Scale eCommerce

[DreamKnight]

Editorial by DreamKnight

Before the internet, I remember the only way to get a model, especially hard to find models, you would have to scour all the Local Hobby Shops in your area as well as hitting places like Toys R Us or Kaybee's.  Needless to say, it was a taunting task back then.

Now a days you have the internet to order right there at the convenience of your home and having your models dropped at your door step.  This convenience also spawns the unscrupulous who would take the chance to squeeze every penny you have!  So how do you try and avoid those types of people or to steer clear of those questionable business practices?  Well, let's take a look here.

We the Consumers

As a modeler and the one that would probably be making the purchases, let's just go ahead and assume some things here.  Some of it you may not agree with but most I'm sure will fall on to your list. I'm also very picky and impatient person when it comes to shopping online and to add to that; I've developed many e-commerce websites as well as done my own e-commerce businesses before (All which were sold off).

1. We want the best bang for our buck.
2. We want it fast, regardless if we need it right away or not.
3. We want fast and cheap shipping, even better, with tracking info (most which the seller may or may not have control over).
4. If there's a problem, we want fast communication that is easy to find (contact email, phone number, online live support, ect.)
5. Good e-commerce presentation with latest tech.
6. FAQ or Information page that explains the orders, fulfillment and shipping process/policy
7. A great loyalty incentive program
8. In stock knowledge and out the door on order.

I'm not going to go through here and explain how to run an e-commerce business since that can get pretty involved however, the technology is getting pretty high-tech in the ways to keep a seller and buyer communicating and the products pushed to the consumer pretty quickly now-a-days.

For the first three points, it's pretty self evident. For point 4, presentation is everything.  If they are using old tech, if I can't navigate check out with a rocket science degree, if the website isn't pleasing to the eye, if I can't do a simple search that smart enough to return what I'm looking for, if it even LOOKS like it's ran on a budget, you'll find me on my way to the next e-store.  There are plenty out there.  I find how someone represent their web store is how they represent their business practice. I'm throwing down good money so I want to be sure I'm confident in doing it.  Of course, there are exceptions.  I've had order from website that looks like ass but I get such great word of mouth from other modelers, I took the chance.

On point 5, I find that if an e-business has their procedures and policy explained it helps me decided if I want to buy anything from them and I don't have many surprises since I know what to expect.  Nothing turns my off more than waiting for days for my order then when nothing is happening, I contact the seller and find out one of my models on on back order.  Every time that happened, I get irate, frustrated and I cancel the order and go shopping elsewhere.

A loyalty incentive program is a great way to produce a long term loyalty with the business and I do look for these sometimes. These come in forms of little cute marketing Easter egg hunts to get a code for discounts to earning points or "dollars" to spend on later purchases.  If I'm throwing down $1000 in business, I wouldn't mind getting extra discounts or a t-shirt in 6 months worth of being a loyal buyer.  Even eBay has their eBay Bucks which I earn $ for buying from merchants.  I've already racked up $3 in the past couple of weeks which I can use to pay for more stuff in October.

Finally, I like to know what I'm ordering is in stock, either direct from the business or dropped shipped from the distributor.  This is important when I need to get certain models or supplies quick for a group build or for a commissioned build. It's also nice not to be surprised about something being on backorder.

Paypal
As a consumer, I have to suggest this to fellow consumers. Paypal is the bomb.  You sign up an account and tie it into your bank account or a credit card.  There are two great conveniences to paypal.  You can pay right there assuming the store is "in the game" and have paypal as a payment option and second, your purchases are protected and if anything goes wrong, filing a complaint/charge back is VERY simple and painless and their complaints department is pretty top notch. Well, there's also another convenience being that you can pull money straight from your fund source (bank account or credit card) if you don't have enough balance in your paypal account.

LHS with Online Stores

It's business on the net!  For those LHS that are left, many have brought their business online as well as running their brick and mortar store.  This would be hard to find out if their service are up to par on the net.

Many LHS I find that jumped to sell their stock on the net don't make the transaction well. Emails left unanswered, fulfillment to shipping is slow... etc. are usually due to the lack of knowledge in web technology. Like most people, they think putting up a website is all they have to do to make their business bloom.  The type of people they can afford to hire to produce websites on the cheap are just that. People who make a pretty (or really ugly) website and know nothing else about advertising or more advanced technologies that helps make a web business explode.

It's not the LHS's fault; it's just the nature of the business.  The only way to really know if an LHS is good is the word of mouth from your fellow scale modelers. It's because of this, most LHS end up having a dead web business.

