The Internet And The Hobby Shop

Sales of radio control products, like many other categories, are moving more and more online. There's no disputing that this has taken a heavy toll on local hobby shops, which are struggling, and often closing.

There's an assumption that internet shopping is taking over solely because of lower prices. I'd like to dispute that. Certainly online stores can and often do have better prices, but I've been to local stores which are competitive, and the online shipping usually cancels out the local sales tax.

For me, a much bigger issue is selection. The hobby shops I've visited carry vastly fewer products than the big online retailers, and inevitably a number of things I need are out of stock. This negates one of the best reasons to go to a local store: instant gratification. I think most of us would pay a little more to have that new toy today.

To see how bad the selection problem is, I tried an experiment. I currently own six planes and four helicopters, ranging from a $100 RTF to a thousand dollar all-up heli. They come from a variety of major brands and are all fairly popular. I wanted to see how many of these ten I could purchase locally, regardless of cost:

• ElectriFly Reactor
• E-flite Taylorcraft 450
• E-flite Enticement
• MS Composit S2 Bulldog
• Multiplex AcroMaster
• LightFlite RC Bug
• Esky Lama V4
• Esky Honey Bee Fixed Pitch
• Align T-Rex 450S
• Century Swift 16

First, I had to locate some local hobby shops. This is difficult in-and-of itself. Searching for "hobby shop" on Google Maps gives some results, but it also turns up crafts stores, model train dealers, and the like. There are also dedicated sites like US Hobby Shops which can help. The AMA web site has a hobby shop finder, but none of these are complete. One surprisingly good source was to visit Horizon Hobbies and search for local dealers.

I was surprised to see how many listings were old and wrong. Those that were current often had only an address and a phone number. It's hard to believe that so few local stores have a web site with a few pictures, directions, and their hours posted. I'm not talking about a shopping cart - just a minimal presence to let people know you exist.

In the end I located and visited five local hobby stores in northern New Jersey. (The nearest was a 25 minute drive away.) Many were dominated by cars and trucks, which is surprising because there are AMA clubs in the area. Most had only one out of my ten models, the ubiquitous T-Rex 450. Even then, I had trouble finding the 450S kit with the plastic head.

The best store carried 3 out of my 10 models, and had only limited parts for them. In other words, if I was starting from scratch, I couldn't buy my fleet locally if I wanted to. I'd have to buy online just to find the planes and helicopters I prefer.

So why is the local selection problem so bad? No doubt carrying a lot of inventory is expensive, but I've been to a hobby shop in northern California that carries the majority of what I fly. I've seen one trend that explains this. In an effort to attract business, two stores near me have installed large, indoor tracks for racing small cars.

These tracks are great for RC car fans, but they take up a lot of floor space.

On one hand, bringing in customers to do something they can't do online, and getting repeat business from it, is smart. On the other hand, these tracks take up a ton of room. In both stores, the tracks occupy about 75% of the floor space. That's exactly where all the products I can't find would be! For every person who comes in to race on the track, there's another like me who can't find what he needs, and doesn't come back.

If selection is a problem, that means no instant gratification, so what other advantages do local stores  have? A big one is the ability to get advice. This is still true for a lot of people, however the web is encroaching here too. Sites like RCGroups have an almost endless supply of good information. For helicopters, the Finless Bob build videos are better than the manuals. It's just not as important to ask questions face to face as it used to be, although I still enjoy the conversations.

The last big advantage to local stores is being able to see a product before you buy it. Depending on the item, this can be invaluable, and I'm willing to pay a little more for it. In practice, this doesn't always work out. For example, I'm in the market for a high end radio at the moment. Let's put aside the selection problem and assume I can find a store which carries the transmitters I'm considering. In my experience, retail stores tend to hide things like this behind the counter. I'd much rather be able to look them over by myself. Because the units are expensive, they can't afford to have a demo model, but the employees are also reluctant to crack open a factory fresh box. In the end, I'm not that much better off than buying online.

There is a flip side to this, for which consumers are to blame. Many people check out a product at the local store, then go home and buy it online. The store owners hate this, and I don't blame them. Unless the store is really overcharging, I think you owe it to them to buy the item locally. If the local price is higher, ask if they can come down to the minimum advertised price (MAP). That way, you get a fair price, and the store does too.

I wish I had a large hobby shop near me dedicated to planes and helicopters. I'd be happy to support them, and would probably spend $1000 a year there. Perhaps the situation is worse in the Northeast U.S. where the flying season is so much shorter. If you have a great local store, please give them your business and keep them going. Otherwise, for better or worse, the internet may soon be the only way to buy RC products.