DB Sport & Scale

[Maurice Dyer]

Hope this isn't the end. Wanted a Pup, teach me not to wait about dithering.

What with Brexit, Covid and now Balsa problem, seems like the perfect Aeromodellers storm.

Anyone know the owner, and is it goodbye or ??

[cymaz]

The banner says reviewing in mid January, it’s only couple of weeks.

I’m guessing they’re getting custom paperwork and imports sorted.

Here’s hoping.... Maybe DB have seen this and will let us know

[Andy J]

Well at least the owner is up front regarding his situation rather then continue to take orders. So thumbs up for that. One other kit manufacturer in the UK should take note of his approach but I say no more.

Would guess the issue is balsa supplies rather than anything to do with leaving the EU though but to be fair have no knowledge where suppliers go to purchase bulk supplies of balsa these days.

[Maurice Dyer]

Woke up and see the banner now........

I will wait and see.

Maury

[Limobob]

I ordered on 30th December a 1/4 scale DH60 kit and received confirmation by email. Like so many of us, i have used DB on many occasions and have always found them perfect with quick and easy delivery every time. I do hope this will be the case for this order and hope sincerely that Richard and his sister manage to sort out their problems in these very difficult times so we can support them in the future.

[Tim Flyer]

I’m sure it’s just technical issues ( needing to update website ) over the holidays. I have seen many web sellers having to exclude EU orders until the new paperwork/ VAT pricing is amended .. that’s quite a big task for smaller businesses. Obviously the balsa supply is another thing .. but that’s not terminal ... balsa trees grow quite fast 😉

[Matt Carlton]

There's a lot of work to do around EU permits and licensing apparently (according to other business owners who I know) as well as ongoing supply issues for components sourced from overseas (port closures etc). Add the domestic postage issues and logistics log jams into the mix and it seems pretty sensible to put the brakes on to 'take stock' of the situation.

Balsa supply may be an issue but fingers crossed for the new supplies that SLEC and BC are trialling. Might be that DB need to find new suppliers also.

Better to wade through the mire without customer orders backing up which they can't fulfill. As others have said, that's much more preferable to taking money for orders and then leaving customers dangling in limbo!

[Jon H]

I hope that a decent amount of balsa is set aside for kit manufacturers in the uk. Balsa being in short supply is bad enough, but loosing kit manufacturing companies because of that shortage would be a nightmare.

[Geoff S]

I'm a huge fan of DB and I really hope it's just a temporary measure forced on Richard because of the pandemic and, more likely, shortage of balsa. I'm a staunch remainer but I can't see Brexit in this case being a significant factor despite that.

I was probably one of, if not the, first to buy the new 60" Pup kit and Richard was very helpful as I found a few minor anomolies and sought advice. It's now been more or less ready to test fly since last March but has been delayed for obvious reasons. One of them being the fear of its crashing pushing me over the edge because I'm really pleased with it and put a lot of time into its construction.

It really would be tragic if DB went out of business permanently but I choose to believe (hope?) it will not happen. The kits remain popular and there's a big investment in the designs and hardware. Fingers crossed

Geoff

[Limobob]

An update on the situation. Richard contacted me yesterday evening and is happy for me to pass on information. He has orders for the EU packed and ready to go but was horrified to find that shipping costs had tripled in some cases which he found unacceptable. With the balsa shortage his sister now has alternative employment as indeed does he! He is unsure if EU orders will have VAT for the country slapped on them so not sure how to handle this at his end. He is not taking orders at present and may just confine these in future to the UK but does not want to break ties with his EU side of the business. He has given me the option of cancelling my order but i will leave it all in place and see what happens over the next few days. He is tired of all the wrangling and uncertainty of VAT and import/export issues and feels he must sit back and let others fight all the bureaucracy issues. I am sure i am just one of very many who wish him well and hope sincerely things can be sorted out so his excellent business can continue for years to come

[J D 8]

And all the best to DB-Richard and hope things sort out soon.

[Maurice Dyer]

 

Good Luck and please hurry back DB.

Maurice

Edited By David Ashby - Moderator on 06/01/2021 09:36:32

[Dwain Dibley.]

Fingers crossed Richard, I still have some of your kits left to build Mate.

D.D.

[kc]

The DB Sport website had and still has this line

" Free mainland UK shipping (orders over £200) - EU subsidised (exclusions may apply) "

I have always wondered why and how the EU subsidised this! Perhaps that's why the costs of shipping trebled - we no longer subsidise this!

