30% off... if you include their coupon for $35 off (non-SS member) and not including the sales tax, the price will come out at %39.3 percent off SRP. 

FWIW, I was able to secure my last kit (Manta Ray) from AsiaTees. I paid like 133 shipped to me here in the East Coast of USA. Compared to RCMart, their shipping is significantly less. 

Hard to tell how much less than the SRP kit prices should be.  I will typically look at a handful of shops and get a feel for the prices.  Aside from RCmart and AsiaTees discounted prices, I have found pretty consistent pricing across the board, with the main variable being exchange rate.  I bought a subaru WRC TT-02 kit from Zoom room in Canada which has a great exchange rate with USD right now, but after shipping it came out to a little more than Tower prices with coupon and free shipping.  But...zoom room had the kit I wanted and Tower still doesn't so I think I made out ok.  

Tower is by far the best place to buy kits in the US in my opinion.  With their coupons and free shipping it's a no brainer, which probably explains why they have absolutely no stock right now.  I did snag a blackfoot off them a month or so ago and would buy every kit from them if they had anything in stock I wanted.  

Just curious, how long did it take for you to get your Manta Ray from AsiaTees?  I did find their discounts decent and their shipping reasonable as well.

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12 minutes ago, A-Baum said:

Hard to tell how much less than the SRP kit prices should be.  I will typically look at a handful of shops and get a feel for the prices.  Aside from RCmart and AsiaTees discounted prices, I have found pretty consistent pricing across the board, with the main variable being exchange rate.  I bought a subaru WRC TT-02 kit from Zoom room in Canada which has a great exchange rate with USD right now, but after shipping it came out to a little more than Tower prices with coupon and free shipping.  But...zoom room had the kit I wanted and Tower still doesn't so I think I made out ok.  

Tower is by far the best place to buy kits in the US in my opinion.  With their coupons and free shipping it's a no brainer, which probably explains why they have absolutely no stock right now.  I did snag a blackfoot off them a month or so ago and would buy every kit from them if they had anything in stock I wanted.  

Just curious, how long did it take for you to get your Manta Ray from AsiaTees?  I did find their discounts decent and their shipping reasonable as well.

it was less than a week.

I ordered it on a Wednesday, it came to my door Tuesday the following week. So about 4 days not counting the weekends. I had an issue with my Paypal as it took them a day to clear it. If you order a kit, might as well order as much parts because most of them will be included in the shipping cost already (i think). 

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2 hours ago, Wetman said:

If you don`t mind me asking are you UK based and is it still worth it ordering from Tamico with exchange rate and covid at the minute? As far as I can work out after a quick shuftie this morning things are a little bit cheaper and more importantly in stock. Just wondering what delivery is like

I am UK based. Whilst they are not much cheaper with the exchange rate as it is, they had the Xv-01 long damper in stock, along with plenty of hop-ups, so all told it was a fair bit cheaper for everything. Their dispatch within 24 hours and an approximate delivery date of a week is also quite acceptable at the moment with all the virus malarkey. They had more of the bits I wanted, ready to go, so it was a no brainer for me. I'll use them again. 

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7 hours ago, Grumpy pants said:

I do,  amazing value for just about everything.

I used to buy my Hop Ups, wheels and tyres from them.

They have some good prices, even when you add on 20% VAT and some postage (under £135 there is no import tax from Japan I think...?)

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There may not be import duty under £135 but you will have to pay VAT and likely a fee to whoever receives the parcel here.

 

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The street price for brick and mortar hobby shops in US who are distributed via horizon hobby are 30% off Tamiyausa full retail price.  There could be some agreements that stores have to sell at certain price set by their distributor.  When I add the shipping cost from rcmart plus the price of tt01e MAN truck, the price is more than the 141.40 usd.

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I use RPP quite a bit and I've used A main.   I'm pretty much a Tamiya guy only.  The problem I run into is I'm always using multiple sources to get what I need.  It drives me insane.  I'd like one stop shopping but it's impossible.  What drives me insane, is I'll order a Tamiya body from one store, then I have to order the plastic add on parts or windshield from another shop because the first shop doesn't have it.  So you end up spending $4 bucks at one shop, plus $10 in shipping so then I end up hunting around for stuff I "might" need to bring the order up in price and justify the shipping.

