Pep Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 (edited) at 1:03pm i get an email Flash sale 30% off! I go ok i'll give this a try! I find the GWH F-15 for $84 nice! then the Eduard Mig 21pfm at $30 -30% discount and shipping comes out to about $91! Now i'm getting exited! I keep looking and remembering stuff i wanted start looking for the hobby boss A-6 1/48 Out of no where "Site down for maintenance" ok probably lots of people shooing at the same time. Site comes back up! yay go back to my cart... F-15 is now $111, mig is now $45 New total is now $125 at 1:50pm not 1 hour aft the sale starts. I give up. Edited January 30, 2014 by Pep Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DrGlueblob Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 I heard Squadron was sold awhile back. Who owns it now? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
compressorman Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 I too have trouble with Squadrons website. It seems like most of the time there is a sale the website messes up and wont show the page I want to see. I have always wondered if it was just me. Chris Quote Link to post Share on other sites
metroman Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Never had those problems - they are getting to be like Kohls, a 'sale' every 15 mins. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
toadwbg Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Never had those problems - they are getting to be like Kohls, a 'sale' every 15 mins. I was thinking the same thing. Seems like there is a new sale every week, I get the E-mails. Its sort of mentally fatiguing. I"m ready to un-subscribing from them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
P-38 guy Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Yep noticed the same thing. They jacked up the prices on a couple of kits I was thinking about getting. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rightwinger26 Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I was thinking the same thing. Seems like there is a new sale every week, I get the E-mails. Its sort of mentally fatiguing. I"m ready to un-subscribing from them. I know thee have been issues for some, but I guess I've been lucky and had nothing but success. A few months ago I bought what would have been roughly around $150 in ships, for about 70. I guess it all depends on timing maybe? And be willing to live with what you can get and be happy with vise what you REALLY want. Bill Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Netz Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I would have called then an requested they honor the price... Curt Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zerosystem Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 and they still barely have any stock, almost no kinetic kits in stock and try searching for a 1/48 f-16 kit... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brian 1 Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Either this is a marketing technique to attract traffic to their site or they are about to go tits up and begin liquidation. They have an extraordinary amount of products that are out of stock and are never restocked (hasegawa for example). They are under new management, so who knows, but I find you don't have to look far to get better deals elsewhere. I have a friend who is in upper management for a company that does retail closures & liquidations and erratic sales is one of their classic gimmicks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Johnopfor Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Either this is a marketing technique to attract traffic to their site or they are about to go tits up and begin liquidation. They have an extraordinary amount of products that are out of stock and are never restocked (hasegawa for example). They are under new management, so who knows, but I find you don't have to look far to get better deals elsewhere. I have a friend who is in upper management for a company that does retail closures & liquidations and erratic sales is one of their classic gimmicks. They aren't going under, they are major kit importer in the US. I suspect that these "flash sales" are to get people to buy kits quick with little time to compare prices. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brian 1 Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 They aren't going under, they are major kit importer in the US. I suspect that these "flash sales" are to get people to buy kits quick with little time to compare prices. Whats the point of flashing when ya got nothing to show? Do you know if they get their supply from Tower Hobbies or whom ever their parent co is? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Johnopfor Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Whats the point of flashing when ya got nothing to show? Do you know if they get their supply from Tower Hobbies or whom ever their parent co is? Bait and switch...... Tower Hobbies is owned by Hobbico, which also owns Monogram/Revell. MMD/Squadron is a separate entity. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rightwinger26 Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I guess I'm a rare one, I've gotten nothing but good deals. Then again, I don't always shop for what I want at the moment, but have acquired what amounts to my own hobby shop on a small scale for not a lot of money. