NPL Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Today the message from Airfix that the Typhon is in stock. A week ago it was the Spitfire VB new mould. As far as I understand, nothing has reached the retailers. Is Airfix trying to get money out of people before the retailers get their share. Not quite fair, or am I wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Work In Progress Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 If you make something you're entitled to sell it how and where and when you like. Airfix is in the business of selling kits: for every one it sells retail it avoids having to give away a large margin to a retailer. What might be unfair is if they used that to undercut their retailers. but they don;t do that: they are usually one of the more expensive online sources for their products, at least in the UK. Is it "unfair" for E-Hattons and Amazon and others to take orders for the kit at a lower price than the Airfix price? Of course not. And all those orders were placed months ago. So nothing Airfix does now is affecting those orders. And anyone who wants to buy one in a shop will by definition not be ordering it from the Airfix website. So it's swings and roundabouts. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 What Hornby are "up to" is ensuring that sufficient stocks arrive (and they don't always arrive in a single heap,) so that they can get supplies to all of their customers at the same time, so that there can be no accusations of favouritism, as happened not many years ago, when "a major retailer in East Anglia" got stocks before anybody else. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NPL Posted July 18, 2014 Author Share Posted July 18, 2014 (edited) well, I recently had a conversation with Jacob Stoppel, who owns the best shop in Denmark, about Eduard, who is also selling kits from his home page. But generally not before the stuff is out, and never going for a cheap profit. Airfix does not seem to do so, but if they sell kits say two weeks before any other retailer get their share, they undermine the sale from small outlets and in this way contributes to the disappearance of local shops. The first couple of weeks are decisive for the sale. The p&p from Airfix to foreign countries is hellish but, e.g., if I orderes the Spitfire Vb and the new Typhoon, it would be more than £ 100 and then no charge for postage. As to price, I am not sure that the difference is very important to those who simply want the kit now and here. PS: I didn't see Edgar's mail before my last was sent. I agree that that is seemingly fair enough, but to be honest then the fair part would be not to sell those kits from your own home page beforfe other retailers have the possibility to do so. Just my opinion. Edited July 18, 2014 by NPL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Work In Progress Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 (edited) Sorry: Airfix does not owe Mr Stoppel a living. What about WIngnut WIngs or all the other suppliers who only sell direct? Are they being unfair? Mr Stoppel can't sell their kits at all (unless he gets them second hand from somewhere). Edited July 18, 2014 by Work In Progress 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NPL Posted July 18, 2014 Author Share Posted July 18, 2014 Sorry: Airfix does not owe Mr Stoppel a living. What about WIngnut WIngs or all the other suppliers who only sell direct? Are they being unfair? Mr Stoppel can't sell their kits at all (unless he gets them second hand from somewhere). They are not in the same league. I know that Airfix is a British icon, so if whatever they do is OK, not my problem, really, although frustrated with the amount of time between a mail in my mailbox from Airfix and the appearance of the model in outlets like Hannants where I have subscribed to this kit for a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Work In Progress Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 (edited) 1. What does the scale of the manufacturer have to do with it? 2. Why didn't you order it from Mr Stoppel? Incidentally, to show it's got nothing to do with"British icon", how far would he get if he decided he wanted to sell iPhones or Audis? Airfix does not even make its retailers sign exclusive contracts. Edited July 18, 2014 by Work In Progress Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NPL Posted July 18, 2014 Author Share Posted July 18, 2014 1. What does the scale of the manufacturer have to do with it? 2. Why didn't you order it from Mr Stoppel? as to 1) the relevance is obvious, although I would have said "size", as to 2) didn't want to wait until the local importer some day gets his fingers ... AS I clearly indicated, if it is OK to wait in Britain, it's a British matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnT Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 A long time ago when most of you chaps were still in the future and your Dads were my age we would troop down to Woolies in Edinburgh after school and see if they had the latest Airfix kits in. Woolies always got their supply long before the LHS did. Mind you "Love Love Me Do" was on the radio - thats the BBC Light Programme not your Radio 1 nonsense and white Vulcans and Victors were the nuclear deterrent. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caution Wake Turbulence Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Some things are worth waiting for... The Hornby visitor centre is about the closest thing I have to a LHS, but I'm not about to pay £15+ extra just to get the kit a few days sooner! Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cossack52 Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 5 minutes walk from me is oswaldtwistle mills;the destination of many a mystery tour.it has a "hornby hobby centre"they have all the latest humbrol paints but the kits are well behind;i think the most recent kit is the tiger moth.when i asked at the counter(it is located in a craft shop)if they had any of the blenheims on order,the assistant didn't know;she said the space is rented and stocked by humbrol themselves.the same applied to the model section in the blackburn toymaster during its brief spell in new premises.the nearest LHS to me tells me that ordering from airfix is becoming problematic,and the rep really isn't much bothered.perhaps hornby are planning a strategy of gradually becoming the main retailer of their own goods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Ranger Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 well, I recently had a conversation with Jacob Stoppel, who owns the best shop in Denmark, Is that the same Stoppel who produced all those great decals back in the '70s?