Historic Hobbies is going out of biz. There are some deals on some resin tracks, figures and other stuff that may be of interest to someone. Lotta stuff is gone already but there are a few things that look like could be interesting.
It’s a dog-eat-dog world, even online. My guess is Spruesbrothers, and Greatmodels among others are taking down the littler guys.
It’s more of a factor of instant gratification. Many online stores place orders from manufacturers, distributors or other suppliers only after you order from them. Places that have actual inventory of the items can get the items to you much faster. Sprue Brothers and Squadron are examples of places that have large inventories.
Sounds more like life getting in the way, than economic ruin.
From the website:
The issue is with many of these “little guys” is they are not stocking retailers, but “order brokers” who collect orders and then order in the merchandise to fulfill the orders they have received. They take minimal markup to make their pricing very attractive but it typically isn’t enough to sustain their business let alone support themselves. Many of these little guys too are not the owner/operators primary source of income or employment. That means they only are able to work evenings or weekends…how many businesses have you seen fail for similar reasons?
There is room in the market for such business models, but customers do want assurances that if they order something they’ll actually get it and in a reasonable amount of time. There is one well know online retailer whose business model is that of an order broker who publishes an rather large catalog of items, yet stocks little. Many of the items are “available” which means somewhere someone has them in their warehouse but may be long out of production. Hence the timeline from order placement to delivery…the vendor has to scour the globe in search of a supplier who has the item available. If indeed their inventory is correct and they in fact do have it. Add that to the fact the retailer has a “day job” the order isn’t being processed when it is received, sometimes not for days adding to the delay.
These smaller retailers also have to deal with larger distributors and manufactures who are weeding out those who don’t sustain a level of purchasing conducive to receive discounts others who do order more are provided as an incentive. Again this plays into the profitability of the retailer who takes a modest markup to make their prices attractive…in essence trying to buy their customers. This might work for a few months, but it doesn’t work long term unless you’re a major player in the market such as Wal-Mart. They aren’t doing sufficient volume to offset these modest margins.
Lets not forget that many of these retailers spend little if anything on marketing outside of their own website. A few banners here and there, but no serious advertising strategy to bring in new customers. Some don’t want new customers rushing to their door…for they know that they don’t have the capacity to service them. Once folks start complaining about poor service its a short ride to the exit point in the market.
Lastly, fiscal responsibility…if a business isn’t making enough on sales to sustain operations, most likely too they aren’t paying their bills. Once a business becomes labeled as a credit risk, distributors are cutting them off. This applies not only to the little guys but the big players as well. I’ve written a post about just this very topic on my blog- In The Darkness Lurks Doom Nothing worse when trying to get payment from a customer to hear from them…“Call my bankruptcy attorney” ; “We’re taking the necessary legal steps to close up operations” or…“The number you have reached 1 2 3 … has been disconnected.”
Very true. Many of the “order brokers” also only place orders with larger distributors once they have a large enough order from multiple customers to obtain a volume discount. A customer’s wait could be short if it was the last order that put the retailer into the discount bracket or long if it was the first order.
Gerald’s comment about the exit door is very astute. We participate in a very small market hobby. Word of mouth can make or break you quickly. One of the few things my marketing professor taught me that I actually remember was an old saying, “A satisfied customer tells his friends; a dissatisfied customer tells everyone.”
With the internet and web forums, a dissatisfied customer can tell thousands of fellow modelers in hours about displeasure with a retailer.
And with dozens of online retailers to chose from, why would anyone do business with one that they’ve heard anything negative about? Just go to the next one on the list and avoid the one with bad service.
I actually stumbled upon this site a couple of days ago and called to order a Ship and a few other items that was half of the next lowest price I saw on the web…I called the number all day with no answer and gave up…
I ordered a figure online yesterday and it shipped today.
What is up with his shipping? I just put a bunch of stuff in my cart and the shipping came up to about $35.00. With that, I can get the stuff cheaper elsewhere.
One book and one set of tracks and my shipping goes from $6 to $10.50???
Am I doing something wrong or does his shipping go up exponentially?
A lot of place use a standard S&H for each item, so adding another item adds that S&H. If he wasn’t going out of business, you could probably email him and get a real quote on shipping.
I’ve ordered items (not always modeling kits) that have the same scenario, and each time I email them and get a better rate, always on the shipping and occasionally on the purchase! YMMV