Buying kits this way - Does this harm the industry?

[mickbench]

I'm just wondering, I'm I harming model sales by buying my kits of ebay? I don't mean OOP either. I tend to try and find even recently current kits that someone doesn't want, and then bid low. Getting kits for less then £10 if I can.

My latest purchase has been a Jaguar 220, for £6.20. Another was a 350Z for £9.00. A Merc SLK for £3.20, a Porsche Boxster for £3.00..!! I've even won a opel astra that one shop I saw it in for £27.00 for £9.05.. £11.00 with postage.. Over half the price.

I've even had kits OOP cheap as well... But I just think - they are for sale... If it gets my collection up then so be it. but is this not harming sales..? I buy nothing but tamiya, yet if i had brought the kits from LHS then would this help support them? I only recently complained about poor stock levels from the LHS... Just thinking is it due to ebay, and buying kits someone no longer wants that has resulted in even less in LHS to select from..

thoughts?

[g00eY]

well let's see... (i dont really know what im talking about) if only you do it then i dont see much harm to it, but if everybody does it im sure it would harm the industry. the people who sell them on Ebay still buy at MSRP or whatnot but the people who buy off Ebay are no longer buying kits at the regular price and not really contributing to the economy.

[mike@af]

Somebody has to buy the kits to put them up on eBay. I dont see it harming the industry. Its better than them going to waste and collecting dust.

[tardster]

Originally Posted by GTmike400

Somebody has to buy the kits to put them up on eBay. I dont see it harming the industry. Its better than them going to waste and collecting dust.

I would have to agree with Mike on this 1. Someone bought the kit to begin with, maybe they decided they didnt want it anymore or it could be that it was harder than what they thought. Whichever it is they were bought before hand and your just smart shopping. Theres nothing wrong with that...

[MPWR]

Are you going to build them? Are you going to buy paint/decals/PE for them? No worries, mate. Your LHS proprieter may rather you buy the kits from him, but I don't imagine you're buying paints on ebay too. And the kits you have were of course sold at someone's LHS. Build more kits, you're supporting the industry.

[drunken monkey]

buying from ebay doesn't affect the industry directly as someone else said, the sellers have to source their kits from somewhere in the first place
i.e the makers get paid.

however, this is where one problem, comes into play.
we have no idea where/how some of the sellers get their kits.
you might've noticed that quite a few sellers of tamiya/fujimi kits are based in hk.
now if you know hk like i know hk, then you'd be aware that it is the centre of one of the worlds largest smuggling/counterfeit/stolen goods operations in the world..... make of that what you will....

ignoring this and assuming that everything is legit, because we are buying kits from abroad, in the case of HK sellers, we are by-passing a hell of a lot of tax, hence the relatively cheap prices. also, the way they work
i.e mass storage of kits, operate from a pc (i.e no overheads) adds to the lower costs of running their operation which translates as lower cost to the buyer.
what this ends up meaning is that the smaller, private run model shops on our shores are losing a lot of business and closing, simply because they can't compete with the bare bones operations of the internet seller.
since i started building/collecting kits around a year ago, i know of two shops that have closed while modelzone seems to be opening more branches.....

[mickbench]

Originally Posted by MPWR

Are you going to build them? Are you going to buy paint/decals/PE for them? No worries, mate. Your LHS proprieter may rather you buy the kits from him, but I don't imagine you're buying paints on ebay too. And the kits you have were of course sold at someone's LHS. Build more kits, you're supporting the industry.

Yep. I'm going to build them. They are not intended to be left in the box. I've got an area in the house I want fillled with models built by me..

I don't buy paints on ebay. Most of the time paints, tools etc come from models in motion, or the LHS.

[Spitfire7]

I buy all of my kits from eBay, prices are a lot less expensive than in hobby shops. But like yourself I get all my tools, paints etc from shops (except Tamiya wax and compound, not available in the UK so bought from a guy in Hong Kong on eBay )

I doubt this has a major impact on the industry as a whole.

[sirvtec1600]

buying off ebay doesn't really affect ur LHS that much, unless you are the only customer in the LHS. Don't worry about it.
Also I just want to point that most of HK's models are not stolen goods, just the distributors stock at least 50's of one model at once(like the warehouse pic).

its all to do will the countries currency, average HK people get pay like $400HKD($50USD) a day. If a model cost 2500Yen ($180HKD) ($23USD) that will cost almost 50% of the salary, which does not make sense, so distributors have to lower price to survive.
I have been to other countries HS like (Thailand and Taiwan) you can get models like ($12USD) its all to do will country currency!!

