Your thoughts on the ausmicro.com change

[Admin]

Ditto Chris but don’t forget…..

“Sorry ? but we?ve still got another surprise up our sleeve. Oh man?. are we pricks or what? Stay tuned for more news over the next two weeks.”

[Admin]

It’s good for the growth of this site and forum, but nottoo good for us dealing indirectly with the site, isthere any chance of insider trading? Because you guys did pretty well,before, and i hope you do even better now.

[Admin]

I would not call it a total change exactly, well, for the moment anyway, since D & A claim to have something lurking in the background *evil grin*:smiley2:But at any rate what’s happened so far is great news, especially since Bit Char-G’s are hard to come by commercially here in Australia, unless you WANT to be horribly over-priced for Mario, Yoshi or any other Bits for that matter (reading through the forums I’ve read claims of $120-$150 for a single Bit!!), or being sold a Bit clone and being convinced by the retailer’s gibberish that even though the controllers (and packaging)are different, it’s basically the same animal (machine??) as a regular Bit, if not better. The amount of times I’ve been to stores and asked for Bit Char-G’s and have been given an OEM clone is amazing. Also, certain stores seem to be cashing in on the whole Bit popularity wavethingy and have jacked up the prices of their COMPACT Char-G’s!! As I said before, this is great news!! Congrats to D & A for the big change and news thing, as well asretaining ausmicro.com, as this has been a valuable source of information to me in purchasing Bit’s (and a Compact!). Good Luck guys, still waiting in anticipation!

Now, sleep awaits me……….zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Admin]

Well i definately dont think it was an anticlimax. I can’t wait to see what’s gonna be sold for what price.

But the bad thing about it…..i’m gonna have to hide my plastic….:smiley9:

[lizard]

very expected change. not a big deal really.

[Admin]

I was thinking something like this was going to happen, the only thing i want to know is what the prices will be? Aaron, Derek any early indication on prices ? Similar to what you sell them for at the moment? Slightly less, slightly more ?

Also im still anticipating the other big news in the next few weeks ….

[Admin]

Yeah while it nice to see the site opened up there is not really that much NEW content hopefully they will go ahead and open a online store. ( come on it what we want and we will support it)

[Admin]

I noticed only mini-z’s mentioned on the site… does that mean BTG won’t be sold? or is it just too early for the pictures to be up?

[Admin]

Yes – Bit Char-G is going to be sold alongside Mini-Z by Trading Direct.

As some of you have said – “it’s not a big deal”. Well it is to both Derek and I! We’ve sunk an aweful amount of time into running this place – the selling of cars and parts was not profitable for us, and to be honest the time spent making that happen meant the content of the site suffered.

So at the moment (between real work commitments) I’m going through all our existing Content and finally fixing up all the “To be done” things. Then we have new content coming on stream soo including more textual based stuff.

The other thing I should point out is that Derek and I wouldn’t have gotten behind Trading Direct if the prices and service were not going to be good. At the end of the day we have to recognise that if Derek and I were going to to make a real go of selling we would have had to have increased prices substantially to cover increased costs and we’re still no experts at retail!

I will leave you with some surprises to come – but on November 7th when Trading Direct goes online for sales I can assure you the pricing will be competitive against every otherAustralian based source of cars and parts.

[Admin]

I think it’s great, a good move guys, especially as it keeps micros alive in Australia 🙂 (BTW – any chance the new forums could have emoticons that we can access by text, not the popup select system – I run a popup/java killer and it gets annoying – just thought I’d throw that in 😉 ).

I must admit that I’m wondering what will be up for sale and wouldn’t mind some inside info as I was about to order some bits overseas but thought I’d wait. I know the launch is two weeks away, but by then I could have them in hand – yeah, I’m an impatient git I know 😀

Maybe Trading direct could release info – I’d be prepared to wait if I knew what they were releasing – support for the forums, people that support us etc, etc, but the wallet is itchy and I don’t want to find out what I’m after wont be sold.

