Dollar v Sterling

[Alfonzo]

Exchange rate predicted to reach £1 - $1.20. That's proper low! Good news for Uk hobby shops and Schumacher, bad news for importing pretty much everything! I think even our food imports are priced in $.

[Darren Boyle]

Tell us about it, we have a consignement of 60 X6 Squared due to leave the USA end of next week and they are getting dearer to us by the day........

[sosidge]

Good news for Uk hobby shops and Schumacher

Not really.

Pretty much everything RC is manufactured in a dollar-equivalent country. Some of it is made in Japan and the Yen is even stronger! Existing stock seems "cheap", re-stock will be almost universally more expensive.

Schumacher do not make everything they sell in-house, and I'm sure that many of the items they do manufacture in the UK require raw materials sourced outside the UK.

The appallingly weak pound is good for almost nobody in the RC trade.

[DCM]

but for Schumacher and any UK based manufacturer, it means the products are cheaper to buyers outside of the UK....

Worse though, I can still buy Tamiya spares far cheaper than I can buy them in the UK still....

[jcb]

You lot should have set up a $ account most bank accounts can do one for you. I know when I was buying stuff from the US it made life nice and easy, but also means that now I can convert my $ back into £ and make money :D

I think DCM though has got a point it is still a shame that even with the weak pound you can still import items from abroad cheaper than you can buy them in the UK. Although with my last order of Associated bits I did go to DMS as the price difference was only a few quid and unlike buying from the states where it takes anything up to four weeks my order was with me the following day, and I have to say with a service like that it's worth paying a bit more!!

[DCM]

I wouldn't buy associated spares from HK or the USA, as it levels out to being the same price as buying in the UK, but Tamiys spares.... $3.50 for a pair of wishbones in HK, £5 in the UK, just daft

[Darren Boyle]

Mainly because the Tamiya importer in this country just plain and simple "cant be bothered", they really are a waste of space and we at DMS are seriuosly considering our postion with Tamiya and whether it is worth stocking their products any longer. We kicked out Mirage stuff for similiar poor service and are very close to doing the same with Hobby Co, they are so out of touch and behind the times it is a joke.......

[DCM]

I sat, and I have seen the trade prices, and know for a fact, that even now, spares are cheaper to buy from HK at retail, than they are to buy at trade from the Hobby Co..... and then the Hobby Co turn round and quote 'there is no demand', which, simple matter, is true, no demand for Hobby Co supplied Tamiya gear, as it is too expensive, and so much cheaper elsewhere.

Man, they need shooting.

[ashleyb4]

Buying from abroad in the current financial cliamate is the last thing we should be doing we should be supporting our shops more than ever. I personally used to import some things from the states etc but not any more. Support your shops.

A

[DCM]

yes and no Ash, if life was that simple, the UK economy wouldn't be in such a shit hole that it is in, right now. The plain fact is, that a lot of companies, whilst the going has been good, have capitalised on it, but not been frugal and put profits away.

We take Hobby Co, it is sitting on a product range that could, if marketed correctly and priced right, be realy good for the scene, but as it is, they make their money elsewhere, but would rather sit on a product line and smother it than allow a competitor to make a better job of it. But if Hobby Co were to go through, I wouldn't shed a tear, as they have not tried to be supportive of it's customers.

Currently, most American products are no longer cheaper to buy from America than through the local distributor, but Tamiya is an odd one, as the pricing direct from Asia, is just so much less than the UK price, in a global marketplace, you shop with your wallet.

I have a lot of sympathy for shops, like DMS, as they want to support each brand, but they don't get the support from the likes of Hobby Co.

[DaveG28]

yes and no Ash, if life was that simple, the UK economy wouldn't be in such a shit hole that it is in, right now. The plain fact is, that a lot of companies, whilst the going has been good, have capitalised on it, but not been frugal and put profits away.

We take Hobby Co, it is sitting on a product range that could, if marketed correctly and priced right, be realy good for the scene, but as it is, they make their money elsewhere, but would rather sit on a product line and smother it than allow a competitor to make a better job of it. But if Hobby Co were to go through, I wouldn't shed a tear, as they have not tried to be supportive of it's customers.

Currently, most American products are no longer cheaper to buy from America than through the local distributor, but Tamiya is an odd one, as the pricing direct from Asia, is just so much less than the UK price, in a global marketplace, you shop with your wallet.

I have a lot of sympathy for shops, like DMS, as they want to support each brand, but they don't get the support from the likes of Hobby Co.

This is quite interesting, I was wondering where the margin was that was causing UK prices to still be higher! From a personal point of view, when new back into rc and before I knew the shops or trusted eBay stores, I dealt with Hobby co direct a few times, they were actually really really nice people to me, very friendly, and never failed to get me a part no matter how random, but it did seem a bit odd in the 21st century to be shut for weeks at a time for stock takes, and needing 12 weeks to get orders from Japan!

And Ash, it's not as simple as "buy British", personally I'd still like foreigners to buy British too, which won't happen if we all go down the protectionism route! What if all country's only bought from themselves, we couldn't export anything!?

The way to react is to try to play to strengths, I find I use Uk stores more and more, because the shops in question offer great customer service (DMS ALWAYS come back to me by the end of the day no matter what I ask, or how small the order. Andy at PBM is the same, very helpful and friendly andservicing meetings!) or useful services to me (Modelsport do my esc/motor wire soldering as I'm rubbish at it!!), and I will pay some more for this!

[Alfonzo]

Not really.

Pretty much everything RC is manufactured in a dollar-equivalent country. Some of it is made in Japan and the Yen is even stronger! Existing stock seems "cheap", re-stock will be almost universally more expensive.

Schumacher do not make everything they sell in-house, and I'm sure that many of the items they do manufacture in the UK require raw materials sourced outside the UK.

The appallingly weak pound is good for almost nobody in the RC trade.

Imported materials, whether raw or finished components, will cost more - but seeing as the lion's share of the Schumacher selling price will be determined by its UK costs, the weak pound will help. If only there were more manufacturers / exporters within UK..but that's a different conversation.