vancouver71 Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Hi guys, I am wondering where you guys get your good deal when you buy kits? I usually go to my hobby store and pay 25$ for a kit. I look on Ebay or Craiglist but Its 20$ instead of 25$. Where else then? Modeling club? Thank you for your time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunkypeanutbutter Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 I haven't bought from them yet but I plan to: Hobbylinc. Good looking site, great deals, easy to navigate.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miatatom Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 I'm a big fan of Hobbylinc as well. One other source is to sign up for the Hobby Lobby newsletter. You'll get a coupon weekly for 40% off on regularly priced items. They don;t carry a lot of the models I like but I did buy a Fireball Roberts 57 Ford for less than $15. You can print and use the coupon for one item per visit. I always have the wife buy something when I need to. I buy Tamiya primer there as well as other odds and ends for modeling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDO Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 I don't look for good deals. I buy at the local hobby shop. Austin only has one "real" hobby shop left. I pay a little more because I like having it around. It's great to stop by once a week or so and shoot the breeze with staff and customers and see what's new. If I want something that is out of production, I go to ebay. Craigslist is hit or miss, and full of flakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunkypeanutbutter Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 I buy everything right now from my LHS. It is nice to have a brick-and-mortar store to go into, look at something before you buy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 I just bought three kits tonight, that totalled 55.00 from Tower Hobbies. Right now shipping is free on most of their kits. I also have a coupon code that gives you 15.00 off any order of at least 50.00. My total cost including shipping ended up being 39.01. 13.00 a kit! They are my number one place to buy from! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike_G Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 The best deals I've gotten have been at estate sales and yard sales- I bought 43 kits at a yard sale for $150 including five 1/8 scale Monogram kits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
customsrus Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 You can buy kits from Fred's Model World. I have bought kits from him at great prices. Also you can try local model shows. Or even try Craigslist . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter31a Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 You can get some good deals on Kijiji sometimes. Just be aware that when ordering from U.S. sellers like many mentioned in the responses above you can get hammered on shipping costs to Canada. It doesn't make sense to pay $30 in shipping for a $15 kit. Of course I'm assuming your Vancouver is B.C. not Washington. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Smith Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Good deal is relevant, too. If you are looking for newer release kits, Hobby Lobby has a 40% off coupon. Of course, if the models are on sale already, you can't use it. If there is no Hobby Lobby near you, obviously, that doesn't help. Hobby Lobby also has clearance models. You can troll ebay and wait for a good price. Check buy-it-now prices of the kit you're looking for and wait until you find the price you want. Some sellers will even ship free with certain purchases. Amazon. Yes, they sell models. The prices are all over the place, but, again, keep looking. If you have a Prime membership, you can get items shipped "free". I have purchased a few kits on Amazon for good prices - they even have international sellers so some kits you can't always find here for cheap (Tamiya). Google machine. Use the shopping feature. Again, takes time to search. Craigslist is mostly a waste - unless you want half built, dusty, "RARE" models you can buy at Hobby Lobby brand new for the same price. It really depends on what kit you're looking for and why. Parts kit? Out of produvtion kit? Common kit? Foreign kit? Just any cheap kit? Or...just know exactly what you want and buy it and save yourself the time of looking around a lot and build Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabrux Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 I buy everything right now from my LHS. It is nice to have a brick-and-mortar store to go into, look at something before you buy it. How far down east are you, Miles? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 If you are looking for newer release kits, Hobby Lobby has a 40% off coupon. Of course, if the models are on sale already, you can't use it. If there is no Hobby Lobby near you, obviously, that doesn't help. Hobby Lobby also has clearance models. If you don't have a local Hobby Lobby, Michaels and AC Moore also have those coupons. The selection isn't the greatest. As you asked... club meetings and shows. I'm on the East Coast in the PA/NJ/NY area and we have a lot of shows and swap meets throughout the year. There are dealers who work these shows that sell new release US kits for $16-20. I like the smaller swap meets where builders (vs dealers) are selling off extras. They seem to have cheaper prices. And I belong to two clubs where members will bring a box of extras to sell off for $5-10 a kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