Good work A & D 🙂

[Admin]

now that u have said stuff about The new Trading, ima have to wait another 7 days for my Fairlday Z:smiley6:

[Admin]

We are currently waiting while the developing other forum works on the next major version (it’s in beta now). I belive it will address some of the performance and user interface issues raised by Setanta. I’ll be testing the new code once it’s gone gold then migrating not long after that. That shoudl be an almost seamless change for everyone.

As for Trading Directs range – well it’s going to be pretty damn good.

[Admin]

heheh – drop me a hint Aaron…

hypothetically, if I was to want to purchase the Speed Racer, Yoshi, 4 frequency controller and 4 different frequency booster chassis (for starters)… would I better off waiting? 😀

I would rather buy in Australia, especially off someone who supports you guys (and us) 🙂

[Admin]

Quote:

Originally posted by DeBaSeR on 01?November?2002 …since Bit Char-G’s are hard to come by commercially here in Australia, unless you WANT to be horribly over-priced for Mario, Yoshi or any other Bits for that matter…

As a new afficianado of Micro R/C cars, I’ve been trying to find the lil’ machines with very little success… but I ended-up buying my first Compact Char-G at Myer, Knox City (of all places) here in Melbourne for ~A$45 just last week… and I’m mighty impressed by it.

As someone who comes from an (ancient!) history of scratch-built slot cars in the ’60s (when I was building ’em at the age of ~9 years), I’m keen to see how the Bit Char-G community is organized, especially here in Australia… but I think I’d do better putting this chatter in another one of the forums 🙂

Just wanted to pass-on the info on Myers…

John

[Admin]

Guys dont get me wrong the site is ok and all, but i think there was a bit too much hype over something big which isnt that big. Plus i checked out the trading direct website, it looks very amateur and i dont know how people will feel about buying products off them.

[Admin]

Aaron do you want to give me a hint also about whether it would be cheaper for me 2 buy a speed racer and Fairlday Z set off of another company overseas or you, i much prefer dealing with an australian group.

thanks

[Admin]

Oh – I know it’s a big ask, but could we please have 100×100 avatars on the forum upgrade, as long as we host them ourselves? I kind of miss my usual ones 🙂

Hmmm… against the blue, stitch and the SiR Civic don’t look so crash hot 😀

Size isn’t too big 😉

[Admin]

Only one day to go………The Auto Modellista and Initial Dsetsare looking really tasty! I wonder if Trading Direct will list the Mini Cooper and the new Speed Racer & UltraMan Bits as well?

[Admin]

i hear that DeBaSeR, so many things i want to know the price of and so short a time yet soo long, i bet you Aaron and Derek are smirking about us having to suffer (shakes fist)

[Admin]

I just had a look at the Trading Direct site and the prices look good. They were selling mini-zs for $219.95 which isthe cheapest I’ve seen them. Unfortunately Idon’t think that the site is really ready to go yet. When i tried to look upbit-chargers and accessories all i got was a blank page. Hopefully the prices will be as goodfor the BCG as for the Mini-Zs. If they are them I’ll be giving them a go very soon (if they have theAutomodelista Set).

[Admin]

Yep – at one stage last night I saw wheels and motors under the Bit accessories, but no prices yet.

But… it is the 7th today…

[Admin]

Give them time, I’d say. Maybe in the next day or two something might happen. I’d imagine there’d still be negotiations happening in the background, as well as final matters to be sorted out. Hopefully, by Monday morning/night, Trading Direct will crash due to the huge influx of Aussie Bit fans getting their yaya’s out and buying whatever they desire/ their creditlimitallows. :smiley4:Just jokes though. In all seriousness, I’m banking on Trading Direct being fully operational by Monday at the latest. Good Luck to Trading Direct I say, they’re certainly gonna make it big time with us Aussie Bit fans!

