In the past few years two local hobbyshops in my area have closed their doors for good .one ofthe reasons is loss of buisness to the internet shopper.call me old fashion but i like taking a ride to my local hobbyshop but they are quickly becoming extinct.I Understand local shops can't carry everything and the internet is easy and sometimes cheaper.One of the two lical shops in my area offers a good discount and in most cases the price is eaqual or just a couple dollars more than a internet store.Me personally i like to give my money to the local guy but i do shop the net if i can't get what im looking for locally.My question is how do you guys feel about losing your local hobbyshops to the internet?

I don't like loosing them,but it's my fault too as he was never able to compete with online shops.I mean I buy all my supplies but I can't justify the kit prices.

As much as I would love to support my local hobby shop I just can't justify paying higher price, which can sometimes be 2x what I pay on the internet.

We here in Ottawa are blessed with two local hobby shops. I do frequent one, Hobby Center, as they do maintain a great stock and awesome customer service.

A few of the things that help could be, the store host our monthly AMPS meeting, as well as another local model group. The owner also acquires collections occasionally and sells the items, normally alot less then new items. Also, the owner, and staff, are extremely friendly and helpful. As for prices, they try to stay competitive, but with the current state of the Canadian dollar, it is not always easy.

The local HS here in Columbia, SC, a HobbyTown USA store, hosts our AMPS Chapter club meetings (they go so far as to allow us to re-arrange about 1/6th of their floor area for the meetings). The store also provides a 10% discount for paid club members, and they are now taking more and more special orders. The store is also stocking more armor kits of all scales, more A-M items, and adding some of the newer finishing products to their shelves. Now and then the store puts items that have been on the shelves for awhile on sale for 30, 40 or even 50% off, which is usually a great deal for a kit that's been out awhile.

All in all, even though the store's prices are higher than some on-line shops, they are a physical store that provides modelers with much more than just the lowest prices for some items.

I personally will purchase items from the store to give them my business and support their other efforts. They of course still have to make money to stay in business, and if they closed their doors, I'm not sure where our AMPS chapter would go for meetings.

My $0.02 worth.

I just purchased the trumpeter hemtt tractor this past weekend at my local hobby shop for 63.00. I could have gotten it from lucky models for 43.00 with a 15.00 dollar shipping charge eaqualing 58.00 so for the 5.00 dollar difference I would rather keep my local shop alive.I think when the day comes and those of us who have experienced the trips to the local shop will regret when they are all gone and you have to get everything from. China and when they don't have to compete with local shops they will not offer the kits as cheap as they do now.just my opinion.

5 dollars I agree

My guy has the Tamiya/Tasca Easy Eight for $75.00+tax I asked if he would come down a little,no dice he said,not with the Fury Movie out.So I got it on Ebay from Korea for $54.00 total.I was in the shop last week for paint,it's still there.

So it's not for just $5

Yeah some shops need to realize it's better to discount and compete with online shops than lose a sale altogether.i picked up the tamiya easy 8 for 45.00 at my local shop.the two shops that closed near me wouldn't offer any discounts either.

I have a Hobbytown USA close by where I can get paint and other supplies. They have a small selection of kits but mostly outside of my interest or price range. Their prices can be competitive on some things but to special order kits the price difference can be $20 or more above the online price. Most of what they sell and focus on is RC.

I buy 95% of my stuff on the net but just becose my "local" shop is 1h and 40 min. drive, but when i go to town i always stop at the shop to buy something,even if dont have much stuff and everything is few bucks more their are frendly and is nice to have a chat,open the box and touch by hand instead try to understand from a monitor what do you going to buy,after once o twice a year i can go to the "Big Smoke" and then there a like to du some serious shopping in a serious Shop!!...but is true seme time the price is to different to compete between the net and a shop

My local hobby shop seems to stick around due to the continual new waves of young marines coming into town. Plus they sell a lot of role play and Japanese cartoons. He is high on models but I always buy some from him to support him. Supplies are reasonable and it is great to have a place to grab quick bottle of paint.

Eventually our federal government will catch on and all the items we purchase online from overseas will be taxed and the there will be no savings and our local shops will have gone the way of the dinosaurs and we will have no choice but to pay the price.just a thought obviously I can't see into the future but the Asian markets have been doing this us since the 70's.merry Christmas everyone!

Be careful of what you ask for, since you will probably live to regret it.

A small business owner here in the good ole USA keeps a significant portion of our money here instead of all of it going overseas to another country. To do so, said business owner has to make SOME profit to stay in business. As previously stated, once all of the competition is gone, those "merchants on the internet" will probably stop providing "--better service" & "--better prices", since we won't have any alternative. But then again, that is how commerce and capitalism are supposed to work after all.

Just my opinion, take it or leave it.

Merry Christmas!

WOW! It is a sad person that actually cares nowt about his fellow man or the ability to keep people employed and earn a living in the country they live in.

Thankfully I very rarely have to deal with such insensitivity and much prefer that self centered folk like that stay out of the store I run.