One of the best recommendations I have here is our very own Elm City Hobbies (http://www.elmcityhobbies.com).  ECHScott is quick on the customer services, helpful one on one to get what you need.  Although he doesn't have a huge stock on hand, he can easily help you get it from a distributor.

Online Stores/Catalog

These are businesses that mainly do business on the web, either by drop shipping orders straight from a distributor or from their own warehouse.  These businesses also turn out cheaper prices in the end because of the volume they sell (about to get better deals from distributors and better shipping options partnering with the delivery services).  There are many out there.  Here are a few I’ve use and recommend:

• Sprue Brothers
  This is the top notch online store I use.  Their selection is pretty large, the prices are pretty decent and they move their order out within a day.  I usually end up with my order in a couple of days.
  
• Tower Hobbies - Plastic-models.com
  Their selection is pretty large but they don't carry many aftermarket products by some of the popular "garage" companies. The prices are pretty cheap and they move their order out within a couple of days.  I usually end up with my order in 2 to 4 days.
  
• Squadron
  Their selection is HUGE including aftermarket products by popular "garage" companies. The prices aren't too bad but not always the best deals around unless it's from their monthly selection sale items.  They used to be very reliable and orders were shipped out fast and with top notch customer service.  However, lately, I find they take 4 to 5 days just to answer an email and on occasions, it takes weeks to get an order out (that of all which I ended up cancelling). I'm not quite sure what happened there but according to sources, they had a major switch in customer services personnel.

eBay

eBay, The bane of my existence. I try and steer clear from that place but you just can't pass up some of the great deals you can get there from the merchants there.  Once winning a bid, the shipping can vary depending on where the source of the sale is originated.  You do run into some unscrupulous people there but that is rare.  Buyer beware however in this case, I suggest always paying through paypal (since both eBay and Paypal are the same company) and you should be good.

You can bid or you can Buy Now.  If you're patient enough, you can win some really good bids.  Just be very careful on bidding however because sometimes you can end up with duplicate items just because you want to make sure you want to win the item.

Other tips are to look at the sellers rating and make sure that they have a very good rating.  eBay's rating system is pretty balance.  Most important of all, make sure you LOOK at the shipping costs.  Just because you can "Buy Now" at a steal, the seller might pull the "Make money on Shipping" scam where the overcharge in shipping to cover the cost of the item.  For example, they might have $35 model for $20 but charge a $20 shipping fee.  Always watch for bids as well and make sure you don't over bid without knowing it. So always consider the shipping fee.


How about you?  How is your shopping experience for this hobby on-line?  Do you have tips for anyone else for buying for finding deals on the net?  Let us know! You're on the air this week on SMA!


Other "This Week on SMA..." topics:
How much do you usually spend on scale models in a month?
eBay Shopping Spree! Oops!
Any secrets on finding good deals on the net?
Your Starter Kit on a Budget
Cheap but TOTALLY Awesome Kit
Online Hobby Stores

[Iafrate]

Great Article, but I'm surprised you left out sites like www.hlj.com and www.hwjapan.com. I've been dealing with HLJ for many years, and they have come a long way. Both sites now use paypal, but shipping is still rather slow. You can pick faster shipping, but be ready to fork out a few more dollas'. There are also many small modeling stores out there also. To mention a few... www.mechaskunk.com , www.ausfwerks.com , www.cobracompany.com , www.thesmallshop.com , and www.tankratsafvdepot.com . Just some of my favorites here, do you think we should start some kind of page and have a list of modeling web stores? It took me about two weeks to find these sites, and all of them offer great products.

[DreamKnight]

Great Article, but I'm surprised you left out sites like www.hlj.com and www.hwjapan.com. I've been dealing with HLJ for many years, and they have come a long way. Both sites now use paypal, but shipping is still rather slow. You can pick faster shipping, but be ready to fork out a few more dollas'. There are also many small modeling stores out there also. To mention a few... www.mechaskunk.com , www.ausfwerks.com , www.cobracompany.com , www.thesmallshop.com , and www.tankratsafvdepot.com . Just some of my favorites here, do you think we should start some kind of page and have a list of modeling web stores? It took me about two weeks to find these sites, and all of them offer great products.

I left them out because I don't normally use them   That's up to YOU to share.   We will have a directory listing soon for SMA but for now, there is a forum there. (I should like that in the article.)

http://www.scalemodeladdict.com/forum/index.php/topic,652.0.html

[Elm City Hobbies]

Thanks for including me in there DK, much appreciated.

For myself....I was a long time buyer, before I ever got into the business myself.

