PayLoad
I don't do spirals
If an online store was selling every Estes product at 30% below MSRP, would there be enough interest to keep it going? Motors, rockets, everything estes. Just a pipe dream I am contemplating
Estes Models - would there be enough interest?
- Thread starter PayLoad
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There's one already at 33 percent.
https://www.acsupplyco.com/estes-model-rockets/estes-price-list
Well liked by members here.
If you offered free shipping at a lower order size threshold, you might get some traction. Perhaps even enough to "lose money on every order but make it up in volume."
https://www.acsupplyco.com/estes-model-rockets/estes-price-list
Well liked by members here.
If you offered free shipping at a lower order size threshold, you might get some traction. Perhaps even enough to "lose money on every order but make it up in volume."
mh9162013
Well-Known Member
Not sure if there'd be enough interest to justify the online store, but I'd certainly be interested.
A lot of what I want to buy is made by Estes and AC Supply has a great selection of kits and accessories at great prices. But they don't always have what I need in stock or available for sale. So then I'm forced to make a purchase from another online retailer and not only pay a higher price, but pay the extra shipping costs...or just go without, which is what I had to do with my last purchase of rocket kits and supplies.
I dunno how you'll always have every Estes product in stock though. Unless you'll be a drop shipper?
A lot of what I want to buy is made by Estes and AC Supply has a great selection of kits and accessories at great prices. But they don't always have what I need in stock or available for sale. So then I'm forced to make a purchase from another online retailer and not only pay a higher price, but pay the extra shipping costs...or just go without, which is what I had to do with my last purchase of rocket kits and supplies.
I dunno how you'll always have every Estes product in stock though. Unless you'll be a drop shipper?
turbofireball
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I suggest discussing it with the Estes sales department first. Once they tell you what an opening order in dollars is to anyone that qualifies as an online retailer, I predict your dream will end.
PayLoad
I don't do spirals
I'm well past that point. Estes does not sell but to wholesalers who sell at 50% of MSRP. I have a wholesaler
What would make it more interesting for me is if you also sold Q-jets, then I could buy all my LPR motors (well, most of them anyway) at once.
But then again I'm hardly every buying motors these days because I'm hardly ever flying.
Never mind.
But then again I'm hardly every buying motors these days because I'm hardly ever flying.
Never mind.
PayLoad
I don't do spirals
See, This is what I wanted to hear - something constructive - This won't work but try this. Thank you, neilWhat would make it more interesting for me is if you also sold Q-jets, then I could buy all my LPR motors (well, most of them anyway) at once.
But then again I'm hardly every buying motors these days because I'm hardly ever flying.
PayLoad
I don't do spirals
Priced like this
turbofireball
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Great, you have a wholesaler willing to sell to you at 50%. That will probably mean that you will be paying the shipping from the wholesaler to your warehouse or garage (since we have to assume the wholesaler wants to make some money on the deal). Or the wholesaler would do the shipping for you, at a cost. If you are selling product for 30% off, and absorbing some shipping costs, plus website costs, etc., how much do you think you would make in profit? And then....why wouldn't the wholesaler just do online sales themselves?
PayLoad
I don't do spirals
Two very important points - One, I've run my own businesses since I was 7. I know numbers. And two, this would be a labor of love, not a living
A labour of love is what it would be. My labour of love takes a back seat most days to the real business of running a farm and a family. Three years in I'm not making money but I do have fun.
mh9162013
Well-Known Member
Those prices don't really stand out to me. But if you added some sort of benefit others don't, like a lower free shipping threshold (already mentioned), lower shipping costs in general or you truly have EVERY. SINGLE. ESTES. product in stock, then you might be able to stand out among your competitors.
Even if you can't have every Estes product in stock, if you could have other needed items at very affordable prices (think Walmart.com or Amazon.com prices or lower), that could be a great selling point, too. In other words, being a "one stop shop" could be a competitive advantage. I know there's a lot I want to buy, but I need to get them from 2 or 3 retailers and get killed on shipping.