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1 hour ago, JeffSpicoli said:

I use RPP quite a bit and I've used A main.   I'm pretty much a Tamiya guy only.  The problem I run into is I'm always using multiple sources to get what I need.  It drives me insane.  I'd like one stop shopping but it's impossible.  What drives me insane, is I'll order a Tamiya body from one store, then I have to order the plastic add on parts or windshield from another shop because the first shop doesn't have it.  So you end up spending $4 bucks at one shop, plus $10 in shipping so then I end up hunting around for stuff I "might" need to bring the order up in price and justify the shipping.

I have the same problem and this is where I wish Tower would really step up for us in the States.  Sure they have kits but their parts inventory is almost non existent and they have a poor selection of electronics in my opinion. They seem to stock only higher end stuff.  Maybe they can't compete with china/HK/Japan ebay vendors but with shipping I would think they could. They have the advantage of being able to offer much faster ship times.       

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23 hours ago, Mark_C said:

There may not be import duty under £135 but you will have to pay VAT and likely a fee to whoever receives the parcel here.

 

I take it you mean on far east stuff, Hong Kong, China etc?

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On 5/19/2020 at 12:23 PM, Grumpy pants said:

I spoke to and ordered from Steve Webb Models (UK) so far superb.

https://www.stevewebb.co.uk/

These guys are excellent, ordered by phone on Monday morning and delivered by RM Wednesday morning.

Really nicely packed as well.

Very happy camper indeed 💥

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50 minutes ago, A-Baum said:

I have the same problem and this is where I wish Tower would really step up for us in the States.  Sure they have kits but their parts inventory is almost non existent and they have a poor selection of electronics in my opinion. They seem to stock only higher end stuff.  Maybe they can't compete with china/HK/Japan ebay vendors but with shipping I would think they could. They have the advantage of being able to offer much faster ship times.       

I agree, I refuse to use Amazon because they have crushed so many businesses.  Not to mention Amazon takes your money then sits on the order for 3-4 days.  I have a personal policy of, if, for no good reason, my order isn't shipped in 24-36 hours, I cancel the order.   There's no incentive to be a good seller if you can sit on peoples money and make them wait for no legit reason.

Back in the day Tower was the go to mail order.   My local shop in Wisconsin closed down after a strong 50 year run in 2015.   If I walk in a hobby shop and don't see any Tamiya kits, I'm pretty much outta there.   I went to Hobby Town in Virgina  Beach last weekend - they had a nice supply of Tamiya paint and tools and tapes etc.  They had zero Tamiya kits on the shelf.   Everything was Horizon and Traxxas and Axial.   BORING.

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Anyone know when fusion is opening again? Currently not accepting payment methods

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16 hours ago, Wetman said:

I take it you mean on far east stuff, Hong Kong, China etc?

Any non EU Country.

VAT is on anything over £15 (inc. price of shipping)

Import Duty on anything over £135 (inc. price of shipping)

https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad

So lets say you buy a kit that is £150 inc. shipping.

Add duty - not sure what the rate would be, but lets say 5%

+ Duty £7.50

+ VAT @ 20% = £31.50

+ Courier/RM here will charge you a fee for clearing customers, lets say £10.

Total £199.

 

 

 

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On 5/19/2020 at 11:50 AM, burakol said:

 

FWIW, I was able to secure my last kit (Manta Ray) from AsiaTees. I paid like 133 shipped to me here in the East Coast of USA. Compared to RCMart, their shipping is significantly less. 

My Manta Ray from Asiatees showed up today.  The payment cleared Paypal on Sunday and shipped monday and got here today.  That's impressive. And shipping was "only" $39 which makes me wonder why RCmart is now charging around $100 to ship a kit from near the same location.  Asiatees kicks ***, and they gave me a free bag of gummy bears.  It's the little things...

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On 5/20/2020 at 1:21 PM, JeffSpicoli said:

I agree, I refuse to use Amazon because they have crushed so many businesses.  Not to mention Amazon takes your money then sits on the order for 3-4 days.  I have a personal policy of, if, for no good reason, my order isn't shipped in 24-36 hours, I cancel the order.   There's no incentive to be a good seller if you can sit on peoples money and make them wait for no legit reason.

Back in the day Tower was the go to mail order.   My local shop in Wisconsin closed down after a strong 50 year run in 2015.   If I walk in a hobby shop and don't see any Tamiya kits, I'm pretty much outta there.   I went to Hobby Town in Virgina  Beach last weekend - they had a nice supply of Tamiya paint and tools and tapes etc.  They had zero Tamiya kits on the shelf.   Everything was Horizon and Traxxas and Axial.   BORING.

What's the shop name in WI?  Lots of good shops MN during 90s.

