Local Hobby Shop

[grandpopswalt]

There's a thread going on right now about how negatively many of us feel about our local hobby shops. If we get enough votes on this poll to show a very distinct trend, you might want to share it with your local hobby shop owner to help him decide to mend his ways and take better care of us. Or we may find that we're probably going to continue to shop on-line because the prices are generally better than at the hobby shop down the street.

[grandpopswalt]

I would probably travel up 40 miles to a store that was well stocked, had a knowledgable staff and was open when it was convenient for me. It would probably be worth a few bucks more to be able to see and talk about an item before deciding weather or not it's what I really want. I realize that a small local shop just can't get the volume discounts that the on-line outlets get, so I don't feel that I'm being gouged when I pay the guy a little more. However, I will not let the local guy "order it for me", I can do that for myself and save a few bucks too.

Walt

[Anonymous]

I would travel 60 plus miles (since I am already making a 80 mile journey), but for the price and expended energy of the trip I would not pay an overly inflated price. This may seem unreasonable to some and I do understand the economics of our times, but hobby stores need to provide a service to the hobbiest.

For example, a trip to the nearest large town expends a good 10 to 15 dollars of gas. Since this takes my purchasing power away, I purchase less at the store. For almost less, I could use a mailorder house.

Maybe, stores could band together for discounts. There is little competition between a mailorder house that sells a Bachmann Box car for approx $27 when a hobby shop is selling it for $59.99. The hobby shop has the plus of letting you see, and even sometimes run; locomotives, rolling stock and electrical gagets before purchase, whereas an element of risk is present in the Postal Service (both U.S. and Royal).

Whay say y'all?

[Anonymous]

Well for me living on an island it's a two hour ferry ride to my favorite G scale retailer which is Art Knapp plantland in south Surrey BC. Do I pay a premium there? Probably not but it does cost me $100 return for the ferry ride, so when I do go there I already know what I'm after. Fortunately for me they have a HUGE inventory so I usually get what I want and even more!

[Anonymous]

Well for me living on an island it's a two hour ferry ride to my favorite G scale retailer which is Art Knapp plantland in south Surrey BC. Do I pay a premium there? Probably not but it does cost me $100 return for the ferry ride, so when I do go there I already know what I'm after. Fortunately for me they have a HUGE inventory so I usually get what I want and even more!

[cacole]

I didn't vote because there's no answer that fits my problem -- the nearest "local hobby shop" to me is 150 miles away -- so the term "LHS" doesn't mean anything to me.

[Anonymous]

Well I do that now. I travel over 100 miles round trip to Davis Trains in Milford Ohio, (my local shop) takes 1/2 the day, and I do pay extra there, plus the sales tax, no shipping when I pick it up, but no evening hours. [B)] But I can see what I am buying and sometimes get a chat or a smile.

However with gas at what it is and the time involved, I can shop the net and get a better price, and some dealers don't charge shipping. [;)] Some are nice and remember you, others are rude, but have the stock. [:p]

whats the answer[?]

[8D]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ZachsPappaw

Well I do that now. I travel over 100 miles round trip to Davis Trains in Milford Ohio, (my local shop) takes 1/2 the day, and I do pay extra there, plus the sales tax, no shipping when I pick it up, but no evening hours. [B)] But I can see what I am buying and sometimes get a chat or a smile.

However with gas at what it is and the time involved, I can shop the net and get a better price, and some dealers don't charge shipping. [;)] Some are nice and remember you, others are rude, but have the stock. [:p]

whats the answer[?]




Milford, Is that Miford Center Ohio? Give me a major city, I'm southwest of columbus West Jefferson to be exact.