[Admin]

I got my first bit char-g the other day and have been looking around on the net and in stores for parts. They are kinda hard to find but I was looking forward to seeing what tradingdirect had to offer. They now have some accessories up on the site and at quite good prices (as far as I know). For example the 2.6 motor for $16.50 which I have seen on another Australian site for $24.99. The only problem is that when I went to buy one of these, I was expecting a postage and handling cost of $4-5 (considering that it is couriered) only to find that it was actually around $16. I know that one is sent and the other is couriered but geez… can I get mine sent to me or what?

[Admin]

BTW. The other site charged $2.20 P&H

[PandaBear]

Quote:

Originally posted by Gubble on 07November2002

…I was expecting a postage and handling cost of $4-5 (considering that it is couriered) only to find that it was actually around $16.

Geez indeed!! $16 = US$8 and for that, heck you could get a whole lot more posted over from you-know-where…

Aaron??! D?? You 2 there?? We’ve got a problem here matey!!

[Admin]

Hi Guys,

I can see the concern. I’m sure it’s not a deliberate thing on the part of Trading Direct. I do know they were up into the wee small hours of the morning trying to get everything up and finished.

I can assure that there will be more and more stock appearing into the site as the stock lands in Australia!

I’ll fire a quick e-mail over to them and let them know what you guys are seeing!

Aaron

[PandaBear]

hey GUBBLE:- false alarm there… TradingDirect sez:

“small items (eg bit char G and micro Z spares) can be posted Australia Wide for $4.80 (inc GST) – choose Australia Wide (Small Package)”

That said, not trying to spoil the party here – I know they’re not up-n-running yet, I found no BCG cars today and only some accessories:-

Gear Parts Set A (Bit G) $16.99

Micro Motor 1.6 (Bit Char G) $14.99
Micro Motor 2.2 (Bit Char G) $16.50
Micro Motor 2.6 (Bit Char G) $16.50
Tomy Bit Char G. Tyre Parts Set. $16.99
If those prices are any indication, that’s pretty lineball with the current ‘import’ shops in town – you *sure* they’re still “better than any Oz shop”?? At these prices (not incl. shipping) imho you guys could also have been able to make a decent biz selling what you were b4 too.

[Admin]

gear set here $6.99

1.6 $4.99

2.2 $8.99

2.6$9.99

30. $10.99

tires $6.99

in ameria

[PandaBear]

Too all who are too D’UH to comprehend…

Trading Direct is located in Australia and so all those prices & costs are in Australian dollars.

Capisce?

[PandaBear]

D’uh huh??

Why would we wanna do that?

(hint… maybe think about INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE costs)

Besides, there’s no mention *which shop* you quote from, so are we to assume that your corner 7-Eleven stocks Microsizer parts too?

[Admin]

um towerhobbies is a flat $6.99 s&h

[Admin]

Ouch – I went to order the drift axle and suspension, and the only way to get it to me in Sydney was to spend almost the same amount as the cost of the axles.

I think I’ll wait before ordering anything, I hate to say it, but ATM it’s too expensive. Hopefully they’ll sort it soon 🙂

[Admin]

Oh, anyway of finding out what stock they plan on getting soon? I really want the Speed Racer and Mario Kits plus 4freq controller, but have a feeling I’ll have to HK them 🙁

[Admin]

The cars are up and at the moment they have-

Silver Celica – $64.99AUD

Red RX7 – $64.99AUD

Honda NSZ-R – $64.99AUD

Skyline History Set – $84.99AUD

Hope more are coming in over the next fewdays/weeks. C’mon Initial D and Auto Modellista!!

[Admin]

hey GUBBLE:- false alarm there… TradingDirect sez:

“small items (eg bit char G and micro Z spares) can be posted Australia Wide for $4.80 (inc GST) – choose Australia Wide (Small Package)”

Roger that. 2.6 on it’s way. Let’s see how reliable their shipping is.

[PandaBear]

Quote:

Originally posted by lancer_evo on 07November2002

um towerhobbies is a flat $6.99 s&h

Yeah, but only to *US* – d’uh!! And its up to $7.99 now too, check your facts.

