Just ANOTHER reason to shop your LHS...

[anjdevil2]

I just visited Train Works here in good ol' Jax.  They had both a K-Line & Lionel catalogs, so I had to get 'em.  I was looking for a new steam RailSounds tender for some of my older engines, so I ordered 1 ($110 due in May).  They have a room full of layouts N to G scale (and am I impressed with the new NYC engine with the 5.0 sounds!!!).  Asked some questions about some of the accessories and electronics...

Cut to the chase: They gave me both catalogs, gratis, discounted the tender and got a bottle of smoke pills.  Deposit $50, Discount10%, Pills 16.95 + tax $71.64.  Gabbed with 'em for about an hour, got some good info.  Gotta love those people at the TrainWorks!!

[Railfan1]

Yup, they will give you some good deals (esp. if you're their main customer).

[Frank53]

Last June, I was in my local shop and a fellow came in with about five boxes of stuff he wanted to sell. The local shop will buy post war stuff, but they are primarily HO, and the owner said he really had about all the stuff he was willing to carry at the time.

To his credit, he told me I was welcome to make teh guy an offer on the stuff, since he was passing on it. I looked it over, paid him a fair price and came away with:

A very nice A-A set of Sante Fe F3's, in the original boxes with liners, wrapped in the original wrapping paper and according to the seller they hadn't been out of the boxes in at least 30 years.

Plenty of common post war freight:

The rolling stock is very common, including a Sunoco two dome car, a Bucyrus Erie Crane, a NYC gondola and a Lehigh Valley Hopper. All of which I don't mind having, and I have been tyring to pick up these at reasonable prices to building longer frieghts and future yard scenes.

The boxes were for the most part typical and partly flapless:

Came with a nice transformer - original box with instructions:

Also a #256 freight station in the original well kept box, with the parts envelopes:

The condition of the station is near excellent, I don't see any flaws.

And a box of track that is in surprisingly nice shape.

Also included was a #50 Gang Car, missing two workers, and two #22 switches that look outstanding.

In addition to the cars mentioned above, there is a full operating cattle car with the operating track, platform and the car in really nice shape. A New York Central operating box car, which I am always looking for, and a 6311 pipe car, which is something I wouldn't probably go looking for, but it has the original pipes and looks like a keeper.

Most of the stuff came with original instruction sheets as well.

I ended up selling some of the stuff - the freight station, gang car and a couple of other odds and ends and recouped more than half of what I spent - and still have the bulk of it.

All in all, this was a pretty nice find.

[pbjwilson]

My LHS is strictly retail. But its still really convenient and has most of the common modeling stuff. Anyway, I needed some Testers glue and stopped in to get some. Its the Testers that comes in the nice needle point container. Price was $6.99. Kinda steep, but I needed it, so I bought it.

A couple days later i saw the same thing at Michaels Craft store for $3.99. At first I thought, Oh man did I get ripped off at the Hobby shop. But then I thought about it and was like, hey this guy is trying to make a living. Glue, paint, etc. is his bread and butter, the stuff that he makes his money on.

If you dont buy the regular stuff from your local hobby shop, its not going to be there anymore. Its somewhat disturbing that everyone is looking fior the bottom lowball price on everything. The Target set on sale after Christmas was an example of people getting goofy over trying to get something at the lowest possible price.

I'm guilty of it too. Trying to save money and shopping around to do so. Whats happened however is all the mom amd pop stores are closing their doors. In suburban Chicago, where I live, you end up with all the chain stores taking over. The independent hardware stores are getting hard to find. The little variety five and dimes are extinct. Hobby shops(still plenty to go to here) look like they may soon be gone as well.

I'll save some of my rant for another day. Basically no matter how bad or how high priced, shop your local hobby shop. The owner is just trying to make a living. As a small business owner I too am feeling the pinch. Cheaper and cheaper labor is cutting into my niche market. Maybe I can hang on till retirement. But I feel like I'm dangling by a thin thread right now.

[Anonymous]

I'll agree,

I was buying Gargraves track and ordered some, and after finding out the place didn't actually have it in stock thought the website said so, and they verbally conifrmed a week later, 2 weeks later they did not.  I called around and found a LHS that had it in stock for a decent price.  More than mail order, but it was worth it.  had I known about the place, I just would have went there.  Wish I had scrounged around a little more, but it's about 40 minutes for me and I can't go there that often.

