Originally Posted by Murocflyer

So why not buy locally? Can't think of any reason not to.

I can think of a few. 10+% sales tax. 30 min one-way drive...wasted gas and time. Just to have them say, "We can order that for you." Wow, thanks... I can do that at home in my underwear, save the sales tax, gas and time. And I'll have it in a few days right at my door versus another hour round trip just to pick it up.

Originally Posted by Azarr

I normally stay out of this type of thread, however....

I get the support the LHS sentiment. But let's say instead of buying a $50 item from a mail order company in a different state, I buy the same item direct from overseas for $10. In both cases the overseas company gets my $10. Yet if I buy direct from overseas, I now have $40 to spend at my local farmer's market, pizza place, movie theater. Now my $40 really stays local. If I have an excess of funds and don't need it for day to day expenses I can invest my $40 and still it remains domestic.

Azarr

Excellent point.

Originally Posted by Murocflyer

Steve,

No reason to get nasty.

Yes, that would be local for us but not you. But you know, I have heard that urban legend about HK having a store located here in the USA, but I don't believe that. So far I have not seen anything that leads me to believe there is a HK store here. I have been told even when you call for customer service you call overseas.

Frank

Not an HK store, but they have a warehouse on the west coast that they keep somewhat stocked so they can ship certain items faster than "slow boat".

Originally Posted by crvnation

Not an HK store, but they have a warehouse on the west coast that they keep somewhat stocked so they can ship certain items faster than "slow boat".

We have a HK warehouse in the UK as well, they also advertise pick up from the store.

UK Warehouse Collection Available
Do you live near Ipswich? Our UK warehouse is situated in the sleepy village of Elmsett and you can now collect your UK warehouse orders direct!

i do both and buy a lot from rc groups as well

Hi,
I would love to be able to shop at my local LHS and get competative pricing but it is impossible.
The two are priced way out of line. One is close the other is not. Jeff at HURC is 1000 miles away but he answers my emails and ships fast and cheap...tough to go wrong there.
All the big online dealers have screwed up my orders and hard to correct stuff. I learned to use AmEx and let them handle problems. Waiting for an order from HK it is 2weeks + and counting.
RC groups and Watt Flyer are great. Shipping and customer service seems to be the leading downfall of online ordering. Have gotten puffed batteries from some online and had to return on my dime. I sent pictures showing the problem and still had to return is this a good practice?
Sending back an obvious defective lipo, sounds dangerous to me. I have bought a ton of guitars, some directly from china. They are getting quite good at building them, the Koreans are very good at building them close to the USA craftsmen at 1/10 the price. There is a bunch of greed in every industry and that is what drives up prices. Look at wall street and what went on. As always just my $.02.

I gotta say. It makes me wonder...

http://www.e-fliterc.com/products/de...rodid=efla1060

http://www.hobbypartz.com/07e-c-platinum-60a.html

now some might say "hobbywing probably copied this" I'd say it's probably the same exact esc but sold for way more by eflite.

Originally Posted by Babadush

I gotta say. It makes me wonder...

http://www.e-fliterc.com/products/de...rodid=efla1060

http://www.hobbypartz.com/07e-c-platinum-60a.html

now some might say "hobbywing probably copied this". I'd say it's probably the same exact esc but sold for way more by eflite.

And, the significantly more expensive E-flite ESC doesn't even have a governor while the "cheapo" ESC does.

I was looking around for 60a esc. I came across this by chance. It was interesting to see for sure.

I have heard that some Chinese knock offs are made at night in the same factories as the legit or original product is made during the day but the guts will be different.

This practice was exposed with the Spektrum receiver clones.

Originally Posted by scootrb4

I have heard that some Chinese knock offs are made at night in the same factories as the legit or original product is made during the day but the guts will be different.

This practice was exposed with the Spektrum receiver clones.

The practice was exposed long ago well before clone Spekie's ...

Various well known world leading brands are made in Chinese and other less copyright controlled locations. Factories effectively running two or more production lines ... the 'genuine' aritcle and the clone. Quite often the two are same.... even down to logo's on the case. But the difference is in the programming ... commisioning. I know of two famous brands that the firmware coding is held strictly by the Brand holders and not available to the factorys. The factorys send the hardware to the Brand holders who then program up ... the factory has their similar but not same programming they install into their clone.
That is why you can buy a same looking clone but it cannot log into the online stores / services of the original product ... hardware is same - but firmware is not.

One of the two I know - the R&D manager told me himself of the practice ... my question was "if you know - why do you not change factory ... stop the cloning ?" His answer was simple ... because of their name and the withholding of the firmware - the genuine product is still sought after and holding it's market. The price of production is so low, the on-time production etc. ... all works out favourable. The clone is seen exactly as a clone and actually has not so great an effect on their market.

Nigel

Originally Posted by crvnation

I can think of a few. 10+% sales tax. 30 min one-way drive...wasted gas and time. Just to have them say, "We can order that for you." Wow, thanks... I can do that at home in my underwear, save the sales tax, gas and time. And I'll have it in a few days right at my door versus another hour round trip just to pick it up.

Yup! I totally agree. That's why I said this: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...20&postcount=3

And if you need some more choices, check out these stores picked by your peers here on RCG: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1751689

It's great to have all those great choices available to us locally. Right here in your living room.

Frank

There is no locally for me...just no one close.

My hobby budget is limited, but I still buy all of my equipment locally. A new LHS has opened up about 15 miles from where I live and I always have a pleasant experience when I go there plus the owner gives a discount to his regular customers. I'm one of those people who have to see and touch things before buying them anyway.

BUT, on the other hand, when someone lives a long distance from any LHS I can understand why ordering online is better, considering the costs of gasoline for your vehicle and in my case where more and more highways are being converted to toll roads, it would be more cost effective.

FF

Well, I am conducting an experiment. I actually purchased a Mini P-40 Warhawk from Banana Hobby to see how it stacks up against all my other planes. I have planes from: Parkzone, Hobbyzone and Flyzone; I also have 3 Tower Hobbies branded planes, all of which are probably Flyzone made. I paid $83.00 OTD for the plane shipped to my door so I will see for myself if their products are as good or bad as some say; especially for the price. Time will tell.