Gaui Customers in Canada

[Jeff_Barrett]

You guys are breaking my heart ..... I feel like I'm abandoning you all.

[S.Millar]

Originally Posted by czynot

there is a war out there with each manufacture. Each authorized dealer will not allow to sell certain brands. Its a way of big boys saying sell my brand only. You not allow to sell other brand otherwise we will pull out. One popular brand S@B recently pushing their product very aggressively. Their authorized distributors closed Align account to all dealers.

This kind of fighting between brands are hurting everyone because LHS can not carry multiple brands. Shops closed their door because they cant survive selling only one or two brands.

In the end it is the pilots that will pay the price because we cant get the parts we need. when we do find the part, it is in china and shipping cost more than the part itself.

I haven't heard of this going on before. The Canadian importer for SAB also sells Align.

http://www.rotorquest.com/index.php?cPath=29

[S.Millar]

Originally Posted by Jeff_Barrett

You guys are breaking my heart ..... I feel like I'm abandoning you all.

Your doing what you need to do Jeff. Nobody is upset with you.

It would be nice if we got some feed back from Empire or Great Hobbies. We are customers ready to buy a product. It's not like we don't have plenty of online shops or helicopter manufacturer's to choose from. We want to give our business to these guys.... Throw us a bone.

[Swooper6]

Hey guys,

Just an update on what Gaui and Great Hobbies are thinking right now. Currently, Gaui would be happy to supply Great Hobbies with a sufficient supply of product for their needs. Great Hobbies is currently looking into carrying Gaui and hopefully after things wind down from the summer rush we will get a definite reply. I truly hope to receive an email ASAP and will let you guys know. Thanks for the support!

[cyclo]

Originally Posted by Swooper6

Hey guys,

Just an update on what Gaui and Great Hobbies are thinking right now. Currently, Gaui would be happy to supply Great Hobbies with a sufficient supply of product for their needs. Great Hobbies is currently looking into carrying Gaui and hopefully after things wind down from the summer rush we will get a definite reply. I truly hope to receive an email ASAP and will let you guys know. Thanks for the support!

Fingers crossed... I hope the deal between Gaui and Great Hobbies pull through. Would be nice if Great Hobbies also carried Compass.

[rcnorth]

Sounds good

[S.Millar]

Thanks for the update Swooper6!

I tried to talk to jps@greathobbies.com (Jim S.) directly over the phone yesterday. He was not at his desk so I left him a message and my number and asked him to return my call.
I haven't heard back yet.

[Rotorcrazy]

Thank you all for your support of Great Hobbies and your desire to have us be your supplier of hobby products. Please know we do listen to our customers and if enough demand exists we are happy to move forward on this. I spoke with Gaui at IRCHA 2013 but for one reason or another we did not move forward with bringing it on. Our hobby is so diverse and ever growing that we can't carry it all unfortunately. I can't promise anything, this does represent a significant investment, but I appreciate that you want us to be your go to source. I will keep you all posted.

Jim Soutar
Great Hobbies

[S.Millar]

Thanks for the update Jim!

I look forward to speaking with you. Sorry I missed your call.

[S.Millar]

I had the chance to talk to Jim from Great Hobbies yesterday.
He was really nice to talk to. He is doing his research for various brands including Gaui and Compass. When he decides what makes the most sense from a sales perspective he will let us know.
Some things to note. Helicopters are a small portion of the sales numbers. Most of the business comes from small electrics and multirotors. They want to increase the heli sales in the right way.

I know the personally I haven't shopped at Great Hobbies lately because they don't stock the brands I use. YGE, MKS, servos, Vbar, Gaui... Etc.
Do the rest of you buy from Great Hobbies? Why or why not?

Thanks to everyone for sending your emails. If you haven't sent one yet please do.

[PassinThru]

I shop at Great Hobbies as much as I can to keep my Logo 600, Gaui X5, Compass Warp 360 and Align 450 Pro in the air. Of those, the X5 is my favourite flyer, so it would definitely be to my advantage if GH stocked X5 components. I also favour YGE ESCs and Skookum.
Having said that, I can see that the Canadian market may be too small to support the cost of carrying inventory for more than the bigger Blade, Align and Thunder Tiger helis they currently carry.

[S.Millar]

I think that a lot people are using the Gaui X3. Most shops including rchelicanada.com had a had time keeping parts in stock! Plenty of us also have the X5 and NX4.

I don't know anyone with a Thunder Tiger. Most people that I fly with don't have Align either. From the helicopters you listed you don't own one either... Lol.

If Great Hobbies advertised on Helifreak and started carrying some of the brands we use then I think the heli segment of the business would increase. If you carry the same generic brands as every other shop and sit a wait for customers you are going to be disappointed.

The holiday sales at Rotorquest are another thing that people take advantage of. If Great Hobbies and Rotorquest both carry a Castle 120. I know I can get it 10% off if I wait a week or two for a sale at Rotorquest.

[Swooper6]

Originally Posted by S.Millar

I think that a lot people are using the Gaui X3. Plenty of us also have the X5 and NX4.

I don't know anyone with a Thunder Tiger. Most people that I fly with don't own Align either.

If Great Hobbies advertised on Helifreak and started carrying some of the brands we use then I think the heli segment of the business would increase. If you carry the same generic brands as every other shop and sit a wait for customers you are going to be disappointed.

The holiday sales at Rotorquest are another thing that people take advantage of. If Great Hobbies and Rotorquest both carry a Castle 120. I know I can get it 10% off if I wait a week or two for a sale at Rotorquest.