Also I voted premium within 15 miles because I always need stuff "NOW" due to my work schedule verses limited free time. Also because I believe in supporting local buisness.
[8D]

[Anonymous]

Hi all
When i do travel to a hobbie shop I have to go aprox 500 miles
and I go to the one that has given me service then service and just for good measure some more service.
any purchase I make is by mail order hence the desire to make my own
regards John

[Anonymous]

After reading of the great distances you folks must travel I realize how fortunate I am with three hobby shops within 15 miles of home. And with one of our club members working at one of the shops I can get a ten % discount. Even so, my large purchases are made from mail-order houses since they still have lower prices.
OLD DAD

[Anonymous]

Well, I buy now from internet to save gas (shipping & handling)
Or I went back to that Old guy that I weeded his G Scale for him. He has a nice train shop BUT Friday the 13th I went and asked if he had wheels and kadees. No problem he said! I also bought some stuff from him and out of the CLEAR blue sky I got soem stuff for free. I was floored.
He did get rid of the old MTH and got the new ones in! If you have not seen the new ones then you need to check them out.
MTH
Wheel Sets: SS
Trucks that I seen: Sprung 4-wheel style
Coupler: SC Knuckle, SC Hook and Loop and they make Kadee body mounts
Scale... 1:32
Over all on the new design to me is better than the old Summer 2004 ones
Price $54.00 to $84.00

[Anonymous]

Matt:

Milford is a suburb of Cincinnati on the east side just off I-275. You need to make the 2 Hr trip some Saturday. He normally has an ad in "Garden Railways". Carries LGB, USA, B-Mann, Aristo, MTH, etc. He has a website and sells thru there as well.

Hope that helps[;)]

[8D]

[Anonymous]

I buy from known suppliers out of the LGB catalogue; except rail which I buy from the club. Both of these suppliers are 1000 km (620 miles) away and i also live on an island but we have a bridge to the main part of the Sunshine coast so isolation is not a problem.

However as I am now working on my area 3, most of my purchasing is from hardware stores and suppliers. I will travel anwhere from 2 Km (1 mile) up to 50 Km (32 miles) depending what I want to buy. You all remeber those beaut rocks i bought, well thats how far i wen to get them an absoloute bargain. We went back there just recently and no wonder they were so good and so cheap; we found out they were stolen from a deceased estate.

But really I think Hobby shops are just for amateurs and when you get right into it you will by from established dealers that don't have big overheads and know in advance what you want to buy and get the best deal that you can! You will thenget your supplies in the mail so distance does not matter.

Thats what i think anyway.


Ian

[hobbyfossi201]

I usually get my needs via mailorder without any fees, but 2 to 3 times per year i travel to my favorite hobbyshop, which is more than 200 km far.
but on the other hand the owner of my preferred shop also travels a lot to visit clubs, private meetings and so on, so there´s a really good relation between us.
with greetings from austria,
hobbyfossi201

[Anonymous]

Actually, I find the second part of the poll a bit ambiguous [would you be willing to pay a little extra (5 to 15% premium) to shop there?]

5-15% over what? Is that 5-15% over the price I can find it for at a discount shop on the internet? Or is it 5-15% over MSRP?

If the former then I would be willing to pay a little extra to support a local hobby store and for the convenience of being able to bring home the item with me rather than having to wait for it to ship and hope it doesn't get damaged in the process.

However, I voted for the option to not pay a premium since in my experience, the local hobby stores charge signficantly more (> 15%) that what I can find the same item for on the internet. Sometimes 50% and higher..

Jon

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ZachsPappaw

Matt:

Milford is a suburb of Cincinnati on the east side just off I-275. You need to make the 2 Hr trip some Saturday. He normally has an ad in "Garden Railways". Carries LGB, USA, B-Mann, Aristo, MTH, etc. He has a website and sells thru there as well.

Hope that helps[;)]

[8D]

Thanks, I'll try to make the trek some weekend.

[Anonymous]

Hi guys,
The one thing this topic has done is to re-define the meaning of the word local. 'Local' for me is in the same town. 'Just next door' or 'down the road' is the next town - 5 or 6 miles away. 'Not too bad' is 20 or 30 miles away and if it's getting over 50i***hen forget it unless it's the last resort. Definately a case of different perspective re country size etc.
Cheers,
Kim
[tup]

[Anonymous]

Think I just need my own store!