me21 said:
but no one will buy the big stuff Chargers,Bateries, Radio's ect.
You have to stock em first, for anyone to buy.
I have been in the hobby going on 21 years now.
Most smaller shops I have been to will not carry the big ticket items. In some respects I can't blame them. The reason is cost of Inventory. A $400 item that you only make $40 is not worth the large cash outlay and the risk of not being able to sell the item. If the item sits too long you have obsolescence issues. At that point you will need to discount the item in order to sell and reduce the chance of turning a profit.
Most smaller shops will order big ticket items for you but then you have to wait weeks for them to get it from their distributor in hopes the dist has the item in stock. You wait 3 weeks and pay more than what you could have bought it for online. For anyone that has taken Economics, Time = Money.
I hate to say it but this forces the buyer to turn to online shops.
It's a bad situation for the hobby shop, owner. The only way I could see a non hobbytown-ish size store make it would be to be on the top of your game. Do research and see what is the latest and greatest and try getting in it before people have a chance to go online. You know how people are in this hobby if they see something new that their buddy doesn't have they will gobble it up like a Thanksgiving turkey.