Quote:
Originally Posted by Neil Skull
What Dave and others have to understand is that most Model shops and Distributors in the UK have been running at a loss for over a year now.
That can only last so long before things go wrong.
If you are an experinced modeller then you will be quite ok to know what to buy online either from UK or Online. those guys do provide a good service.
But how will the next generation of would be Racers and modellers even get a chance to start without a local shop for help and advice.
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What I worry about here is that the natural conclusion to this is further price rises...I'm not sure anyone will want to take up the hobby if that's the case, the barriers to getting into are already high cost wise...it's between a rock and a hard place!
However, I'm not aware of any industry that's successfully survived by guilt tripping people into "buying British". I just genuinely think you need to give people positive reasons to buy from uk shops, not say you'll refuse to help them unless they do! There are positive reasons to support the shops, many mentioned in the thread..even more so in the States where a lot of shops are attached to tracks!
This isn't aimed at a particular source, but it does surprise me that no-one supports foreign bought goods in rc, distributor wise. I assume it comes from the manufacturers refusing to fund it, but it seems to me that a more sensible approach would be for the manufacturer to financially support the distributor providing good customer service (eg warranty repairs etc) regardless where the item was bought, after all the manufacturer has still made his money from the sale, and it's in his interest to support the product!? Plus that then becomes an income stream for the distributor...
Like I say, don't know the details of why that doesn't happen in rc, but has been a successful way of keeping distributors alive in other industries (and that I DO know from experience). Wouldn't help the shops though sadly..