Pricing Wars - Pricing Comparison Spreadsheet

[pdupreez]

I see a couple of posts asking about local (in SA that is) shops and providers that shape and deliver. I recently went through a detailed pricing comparison exercise while buying a Trex 500 ESP, electronics and a DSX7 Tx. The shop locality bias for the analysis is Cape Town since that is where I live.

I also included the highly rated RCFever online store in Hong Kong (and included shipping and customs add-on costs), as well as a brilliant RC helicopter store in Potchefstroom (FlyFun) as well as my LHS (Clowns Hobbies in Milnerton and Bellville).

See the following spreadsheet for an interesting view on how the various shops charge differently for the specified items.

http://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B2JZ...NTllZjc5&hl=en

You will see that some cells are marked with comments to indicate that a substitute item was proposed due to stock availability or suggested combinations.

The bottom line, shoppers, is this: Spend your time to find one or two good shops that you can trust, build a relationship and if you are concerned about comparative pricing, tell the shop owner. My LHS (Clowns Hobbies) is co-owned by a stalwart and general RC wizard named Joe Adamo. He is helpful and knowledgeable, and after all my research to keep everyone on their toes I ended up buying everything from him in any case - not least due to the fact that he was also able to give me the most cost effective deal.

In the end it is not about the money (face it we are all very willing to spend on this affliction), but it is about not being ripped off exactly because we shop a lot.

Cheers
Pieter Reef