grampi

At first I just thought it was Traxxas, because every time I tried to order something for my T-Maxx, it was out of stock. But now it's happening with everything. Tried to order a head for my 2.5. Out of stock. Tried to order glow plugs. Out of stock. Tried to order Ofna fail safes. Out of stock. And when I check around, everybody's out of stock, not just one or two places. What's up with this crap? Who's causing this mess, the manufacturers? The distributors? The retailers?

Rex2342

It's us!!Its's summer time and everybody wants to upgrade and fix things they broke while driving during winter because summer is race time and everybody is getting ready for it.Mt lhs got in 16 T-maxx last wednesday and they only have 2 left now and there closed on sundays so that gives you some idea of the demand summer puts on retailer and distributers.

grampi

You'd think the manufacturers would have enough foresight to gear up for these peak periods. It's frustrating as hell to have to wait for everything to come in from back orders. More times than not lately, the stuff I need hasn't been in stock.

perculator

Conflaturations Grampi!!

You have just found a niche in which to open up your own Hobby Store. Keep everything in stock and make sure to have enuf overstock for the dry spells.

One of my Buddy's owns one of the only hobby stores in town. Of course he always seems to run out of stuff. I hate going to B&B to get parts but I hate not being able to rally my Maxx even more!! I dont think he knows how much money he is losing to parts not bein in..

grampi

I think there's more to this than just the usual being out of stock on certain items. I few months ago, this problem wasn't nearly as bad as it is now. It's almost like the manufacturers are holding out on making things available until there gets to be huge number of back orders, and only then they're made available. Or maybe it's the retailers doing this. Who knows? Whatever it is, there seems to be more to it than just what we're seeing on the surface. I've never seen so many items out of stock as I've seen in the last couple of months. It's almost become an epidemic.

packfan88

My Feedback: (2)

you may be right on this grampi, and id have to blame the overall state of the economy on this.
i mean who wants to tie-up thousands of dollars in product when who knows if your core market will get laid off next.
(6% nation wide i believe)

just do what i do ...when it comes to arms,spur gears and such. i have a few in my box of parts so if i do break them during the day(which i always do) i can put a new one on right then and there.

saves money on shipping too.

eltorito

conspiracy theory?

grampi

I don't know what's causing the problem, but who wants to wait for weeks for a part to come in? This crap is getting ridiculous!

packfan88

My Feedback: (2)

like i said order many dont order ONE bulkhead or whatever cause your gonna break it more than once.
what part do you need anyway?

grampi

The problem with that is you don't always know what you're going to break. Then you're stuck waiting for back orders to fill for weeks. Very frustrating.

dan1220

My Feedback: (2)

Maybe this is dumb, but couldnt you buy another one of the same kit that you want parts for. That way you have another one of everything. Just a thought

caseyddr

My Feedback: (13)

thats not dumb, alot of racers who race the 'exotic' cars do that, so they always have a the replacements they need. But the problem with this is they dotn sell "kits" of the tmaxx, or anything RTR anymore it seems that would need this kinda backing.

grampi

And buying entire kits just to have spare parts can get kinda spendy.

buyrbware

My Feedback: (2)

The trick is - Order two of everything. Soon you'll have a hobbyshop!

Tom

Dlock

I wonder if there are just too many people buying parts. Think about it, there are who knows how many people out there with T Maxxes, and the manufacturer can only produce so many parts. So if there are 200,000 people wanting replacement A-arms and they can only produce 200,00 at a time some of which have to go into their RTR kits, then there will be a shortage of parts.

These numbers are just examples, I could be full of crap, but just wanted to give this another angle.....

dbow

My Feedback: (1)

Seems like we have been down this road before.....


http://www.rcuniverse.com/showthread...hlight=serpent


Dboww

grampi

That thread was just about T-Maxx kits. This one's about all RC stuff in general. Thanks for policing though..

speedracer0_7

although i don't own any tmax i see many running and when i vist the lhs there seems like there's alot of aftermarket parts 4 tmax all the time. many many people seem 2 be tricking them out and the retailers r stocking them. i don't know about wyoming but here in la there's no shortage that i can tell.

James1701

Its not all just car parts, I cant even walk out and get a quick charger and an ofna fail safe, and thats looking in three stores. There is a trend here I think.

speedracer0_7

r u guys talking about mail order or lhs. try ultimate hobbies in orange ca. 714 9210424 they carry a very wide selection of parts and i'm gusessing about 20 or 30 grand just in car parts

grampi

That's because you haven't been trying to find parts for the T-Maxx. It's about a 50/50 chance the part you need will be out of stock.

Unstable

you have to remember that RC is a nitch market.

the manufacturers cant press out 10 billion bulkheads because they cant afford it. they have to do 10,000 and sell those, use the money they get from those to fund the next 10,000 etc etc. all the while paying their R&D guys, and other "non productions" staff like HR, tech support, building maintenece, their rent for the facility, etc

and they also cant risk having too much stock in one part sitting in the warehouse as thats money thats not coming in, so they try to make as much as they know they can sell.

if the RC market was as big as the computer market then they would be able to afford to have a half million lime green spur gears sitting in the warehouse as they could just eat the cost until tax time when they write it off, until then they have to watch what they spend.

the RC market is like the airline buisness. its real easy to make a small fortune in the airline buisness, start with a large fortune.

grampi

I realize the RC hobby is a nitch market, but it's always been a nitch market. However, the problem of items being out of stock have never been as bad as it is now, and it's getting worse. It's as if the hobby has recently become more popular, but the manufacturers are still producing to meet the previous demand. All I'm saying is they need to recognize the increase in demand (if that's what's causing the problem) and step up production to meet it. It just plain wrong for the consumer to constantly have to back order items because they're never in stock.

James1701

Speedracer0_7 I dont know about grampi, but I hate mail order, I want to be able to drop by one or two lhs and get what I need. Many times I do this so I can run the same day or the next. Now I understand when looking for model parts no one can carry all of the parts for every car made, but some things, like failsafes, batt. chargers and the like, a store should be able to stock at all times. Besides sometimes it takes longer to set down and find what I need over the internet and order it than just running down to the store.

speedracer0_7

i don't know how far you're willing 2 travel but here in la the closest lhs is 2 or 3 mi. but 2 get 2 ultimate it's probably about 30 mi. they probably have 2 hundred grand in inventory there and it seems 2 b busy there even during the week when they open up.