Other items could include:
Kevlar
Wood glue
White glue
Epoxy
Elmer's CWF
Jeweller Repair, Price and ID tags (12mm) that @BEC uses
1/16" hole punch
1/4" Avery hole reinforcement sticker rings
Parachute twine
Balsa/basswood sheets
But that's quite a massive inventory you'll need or complex drop shipping network you'll have to set up and maintain.
EDIT: to add examples of non-Estes items.
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PayLoad
I don't do spirals
Excellent input
I concur. I hate when I have to buy each little part from different manufacturers and they all have shipping fees. And I love Estes stuff but it would be cool to have some more products geared toward mid and high power. I think it would be cool to have another trustworthy source for my splurging.
PayLoad
I don't do spirals
Estes / Quest rockets, motors, q-jets, glue, balsa sheets, twine, kevlar, nylon, electric matches, ejection charges - what else? (No Hi-Power motors, sorry) I was going to ask Chris if I could sell his kits built as well.
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What would you charge for building?
PayLoad
I don't do spirals
Same as what aerotech sells, but at a reasonable price
heada
Well-Known Member
Selling ematches could be a problem as they require an ATF explosive permit. ATF regulation free "ignitators" are only available from electricmatch.com
https://electricmatch.com/rocketry
https://electricmatch.com/rocketry
PayLoad
I don't do spirals
The input has been greatly appreciated
heada
Well-Known Member
Is this effort "The Rocket Store 2.0" I seem to remember an effort along the same lines a year or two ago that imploded in very short time.
mh9162013
Well-Known Member
Good luck with your business endeavor.
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I agree on the shipping. I realize cardboard boxes and tape cost money, as does the cost of UPS or USPS, but as someone who's been spoiled by Amazon's free shipping, I'm hurt when I order $30 of stuff and then get hit with another $10 of shipping. I know some places offer free shipping on $100 or more orders, which then makes it worthwhile to save up what I want and then order a bunch of crap at once, but I'm also someone who needs that 24mm tubing RIGHT NOW, and I'm willing to buy two kits to justify that order for the tube. I just don't want to be ripped off on the shipping. A tube and two kits shouldn't cost $10 to ship, not if you're shipping 50 orders a day from various customers.
Either that, or I see an opening for someone to make a killing in the low-cost shipping business. Fedex made their bones by doing it quick. UPS made theirs by doing boxes the Post Office wouldn't touch. Creating the distribution and logistics network is the tough part, but computers and barcodes have now made the rest fairly easy. With rising costs, I bet there's a smart cookie out there that can figure out a way to make it cheaper, perhaps by piggybacking on unused space with other carriers, and even making use of the Greyhound bus network (then you don't need your own trucks, except for last-mile delivery). But it could be done, for small stuff anyhow.
Either that, or I see an opening for someone to make a killing in the low-cost shipping business. Fedex made their bones by doing it quick. UPS made theirs by doing boxes the Post Office wouldn't touch. Creating the distribution and logistics network is the tough part, but computers and barcodes have now made the rest fairly easy. With rising costs, I bet there's a smart cookie out there that can figure out a way to make it cheaper, perhaps by piggybacking on unused space with other carriers, and even making use of the Greyhound bus network (then you don't need your own trucks, except for last-mile delivery). But it could be done, for small stuff anyhow.
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Not quite off topic, but maybe oblique but not tangential.
I am not convinced money is the issue. Kids are convincing their parents to cough up $500 list for a PlayStation 5 (if you can find one, they go on EBay for $100-$300 MORE), and the list price for latest Thor Ragnorak game is $70. Toys aren’t cheap these days.
At least one real handicap is the lack of available flying fields . Maybe Estes and NAR are already addressing this (Tripoli already has fields usually in Outer Mongolia or other distant places), but encouraging each city with a population above a set size to set up fields with “carve out” dates for rocketry (other times for soccer,etc.) would really help, especially since if limited to certain time periods people would see each other and word would spread. Especially if morning hours prior to soccer or whatever, the kid showing up for games would likely catch the last few flights of the rocketry enthusiasts and pique their interest.
