vh-bob Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 Sorry to start this topic again but a friend while browsing the Hobby King site noticed a number of Italleri kits for sale at knock down prices, obviously a clearance sale but knowing that I was a modeller brought it to my attention. Among the items on offer was the Italaeri 1 / 72 scale C-47 Dakota, my DC-3 of choice once again due to the high price of the Airfix example. These were being offered at a paltry A$9 .99 with similar prices on other kits from the Italian manufacturer although I will admit that this is less postage. However on a visit to one of our local hobby shops later in the day I found a large number of these same kits had suddenly appeared on the shelves when large numbers of this brand are not usually carried. The big surprise to me was the price, the afore mentioned C-47 had an asking price of around A$50.00 so no matter from where they were sourced (maybe from Hong Kong) this maybe just a coincidence but it seems to me to be a rather large margin. How much is a fair profit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ryan Hothersall Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 Yes that is a steep price. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tank Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 3 hours ago, vh-bob said: How much is a fair profit. How do you know what their profit is? You only see final price not everything behind the scene. What was the price from their wholesaler? Did the online company have a large order in bulk that lowered price per unit? According to the website, they don't use wholesalers to lower the price, there is a savings there. Is the online company using that line a click bait, hoping that you will add more kits cause it's perceived a good deal or more cause of an impulse buy? Are they closing out that line to make more space in the warehouse for a better selling product? Lastly location, location, location - everything from local taxes, rent, utilities, and import fees, etc. Yes, all that said it could be just bad management but there just might be a number of legitimate reasons the price is different. I would go with whatever is cheaper for you but also don't complain when you don't have a local hobby shop down the road. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vh-bob Posted September 5, 2017 Author Share Posted September 5, 2017 Tank, Sorry I think that you missed my point, my suspicion is that the store bought these kits from Hobby King direct in bulk and is reselling them at a mark up of around 500 % and I thought that was a bit greedy. In this country, there seems to be an Australia tax where the retailer decides his margin by the "What do you think we can get for this ?" method. With companies like Airfix falling on hard times, I can't see their sales improving when THEIR version of the C-47 retails in the same shop for over A$90.00, is anyone else paying prices like this for this kit ?. I don't mind paying a fair price for a kit, hell I have spent a fortune on them in the last 50 years , but I don't appreciate being price gouged. Trev. (vh-bob) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tank Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 If you bought from that company, what would your total be with shipping and any import fees? His cost would have to be that plus more. We have some companies that sell Amodel kit for way more then that kinda of markup. I just move on buy elsewhere as that company is stuck in a pre-internet world, course if he sells just one he would be happy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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