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5 hours ago, A-Baum said:

My Manta Ray from Asiatees showed up today.  The payment cleared Paypal on Sunday and shipped monday and got here today.  That's impressive. And shipping was "only" $39 which makes me wonder why RCmart is now charging around $100 to ship a kit from near the same location.  Asiatees kicks ***, and they gave me a free bag of gummy bears.  It's the little things...

Great to hear, I will start looking on Asiatees.  Can't understand how expensive shipping cost is for RCmart, both stores are in HK I believe.

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Thanks for sharing all the great info! I'm just getting into the hobby and was shocked to see the absolute lack of any Tamiya selection at the LHSs and the lack of stock online when I started searching two months ago. 

Fwiw..my experience was:

I realized the industry and the clientele and demo had changed and that was clearly reflected in the brick and mortar experience I was seeing.

As much as I love online convenience I wasn't seeing what I wanted..so I directed my energy towards finding a LHS that didn't focus on Traxxas and the like. (I have nothing against that brand I just wanted something different).

I spent a solid days worth of effort researching local shops, realizing that mom and pops don't always have good SEO and google chops, so I tried multiple ways to find stores within an hour of me. All the top results...only carried Traxxas or Redcat etc. They could order Tamiya but didn't stock.

But then I found the golden ticket. Deep in the search results I found a mom and pop LHS that stocked Tamiya and Kyosho and LOVES the brands. They carry some Traxxas stuff too btw.

So what I found was creating a relationship with them is the way to go. I was able to walk in and pick a Hornet off the shelf. They have a Pumpkin NIB, they have multiple TT-02 kits on shelf (WRX, Porsche GT3, Alfa Romeo bodies), Kyosho Ultima , even Tamiya MAN kit!

They have a good relationship with the distro and were able to snag me Hotshot re-re it arrived on Wednesday... how? Because last month when I bought the Hornet they heard I wanted a Hotshot so they put one on backorder and bam..it's arriving with zero wait.

Anyway...as much as love online convenience I found it was worth my time to hunt down a LHS if one still exists.

Photo of my LHS that I will do everything in my power to keep in business 👍

"* There are Tamiya kits hidden all over this store .under shelves, behind other boxes etc. 

 

IMG_20200522_113550.jpg

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On 5/22/2020 at 10:23 AM, A-Baum said:

My Manta Ray from Asiatees showed up today.  The payment cleared Paypal on Sunday and shipped monday and got here today.  That's impressive. And shipping was "only" $39 which makes me wonder why RCmart is now charging around $100 to ship a kit from near the same location.  Asiatees kicks ***, and they gave me a free bag of gummy bears.  It's the little things...

Yeah... for anyone who wants 2018 Manta Ray, I think they still have a few left... coming from HK, they have the most reasonable prices... even for the heavier kits, their cost after shipping is still a few dollars less than buying from TowerHobbies, provided they have the item in stock... 

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my LHS shop actually said the following...." they dont make rc kits anymore.....tamiya is non existent" now, i get they are a traxxas place. but cmon. this is why people go online

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9 hours ago, metalheadDad said:

Thanks for sharing all the great info! I'm just getting into the hobby and was shocked to see the absolute lack of any Tamiya selection at the LHSs and the lack of stock online when I started searching two months ago. 

Fwiw..my experience was:

I realized the industry and the clientele and demo had changed and that was clearly reflected in the brick and mortar experience I was seeing.

As much as I love online convenience I wasn't seeing what I wanted..so I directed my energy towards finding a LHS that didn't focus on Traxxas and the like. (I have nothing against that brand I just wanted something different).

I spent a solid days worth of effort researching local shops, realizing that mom and pops don't always have good SEO and google chops, so I tried multiple ways to find stores within an hour of me. All the top results...only carried Traxxas or Redcat etc. They could order Tamiya but didn't stock.

But then I found the golden ticket. Deep in the search results I found a mom and pop LHS that stocked Tamiya and Kyosho and LOVES the brands. They carry some Traxxas stuff too btw.

So what I found was creating a relationship with them is the way to go. I was able to walk in and pick a Hornet off the shelf. They have a Pumpkin NIB, they have multiple TT-02 kits on shelf (WRX, Porsche GT3, Alfa Romeo bodies), Kyosho Ultima , even Tamiya MAN kit!

They have a good relationship with the distro and were able to snag me Hotshot re-re it arrived on Wednesday... how? Because last month when I bought the Hornet they heard I wanted a Hotshot so they put one on backorder and bam..it's arriving with zero wait.

Anyway...as much as love online convenience I found it was worth my time to hunt down a LHS if one still exists.

