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

I always thought it would have been smarter to do the rere's as limited number production runs. For instance when rereleasing the bruiser, announce ahead of time that "x" amount of kits will be available starting at a certain date and thats all. They would sell like fire and the value would hold up better in the vintage market since there would still be a rarity factor. Add in some good parts support and everyone's happy. If they did 2 of these a year, it would take them 50 years to go through the famous "first 100" kits. There seemed to be no real marketing strategy with the rere's beyond, "these kits sold the best back then so lets just start making them again."

This appears to be bigger than just our corner of the RC world. From what I've read on other forums, its all Tamiya's products, even their plastic models. It doesn't seem that RCmart or Tamico prices have been effected yet. This leads me to think its possibly tariff related (neutral statement, not trying to be political) or this is a Tamiya USA trick and not necessarily Tamiya Japan behind this. However, I was always under the idea that Tamiya USA was purely distribution for Tamiya Japan and just a puppet, not a real entity with any real clout per say.

Did you read the snip from rc10th? It spells out exactly what happened. Tamiya did the same thing Traxxas and most all of the manufacturers have done- they set fixed pricing for everyone. That way the big companies won’t undercut local shops. This is not tariff related. It even spelled out the date it was to change- June 1st.

I agree with what Jeff said, set price makes it fair for all vendors. Now the vendors have to provide the service to the buyer to get their money, i.e. prompt shipping and support for spare parts. If I buy something, I want it now!

Tamiya isn't a monopoly so they will sell less product and profits will decrease. Very bad for them.

I do not agree. I doubt it will change people’s minds. Tamiya used to be entry level. Now traxxas fills those shoes. The people buying Tamiya, imo, these days are the same ones that did as children. They have emotional attachment to the kits, even the new stuff. The older crowd also tends to have more money, and spends it more frivolously. I don’t think it will change much at all, apart from the profit the shops will make. There was never much money in the kits. If they made 5-10% they were doing good. Parts are ~40%. With this, shops will actually make a few $$. Of course internet will as well, but if the price is the same why would you order online instead of driving to the LHS. That’s their theory.

You might be right Jeff.
There have been so many good theories offered here that it's hard to imagine that there isn't at least some validity in all of them. So, let me offer a couple more -- cause it's mowing day for me but the lawn is still too wet to cut and I have a few minutes to kill.
Maybe, as other's have offered, this is a test. Tamiya want to determine if their products are underpriced in light of a recovering global economy. So they spike the prices and implement strict guildlines (standardized pricing) to their retailers to guard against uncontrolled pricing undercuts that could taint their market data. Then run the test for 6 months or so and review the end result. If Tamiya is publicly owned and traded then their directors and shareholders might be indirectly demanding such a test. Tamiya can always make future adjustments to pricing if they see a falloff in sales.
Or, maybe this is an effort to shore up a shrinking distribution network worldwide. Maybe there is reluctance from new smaller retailers to add Tamiya because they're convinced they could never compete with the big well-established retailers. The small guys can't afford to hold non-moving inventory so they avoid taking a chance on Tamiya.
This business model doesn't apply everywhere but in the fluid controls/plumbing and heating products industry where I've spent the last 25 years, we've always focused on volume first and understood that profits will follow. So we'd set pricing to equal manufacturing cost plus overhead recovery plus a reasonable margin then focused all our efforts toward moving as much product out the door as possible. Much of this effort was devoted to establishing and growing a distribution network.
I'll admit that this business model may not apply to the RC industry but, as I said, I'm waiting for the lawn to dry.

Tamiya isn’t raising their price. They are telling the shops what to charge.

The old way:
Tamiya cost $200
Shop might sell for $250, online might sell for $210
“List price” is $350

Then with MAP pricing
Tamiya cost $200
Shop MUST sell for at least $250, online sells for at least $250
“List price” is $350

Very good point. I hadn't thought of it that way.
So maybe this is about expanding distribution.
Bottom line for me is that Porsche model I wanted will now cost a lot more. So, do I still want it? I donno.

Oh that's rather disappointing , can't we go back to blaming Trump ? That was way more fun than a rational, fair, business based decision by Tamiya and it would not affect prices here in the UK.

No, I'd rather not scapegoat Trump. As previously stated, not trying to be political, Throw the tariff idea out for a moment. I simply want to clarify because I'm dense. When Traxxas did this a while back, the Stampede sold for about $199 at most retailers as well as Traxxas's own online store. Tower also sold it for this price but it was actually cheaper because of their super saver coupons. So, Traxxas put an end to that and Tower had to sell at $199 like everybody else. (All before the big fallout between them)

Now, Tamiya is doing the same thing, except one small issue. A $299 is now $412 and a $780 product is now $1062. Pretty dramatic increase. So the gist of all this is, despite this big price hike, the whole idea is Tamiya is benevolently trying to level the playing field for smaller retail shops (which I haven't had in my area for about a decade now). In this new found fairness, everybody makes out, both the online and smaller shops with more money in their pockets. Except the consumer. Trust me, if anybody want to believe this isn't greed motivated, its me. I drink the Tamiya kool aid. Guilty as charged. I'm even on board if this is simply a necessary step just to stay afloat in a shrinking marketplace. Not trying to argue or be smart. Just trying to clarify.

The business model makes sense, when the price is taken out of the equation. Forcing all retailers to sell at the same fixed price levels the field and potentially expands distribution. This has proven to be successful for Traxxas as an example.

The problem is the fixed price points they've chosen. What kid or adult is going to walk into a LHS, see a $160 Hornet sitting on a shelf next to a $179 Bandit and choose the Hornet? Oh, by the way... the Bandit also has a battery, charger, and radio. Same example can be made of the Blackfoot and Stampede.

The 'fair playing field' model breaks down when viewed through these examples. The only people buying these kits are us old guys, and I'm not sure how many of us are willing to pay ~$200 for an entry level re-re, or ~$600 for an Avante re-re.

Because of this, I doubt many small businesses are going to be willing to stock these kits anyway... unless the chosen Tamiya price points had undercut the other comparable models on the shelf, which they don't.

Many manufacturers are moving toward a direct-to-customer distribution and sales model (I also see this happening in the bicycle industry). I wonder if this is the first step in moving customers directly back to Tamiya for sales.

One thing's for sure, the members here seem to understand the RC market better than Tamiya and that's shocking.
With all business decisions there are winners and losers and in this instance we know who the loser is - it's the customer.

I saw the memo too and pulled the trigger on a couple of Hotshot re-releases. They were the last two showing in stock at RCMart on May 29th so I bought them both. Today they have 3 in stock at the same price I paid. Looking at the beginner kits I think the Grasshopper/Hornet/Frog kits have actually gone down a bit. Have the prices moved at all for the other vendors? If RCMart can still sell at their prices is it possible that the other vendors are already above Tamiya's minimum price?

I also bought a bunch of Kyosho re-res< kits before they were all gone and am still eyeing a few more. Whatever Tamiya is doing doesn't seem to have affected their prices much if at all.

Damn, wish I had checked in and seen this thread a few weeks ago. I've been putting off getting a Sand Scorcher forever to add to the "to be built" kit pile, and now, I'm not sure I can get over the mental image of low $300's pricing that I'm used to. I guess I could buy on fleabay from one of the Hong Kong or Japan sellers and take the risk? Even with the high shipping it still gets close to the price I had hoped to pay.

I had that kit sitting in my TowerHObbies cart so many times, discount code applied, free shipping and never did it! Arggh.