News

1.2.2012

*******An open letter for our valued friends and customers*******

Dear Valued Client,

Firstly, we would like the opportunity to thank our many valued clients and supporters who have been very loyal over the past 13 years of business. Due to your support, we have survived many business downturns since the GFC and are still going strong, and plan on doing so in the future.

However, as they say, all good things must eventually come to an end, and we wish to announce that as of February 2012, we have decided to take a completely new direction with the business, and as such, we have taken the drastic step of closing the parts division.

There are a number of factors that affected this decision, including:

- the majority of cars which have been traditionally popular for parts, ie FC RX7, S13, R32/33, Supra etc are OLD CARS now, many of which are approaching 20+ years old. Just as you wouldnt expect to easily locate 20+ year old Australian car parts, these parts are hard to get in Japan;

- contrary to popular belief, Japan doesnt have an endless supply of these cars. The laws of supply and demand therefore dictate that rare parts get more expensive to buy, not cheaper, a factor that is lost on an increasing number of customers;

- even when you locate this stuff, most of its simply old worn out stuff, that is in need of a rebuild, and is not the "low k good engine" that everyone expects.

- the endless cheap Chinese stuff on the market today, much of which is absolute crap that doesn't last or doesnt fit, and in some cases, is just downright dangerous.

Unfortunately, there are commercial realties of running a professional business, and it simply isnt viable in todays market to provide the rare high quality parts and even higher levels of customer service we and our loyal clients are accustomed to .

Worse, in many cases, unfortunately, the new generation of parts buyers seem to overlook that as a business, we have to pay for our stock up front in Japan, pay our taxes, duties and GST, and importantly sustain significant overhead including high wages in Australia, to operate the business. This, in turn, means that we need to make a profit for survival, as does any commercial enterprise. After all, time is money, right? Yet some sadly seem to think that we can (and should) buy something for a dollar and sell it for a dollar, and stay in business. Unfortunately, yet seemingly obviously, this isnt reality.

I have often said that for the $150 part you buy over the counter, more than half of that goes to pay for the fact that you could get our advice over the phone, get a warranty, come and choose your part in person, buy it today over the counter when you need it, and importantly, speak to and deal with real people, that are here in Australia and provide great customer service.

Yet, in the end, what has completely soured the whole thing for not only myself as the owner, but our experienced staff over the past couple of years especially, is the fact that some customers increasingly think we have an obligation to match a bloke online selling stuff in his backyard on Ebay or a forum, or some guy in another country, who offers none of what we offer. On that basis, its simply not viable anymore, and we are totally over being nickle-dimed day in and day out for parts over the counter, as well as the afore-mentioned endless unrealistic price expectations for parts and the general timewasters, so this chapter of the business has to be resigned to history.

And I feel that this will a sign of things to come in the used import performance parts industry, and sooner or later, there will be no such thing as being able to buy a part for your import apart from some faceless place on the net, or worse, dont be surprised if the industry as a whole implodes in the near future. Then perhaps saving a few bucks here and there really may not have been worth it... and dont complain when you get ripped off on the net, and get the wrong part, or it doesnt show up at all. We hear this whining every day.

In the meantime, we shall be quitting the majority of our remaining used parts stock on Ebay, so keep an eye out for that, username TOYSHOP2003.

As of March 2012, we shall no longer be answering any parts enquiries via phone or email, or in the shop over the counter, rather, we will be focussing on more viable pursuits.

This has not been an easy decision to make by any means, and has been something I have been deliberating for some time now, but equally, is one that we feel is not only the right one, but 100% necessary for the business to grow and move into the future.

That said, on a positive note, we wish to advise that instead, we are focussing on increasing our vehicle sales stock, and our recently acquired compliance business, River City Compliance.

As such, we are expanding our vehicle importing business into the current 2010 onwards US vehicles, such as current model Dodge Ram, Chev Camaro, Ford Mustang, and Dodge Challenger. In fact, we already have these vehicles here as test vehicles for compliance/RAWS, and are currently in the process of completing the left to right conversion as you read this, and anticipate approvals commencing May 2012.

In addition, we shall be launching a completely revised website shortly, that shall showcase our new business direction, so stay tuned for that. WIthin that, there may end up being a limited range of hard to find parts for EVO Lancers and RX7's, but that remains to be seen.

In the meantime, as usual, the vehicle sales pages will remain constantly updated.

Thanks and all the best, and we look forward to seeing you on the car yard in the future.

Brad and The Toy Shop Team.