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charley420 Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 I've got my two on order from hannants. I had a rather large credit note to cash in so that's why I'm getting mine from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NPL Posted July 18, 2014 Author Share Posted July 18, 2014 Is that the same Stoppel who produced all those great decals back in the '70s?? Yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 the rep really isn't much bothered.Must be different from the chap who deals with the shop I go to, since he offered (and they accepted) left-over Airfix Club stocks. perhaps hornby are planning a strategy of gradually becoming the main retailer of their own goods.Why do we still get this anti-Airfix/Hornby nonsense? Had hoped that had died the death it deserved. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cossack52 Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 i'm not criticising,simply making an observation.it some ways ,the more profit hornby get,the better for us modellers;it means more cash to invest in future projects(or is that pro hornby nonsense?) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roo Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Talking previously to the owner of my LMS I don't think it's anything to do with hornby/airfix keeping stocks back. To make it worthwhile for my local LMS to order new kits they have to place in a minimum order value before they get it shipped as they can offset the postage costs more. It is not just with Airfix as the Tamiya Mkiv tank I've ordered is in the same boat so it would mean a small delay from release to build a worthwhile order before it is shipped, so i would guess that lots of LMS' are in the same situation. They could order for a quicker delivery with a smaller order, but as this would increase their costs so they choose not to. Large companies like ehattons and hannants would build their orders up far quicker as they have large postal operations, so it goes that they would get the models sooner after release, even if only a few days. With the Typhoon, it was announced in stock Thursday evening. This probably means it was ready to be shipped to the retailers at that time too, with their orders completed and shipped that day. This would mean they are delivered to their shops Friday or Saturday so they would sell it or ship to pre ordered addresses in time for Monday. I don't think that's too bad given that any people that ordered direct from Airfix would not get it until Monday either as it went live on their website too late for shipping in time for a Friday delivery. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 IMHO, Hornby are the best thing that have happened to Airfix, for years. We are getting some quality kits coming through, of some great subjects, to suit all different price ranges. I'm starting to find it difficult to keep up with their new release schedule (seems I wasn't the only one who missed that they had a new tool MK.VB Spit, coming out), so they must be doing something right. In Hornby, I trust. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
models4hobby Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Check this thread for a greater insight into the troubled Hornby/Airfix , a different point of view maybe http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/79847-hornby-2014-a-fatal-sting-for-retailers/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NPL Posted July 19, 2014 Author Share Posted July 19, 2014 Must be different from the chap who deals with the shop I go to, since he offered (and they accepted) left-over Airfix Club stocks. Why do we still get this anti-Airfix/Hornby nonsense? Had hoped that had died the death it deserved. Edgar, this has to do with frustration: I got a mail from Airfix dated July 11th that the Spitfire is available and can be ordered for the retail price & p.p. which in my case would be £ 17,00, i.e., more than the price asked for the kit. OK, I had already a long ting ago reserved two kits from Hannants. I understamd from the mails above that the Spitfire will probably not be available from other outlets than Airfix itself before late August, so I am left in the void for 40 days. Is it simply that Airfix promised to have this kit out in July? And now they only have limited stocks but still want to pretend that the kit is available in July? So, a bit frustrated. And the issue of pricing (cf. the mail from models4hobby), that is not my concern. I suppose that such things happen everywhere. Here in Scandinaviathe importers previously made big wins from pricing the imported stuff irrealistic high and fighting parallel import. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caution Wake Turbulence Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Just got an update from Amazon for my Spitfire Vb order, now saying expecting delivery (to me) at the end of next week (and their estimates tend to be pessimistic). Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilneBay Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 (edited) Patience in all things is a virtue - besides can you guarantee that you will begin construction the moment it arrives or will it disappear into the stash. Edited July 19, 2014 by MilneBay 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NPL Posted July 19, 2014 Author Share Posted July 19, 2014 Patience in all things is a virtue - besides can you guarantee that you will begin construction the moment it arrives or will it disappear into the stash. When was this an virtue among modellers? Presumably now the wait begins for little things from Eduard and Roy ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnT Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Brett Greens book on "How to build...." arrived today and has had a good look at the large detailed photos. Am I frustrated at the wait for my Tiffie? Yes BUT if Airfix make more kits like this they can frustrate me all they like and back again. For this quality I am prepared to learn patience 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NPL Posted July 19, 2014 Author Share Posted July 19, 2014 Brett Greens book on "How to build...." arrived today and has had a good look at the large detailed photos. Am I frustrated at the wait for my Tiffie? Yes BUT if Airfix make more kits like this they can frustrate me all they like and back again. For this quality I am prepared to learn patience You are absolutely right, but ... with their present quality, Airfix is really testing the patience of the modelling world! Now, after the announcements at the end of the year, we can hardly wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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