Outside US, its “add $10” for Canada even… so that’s $17.99 minimum.

International orders are even more, depends on weight/size.

Hope they’ve improved their logistics lately too… On one ‘urgent’ TH order, I didn’t trust their $6.99, sopaid “2-day” extra $12 – I needed the parcel to arrive within 7 days at a US address. Even after paying $18.99… the parcel didn’t make it.

Compare that to our regular HK vendors… I have had boxes arrive within 2 days (order Fri, arrive Mon). Can’t complain with that!!

[Admin]

This stuff about postage is worrying. I buy a LOT of stuff online, all sorts of products from all over the world.

The best rate I’ve found was 75p airmail from the UK for a PC game.

I pay $1.50 postage max.for DVDs in Australia .. the motors and accesories are smaller & lighter than a DVD. Usually a DVD has free Australia Post shipping.

In fact I usually pay no more than $5.00 for full boxed PC games in Australia, and often less! These are similar size & weight to these cars. And the shipping is Express Post or Courier!

Of course I’ll let Trading Direct know my concerns directly, but in the meantime, take a good look at other options and add up the total cost from each source before making your mind up, I hate to see people getting burnt.

[Admin]

Costs – mmm … your right – we hadnt taken into account how cute (small) some of these parts are …

now we have a better rate – $4 for anywhere in Australia – next business day.

Thats in an express post package from Australia Post – with tracking number which we will place on your e-mail.

IF peple realy want to risk postage in anything less – let Aaron And Derek know and I can add another postage option on…

We’re on our fourth order today for Char-G stuff … stock arrived today so we’ll get the web updated ASAP.

As stock settles down and we get more feedback on the goodies you want we will definitly look at pricing and postage to keep us all happy.

regards

Steve

I was expecting a postage and handling cost of $4-5 (considering that it is couriered) only to find that it was actually around $16

[PandaBear]

I’m with you too G.

AustraliaPost isn’t too bad, their rates are reasonable. I’ve sent whole 1/10 cars interstate for less than $20… and have even gotten huge boxes of 500+ litres (imagine 2x wheelie bins!) thru the mail for less than $30. My local postoffice just *hates* me… :smiley9:

A$6-10 mailing for a full BCG kit is pretty decent I’d think, as if you were to drive 40-50kms to find one, that’s the same thing… but little parts do need rethinking. Lotsa options out there, and not shy to vote with my $$$.

But its a pity A&D @Ausmicro can’t do it anymore, since I’d be thinking with these same prices + shipping they’d be able to do better. I’d be first to admit their prices of before was pretty ‘generous’, market could probably bear a little more than that.

Then we’d be sure that every cent would be channelled back to this place. Otherwise I’d just keep looking for the cheapest place worldwide, delivered to my door.

[PandaBear]

Hey hey – is that Steve from TradingDirect??

Abig welcome to you, matey!!

Yeah, we’re all been talking behind your back… :smiley3:

[Admin]

Thanks for the response.. don’t need to email you if you’ve seen my post! 🙂

[Admin]

its me – talk away – its good to talk (as British Telecom used to say)

its only by getting comments back that I can fix up things.

I had thought that the parts were bigger, so I found a better tracking system for small bits.

If people want costs to a minimum (understandable) then I can add a baby jiffy bag for $1.00 or so, plus a bit for stamps.

I just wanted to make sure folks could track their goodies online where possible…

thanks for the ‘welcome’ – Im sure a newby on these cars, but I cant wait to get a race-night organised – and get thrashed no doubt

Steve

[PandaBear]

koala Steve:- just visited the site again and wondering… how do I know what’s in stock and what’s not? Is everything that is pictured always in stock?

ta!

[Admin]

I’ll slip a quick answer in here…

Derek and I would have had to find major $$ to launch into a bigger selling operation. We also would have had to give up our day job to do it – as it was I was doing around 1-2 hours a day (between my 8+ hour a day regualr job, my 1-2 hour second job, and the desire to play with the toys myself).

