How important is a website for RC enthusiasts ?

[lordnikon]

Asking as i nearly 100% shop online to buy my stuff, through UK suppliers (mostly) but some ebay and some hong kong etc. However one of my preferred shops website has clearly slowed to a crawl which is making me frustrated and will probably end up shopping elsewhere.

It got me thinking, is it really that important ?? Its convenient for me with internet access all day but is an online presence really that important in the RC world ??

[furball85]

yes i believe so if there is no local store then the internet is usually the only option so for eg kamtec are in bognor regis and for the clubs up in scotland it is far easier to put there orders in on the website than to try and find a shop that stocks mardave shells

[Crazy L]

I think it is. In the old days, you'd have to get home from work, or in your lunch break, ring the shop to tell him what you were after, ask how much the postage was so you could send a cheque off for payment, then wait.

Now, We get home from racing, see what's knackered, click click done, turns up a day or two later.

It's a niche hobby remember, not a high street thing like primark or something that will be packed with eager beaver shoppers day in day out, so it has to be available whenever. Not to mention that the world and the way things are done have changed forever because of the internet and if you aint in, you're gonna be left behind and out on your ear.

[Crazy L]

Not to mention, similar to what the bloke above just said, some of us don't have a "local hobby shop", or we do and they are crap, (wonders if the manta ray driveshafts are still "on the boat") old joke.

[Origineelreclamebord]

I have no local hobby store that even sells TRF goods - in fact, I have yet to find any store in the Netherlands where I could get most of the TRF parts I need.

This however isn't confined to Tamiya - Being someone who likes to do custom stuff I regularly need parts that a local hobby shop can't keep in stock or can't even get a hold of. And for the spares they do have, it's often at half price online (the most extreme example so far was that I needed a flanged bearing that costs 2.50GBP a piece online and 10GBP in the store - and they didn't have it in stock either).

Then lastly, if it wasn't for RC websites I would never have started racing... I think my Hobby would have been a short one, as the community part of this hobby is valuable to me! :)