In reality, they are contributing to the demise of the hobby by concentrating on supporting overseas economies and not their own.

A hobby shop cannot possibly focus on one area, that of just models, they have to carry a broad selection of different items in order to stay alive.
The likes of K Mart, Walmart, Toys R Us etc. dumped models years ago because they couldn't make a profit from selling them. If big box stores cannot do it, think how the individual small hobby shop owner feels.
It is a struggle and thanks to narrow minded, 'I don't care about the little man' attitudes it compounds the problem.

Shipping across the seas is expensive, add to that import taxes, shipping to the distributorship and then on to the store... Each step adds to the shelf price....
Then of course the stores operating cost plus federal and local sales tax.

It isn't all down to the store/shop owner, he has to pay his bills as well.

It is no wonder some store staff are seen and felt as being unfriendly when some shoppers have nothing better to say than, "I can buy this from overseas for less, why can't you sell it for less."
Well those sort of comments are from an ignorant perspective in my book and obviously from someone who doesn't own a small business and most likely has never run one or worked retail.

I'm sorry some don't have a local store to cater for their needs, perhaps that owner will close and move closer to you? I doubt it you wouldn't shop with them anyway based on the input I have read.
You could move closer to the store? Nah, the computer is a better companion, it doesn't have an opinion to share...

Made in China, (Hong Kong/ New Territorries of Kowloon) shipped direct to the consumer, no middle men see.

Here in South Carolina the tax free (tax reporting honor system) purchasing comes to an end in 5 days and online purchases from Amazon will require the buyer to pay SC. sales tax when they check out.

A small leveling of the playing field with more to come I can assure you.

As stated, the government is closer to adding import and local tax to your overseas purchase than you think (watch 2016) ....

Then perhaps these naysayers will have to give up the hobby rather than support the local shop and economy. I don't and won't miss them one Iota!

Have a wonderful day.. and a Happy New Year to you all.

Come see us if we are able to keep the lights on!

Keith.

By your comments, you must not support ANY local businesses for any of your purchases. For that matter, why would you purchase from the USA businesses such as Sprue Brothers, Scale Hobbyist, or Pacific Coast Models when you could get the same item for less from an overseas HS?

The consumer has the choice of who he/she decides to purchase from, which is the heart of capitalism, so I can't fault you for that.

I remember going to a handful of model shops when I was growing up in the '70s and early '80s, so I get some enjoyment going to one of the remaining FIVE I know of in SC. I make some purchases now and then, but as the local shops can't even source most of the Braille Scale kits & AM items I'm interested in, I choose to make purchases from overseas HS, too.

To each his own. I'm not trying to offend anyone, but just trying to express my opinion. Happy Holidays, y'all!

Again, this thread/topic is about local hobby shops and closing. None of those you mention are hobby shops. They are importers and or warehouses.

Please shop where you like but I would kindly ask you to refrain from showing 'delight' in the closing of businesses that many have spent years in trying to build and serve the public and model clubs.
Seeing people lose jobs and businesses is not funny and we are not a charity but a business like every other one..

Internet purchasing is about to rise again but in the not to distant future the playing field will be leveled.

Many states are now insisting you pay sales tax on on ALL internet purchasing within the US. Many more are following suit.

In the EU countries they have to pay import taxes on anything purchased on the internet from outside of the country and within their borders, sales tax. In the UK the average is 17% sales tax or better (see Accurate Armour, Scotland) plus shipping.

I believe that in 2016 the US government will require an import tax from items purchased overseas and local sales taxes for anything purchased in the US.

Your savings are going to diminish very quickly especially if shipping is added.

How you can justify the "death of a Hobby Shop as being the best thing that could happen to our hobby" (your words not mine) is beyond me.

And at that I will leave it to others to agree or disagree.

Keith.

After reading this blog and pondering it, I' would like to give my perspective. I remember going into a local hobby store when I was a kid (6-8 years old) and there was a guy that worked there and he would do these armor dioramas and I was absolutely blown away by them. I've never seen anything like this before and that is where the seed was planted and I've not looked back since. So, if it weren't for a local hobby store I probably would've never been introduced to this amazing hobby..

As I got older and I was introduced to my very good friend Keith at a local hobby store (which he worked at) and seen his incredible models and dioramas (which he displayed in the store) we immediately bonded. After 28 years of knowing Keith there's been many doors which opened and I've gotten to know many more Modelers that have the same passion as I do. Our local AMPS chapter meets at Hobby Town USA in Columbia SC the second Wednesday of every month and the comradery that exist is second to none. Also, we have to encourage the younger generation of model builders and I can't think of a better way than through our local hobby shops. So, yes, I will continue to support my local hobby shop!

Well I did a little research of my own and comparison shopping with one of the online vendors mentioned earlier, PCM and the shelf prices of my Takom and Meng models.

We are between $1.99 and just under $5.00 of the selling prices on that site. Nothing like the $20.00 - $25.00 mentioned?