As for Trading Directs stock, we’re working very hard with Stephen to make sure he’s getting stock that people want, and that the stock is always on the move. Basically if it’s on the site it’s in stock or on the way.

Ofcourse it’s hard work and a lot of $$ hes tying up front so we need all the feedback and support we can get.

Those of you who have dealt with me know that I loathe posting in anything except ExpressPost… I reckon Stephen is on the right track sticking with that and TNT couriers.

At a rough guess postage pricing will settle to closely match what ausmicro.com was doing for Bits. For the Mini-Z the courier wins hands down!

[Admin]

Hey Aaron if you want you can put a link up to the hobby shop i work at. its in america but thers alot of custom parts that only we carry for the bits and microsizers. we have races every tue. and friday. if you want i’ll give you the link. We are also the first store world wide to ofer bit drag racing parts. wider back tires a 5.3 drag eng. its acustom and wound eng. tublar alu. chassys ect. we hace in out store a oval track a scale 1/4 mile track. and to my understang there makeing a 7.5 what is gonna requite mayjor mods on a stock chassy to fit in about a month. e mail me for pics of some races we had and ta see some of the custom drag bits that show up to race.

[PandaBear]

Allow me, Aaron…

EVO:- if your hobby shop is interested in some OnLine advertising then by all means get the proprietor to contact Ausmicro re: commercial advertising rates. This site does not come for free and the dailytraffic bandwidth is substantial, all $$ income would be welcomed.

Short answer – no free advertising.

[Admin]

Nice to hear from you Steve, and glad to know that you’re taking all of what we’re saying into account. Hope to see more Bits and Bit parts in Trading Direct. Good Luck! Are you looking into the new release Bits, ie. the Mini Cooper S and Speed Racer and Ultraman Bits?

[Admin]

-hey happy lil homo was that directed to you no so um get a life and stop hateing cuz my clod is buff with the stuff. my work has a web site and i’m just trying to let him know about some custom parts that only we carry i think your gay and you need ta get out more go brag about your pos rc car cuz your never gonna have any rc car that wil compeat with mine as long as im sponcerd by nova rossi thunder tech and fantom. but dont feel sad i’ll send you my t shirt after the rorar nationals thats about as close as your ever gonna get.

now lets test a lil rc know how shaw we. whats the proper high speed setting on the carb for a o.s. .21 rg sport everyone know that

whats the nirto content in blue thunder race form. and sidewinder race form.

how much tor. and whats the raction time on a futaba dig. servo

what tire pushes on a stock clod during high speed turns

what gas trucks come stock with 3 speed trans.

how is the ek-4 started and what siz eng. dus it have

in thery how was a boost chamber/bottle made to improve your eng’s throtle responce and why dident it ever work

kid you think your smart i just put ya in check.

bt im callin you roar on road worlds. if you can qul. be my guest and tray ta race my but by how you act im shure you can make tq and if your such a sweet racers why would you buy a junk car like wild willy and brag about it doing wheels when the ek-4 dus way better wheelies and can hold a wheelie for 30 yards? hmmmmmmmmmmmm your dumb i sit down and play with cars all day and i get payed for it so dont think that your gonna know more than me cuz you wont. by the way i’m racing in .12-.15 class with a os cv-x hyper what dus the x stand for smart guy with a 10e slide carb. on a nitro tc3 and in .21 class im racing a serpent vector with a novarossi .21ev5 so when you car has a top speed of 95+ mph and can do 0-60 in 1.5 sec. you you can talk till then stick to the cars you can aford tamya cuz i really dont think you can aford a $580 rolling chassy $350 for a remote and $390 for a italian race eng.

and whats the speed of a tc3 racer kit useing stock set ups with a 11 turn reedy mod. with a lrp v7 running 10 reedy zap cells? if you know anyting about rc cars thats easy becouse it was plastered up everywhare for a artical on whats better gas or electric. and ha ha us gasses won so ha. give you a hint the car they tested was a tc3 useing a fantom killer bee .15 rear exhust with a slide carb. and that hit 78.5mph

[Admin]

Quote:

Originally posted by PandaBear on 08November2002

Short answer – no free advertising.