I know one guy with an e 700 and is because he flies for great hobbies. No one I fly with uses align either. But great hobbies does do holiday sales for 10%

[rcnorth]

I am regular customer with GH, but my main heli shop is RQ. I also use Skookum, YGE, & MKS servos, although I like Savox also & just ordered some from GH.

Great hobbies does not have sales on every holiday....there was no labour day sale. RQ will have a thanksgiving sale & likely a Halloween sale also.

I fly Thunder Tiger, & I'm a plane guy also so I do buy more airplane stuff from GH, so glad they started selling Precision Aerobatics

No interest in Align here, but as I said if they go with Gaui, I will buy an X3.

[Swooper6]

Originally Posted by rcnorth

I am regular customer with GH, but my main heli shop is RQ. I also use Skookum, YGE, & MKS servos, although I like Savox also & just ordered some from GH.

Great hobbies does not have sales on every holiday....there was no labour day sale. RQ will have a thanksgiving sale & likely a Halloween sale also.

I fly Thunder Tiger, & I'm a plane guy also so I do buy more airplane stuff from GH, so glad they started selling Precision Aerobatics [emoji106]

No interest in Align here, but as I said if they go with Gaui, I will buy an X3.

I have no idea why we did not have a labor day sale this year. We did last year

[Hexperience]

I shop at Great Hobbies a lot... (don't tell my wife). I just picked up a scorpion motor for my new(used) Gaui X4II I bought this week. (It came with so many spare parts I could almost open a shop...)

Great Hobbies has some crazy sales on sometimes, blow out prices to move last years model. They have lots of align stuff.

So do we, as consumers, buy the products that are close and available, or do we buy products with little to no local support and then ask our local stores to carry it?

If GH carries Gaui I'd be very happy, but I can't see it happening. Heli's are fashion. Align one year, SAB the next, Gaui etc...

However, if GH were to get an exclusive Gaui distribution agreement, and carried the complete line in their stores then Gaui would have "local" support and would increase sales because of it. Think of how many Align kits have been sold, just because there are so many Align parts around.

I wonder, if I had a hobby shop, and carried Gaui and Align, would I have to have an X2 and a Trex250 in the cabinet? Would I end up getting stuck with the Gaui because it's not as popular a brand??

I'm completely just making conversation... I'm not trying to put anyone or anything down.
I support GH and RQ. I'd buy Gaui products from a local shop if I could. But when I got the x4ii I figured the internet is the only place I'll find parts.....

Great thread by the way...

[S.Millar]

I think a lot of the support for Align is starting to go away. The recent business model of releasing new models every year is starting to turn customers and retailers away. I know that Great Hobbies feels this way. Rc Heli Pro Shop also announced this week that they will no longer be carrying Align.
Getting stuck with legacy product takes a toll on retailers that have to try and keep up. Customers also loose out on the resale value of the models they just purchased a year ago.

I think that the Gaui brand would be the perfect replacement for Align from a retailer perspective. They have well designed and cost effective models with a long life cycle. During the life cycle Gaui makes minor improvements that keep the models performance at competitive level.

For example:
Gaui X7 released early 2011 – Current World Champion
Gaui X5 released early 2010
This is a retailer and customers dream. You can carry a full stock of parts and be secure in the knowledge that they won’t be obsolete in a year.

Great Hobbies or any other Canadian retailer will not be able to secure a Canadian distribution agreement through Gaui. Empire Hobby has a contract with Gaui to be the sole North American Distributor. I am not sure how this affects the profit margins for Canadian retailers but I would imagine it doesn’t help.
Rotorquest and SAB have proven that having a Canadian distributor contract will increase the motivation for the retailer to move that product. Both SAB and Rotorquest have been benefiting from that arrangement.

Originally Posted by Hexperience

I wonder, if I had a hobby shop, and carried Gaui and Align, would I have to have an X2 and a Trex250 in the cabinet? Would I end up getting stuck with the Gaui because it's not as popular a brand??

I think the better question is…If you were the customer and had parts availability for both models which one would you choose? The one that flys like a brick and will be obsolete in a year or the one that is light weight, performs better and has been supported since 2010?
If Gaui can get stocked in more shops, and make a stronger showing at Northern events they could easily eclipse Align. They are the only brand that has almost as many sizes covered in both electric and nitro.

(Ok now my fingers need a break…lol!)

[flyswatter40]

Jeff screwed a lot of people over by selling them a Gaui then dropping them, the expense my friends is he spent all the money going to events pretending to be someone who he is not. I'd be pissed with him and his way of thinking. Instead I just stopped dealing and talking to him. He'll ruin Synergy if they let him, hang out and talk to people.

[jml79]

I started dealing with rotorquest when I got frustrated with my LHS (an hour away in Kingston) and I found out that they order all of their parts from rotorquest any way. I have been to LHS's all over southern and eastern ontario and have yet to be able to walk in to a shop and buy everything I need for a repair. That part of why I gave up on Blade heli's. Unless you are flying the flavour of the week you still have to order the parts or the LHS does.

Anyway. I'm just rambling. I want to get an X3 but having to build another hoard of parts makes it a tough choice. That and the extra 5-6 bearings needed in a TT setup. Long live the belt.

[Jeff_Barrett]

Jim, that's pretty uncool. My reasons for scaling back have to do with me spending more time with my family.

I've never hidden the fact that this was a secondary income for me, and my reputation on here speaks volumes. I have donated a lot of time and money to events.

You're in direct violation of the forum rules being disrespectful and public trashing.