Profit

[Anonymous]

Just a quick question.
Does anyone know, on average, the % of the retail price of a product is profit for a manufacturer? I mean, forgive me if I'm wrong, but it can't cost bachmann more than $10 (us) to make a jackson-sharp passenger car yet they sell it for 50 or 60 dollars.
Scott

[cacole]

I can't speak for the manufacturer, but most hobby shop owners I have talked to try to get 30% above their cost, to pay the rent, utiliities, and other overhead, and some of them can't even make a go of it with that much markup because there is such a small segment of the population into model railroading in any scale.

[grandpopswalt]

Trainmaster,

At $40 per car, Bachmann, the distributer, and the retailer are all probably making a 25-30% markup and making 10% profit. The real issue is some of the other high volume manufactures who also produce injection molded plastic cars but charge $80 - $90 or $100 + per car. My guess is that they and the folks who handle their brand are making a much larger profit. The same can be said for almost any commodity. The mfg. will charge whatever the market will bear. As long as there are people willing to pay $150 for a pair of jeans, there will also be people willing and able to supply them.

Walt

[Anonymous]

Hi trainmaster,
An old rule, supply and demand. If you want something, someone, somewhere will make it for you. The part of it all that gets me going on one is the wages paid to the Chinese workers and it annoys me more when I support this ethos by buying the darn cars myself. At least the Bachmann cars arn't stupidly expensive, about £40-00 in the UK. I find it a lot worse when it's made in China and for the sake of a better wheel set the price is double Bachmanns. Then we have to argue that if it wasn't made there it would be all LGB and etc etc etc................
Cheers,
Kim
[tup]

[Anonymous]

Hey Trainmaster

Try St.Aubin Station and Trainworld. They sell these coaches for $34.00

Nick

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by locomotive10

Hey Trainmaster

Try St.Aubin Station and Trainworld. They sell these coaches for $34.00

Nick

Links please [:D]

[Anonymous]

St Aubin's -- http://www.lgbpola.com

Richard

[Anonymous]

"Links please"

You need to buy "Garden Railways" magazine, so you can keep up with all the ads, prices, and dealers

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ZachsPappaw

"Links please"

You need to buy "Garden Railways" magazine, so you can keep up with all the ads, prices, and dealers

I have Garden Railways Magazine thank you. When I post for everyones quick thought to go and look I post, I make the link to it. All I was sayn. Sorry if I pissed you off.
Have a Great Day [:D]

[Anonymous]

I don't think anyone knows; manufacturing costing is a very complex matter. You have variable and non variable overheads costs of materials and cost of labour and other ongoing costs that are hard to quantify.

I was the Sales Manager to a transformer manufacturing company for 10 years and the costing of product manufacture is a mine field.

Rgs ian

[TonyWalsham]

Hey guys.

I make RCS R/C equipment.
When a dealer sell at MSRP they always make more than I do.

An anecdote.

Remember the original Bachmann battery R/C Big Hauler?
Many years ago an insider at Bachmann told me that the most expensive single part of the set was............

The Box it came in.

Apparently they made and sold 900,000+ sets.
It was told to me that this quantity paid for the basic tooling that is still being used for the Big Hauler line today.
Allegedly Bachmann was still making money on the sets when they were being blown out at US$29 by the discount houses such as Price Club.

Best wishes,

Tony Walsham (RCS).

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Bluebonnet - 71

QUOTE: Originally posted by ZachsPappaw

"Links please"

You need to buy "Garden Railways" magazine, so you can keep up with all the ads, prices, and dealers

I have Garden Railways Magazine thank you. When I post for everyones quick thought to go and look I post, I make the link to it. All I was sayn. Sorry if I pissed you off.
Have a Great Day [:D]

Bluebonnet - 71:

Why would you think that you had upset me sir? [:o)] How did I know you had the magazine already? [?] I was trying to point out that it is a good source to shop prices, and therefore help someone out who maybe had never seen the magazine, and only this website. [;)] Maybe I should get in the habit of not trying to help others. [B)]

[Kiwi Down Under]

All this talk about price, try living down under and see how much things are. At the end of the day the products are worth what ever your wiling to pay for it.... If your going to think about how much profit people are making on selling it, perhaps you should be thinking why is most things made for USA, are made in China. Rates of pay, thats what. You will probably find they are turning out the goods your quibling over at say $20-40, it only cost $5 , if that , to make..... Not only models, Many large American based firms, EDS, are taking jobs out of Australia, New Zealand to go to Malaysia, where the cost of labour is very cheap. Its not wise for us to go there due to terorist travel warnings, but the big firms invest their money there.

Next thing you will have model trains built there cheaper than China can do it.........

So I reiterate, a product is as cheap or dear as you want to pay. When I see in the magazine what you can buy I would snap it up while you can

tony.