Short reply – LOL! What are our signatures if they ain’t free advertising?

LANCER – I’m interested in that 5.3 motor – whats the link to your site? Private message it to me if you like.

Cheers.

[Admin]

they can lick a nut there just jelous cuz they cant get any lmao. but e mail me at electric_banana_2000@yahoo.com for some pics of it but as of now theres none left in our store and there on nation wide back order. but in 2 weeks the drag 7.3 comes out they changed the winde pattern and the new magnest are dub. stacked cobolts. as for prices the 5.3 runs $35 american and the 7.3 from what they told mt its $45 and its gonna take some mayjor mods ta fit it. but useing the 5.3 is a drag eng. only it rolls to easy and spins out to easy and the 7.3 comes with a stering lock so it dosnet roll. but at my work we have alot of custom bit parts for oval racing and drag racing. but if you have yahoo messanger i’ll let you watch how fast the 5.3 is with 1 cell on my web cam then i’ll show it to you with 3. i only have 2 and im not willing to part with either 1. but from what im told its gonna be 2 weeks before we get at our store becouse there all and wounds and epoxy ballanced. but the 7.3 was made for the bit buss chassy and they have a dragster boy and bg back wheels in a kit for it that runs $20 that makes the buss in to a dragster. so far the only cam i have is my web cam becouse my flash card for my dig cam broke but tomorrow im picking up a new card so e mail me and i’ll have some pics of it.and at work tomorrow i’ll take some pics and show you some of the custom parts on the bits that we race at my store every tues and friday. so far the fastest car uses a custom alu. tupe chassy and is running off 12 volts 4 batt’s his yahoo messanger name is fo_deep_creapin and he is the guy who makes the 5.3 and 7.5 his company is called g-force there web site isent working becouse of some skrypt kiddys so either e mail me or just talk to him on yahoo messangr his name is jeff and just tell him that you need some info on some custom bit parts.

[Admin]

Hi Steve – thanks for the response and thanks for your support for the Hobby in Australia 🙂

Chris: a closed mouth catches no flies. A word to the wise mate 😉

Lancer: lot of respect for you man, but don’t go queering support for us by being a dick with your comments please. There are better ways of phraseing things and your comments are incredibly insulting towards someone who is supporting the very forums you are writing on as well as doing their best to support us over here. Sorry mate, but you are out of line on this one.

[Admin]

and a bit off topic too… I may be new around here, but those last few posts really shouldn’t be here.

[Admin]

hey do you really want me ta rip in ta you like tiny tim on a thanks giveing turky?

[Admin]

lancer_evo theres one phrase which describes you and that is: s**t stirrer.

[leadhead2001]

after reading some of lancer_evo’s previous posts, he sounds just like the a$$hole from that dennis leary song. hehe, funny song

[Admin]

Thanks Panda 😉

You’re quite right – we need some revenue – and advertising is how we do it. We’re happy to sell advertising to any company – we have very affordable rates and can definately get a lot of ad displays out there 🙂

As for the sig files – it’s a bit different, I’ve talked with people about it and the basic premise is, use your sig file to promote your site, post stuff that’s worthwhile and CONTRIBUTE to the community and it’s cool.

Aaron

[PandaBear]

All:- hey, who here’s got the 1st order into Trading Direct?? :smiley3:Give us the true lowdown on how your experiences went — Hope its all good!!

Mr Evo:- we’re all still eagerly awaiting your pictures of all your whizbang wheels now that you say your digicam is all fixed. Please don’t just scan in magazine pix or giving us links other ppl’s webpix – that’s as cool as Joe Camel coughing.

[Author]

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