RC10Talk - The Net's Largest Vintage R/C Community

slim_chance wrote:Umm its wicked fast! Other than that...http://charlotte.craigslist.org/bar/4216639620.html

It's still in one piece? Looks rather abused...

Gotta give him credit--at least his rear tire pair matches!

If you can't take the time to remove all the rc crap from the box, maybe you should ommit the trailing zero from the asking price.

Gotta love lazyasses...

Gotta love lazyasses

Actually, I do; I'd never score the deals I do if everyone took the time to clean them up, repair them and take several good photographs. Diamonds in the rough, if you will. I really like it when someone does a 3-day auction with a poor header that garners very few views.

Maybe I'm oblivious to those who really struggle to fix their broken buggy or Traxxas RTR truck, but is there REALLY a market for these services?

yes there is ive been thinking of starting something like that here .. last time i was at the hobby shop and heard a rc getting fixed he droped $300

not a bad days work

I agree that there is a market for repair services, but who in their right mind is going to leave an RC car with a total stranger who posted a craigslist ad?

RC owner: "Can you fix my RC car?"
Stranger: "I sure can! Just give me a couple of days with it."
RC owner: "How do I get my RC car to you?"
Stranger: "We can meet at the Circle K gas station."
RC owner: "OK! Great!"

I think not...

is there REALLY a market for these services?

Yes, but don't expect to making a living doing it.

I run such an ad on CL (much more refined & articulate than the one posted), and it does generate business, but I'd say I average only about $6/hour for those services in the end. Just very time-consuming stuff, and you can't charge like you would for 1:1 auto repair.

I change out the picture periodically, but my ad reads:



RC Car & Truck Service/Repair/Restoration/Modification

Specializing in vintage Team Associated vehicles, work performed on any hobby grade RC. Work on toy grade cars is on a case-by-case basis.

Anything from basic tune-up to completely custom mods, including nitro-to-electric AND electric-to-nitro conversions with custom machined polymer/nylon, steel & billet aluminum parts.

Got a broken vintage kit with a part you just can't find to fix it? Good chance we can make it!

Old gold pan buggy rusting away in your closet? We can turn it into a race winner or a pristine shelf queen!

Most of the hobby shops out there are fine as long as you're running a modern brushless kit, but many of them don't know vintage stuff and don't REALLY understand nitro engines.

Respond with email or text, xxx-xxx-xxxx

Cash or credit/debit card (Visa/MC/Discover), open to trades.

See more at http://www.XXXXXXXXXX.XXX

I agree that there is a market for repair services, but who in their right mind is going to leave an RC car with a total stranger who posted a craigslist ad?

RC owner: "Can you fix my RC car?"
Stranger: "I sure can! Just give me a couple of days with it."
RC owner: "How do I get my RC car to you?"
Stranger: "We can meet at the Circle K gas station."
RC owner: "OK! Great!"

I think not...

It's all in how you deal with people.

I run my full time business on my own property as well, so when folks come by to drop an RC kit, they know where I live, and they see a legitimate business that also has a legitimate website. They also see dozens of other RC cars hanging around. Really, the only difference compared to a regular hobby shop is that I stock very few parts.

LHS have been selling RC repair services for as long as they've been selling RC...and while e-tailers have taken over a large chunk of the sales business, repairs are still a service that can be offered locally.

That's a nice ad, very articulate and you deserve the business you get then!

I guess since a lot of us are pretty into the DIY thing, although I don't/can't do fabrication, I just was curious if anyone paid to have things fixed on these cars.

Also the fact that his ad referenced "remote control" cars made me laugh.

I guess since a lot of us are pretty into the DIY thing,

That does generally hold true, and a lot of what I get are basket cases where someone got in over their head trying to do an engine swap or something. Seen some pretty crazy (read: WTH were you thinking???) stuff that people tried to make work. Properly shimming clutch bearings seems to be a concept that eludes many........

It's fun, and I do it in my down-time or after hours, so profit margins aren't really a big deal. Sometimes the customers can be a headache, though. Everyone wants everything cheap, and with RTRs so affordable these days, few people will invest much in repairs. Those who do aren't the ones coming to me (or anyone else) for service!

My recommendation to anyone thinking about offering such services is to understand beforehand that you will not make much money doing it, and you'll spend a great deal of time explaining things, so do it because you love the hobby, not for income! At best, it will augment your own RC spending (and sometimes get you some really good deals on cars people don't wanna mess with)

Here is something that I just saw. It just goes to show that Craigslist / Kijiji hilarity goes north of the boarder also.


This is so funny that I have to download some screen capture software to prove that it is true!


here is the link:

http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-hobbies-crafts-Lipo-battery-charging-station-for-RC-hobby-batteries-W0QQAdIdZ551861934

Stop yelling at me!!!