I am still surprised by the number of people that seem to feel the need to send their money directly to another country outside of the USA. In today's economy, America is struggling and it seems to me that we all would want to do our best to help. Sending monies to a foriegn country just does not seem to make much sense to me. And it is not like we don't have any RC shops locally to us. And when I say "locally" I mean shops and businesses in the USA.

If you don't have any LHS or you don't like your LHS them check out my blog. There you will find over 350 different places to shop from that will help support our economy and you will find vendors that cannot be beat on quality AND customer service.

I saw this interesting fact on shopping locally:

Shopping "locally" has a multiplier effect. One dollar spent at locally owned business returns FIVE TIMES that amount within the community through city taxes, employee's wages and purchase of materials and supplies at other independent businesses.

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


I guess another way to ask my question: Why should I buy my RC goods from a foriegn country?

Another thought.

Edited to add on 24 Oct:

Thanks for all the great comments and the not so great comments. I don't think attacking my character was very considerate but I know that is how things work here on RCG.

I am not trying to guilt anyone at all. I just want folks to understand and realize we have so many great stores here in the US to purchase their RC products from. I'll bet that a lot of folks never even heard of some of those stores on this list here: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...26&postcount=1 I at least wanted to point out the fact that we do have some great places here in the US to buy stuff from.

That is the point I am trying to make. Sure, would it be cool if we could purchase everything we buy here in the US? I think so. Would it have the 5 times mulitplier effect that the economists says it does? I don't know. That is not my line of work. But my small brain says that the more stuff we as Americans purchase here in the US the better off as a country we would be. Like I said, I don't know if that is right or wrong but it seems to make sense to me.

Ultimately, we as consumers need to do our research and shop at places we feel is best for us. Me personally? I do not buy anything directly from an asian market. Two reasons; 1. I do not trust my CC number or banking info going somehere that does not have the same conumer protection laws as we do here in the US and I like to limit exposure of my personal info especially when it comes to money and 2. I have yet to find something "over there" that could not be purchased here in the US.

Frank

Okey Dokey Frank; I buy more "locally" now than I used to. BUT having been in this Hobby( insert addiction here), since 1959, AND having owned a hobby shop at one time, I know what it takes to make it a go. This does not include adding the freight and then doubling the price. I do not deny any one a decent mark up on their merchandise, but you must admit some of the sites are really outlandish. My closest hobby shop(brick and mortar) is 100 miles away, and is limited in merchandise that I need and use. Therefore I buy online at the most cost efficient site that I can. Be it one of the larger online stores, or possibly going to the overseas market. It IS a matter of economics for me. If the American market wants to survive, they must be competitive. That being said, I stand by my decision to buy as I can from whomever I can. Thanks for the thread. Roy

Originally Posted by Mr. foambuilder

Okey Dokey Frank; I buy more "locally" now than I used to. BUT having been in this Hobby( insert addiction here), since 1959, AND having owned a hobby shop at one time, I know what it takes to make it a go. This does not include adding the freight and then doubling the price. I do not deny any one a decent mark up on their merchandise, but you must admit some of the sites are really outlandish. My closest hobby shop(brick and mortar) is 100 miles away, and is limited in merchandise that I need and use. Therefore I buy online at the most cost efficient site that I can. Be it one of the larger online stores, or possibly going to the overseas market. It IS a matter of economics for me. If the American market wants to survive, they must be competitive. That being said, I stand by my decision to buy as I can from whomever I can. Thanks for the thread. Roy

There is nothing wrong with buying online. That is why I said "locally" in quotations. Locally for me is HeadsUp RC or ServoCity. They are located in my dining room.

Frank

Originally Posted by Mr. foambuilder

Okey Dokey Frank; I buy more "locally" now than I used to. BUT having been in this Hobby( insert addiction here), since 1959, AND having owned a hobby shop at one time, I know what it takes to make it a go. This does not include adding the freight and then doubling the price. I do not deny any one a decent mark up on their merchandise, but you must admit some of the sites are really outlandish. My closest hobby shop(brick and mortar) is 100 miles away, and is limited in merchandise that I need and use. Therefore I buy online at the most cost efficient site that I can. Be it one of the larger online stores, or possibly going to the overseas market. It IS a matter of economics for me. If the American market wants to survive, they must be competitive. That being said, I stand by my decision to buy as I can from whomever I can. Thanks for the thread. Roy

I wouldn't exactly call 100 miles from you local either, that could be 2 or 3 cities away.