The Camas Washington High School did well in TARC, I checked with them, they go across the border to Oregon to test fly their rockets.
As I said, maybe Estes and NAR are already working this angle (or have worked it and it failed).
I can’t get the local park’s admin to even return a phone call.
So regarding prices, you can sell the Saturn launch set for $1.50, if there is no place to fly it what’s the point?
I am not convinced money is the issue. Kids are convincing their parents to cough up $500 list for a PlayStation 5 (if you can find one, they go on EBay for $100-$300 MORE), and the list price for latest Thor Ragnorak game is $70. Toys aren’t cheap these days.
At least one real handicap is the lack of available flying fields . Maybe Estes and NAR are already addressing this (Tripoli already has fields usually in Outer Mongolia or other distant places), but encouraging each city with a population above a set size to set up fields with “carve out” dates for rocketry (other times for soccer,etc.) would really help, especially since if limited to certain time periods people would see each other and word would spread. Especially if morning hours prior to soccer or whatever, the kid showing up for games would likely catch the last few flights of the rocketry enthusiasts and pique their interest.
The Camas Washington High School did well in TARC, I checked with them, they go across the border to Oregon to test fly their rockets.
As I said, maybe Estes and NAR are already working this angle (or have worked it and it failed).
I can’t get the local park’s admin to even return a phone call.
So regarding prices, you can sell the Saturn launch set for $1.50, if there is no place to fly it what’s the point?
PayLoad
I don't do spirals
I would say something like that
Shipping is a business expense so it is incumbent on the business to get shipping costs as low as possible. If your customers have to pay high shipping costs then they will look at your competitors.
I don't think prices have to be rock bottom. I won't make a buying decision on a rocket kit based on $1 difference in cost, but I will if it's a big difference.
There was a thread not too long ago where someone asked how many companies there are that sell rocket kits. I went through all of them I could find and put together a pretty long list. There are a lot of potential competitors out there. If you are interested in a company to have fun and not try to get rich on I would suggest having your own brand and designing your own kits to sell to enthusiasts. This is not easy either and there have been threads about that in the past too.
I whole heartedly agree with those who've said that a "rocket everything" store with all the Estes products (or as close as you can manage) is better than an Estes only store. You have competition there too, Apogee and others. But you could have a different emphasis in your product offerings, and Apogee in particular is easy to compete with on price. (I'm happy to order from them, but I know I'm overpaying sometimes.)
As for the oft' mentioned free shipping threshold, I'd like to see someone do the same thing but in a different way. Make it 25% or so off instead of 33%, in order to build in shipping cost. Then all orders have free shipping, and the price would seem more honest, at least to me. Then add a volume discount threshold. The net effect may be the same, in that the net bottom line price includes the shipping until one buys enough to eliminate that, but there's be no sticker shock on the shipping; I'd know what I'm spending when I choose to put something in my cart. That more "honest feeling" pricing would attract me to your store strongly.
As for the oft' mentioned free shipping threshold, I'd like to see someone do the same thing but in a different way. Make it 25% or so off instead of 33%, in order to build in shipping cost. Then all orders have free shipping, and the price would seem more honest, at least to me. Then add a volume discount threshold. The net effect may be the same, in that the net bottom line price includes the shipping until one buys enough to eliminate that, but there's be no sticker shock on the shipping; I'd know what I'm spending when I choose to put something in my cart. That more "honest feeling" pricing would attract me to your store strongly.
A few kits of your own would certainly be a welcome piece of a "rocket everything" store. Since you plan to have a focus on Estes products (even if carrying other stuff?) you could probably keep the kit prices down a bit by designing them around off-the-shelf Estes parts to the extent you can.
I don't get it, are people basically asking for eRockets with steep discounts? Sounds great, but come on. I would also like a pony.
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