11-03-2010, 11:54 AM
The industry has changed. Internet sales have greatly impacted the local hobby shop. Inventory sitting on shelves is a parasitic (spelling?) loss for a local hobby shop. One of my local dealers has told me that his biggest competition is not other hobby shops or even internet sales, but rather manufacturers who sell online for the same price that they would charge him if he orders from them! If manufacturers sell to the general public for the same "wholesale" prices that they charge hobby shops, the hobby shop owner would be crazy to buy and stock their product.