Hardly high Dollar charitable donations considering that small difference covers all of the overheads associated with a retail business. The same can be said for the majority of kit manufacturers name brands that we carry.

If anyone wishes us to get a specific item I always see if it is available to us, add it to my next or pending order so they do not pay shipping.
If the cost of the item is above a certain point level we do not pay shipping anyway and that single item can be ordered immediately for the customer.

But for example if my in stock model is $5.00 above the internet price, an AMPS and IPMS member will then get his or her !0% discount bringing the price below the online price.

Add the local sales tax and your walk out the door with it under your arm price may end up being just under $3.00 or so of your wait for it before adding shipping price.

We value our customers and model clubs. One shouldn't tar all model/hobby shops with the same brush....

Much depends on what the supplier is charging the store, it isn't all controllable by the store owners and management.

Plus of course the online store is selling at a profit not only to us but you also....

Keith.

Reality for me these days:

Next hobby shops with a so-so(shop 1) and good (shop 2) supply of kits are 45min and 60-90min (depending on traffic) away in other towns. No resonable public transport connection in either case.

Opening times of the shops these days are identical to my work time or close enough that I can not get there under the week (Shop 1 was different but split and the model kit part relocated). On saturday the have 9-16 and 9-14 as opening hours.

Prices are higher (shop 1) and equal (shop 2) to the internet. That is due to the fact that shop 2 IS a big internet seller and importer (IIRC 3. biggest after Amazon and Modelbau König here in germany)

Model "shops" closer by are sub-departments of toy stores with a selection that is typically "Revell" with maybe some "Revell" and the occasional "Revell" for good measures.

I drop by shop 1 IF I am in the region for other reasons (like driving home to my parents) and by shop 2 maybe once every 6-8 weeks. The latter mostly when I do not want to wait for the mail delivery from Modelbau König (I do not like shop 2s webshop).

Both shops will not order stuff they do not have on the shelfes / take to long to order. So anything not in their program (say Tacom or Meng) I have to order at MK or Amazon anyway.

In germany sales tax / VAT is a national tax (19 percent for anything except most foods and some books) and all three "big shops" deliver free if the price is 25€+ (easily done with kit prices at 15+€) Amazon Prime is "no delivery charges" (I pay the yearly subscription for the video streaming anyway)

Outside the larger (100.000+) cities scale modelling shops where always rare and even then mostly in combination with model railroad/remote control etc. In smaller towns you where lucky if the local toy store had a small corner with kits (see above, back then we added Airfix and Matchbox to the choice).

I did look and not very good at all.

A little background for you... I owned as an independent, my own hobby shop as mentioned by a earlier poster for nine years and finally closed it because the economy tanked in the beginning of the 90's.
I took on other employment opportunities until I was asked to work in this store back in March of 2008. Since then we have gone three ownership changes and I have now been the manager for the past 18 months.
Not only have I been building models for over 50 years I have tried very hard to cultivate a good relationship with the local clubs and walk in customers over the years I have worked in the hobby store.
Our owners own seven (7) HobbyTown stores, one in Kentucky, six in Ohio and our store here in Columbia SC.

They are all about the customer and customer service and satisfaction and know what they are doing since they started in the hobby shop business over 26 years ago BUT no matter what you do there are some customers who cannot be satisfied no matter what you try to do for them and will never understand the behind the scenes complexity of navigating business ownership and being able to earn a living after paying all the associated bills.

We open seven days a week. 10am - 8pm Mon. - Sat. and 12 noon - 6pm Sunday's with extended hours around the Christmas period.

I listen to the customer and they (owners) are supportive when I ask for items they may not have or carry in all of their stores. I now have the complete range of Vallejo paints including many Vellejo Air, the rack of washes as well. Takata, Mig. AK and the staples of Tamiya and Testors (model Master etc.)..

When you walk in the store and see models on a shelf it bodes well if you can also pick up all the items needed to finish the job and stock up on what your running low on back home.

Discounts are offered to IPMS and AMPS members and the owners donate and sponsor local competitions for the AMPS club. As well as providing space for their monthly meetings.

Those who are disgruntled are very quick to unload and post their one sided opinions on the internet yet many more very satisfied customers do not. There isn't a good answer as to why that is but I would like to believe that there are some very good customer satisfied full range hobby shops out there that deserve recognition.

We pull our stock from many sources and I order models from whoever has the best prices and we have accounts with.

What we don't want to get involved with is, importing!

I can tell you that personally I do order from overseas, mainly Accurate Armour (Scotland) and only once have I had to pay import tax. many years ago I ordered the Scammell Tank transporter and it got flagged...

It is inevitable that at some point the doors will close on out of state purchasing and importing because many local state governments are now aligning themselves with overseas business practices.

Eventually you will have to pay sales or import tax when you buy. When? well that is the question up for grabs.

Until then, Happy Modeling and drop in if your ever in Columbia South Carolina. Perhaps during the upcoming 2016 AMPS nationals here in SC.

Keith.