[David Ovenden]

Posted by kc on 05/01/2021 14:17:58:

The DB Sport website had and still has this line

" Free mainland UK shipping (orders over £200) - EU subsidised (exclusions may apply) "

I have always wondered why and how the EU subsidised this! Perhaps that's why the costs of shipping trebled - we no longer subsidise this!

They didn't!

I am sure it means postage to the EU was at rates subsidised by DB Sport & Scale to help offset the high shipping cost to other countries - and hence attract orders from customers in the EU.

In the same way shipping to the UK was not "Free" when a customer spent over £200. DB just made a business decision to pay the postage cost to attract more custom.

[Peter Jones 21]

Lets hope for the best on this iconic brand of kits.

[charlie holdford]

Just received my Mk1a Spitfire kit......

all is well, you just have to be patient.

Tell Richard your interested in a particular model and it may get to the top of the list

charlie

[Jon H]

Just to follow up on this VAT thing for DB, im not surprised he is confused. The accountant we use at laser to keep all our stuff straight has spent the last 2 days trying to find out what is going on. Nobody seems to know. One govt dept contradicts the other, we have letters sent in the post contradicting emails sent, which contradict the information on the website, all of which contradicts what you are told if you call.

Its an absolute shambles.

[kevin b]

Richard is right to put everything on hold for a while. I do hope he can afford to.

We all need to back off a bit as the world (not just the U.K) is in chaos at the moment. The politicians are realising that they are not in control (were they ever!) and commerce is struggling to cope, particularly with logistics.

Also forget about this 2 weeks this, by the end of the month, that. We should have learnt from last year that this current situation is probably going to last more than 6 weeks. I am not being doom and gloom, just pragmatic. In 1939 they got 6 years of crap and afterwards it was all to pay for. See grandma for details.

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

Kevin's post puts this in some perspective. We're dealing with change during a worldwide crisis - not something desired or forecast and moaning about details won't help much.

I believe the OP's question has been answered adequately so perhaps it's time to close this thread unless anyone has any useful information or updates about DB Sport and Scale?

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

I've just moved several posts discussing VAT and HMRC matters to the far more relevant import tax/VAT discussion started by Jon Harper.

PLEASE confine discussion on this thread to news or information relative to DB Models or it WILL need to be locked.

[Jon H]

Yea sorry for the tax digression, it came from the post regarding the reasons for the shut down but it did mirror the other thread.

In any case i for one hope DB are able to continue. I want a number of their models for future builds but dont want to stockpile them so have been happy to wait. If the end is nigh i will probably have to pick one or two up but i really hope i dont have to as i wont be building them for years.

[bert baker]

The only sure way to future proof yourself In these times is to Stock pile them

[Phil McCavity]

Posted by bert baker on 06/01/2021 14:34:48:

The only sure way to future proof yourself In these times is to Stock pile them

Like toilet rolls? I don't think that's a good idea.

Edited By Phil McCavity on 06/01/2021 15:14:36

[Richard B (DB Sport and Scale Ltd)]

I wasn't going to jump in here for various reasons but seeing the term stock piling crop up probably means something should be said.

I received a very small fraction of the amount of Balsa that I normally would expect during 2020, and even that was delayed for obvious reasons. What should have been a very good year then became rather disappointing and worse, very uncertain - I used the furlough scheme for a couple months (for my Sister) and then had to encourage her to look for another job. Lots of plans I had have had to stop. I then went to ship some EU kits between Christmas and New Year (before Brexit) and lets just say more disappointment was to be had looking at the (huge) increase in some of the shipping costs. I refunded a number of orders and stopped all shipping having seen the inklings of Brexit complications which was just the icing on cake at that point.

DB Sport and Scale is not ending. It's very unlikely to end because it's run from an outbuilding/garage at my house and I have another job. The only question is how much time I spend on it in the future, whether it's a little part time, more part time or even more than that but there's too much uncertainty now to make that decision.

The lack of stock you will see on the kits page is purely down to lack of Balsa (and a small amount of lack of time maybe). When I have more certainty and when I have Balsa then I will make more kits, some of the bigger kits do take a lot of making and I had recently just finished the Spitfire and SE5's.

I even had a new(old) kit about to be re-released before all this but it will take a very long time to get kits back in stock so I'm unsure about that one at the moment.

No need to stock pile (plus I ain't got the stock to pile anyway). I might leave ordering off for a little longer than advertised because I don't need the hassle of having things go wrong, people leave bad reviews very easily but not so much for good reviews.

And finally, yes the EU subsidised was/is just me trying to offer a bit of fairness for the EU people without incurring the full cost of free shipping as per UK customers. EU was the main area I was hoping to grow but there we go, I won't go into that here.