I'll use my LHS for small ticket items I need right then. I've also purchased a few bigger ticket items from them, as for lipos, I don't see why I should pay $75-$100 for the ones they sell when I can get a similar lipo for less than $30 from an American vendor.

I will order replacement parts for my PZ plane there. The markup is only a few bucks and they don't charge me shipping. So it's cheaper for me to order it through them and Horizon than to order it through PZ and pay shipping.

ded; I'm with you, and also Frank, I have the same hobby shops here in my Den/model room/music room, and what ever else it catches

Yup, Horizon is also local and located in my dining room and probably yours as well. Aren't we lucky?


Frank







And for more local places click below.

I buy from HURC, hobbypartz(batteries), and my LHS...just opened in august, only 20 minutes away, and I can get anything I need from horizon or tower through them.
I avoid overseas vendors like the plague!

But where does the 'local' hobby shop buy nearly all its stock from ?, I would guess somewhere outside the USA.

Yes the hobby shop could employ locals which help the economy, but going by some of the posts regarding purchasing from some large hobby suppliers, their customer service leaves a lot to be desired.

I would love to agree with you Frank that purchasing locally, or at least within ones country has to be better for the country. But when some of the problems are weighed up compared to just ordering from a major international supplier, it's can be difficult to ignore cost as a major consideration.

Often when wanting to purchase from a local LHS, they don't have what you want in stock, so will still have to order it from their supplier, which can add another delay. Especially if they want to wait until they have a large enough order to bother with.

It's a difficult one to come up with an answer to. We as modelers have partly destroyed our own local LHS's, but then again many local LHS's perhaps just simply cannot compete with the bigger distributors who also do mail order.

My 'local' LHS also has to sell, tropical fish, fishing tackle, plastic kits, RC cars, planes, and boats, balsa, ply, covering, paints, glues etc etc, and also is required to stock all those little things that us modelers only want one or two of, ........ maybe a couple of times a year.

I take my hat off to those who still manage to run an LHS, and can make a living out of it. But sorry, I just can't support you by buying everything at your shop.

well, I couldn't find much of what I needed at my LHS. And the last time I was there, I felt like I got ripped off "BIG" time.

Would you consider Hobbypartz, nitroplanes, bananahobby local? They are all US based.

Originally Posted by rcalldaylong

Would you consider Hobbypartz, nitroplanes, bananahobby local? They are all US based.

Yes, I know I would.

Frank

Unfortunately, it's all about money...so until china and the other major players in the cheap labor game raise up their prices, we're going to continue to have things made there. The best we can really do right now is buy from US-based companies, regardless of where their stuff comes from. Eventually maybe we'll see 'made in the USA' on boxes again.

My primary supplier, Heads Up RC, is 2487 miles away and they offer $2 shipping and great customer service, but all their stuff probably comes from China anyway. Works for me.

My "local" hobby shops cannot compete for my business due to their prices and attitudes.

By the way, contrary to popular opinion, I have first-hand knowledge that China produces some high-quality stuff.............................my wife. (very happily married)

Interesting... I'll watch this a while

Ahhhhh c'mon jazz. Your the reason i clicked on this thread. Let er rip .

Originally Posted by Dejavu*Xion

Ahhhhh c'mon jazz. Your the reason i clicked on this thread. Let er rip .

I was on my phone and no way did I want to say what I really think it would have taken hours to type on the phone, in spite of it being a better Android type phone

I buy from my LHS as much as possible. I enjoy going there sometimes even when I don't need anything. That's why I think a Hobby-Coffee-Shop-With-Airfield would be such a great idea - people would quit their jobs to hang out in my dream hobby shop

I don't get into the politics of the issue too much, but I do like to support my local people. In today's world it's far too easy to think of yourself as an island - but we still live in villages! That guy running the hobby shop might not be a nice guy, but he's part of your village, and what happens to his life affects all of us, often in ways too complex to understand. So, my principle is basically "tie goes to the LHS" - because the interests of the consumer are equally important as the interests of the business owners who serve them.

A lot of you know by now that for me it's about the total experience, and not just about getting the lowest price for the thing that meets my needs. I put a high value on my time, so customer service problems and product usage issues are a big deal to me. I'm trying to get the best total experience value I can - and in most cases I get that from the LHS - both because they are local, and because they tend to carry higher quality products.

However, I do order from HobbyKing sometimes - usually it's generic stuff like LED strips or plugs or wires or helicopters... hehe... but if the HK price isn't significantly better on something, I prefer the higher quality product at the higher price purchased locally.

So note... I'm not saying go to your LHS out of some duty to your community, I'm saying go there if you can get the best experience there, but if it's close, go to your LHS.