Quote:
Originally Posted by pro4nut
What the tax that the shops pay and you break the law by not paying?
Its easy to make an 'its the government' comment but its more complex than tax.
Shops in the UK are more expensive to run, ALL of the overheads aer higher than Hong Kong and we also have the problem of buying stock through distributers in the Uk which adds to the cost think of it like this.
In the US a model shop buys a B4 from associated and then sells it to the customer.
In the Uk the shop buys from a distributer who buys from associated before they can sell to the customer. This middle man approach is where a lot of margin is lost.
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All overheads are not less in Hong Kong. I'm willing to bet that no shop in Hong Kong owns it's own premises and due to the lack of space in HK rent is astronomically high, even more so for retail. Wages are indeed cheaper, but for the majority of stores it is the shop owner that is sat behind the counter.
RC shops are open everyday of the week until at least 9pm. Most of the shops will be quite full in an evening and you'll find people from all over the world shopping there. A street stuffed full of RC shops, static models and replica guns draws a reasonable crowd. Because of the large foot fall the retail shops actually sell quite a large volume of goods, which I believe allows them to negotiate good prices from distributors.
Even after all of this the model shop owners are still not the ones driving the fancy cars......