Photo of my LHS that I will do everything in my power to keep in business 👍

"* There are Tamiya kits hidden all over this store .under shelves, behind other boxes etc. 

 

IMG_20200522_113550.jpg

Wow buddy, your LHS looks amazing! What a yummy sight.

My local (relatively speaking) HS is huge and the guys there are super nice, but they don't stock a single Tamiya kit in the whole shop (as @JeffSpicoli said, BORING). They can order them of course but so can I, and for a way cheaper price, so for as much as I like to support them when I can I never bought much more than paint, ESCs, servos and some static kits for my wife.

I would LOVE to walk into a hobby shop one day and buy a kit off the shelf, just like that, without time and shipping and a screen involved in the process.

Last time I saw a LHS with any Tamiya kits was in Australia not too long ago, just about one year before I got back into the hobby. And the time before that I think I was still a kid with no money, so I'm looking forward to such thrilling experience someday in the future! :rolleyes:

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4 hours ago, Ferruz said:

I would LOVE to walk into a hobby shop one day and buy a kit off the shelf, just like that, without time and shipping and a screen involved in the process.

Last time I saw a LHS with any Tamiya kits was in Australia not too long ago, just about one year before I got back into the hobby. And the time before that I think I was still a kid with no money, so I'm looking forward to such thrilling experience someday in the future! :rolleyes:

You just can't beat that feeling for sure, browsing and deciding. Having seen the sights Brisbane has to offer the hobby shops are about all that tempt me to visit the big city 6 hours drive away nowadays. The best one I thought unfortunately closed down recently, but the second best is just round the corner from my Brother-in-laws & family which is handy, they actually still think I go there to see them :ph34r: :lol:.

There are 2 pretty good hobby shops only an hour the other way from me, but don't stock Tamiya Kits. The one did but didn't sell many but may get them into order?  But with other Aussie shops doing free ship its less hassle.

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On 5/18/2020 at 5:08 PM, Superluminal said:

Im in the UK and for me it tends to mainly be;

Tony (ebay shop)

Modelsport

Jadlam

Fusion Hobbies

Tamico (Germany)

T2shop (Rc Kleinkram - Germany)

Rcmart (Hong Kong)

I try and avoid buying from Japan now as every order without fail (even for marker pens that cost less than a fiver) has landed me with a customs charge and the additional royal mail ransom fee.

 

 

Yep welcome to the word which has been missing for a few months (although its started to creep back again)............Brexit! Just wait until we get European custom charges! Tamico and T2shop will probably disappear from ya list aswell! And the UK hobby shop will probably cash in on the fact that it won't be viable to buy overseas and they will put prices up aswell like modelsport have done with the p&p at the moment, it used to be free £99 and over!  now it's been very quietly put up to £199<_< don't get me wrong modelsport give very good service can't fault them but like a lot of UK traders if the opportunity arises to cash in they will!.

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On 5/19/2020 at 12:21 PM, ChrisRx718 said:

Does anyone remember when Banzai Hobby used to stock Tamiya? Those were the days. Soooo cheap and reasonable shipping charges - I probably went a whole year in the hobby and only ever ordered from Banzai.

Nowadays only really useful for some obscure tools / tape / RC drift car bits. Sad times :( 

Plaza Japan is reflective of what the proper 'retail' prices of Tamiya should be, without all the import duty. They will ship to the UK, but you definitely will get import fees. If you order enough stuff ( > £40) it's still worthwhile as the cost of fees is less than the huge savings you can make on RRP.

 

Yeah banzai was really cheap I got my first re-re hotshot and super hotshot from banzai and still a lot cheaper that just one single hotshot!  Like you I just spent all my time ordering from them The last thing I bought was the Watanabe hornet then it just started to dry up:unsure: shame it was good times back then!

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On 5/18/2020 at 5:08 PM, Superluminal said:

Im in the UK and for me it tends to mainly be;

Tony (ebay shop)

Modelsport

Jadlam

Fusion Hobbies

Tamico (Germany)

T2shop (Rc Kleinkram - Germany)

Rcmart (Hong Kong)

I try and avoid buying from Japan now as every order without fail (even for marker pens that cost less than a fiver) has landed me with a customs charge and the additional royal mail ransom fee.

 

 

For UK shops I'd add JK-RC on ebay and his own site (https://www.jk-rc.co.uk/) have bought quite a few spares recently from there, he's very good on prices and doesn't charge for shipping.

Also time tunnel models (https://www.timetunnelmodels.com)  are good for parts prices.

 

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