I started out in Feb. of 2007 out of our mini-home (took over the dining room!), started with a budget of $2500, and I built from there.

December of 2008 we moved to our current location, still out of town a bit (but don't have to fight with City Council to do something), but not so far that we are lost. About 5 mins from the main uptown drag in town....and not too hard to find.

Up until that point, most of my advertising, and increased business, was word of mouth advertising, offering up my weekly "Available to Order" update e-mails (which I still do, and if anyone wants to be added to the weekly newsletter, shoot me a PM or e-mail), and going to local shows and taking the shop with me. Usually 3 shows a year in the area.

I launched the website in October of 2009, (designed very nicely by Girvan Media, so I can't take any credit there as I am an idiot savant when it comes to that sort of stuff), and it is still a slow climb to get it recognized (which is why you will see me trying to promote it every chance I get).

Could I use more advertising......sure....but advertising isn't cheap, so alot of it is my own leg work, and agreements with certain places, as well as other people promoting it (can't thank ScottG enough there), and places like Armorama that apparently has tons of traffic, are pricey as ScottG can attest to....$80/month for a postage stamp sized ad is a little much IMO, but then I have a hard time paying for something when I don't know what the return is going to be on it, and stuff like that is always subjective.

So....as a long time buyer online (mostly Ebay as well....used to be the bane of my existence as well....not so much now), I know what I liked for customer service, and I try my hardest to give that to my customers. Before I got into this, I worked in the grocery and retail trade, both here and up in Northern Canada, and the whole customer service thing has been en-grained into my psyche, and it just comes naturally to me. You are never going to make everyone happy, all the time, but I pride myself on trying to do so.

Few things that bug me, which translates to what looks like good customer service, is having an e-mail sit there. If I have an unanswered e-mail for whatever reason, it will eat at me until I go an answer it.

Not being able to find the particular item the customer is looking for. IF it is something that is out of production, there isn't much I can do about that, however an item that I can see online, but either my main suppliers don't carry it, or you can only get it from the manufacturer, and they have some odd practice (huge min. order, will only take certain form of payment, whatever), it kills me to tell the customer that I can't get it. Most times because of high min. orders. Good example is I have company in Europe that I am interested in getting some of their product, they make great diorama making stuff, grasses, grass matts, etc, etc....product is top notch....but he has a min. order of 500Euros (about $680CDN), and that is huge. He has alot of nice stuff, but I would need a huge amount of his product to make up the min. order. It is just a min. on the opening order, and no mins. after-wards, but that is a huge investment up front for something that may or may not sell.

In the end, I think I have a pretty happy crew of customers (or at least I would like to think so), I enjoy my job/business (after all I get to play with models all day.....or at least that is the theory), and enjoy helping people to find what they need. 

No, I may not have as large of an inventory as some other places like Sprue Bros, HLJ or Squadron, but I don't have their budget either. But I pride myself on being able to order it in for a customer if they want it...no its not the instant gratification of having it right there at that specific time, but most of us don't need the kit right here, right now anyway as we usually have many in our stash that will tide us over for the couple of weeks it might take to order a certain kit in. And that hearkens back to my weekly newsletter updates, which tells those on my newsletter list what is out and new that is available to order, as there is no way that I could have one (or more) of everything out there that gets released to the market. 

 

[svinehunden]

thanks for all the links but what about european stores?

anybody know what the best shops are over here?

when we order from america we might have to add 50% to the price in tax and then it's way to expensive...

[DreamKnight]

thanks for all the links but what about european stores?

anybody know what the best shops are over here?

when we order from america we might have to add 50% to the price in tax and then it's way to expensive...

The only European store I ever used was http://www.modelsforsale.com to get a resin cockpit for my 1/72 corsair.  They were a little slow but then again, I ordered around christmas time.  Otherwise, they get the job done.  You Europeans have a weird thing where you take off a lot of days for a holiday.

I had a Ex that lived in Holland and she told me they get like 6 to 8 months maternity leave. or something like that. How the heck to you Europeans get anything done?

[svinehunden]

You Europeans have a weird thing where you take off a lot of days for a holiday.

do you mean holidays?

[Ken Abrams]

Svinehunden mate,

I don't know of any European shops because like for you, the shipping would usually negate it being cost effective for me to order from them.

As for holidays, we have quite a few that the rest of the world doesn't celebrate either, although the word 'holiday' isn't exactly interchangeable. It's widely used in the same fashion that we use the word vacation, like when my family and me go on a vacation here, many other countries go 'on holiday', so the terms sometimes get confusing.