Today, I actually tried to buy some paint from the nearest hobby shop, they sell R/C cars and planes (no trains), but they don't carry much paint except starter sets, he referred me to Wal-mart.  However, he was very polite, and appeared to have a lot of stuff for those interested in R/C.   

Personally, I've been making a point to buy more American Made products in recent years, as I am getting disgusted with the quality of stuff coming from oversees (though if you pay enough, they make good stuff too).  I was taught to buy the best value for the money.  The worst phrase I hear these days is "It'll get me by until I can buy something better".  For the most part, it's being applied to non-essential items.  Anyway, enough of this, I do try to support my Local businesses, and many appreciate it, but once in a while I still find the person who cares less about customer service, usually they go out of business in a year or two.  So I guess it works out.

Jason

[dwiemer]

I wish I had a local hobby shop, but I have had a long term relationship with The Train-Station in NJ and that has worked out very well.  They are a Train Store, so I expect to pay more than the local discounter on some things and perhaps the big On-Line guys, but they have the items I need at a fair price and will continue to honor them.  If you go to a place like them, you build loyalty both ways.  They will usually stear you to the discounts and be very helpful.  The worst thing I hear about is the guy who goes to his local hobby shop, asks advice on how to do a certain thing, and then goes home and buys the products on line to save $10.  Don't buy local, you won't have a local place to buy from.

Dennis

[jefelectric]

I agree and buy 99% of my train stuff at a LHS, 90% at two LHS.  I am very fortunate to live in an area where I have two good shops within a 20 minute drive and at least a half dozen within an hours drive.  Always get catalogs free from one of the two I buy from.  Usually both offer catalogs but I don't take if I already have them.

For those without a LHS there isn't a lot of choice but to buy on line or by mail / phone.

[Anonymous]

I would prefer to buy that Testors glue for a few dollars at a LHS than some craft store manned by barely trained teens. The amount of advice, information and assistance just does not have a dollar value on it. Add the story telling and other people in the area that are easy to talk to about trains.. you have something irreplaceable.

Take all that away and close the store, something is lost for sure.

[underworld]

Our next to last independent shop is closing. There will still be one(hopefullyit will be around for a while!)....and two chain hobby stores.

underworld

[brianel027]

Paul, that was a very well written point you made. You don't need to save your "rant" for another day.... it was hardly a rant and your points are very good.

Just to single out one company, Lionel's top 10 dealers are all deep discount retailers. So despite the statement Jerry Calabrese made that he would like all Lionel products sold at full list, it obviously isn't happening. Lionel couldn't do without the support of their top dealers, and likewise their top dealers wouldn't be doing the sales figures they are if it were not for the deep discounting they do.

There have been plenty of posts in the past how we consumers almost feel guilty for not paying near full list or full list at a local shop. Lionel though is just as "guilty" for giving such favorable treatement to these larger dealers who get such low wholesale prices that they can advertise prices to the public that match or are often lower than the wholesale price the small dealer gets. Lionel says publically they want their small local dealers. So the answer is simple: the wholesale price playing field needs to be leveled out a little more so the little guys can at least have a shot at making it.

This isn't a cover up for poor service or grouchy dealers. Like anj, I too used to go to my local shop a lot (before I relocated). The guy and I were friends and we would talk about these kinds of things like product availability and wholesale prices. And I would seldom walk out his door without purchasing something. He carried a lot of the UMD Industrial Rail products which he told me were competitively priced on a wholesale level so he could make money. And as I bought more, I noticed my discounts got better and better. I'd plan on buying some car for $22 and he'd ring it up as $18. I didn't ask for that. But once I questioned it and he explained he appreciated my business. My friends asked me how it was I fared so well with the guy. My answer was simple: I was keeping him in business and he was returning the favor.

But had those been Lionel products, I know full well he wouldn't have been able to do the same thing. The margins for a small dealer on Lionel are too tight to allow any kind of real discounting.

I agree Paul about the fuss made over some Lionel blowouts. But truth be told, Lionel contributes to this greatly by having list prices that are in many cases, excessive. $44.95 for the postwar reissue 2-dome tank car on a sheet metal frame? That's a rip off. And if enough buyers feel the way I do, we'll see it for half that price as a blowout from the usual dealers.

So given the kind of buying culture we are, of course we want the discounts. Wal-Mart didn't become the giant they are by charging list prices. I've always thought it would make more sense for the train companies to price their products more reasonable so they sell at ALL retail outlets... not to wait until inventory needs to be cut and then blowout those products at a handful of select dealers, which hurts the overall dealer network.