[Nobbys Nuts]

I recently had this discussion with 2 different store owner/managers when buying a kit off them. I asked when they were getting some new Tamiya kits in like the 2 different Yamaha M1s and the 2004 Subaru WRC with photoetch and they both said they are not because they won't sell - cars and bikes are dead was the comment. I said well I am asking about them and if I put payment on the counter now will you order them in for me - NO! as they have to put in a minimum order to get them. I said that was why more and more people are not buying off them and going to the net to get what they want and they both said who cares, as they can then devote that area of shelving to something else that they can turn over faster mentioning paint, brushes, diecast models etc.
Needless to say I won't go back to either!

[drunken monkey]

and that's kinda it.
the only way we, as a consumer have any say over how things are in our home market, is if we buy from the home market.
as the other guy pointed out, hobby stores have minimum orders which they can hardly ever fulfill.
what follows is that the store owners aren't in much communication with the distributers which in turn means that knowledge/information about our home market isn't passed on to the manufacturers.

instead, too many of us buy from import stores who can because of many factors, can supply us the same kits for what we would consider to be cheaper.
how are the manufacturers supposed to know what we want in the UK/US if no one buys from the UK/US?

[phase5]

Okay here is my view as a retailer. My shop stocks a great range of kits and supplies,And still sell very well i myself will buy of ebay as not all kits on ebay are available any more.But the part we hate the most (mainly from rc guy's) is they come in and bragg about how much they got this cheaper of the net in front of other customers.This then makes us look like rip offs and its frustrating.It has gotten to the stage that i want to get rid of rc cars and all spares.So i can see why some shops will stop carring stuff.But in the case of models it does not affect us at all as when someone sells a kit he will come and buy a new one of us so it goes around in a circle. I do have to amit thst the asian market do have make a difference on the sales.But its the service we give that keeps our customers coming back.
So my theory is look after your customer and they will always come back

[Murray Kish]

Why people do that is beyond me? Surely there's always a cheaper price somewhere, but expecting one shop to ALWAYS have the lowest price on everything, is just ignorant. That guys should get a special price at your shop.... +20% on everything...

I expect a 'fair' price. A few bucks here and there isn't worth the stress. I'd rather buy from someone I enjoy dealing with, and has decent service (as you stated). That said, I do feel that there are LHS's that are significantly over priced, and therefore do not shop there. There's a balance.

As for the whole ebay thing.... I agree with Mike. The kits had to come from somewhere. Maybe it's not the best for the LHS (assuming they had the same kit available), but it has to be good for the industry if it's causing people to buy stuff they wouldn't have otherwise bought...

Murray

Originally Posted by phase5

Okay here is my view as a retailer. My shop stocks a great range of kits and supplies,And still sell very well i myself will buy of ebay as not all kits on ebay are available any more.But the part we hate the most (mainly from rc guy's) is they come in and bragg about how much they got this cheaper of the net in front of other customers.This then makes us look like rip offs and its frustrating.It has gotten to the stage that i want to get rid of rc cars and all spares.So i can see why some shops will stop carring stuff.But in the case of models it does not affect us at all as when someone sells a kit he will come and buy a new one of us so it goes around in a circle. I do have to amit thst the asian market do have make a difference on the sales.But its the service we give that keeps our customers coming back.
So my theory is look after your customer and they will always come back

[LS1Aaron]

I will never understand why people will order stuff and wait a week or longer to save a few bucks.I understand some items like rims and stuff have to be ordered but come on.So YES it absolutely hurts your LHS and the Hobby.Eventualy there will be no real stores ,therefore no ditributors and then no models.Dont be cheap!

[phase5]

i try to keep my prices down my Amt and Revell are cheaper than most but the fujimi kits the price we get are well over the top as well as tamiya some wholesalers are making a killing i'm sure of it as we are not. And the hardest part is the lenght of time they get the kit. I asked tamiya of Australia when the enzo was coming in (when it was first due) and they never heard of it so i grab one from hlj and showed them.