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SonyKen Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 All, I don't know if I would call it flash sales to make faster sales as I would call it what the folks in retail refer to "sale leader" or "door buster" items. You know the old routine where they get you in the store with "teaser" sale items and while you are there such as a grocery store, you decide that while you are there you might as well pick up some other items other than what is on sale. It works the same way with Squadron as many other mailorder vendors. That set the shipping at a "flat rate" based on how much you order of products is price wise. I know that Squadron and many others have snagged me with me being ready to buy $50 worth of stuff and pay the same shipping price as what I am going to pay for let's say $35 worth of stuff. Ther gonna get ya, if they can and they have got me several times. Cheers! Best Regards, Ken Bailey (SonyKen) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Whats the point of flashing when ya got nothing to show? I'm not defending their practices but squadron shoots themselves in the foot by showing kits that are out of stock. There is a filter on their search function that lets you sort by in/out of stock but IMO they should default it to show only in-stock items. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MHaz Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 They aren't going under, they are major kit importer in the US. I suspect that these "flash sales" are to get people to buy kits quick with little time to compare prices. Being a major importer doesn't save them from the consequences of poor/deceptive business practices. Quite a few of the smaller aftermarket companies, myself included, will not sell to MMD/Squadron. In my case, their buyer tried to dictate to me what they were willing to pay for a laughably small sized order of my VF-84 sheet. It was significantly less than the established distributor price for that sheet. I know a few of the aftermarket companies that do sell to them did not get paid for a very long time, and even that took a few phone calls and emails to accomplish. Companies that are imported by MMD can easily find another importer. Hasegawa switched importers with barely a hiccup, so it's possible for others to do it, too. These flash sales are an attempt to dump the overstock they have of unpopular kits. Look at what's in stock vs. out of stock. I know for a fact, verified by another modeler, that right before their Christmas sale, several very popular kits went "out of stock" for the duration of the sale. Right after the sale was over, these kits magically reappeared in stock, in the exact same quantities as had been available right before the sale. Said quantities weren't "round" numbers, either (e.g. ending in 5, 0), but "off" quantities like 37 or 26. Strikes me as real suspicious. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Pep Posted January 31, 2014 Author Share Posted January 31, 2014 I would have called then an requested they honor the price... Curt I sent them an email lets see what they say Quote Link to post Share on other sites
k5ikl Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I sent them an email lets see what they say Don't hold your breath for a reply. I'll be surprised if you get one... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
graves_09 Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I'm not sure why anyone puts up with Squadron any more? Force of habit? There prices are ridiculously high for an online retailer. Most prices are near what a brick and mortar store would charge. Their customer service sucks. With very few exceptions, there "sale" prices are usually the same elsewhere online (that's if your items are "in stock"). There are so many better options out there! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RKic Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 So besides Spruebrothers, HLJ, Lucky Model, Hannants, what are some other good online retailers? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
graves_09 Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 (edited) Scale hobbyist, seal model, eBay, arc buy and sell, tower hobbies... Edited January 31, 2014 by graves_09 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 So besides Spruebrothers, HLJ, Lucky Model, Hannants, what are some other good online retailers? I've used Hobbylinc several times and have been happy with them. They are a little slower than some of the others (especially slower than Spruebrothers) but if you aren't in a hurry they offer some good prices usually. Most of the time slightly lower than the others you've listed. Bill Quote Link to post Share on other sites
volzj Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 (edited) I've used Hobbylinc several times and have been happy with them. They are a little slower than some of the others (especially slower than Spruebrothers) but if you aren't in a hurry they offer some good prices usually. Most of the time slightly lower than the others you've listed. Bill The SR-71 was slower than Sprue Brothers... :D Edited January 31, 2014 by volzj Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tom G Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 (edited) I had a somewhat similar experience to Pep. I placed an order with them Wednesday evening for the January Mega Sale which was supposed to end that night. Then I get the Flash Sale notice on Thursday. I checked the things I ordered the day before and they were still at the same price. So I put them in my shopping cart and sure enough the discount was applied. So I sent an email to Squadron asking for a price adjustment for my order. Shortly after that the stuff in my shopping cart went to full price. I have not received a reply to my email yet. Being a rather frugal (cheap) person I look for sales. If Squadron wants to run so many sales that is up to them but it is frustrating to me to order it and then see I could have got a better deal the next day from the same company. I am also frustrated with the manipulation of the price the sale is applied to. They sell it on sale and then raise the price back up to full retail and apply a percentage off. I have supported Squadron through the years but lately they are playing games with the customers. More and more, I look to Spruebrothers and Scalehobbyist first and Squadron afterwards. They have a larger inventory of in stock items too. Oh well, I've got enough kits to last till I'm 300 years old anyhow. :-) Tom Edited January 31, 2014 by Tom G Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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