Tamiya pricing going through the roof today

[Saito]

So evidently, Tamiya has raised the prices on all their kits across the board. Remember the when the Blackfoot was $169 yesterday, well now its $211. Super Clod at $299? Nope, try $412 today. Weren't Sand Scorchers like $309? Now $427. The last Bruiser I saw was something like $780 but today its a steal at $1062. Prices are literally skyrocketing across the web as I post this. Great job. I'm sure it will do wonders for those sales numbers.

[Lowgear]

That makes me think that maybe the reason for it is actually due to poor sales numbers. They have to raise the prices of their products to compensate for lack of volume being sold. ...Or maybe they're just greedy.

[Lonestar]

25% only, tho...

[tamiyadan]

.

[Saito]

Raising prices to cover lower sales is understandable, but price increases this extreme and sudden stinks of pure greed. Do you really think the Trump tariffs are to blame? If so, I guess Tamiya can't be faulted

[XLR8]

A loss in sales $'s cannot be offset by higher unit prices. Price increases always yield lower volume and net sales. I'm betting that tariffs are to blame.

[Basher67]

Assuming that the increase is a direct result of tariffs, and that is a big assumption, why isn't every Japanese product suddenly seeing this instant price jump? If every product imported from japan suddenly increased in price 25%, it would at least make national news headlines and be the latest tool the leftys use to bash on Trump. It never fails to amaze me how quick we are to bash our own President and our own country. Please guys, let's not start that $&!# on here. I could go to CNN and hear all that crap I can handle. Anytime religion or politics is brought into a conversation, it's a guaranteed fight with plenty of ignorance and intolerance on both sides. That being said, in my experience, anytime more money is expected from my pocket, the first suspect is usually corporate greed.

[XLR8]

I agree Basher, let's keep politics out. That said, I think I understand what and why this is happening. But I don't know why other RC imports haven't followed Tamiya and raised their prices. Maybe time will tell.

[XLR8]

This is really simplistic but let's imagine that I run a gas station and my competitor across the street has raised is price per gallon by 10 cents. His logic might be that his increase in sales per unit sold will more than offset the loss in volume resulting from the price increase. If this happens, I can immediately raise my gas by say 5 cents. Not only will I realize greater sales $'s per unit but I'll also gain net sales from the inevitable increase in volume (customers that my competitor has turned away). Since Tamiya has raised their prices, could we also see Kyosho and others raise theirs as well?

[Basher67]

Anything is possible, but I personally don't see other RC companies directly competing with Tamiya. Maybe competing for the overall rc dollar, but not model to model. I'm sure I'm opening up a can of worms here, lol, but they don't compete with racing companies such as AE, they don't really compete with crawler companies such as axial, and I don't see them competing with basher companies like Traxxas. When do I, as hobbyist, look to Tamiya? When I want that vintage car from my youth or when I want a finely detailed scale car or body. In either of these circumstances, nothing will do except a Tamiya. Although those chinese knockoffs are looking more tempting all the time.

[XLR8]

True. I heard or read somewhere that Tamiya has the largest global market share for surface RC's of all kinds. I reckon there are a lot of collectors and other RC enthusiasts around the world that buy Tamiya products almost exclusively. Like you've said, they're not a racing RC maker, a basher or crawler RC company, they are simply Tamiya and they have established a reputation over many years for developing products that their customers like. My hat's off to them.
I'm not in their camp but Tamiya recently released (or re-released?) a Porsche RC that I'd love to own. I watched a build on youtube for that car and can see why they could become very addictive. Actually, maybe I am in their camp and are reluctant to admit it.

[RC10th]

I came across this....

[GoMachV]

Ahh, well there ya go. They hopped on the Traxxas bandwagon along with Losi and I’m sure many others.

[jkelm24]

I don't get it... they're basically killing their US market. Who's going to pay $400+ for a Clodbuster, or $600+ for an Avante? Oh, how 'bout $160+ for a Hornet? WTF!!!

[Basher67]

If you didn't grow up with a hornet, I understand. If hornets were rare and rere's did not exist, I might be ashamed to admit what I would pay for a clean example. I don't think most realize that the prices of these old rc's has not really changed since the 80's. A clodbuster cost $300 since I was a kid. When you consider inflation, they actually cost a lot less nowadays. By setting a minimum price a dealer is allowed to sell them at, they are helping out small local hobby shops that don't do the volume that the big online stores do. It creates a fair market for all distributors big and small. The end result here is our LHS can compete and keep the doors open, and our original Tamiya car's value just went back up. I would guess that the tooling and molds for the old Tamiyas are long ago paid for. What do you guess it actually costs tamiya to produce an average kit these days? I'm guessing that their profit margin is pretty healthy. If they don't sell at this new set price, the price will come down. I had a business mentor long ago and when I asked how much we should charge, he said, "Whatever the market will bear".