Apex Posted April 10, 2013 Report Share Posted April 10, 2013 Spotted this on their facebook page. From the 10th of April 2013 Land Warrior Airsoft Ltd is withdrawing as a stockist for ICS products.The reasons are varied but can be summed up briefly:ICS wish LWA to now buy our products from a competitor. We cannot soundly justify buying from a competitor which will weaken our position within the market, reduce the speed at which products are available and increase costs.LWA has received very little technical back up from ICS in the form of warranty and problematic brand new rifles. LWA repaired these items at its own cost in the past and we do not believe how introducing an additional step with improve this.ICS has continually questioned LWA's marketing and sales tactics yet has been unwilling to assist us with UK specific ideas.The withdrawal from as a stockist is a stark contrast to what was agreed during meetings we had at the IWA show and in previous communications.We will continue to honour our warranties with existing customer and for new customers are we reduce our stocks. Warranty still stands at 18 months for pro line (the longest ICS warranty in the Europe), 12 months for sport line. We will not cover any work on non LWA purchased ICS rifles.So it is with a heavy heart yet a clear conscious that we move forward without ICS, we would like to thank the staff and players who have supported ICS and LWA working together.Please feel free to ask questions here, or via the LWA webform.Alternatively you can contact ICS via their Facebook page here:https://www.facebook.com/ICSairsoftgunRegardsScott AllanManaging DirectorLand Warrior Airsoft Ltd Link to post Share on other sites
curlyboy Posted April 10, 2013 Report Share Posted April 10, 2013 It is a shame but there is only one actual distributor of ICS in the UK and that distributor is also a stockist as I was told by another shop and that distributor controls the prices and mark up for this manufacturer which means if you want a good price you pay the distributors price which does not breed any competition for the products which is a shame as I love ICS guns and loosing another avenue to buy them limits your option when the distributor has no stocks which is often. Curlyboy Link to post Share on other sites
RSM Posted April 10, 2013 Report Share Posted April 10, 2013 I can respect LWAs decision based on those commercial circumstances - but mein gott in himmel the comments following on make my head hurt. Link to post Share on other sites
dechande Posted April 10, 2013 Report Share Posted April 10, 2013 ICS have done this in the past to other retailers. At one point, ICS would redirect you to Zero One, no matter how much you wanted to buy as a retailer. They said they 'weren't in need of another stockist in the UK'. A shame as I really like their stuff, even if it could do with updating and less 'fakesoft' that we've seen lately. Link to post Share on other sites
Azubi Posted April 10, 2013 Report Share Posted April 10, 2013 So who is their distributor then? Link to post Share on other sites
Inq Eisenhorn Posted April 10, 2013 Report Share Posted April 10, 2013 My guess would be Fire-Support, but I could be massively wrong. I would love to understand some of the business decisions these companies take, and how they think their strategy will win them a large market share, same as TM and a few others. Why effectively limit the distribution and exposure your product could enjoy globally? But this is why I have little sympathy when I hear about how these companies would / do suffer under the aggressive tactics of entities such as UMAREX and Cybergun. At the very least those guys pretty much ensure they get your money by the easiest and quickest way possible. Link to post Share on other sites
Baddbaz Posted April 10, 2013 Report Share Posted April 10, 2013 Comes down to greed at the end of the day . Same with cyber chumps , stamping down on trades on weopons , tm and rumour has it realsword as well with the ak guns Link to post Share on other sites
Vice Posted April 10, 2013 Report Share Posted April 10, 2013 So who is their distributor then? According to Fire Support's facebook they have got it. Link to post Share on other sites
FTZ-WildeCard Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 Comes down to greed at the end of the day . Same with cyber chumps , stamping down on trades on weopons , tm and rumour has it realsword as well with the ak guns Business is business Baz! Maybe FS made them an offer they couldn't refuse? lol Link to post Share on other sites
curlyboy Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 According to Fire Support's facebook they have got it.According to their Facebook page they want new stockists, coincidence?? Curlyboy Link to post Share on other sites
richwuk Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 To be fair FS are pretty dam good, but they aren't cheap some of the time. Hopefully this will mean more/cheaper spares from FS for ICS stuff. Link to post Share on other sites