av405 Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 I just bought three kits tonight, that totalled 55.00 from Tower Hobbies. Right now shipping is free on most of their kits. I also have a coupon code that gives you 15.00 off any order of at least 50.00. My total cost including shipping ended up being 39.01. 13.00 a kit! They are my number one place to buy from! I just took a look and oh my! Some GREAT savings there. I did a comparison on some kits I'm interested in that are selling at brick and mortars and other places on the web and Tower is definitely a bargain right now. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W-409 Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 In my opinion the best place to get good deals is a Model Car Show. There you'll find lots of fellow modelers selling part of their collections and sometimes the kits can be bought really cheap...But of course not always. For example I bought a Burnout Bird Pontiac Firebird FC kitted by AirFix for about $20. Some parts were missing, but not much and otherwise it was unstarted. I have never seen another with AirFix box and the MPC versions seen on eBay are more expensive as well. As I'm here in Finland, buying from eBay is not always a good idea. Some sellers think it costs something like $40-50 to ship a model to Finland ! As far as the Hobby Shops go, I had good experiences with Model Express, but unfortunately it's closed. I made an account to Model RoundUp, but I haven't ordered anything yet. Usually I drive to the nearest Hobby Shop here in Finland and buy my new kits from there. For aftermarket parts that can't be found here in Finland, I use Ted's Modeling Marketplace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deano Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 As I'm here in Finland, buying from eBay is not always a good idea. Some sellers think it costs something like $40-50 to ship a model to Finland ! So, Niko, how much do you think it costs to ship a kit to Finland from the US? I just did a cost estimate on the US Postal Service website. A 2 lb. 12"x12"x 8" priority box costs (according to the USPS) ... ready? Sitting down? $55.00. That's not what I >think< it costs; that's what the Postal Service says it costs. I get really tired of the implication that US sellers are ripping off foreign buyers (and vice-versa). Why >does< it cost so much? I dunno; it just does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrGlueblob Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Spotlight Hobbies (Formerly Hobby Heaven) has some good deals. Tom Carter is #1 in my book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Van Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Local hobby shop, Internet from sites like Model Roundup or Model Empire, (both good hobby guys) and model shows.....in that order. If you don't have a local shop go internet (sound like you have a local) but having a LHS is a GREAT thing....my LHS is a 3 hour drive....needless to say I don't go often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabrux Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 So, Niko, how much do you think it costs to ship a kit to Finland from the US? I just did a cost estimate on the US Postal Service website. A 2 lb. 12"x12"x 8" priority box costs (according to the USPS) ... ready? Sitting down? $55.00. That's not what I >think< it costs; that's what the Postal Service says it costs. I get really tired of the implication that US sellers are ripping off foreign buyers (and vice-versa). Why >does< it cost so much? I dunno; it just does. First-Class Package International Service $24.15 USPS.com Being in Canada I have the same views as Niko when it comes to calculating shipping costs. I can't vouch for Niko, but personally when shopping for items on eBay from US sellers I often investigate the shipping options before either bidding or contacting the seller. In some instances, there are cheaper shipping options available but the seller may have only selected a few options when putting up the listing. Yes, I know that for this price there is no tracking or insurance or anything, so buyer beware. But I just wanted to point out that there are usually cheaper shipping options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 I usually buy new kits with a 40 or 50 percent off coupon from Hobby Lobby or Michael's. Anything I can't get there, I get from ModelRoundup.com--good prices and good service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Johnston Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 Spotlight Hobbies (Formerly Hobby Heaven) has some good deals. Tom Carter is #1 in my book. I have to agree that Tom at Spotlight Hobbies has his kits very reasonably priced. You can also get good deals on Ebay, and there is a site on Facebook where I've bought kits from individuals at a very reasonable price. Its called buy, sell, show off model kits. I also have gotten great deals at model car shows. All my local hobby shops are pretty much gone. If I had a LHS I'd spend a little more there. My closest it about 40 minutes away and I do buy kits there occasionally even though I know I can probably get them cheaper elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelbaskett Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 Agreed.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZTony8 Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 Deals happen where they happen.I've gotten deals at model shows,club meetings,hobby store clearances,purchased collections,and swap meets.When I'm feeling bucks up I'll make a special trip to the Model Cave in Ypsilanti and get deals there from John and Melissa on the offbeat kits that I like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southpier Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Spotlight Hobbies (Formerly Hobby Heaven) has some good deals. Tom Carter is #1 in my book. maybe, but his use of little girls in the ads are creepy enough to keep me away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 maybe, but his use of little girls in the ads are creepy enough to keep me away Oh come on! Tom Carter is an accomplished professional photographer aside from operating the model car business. The girls in his ads were college age when they were photographed like ten years ago. They needed some professional work photos for their modeling portfolios. They are all modestly dressed, nothing wrong going on there. The little girl in the ads is his granddaughter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southpier Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 i'm sure he values you as a customer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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