Here’s my thoughts, £780 in the states plus a typical delivery service say £20, yeah so thats a bargain considering its an American based company selling to an American customer.
now if we want one we have to pay more, first off, shipping, yes “by the boat load” but that and having it flown over has gone up quite a bit recently due to the situation were in at this time.
Then when it does arrive to the U.K it has to be unloaded, processed then ready to be shipped off to next, the cost of diesel has also risen along with staff wages and again the world as it is.
then onto British trucks, we had a massive shortage during COVID to the extent where i even had a letter asking me if i wanted to return to driving, so wages increased massively if you where a dedicated trucker oh and that old diesel thing again too…
so at a regional hub, smaller vehicles delivering to their own distribution hub etc. etc. etc.
by the time its in our hands, its been in twenty others too all at a cost to us at the end of the chain.
but some people (myself included) choose to, shall we say, suck up this cost, because its what we have chosen to buy, its the reality we live in today im afraid. Don’t forget that all us rc’ers are fortunate to have this little bit of luxury when so many cant afford to “exist”
the other option would be to fly over and get one in your luggage for the return trip, would that cost more than £310 to do?? I genuinely have no idea
so yeah, thats my thoughts, also just to mention, the hobby shop slice of the pie is very small too….