gisburn20 Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 Fire support as ICS main dealer is no surprise they have been selling them for years and I heard a few months back that Action Hobbies were buying their ICS products from FS. Firesupport have always been one of the few shops who don't sell ACM products so their higher prices are fair. Quality products=higher price tag. However its worth having a look through their website as bargains can be found, I got a full metal ICS M4 CQB with a folding stock from them for £185 which was actually cheaper than the plastic bodied version! Jim Link to post Share on other sites
speed demon Posted April 11, 2013 Report Share Posted April 11, 2013 Elite Airsoft are the other official ICS distributor. www.eliteairsoftuk.com. They carry pretty much every model and a very wide range of spares too. Link to post Share on other sites
ED-SKaR Posted April 12, 2013 Report Share Posted April 12, 2013 So long as it ain't zero one. Firesupport are one of my favourites though. Link to post Share on other sites
Algy Posted April 12, 2013 Report Share Posted April 12, 2013 FS may well have nearly cornered the ICS market in the UK, but there are still numerous ICS distributors in mainland Europe (not all of which are more expensive than FS). Link to post Share on other sites
Apex Posted April 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2013 To be fair FS are pretty dam good, but they aren't cheap some of the time. Hopefully this will mean more/cheaper spares from FS for ICS stuff. Thats not how a market system works, with only one supplier in the UK they can control the market and push prices up, they know what the other retails are paying for the stuff so they have the inside track on their markup etc etc. If FS was just the supplier and not a seller too i would not see a issue with this but been both it creates a conflict of interest. Link to post Share on other sites
screwdriver Posted April 12, 2013 Report Share Posted April 12, 2013 zero one were the origional distributor for ics and set them up in the uk and helped them iron out issues they origionally had. they had a sole uk distribution aggreement with zero one which they then broke a few years ago after approaching other uk suppliers which caused a bit of upset Link to post Share on other sites
FireKnife Posted April 15, 2013 Report Share Posted April 15, 2013 zero one were the origional distributor for ics and set them up in the uk and helped them iron out issues they origionally had. they had a sole uk distribution aggreement with zero one which they then broke a few years ago after approaching other uk suppliers which caused a bit of upset See if this was any other seller then I would feel bad for them, but it is Zero One and they deserve a bit of the *suitcase* they peddle sometimes. Still having a distributor that sells too, not good in my mind. Either way I know it doesn't affect me, but for some after ICS guns it leaves them with a pay the cost or look elsewhere and seeing as you do have other high and mid end companies this is not good business sense. 'FireKnife' Link to post Share on other sites
speed demon Posted April 16, 2013 Report Share Posted April 16, 2013 If ICS were honest and not sell behind thier official distributors backs, things could be better, they could even have distributors who only distribute. Trust me I know, I am an official ICS distributor, and have been for the past 3 years! John Link to post Share on other sites
Aitch Posted April 16, 2013 Report Share Posted April 16, 2013 JR when did you last sell AEGs? as for LW, way too dear compared their competition and too far up their own bums nowadays Link to post Share on other sites
speed demon Posted April 17, 2013 Report Share Posted April 17, 2013 I last sold an AEG about 5.20pm this evening. It was as it happens and ICS 126. Before that I think it was about 2.45 but I might be mistaken. That was a WE G36c. I have some sympathy with Scott as I had to fix around 500 ICS plastic bodied rifles 18 months ago. It took nearly 4 months of wrangling with ICS for them to accept the issue. It mainly got fixed because I went to Taiwan and went to the factory and discussed the matter with the President. Link to post Share on other sites
curlyboy Posted April 18, 2013 Report Share Posted April 18, 2013 Funny ICS have posted on Facebook that land warrior are now their official DIstributor of All ICS products in Scotland, maybe someone spat the dummy to make ICS sit up and listen? Good luck to them either way as having one distributor does not breed healthy competition. Curlyboy Link to post Share on other sites
Apex Posted April 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2013 Yeah just seen this on their fb page. Link to post Share on other sites
Azubi Posted April 18, 2013 Report Share Posted April 18, 2013 Now the question stands, will LWA be just a distributor or will they also sell? Is there even any other retailers (including site shops) in Scotland? LWA said on Facebook you can either be a seller or a distributor, not both. Link to post Share on other sites
FireKnife Posted April 18, 2013 Report Share Posted April 18, 2013 Now the question stands, will LWA be just a distributor or will they also sell? Is there even any other retailers (including site shops) in Scotland? LWA said on Facebook you can either be a seller or a distributor, not both. Airsoft World () and I think a few site based shops exist. 'FireKnife' Link to post Share on other sites
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