RM model store - still a scam?

The margins in diecast models aren't high, the competition is strong and both of those factors mean it is a volume business. The proliferation of these little stores run basically as hobbys by teenagers is interesting but hardly likely to be sustainable. If they are offering amazing deals they are probably not making any money from them and are trying to gain marketshare, which evaporates as soon as they are forced to charge sensible pricing again. Putting your trust in someone who is still at school or college doesn't sound like a particularly sensible idea most of the time. They simply are unable to put the effort in to keep it going, don't take it seriously enough and don't have the financial backing to make it work in the long run. You are likely to get burned eventually, not always but that is the chance you take.

It hasn't helped that several of these new stores have been promoted heavily by Youtubers, who are barely adults themselves. Obviously they get kickbacks for that, which is fine but is it good for their customers in the long run? It is hard to know who to trust - just look at how I got burned by Ali. He was very entreprenuerial but also betrayed my trust at the first sign of anything requiring some moral fibre and sold off his business and MAF after only a short period of time. Clearly Midwest wasn't making any money at all. Ultimately he was just another chancer that couldn't be relied on.

Inciedentally, the current status of Midwest doesn't bode well for the longevity of this forum!
You are spot on Richard, it’s nice to have young blood in the hobby and it keeps it fresh and getting the younger generation involved, but there are quite a few young retailers that think it’s the get rich, or quick cash scheme. It’s not! As a retailer who owns a couple of businesses, and who has been in retail for over 35 years now, it’s a slow burn. I was approached by Ali when he was selling Midwest to buy it. He told me that it wasn’t a fast enough business and he was essentially bored with it and was moving on. I politely declined as he wanted to sell MAF with the business and I had no interest in the forum as a venture. But yes the young adults that have and are slashing their prices to get that sale don’t realize that they are just hurting themselves to attract that easy sale. Those customers are never going to be loyalists, they are just looking for the deal of the day. We get asked all the time for coupon codes. Well it’s once a year for us around the holidays. As you stated the margins are slim, and for the very few of us that have brick and mortar stores, they are even smaller. Sales are great, but folks are creatures of habit, once you take that sale away they will just search elsewhere. But if you give quick service and have something that sets you apart, then that’s the winning combination. Most of the young folks are looking for instant gratification and aren’t in it for the long game. Nothing comes quick and easy in life, or retail, you have to work at it. Most of them will be around for a couple years, or until grandma quits funding them. Most don’t realize that all of those sales, whether they have made money or not, is reportable income for our lovely IRS, so they are paying taxes on a very marginal business venture.
 
I have had experience in retail sales etc as before as i ran a virtual business using only organic adverts and what not and it got pretty far so i did learn about how the insides work luckly the currency we used was all virtual so there was not as big of a risk. I was talking to my accountant and hes like retail aint smart haha. Yes i do agree there are a few new stores pop up and disappear or they show up and slowly slide off. The margins to begin with aren’t good which covers basic necessities to run it but not good in the long term. You need a lot of capital as well which helped when I sold the online company. The RM part was kind of sad because i know he has a ton of more stock that is not listed as he bought 4 pallets of jc wings for some reason
 
back to the original question, are they shipping or not?

they have something I'm interested in, and I'm willing to take the risk for slow shipment or potentially dispute charge if it's under $200.
 
back to the original question, are they shipping or not?

they have something I'm interested in, and I'm willing to take the risk for slow shipment or potentially dispute charge if it's under $200.
RM is probably taking people's money and investing it right away to earn interest. If he has to refund, he keeps the interest at least. If the money he earns by scamming people is large enough, that's a lot of interest he gets to keep. People usually won't even dispute a charge until a month later. It's the perfect scam. My take? It's a scam.
 
For the record, I was just joking about Waffle in my post above. He's pretty solid overall. Probably the retailer most represented in my collection. It just cracks me up how he's always getting into it with everyone.

I refreshed myself on this RM store case, and I remember I had read the DAC thread by mam4uk and watched Citrus' video. Sounds to me like a case of getting one's self into too much debt, and once the ball was rolling why even try? Just drag the customers along. He's gonna have a hard time coming out of that one. I wouldn't bother. I'm guessing people are interested in their Panda exclusives?
 
I placed three orders back in 2021 and everything was fine. All models arrived. No clue how it is these days.
 
Wish I'd stumbled upon this thread earlier - bought a Delta A330 from them and it was never shipped. Never dealt with them ever again and now I know I'd had the right choice.
 
He at least ships his orders and makes prompt refunds if things go awry, never had any issues personally buying from him ;)
Yeah, as I said I was just being a smartass. Waffle is actually a pretty reliable retailer.
 
Any news? Seems like he sold some items on ebay but also got a couple negative reviews where he didn't ship. He's got a couple models on his site I'm interested in.
 
Hi everyone,

I'm new member from from Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, a colonie of France closed to New Founland CA.

My firt order on RM Model 2023/05/11 for models B777-300er with a hight cost express international delivery payed. Shipping 2023/11/11 after many mails left unanswered. After six months, RM apologized and wanted to give me a gift card for a next order. But answered "No thanks, juste ship my order". I received my order one month later. It was my first an last order.

I think RM Model have no physical store, neither a lot of items in stock. The online store is not updated or fake. They must abuse a lot of customers with attractives rares models not in stock or sold out. They must be banned. "Don't by from RM Model store" on youtube.

Beware of Dreamair.com (tw) and airplanemodelsg.com (sg). Physical sore and stock ? Online store not updated and items already sold out, but available when you payed the order. So they sold one item to many costumers at same time... Scam ! They must be banned.

Now, I order only from Europe (scalemodelstore, diecastmegastore, wingsmo, Arcunia) or in Australia (aviation-center). No problem and fast international shipping. Safe value.

Mimi
 
Beware of Dreamair.com (tw) and airplanemodelsg.com (sg). Physical sore and stock ? Online store not updated and items already sold out, but available when you payed the order. So they sold one item to many costumers at same time... Scam ! They must be banned.
Agree with airplanemodelsg.com. Avoid them at all costs online. Horrible customer service as well.
 
The store owner outsourced most of the shipping + fulfillment work to a third party generic shipping warehouse some time ago, likely where some of the issues have come from.
 
Top