The nearest hobby store to my house is 25 miles away...I was just wondering how many folks here buy there supplies online or through a catalog company. I assume prices are better online, aren't they?
Can anybody recommend an online company? My immediate needs are for roadbed and flex track.
Thanks.
A lot of us face the too-far-away problem with local hobby shops. And yes, online prices are generally better. I keep making attempts to buy locally even though it costs more -- just to help keep the local guy in business -- but he makes it hard.
There are tons of model rail shops online -- most of them very reputable. And there are a few stinkers. Here are my quick favorites especially for track and road bed (all tested, proven, reputable):
MB Klien http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/
Toy train Heaven http://www.toytrainheaven.com/
Trainworld http://www.trainworld.com/ (and don;t be shaken by the no-nonsense phone reps -- under the NY facade they're really very nice)
For me, it depends a lot on what I'm buying. I've bought rolling stock both online and at the local hobby shop, but for scenery materials and that sort of thing, I'll buy locally first unless they don't have something I need. Then I'll start looking online.
Kevin
http://chatanuga.org/RailPage.html
http://chatanuga.org/WLMR.html
Only 25 miles away? That's just around the corner compared to where I am. On-line is the only way for me unless I need to take a trip to Tucson for some other purpose and can stop by the lone hobby shop there "along the way."
The LHS I went to(17 miles) closed when the owner died.Now the closest is 78 miles(Eau Claire,Wi.) I'm at a stand still for want of track and roadbed and am looking at Dallas Model Works for supplies as Craig is a member of this forum.Price seems competitive or better than the old LHS and I don't mind a little shipping wait.
Anyone have experience with his outfit?
Terry
Terry in NW Wisconsin
Queenbogey715 is my Youtube channel
I used to have a full service LHS(and he gave a 20% discount). He died a few years ago, and I was forced to drive a good distance or use 'on-line' stores. The choices were a 45 mile drive to a Ace Hardware(not too bad) or a 75+ mile drive to two large train shops in a metro area(and little or no discount). I still use them to get paints/detail parts/etc....
A lot of my purchases went to several 'on-line' dealers:
For DCC stuff, Tony's, Litchfield Station, and DCCTrain have been very good. Great service, good prices.
For engines/rolling stock/structures/track - M B Klein, Toy Train Heaven, Trainworld, and 1st Place Hobbies have been very good. I like the on-line photos and inventory control right on the screen. I have also found very good selection/pricing from several 'train show ' dealers who work the area.
I now have a LHS again(mainly R/C stuff) and the owner gives our local club a discount. He will order most anything that Walthers has in stock. I try to give him business(like my Hiawatha train and detail parts). Model Railroading has changed over the past few years. I suspect I am not alone using this '3 point' approach to my buying.
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
Hi!
I'm probably in a pretty good situation here just north of Houston, with one large train shop about 3 miles away and a medium size train store (combined with an attached store for other hobbies) about 5 miles away. The problem is the larger store is terribly understaffed and a mess and it takes forever to get checked out, etc. The other store is better but has a much smaller inventory. Both are pretty much full dollar retail.
Soooo, I tend to get the big dollar items from ToyTrainHeaven and a couple of others, and the smaller stuff or impulse items from the local stores. Believe me, I would much rather give the money to the local folks and pay the sales tax, but when you can save $30 on a loco or $50 plus on DCC components, I will go internet every time.
Sadly, that's the way it is.
Mobilman44
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Our LHS is poorly managed, and still has most of the same stock on the shelves and display cases it had when it opened 20 years ago.This shop gets very little in the way of new stuff in.It also sells RC airplanes, cars, etc, but really lacks in the train dept.It's about a 20 mile drive in for me, not that bad, but you see the same old stuff everytime, really nothing much new to look at.You can order what you need, but its orders set around sometime for several weeks to a month or so before they get sent out.So online is not only less costly, but usually quicker.
TheK4Kid
Up here in northern Maine the closest hobby shop of any type is 100 miles away so needless to say my purchases are made on-line. I've used several...mostly Walther's even though there isn't much of a deal on prices they are very reliable. For DCC needs, including installing decoders for those of you like me who start to shake just at the thought of doing it myself, I would suggest Charleston Digital Trains. Dallas Model Works also gets a high recommendation as does Toy Train Heaven. For tools and what not Micro-Mark is the place to go. Ebay has proven to be a good source if you are careful about what you buy.
Mainetrains
'there's something happening here, what it is ain't exactly clear' Modeling the Hard Knox Valley Railroad in HO scale http://photos.hardknoxvalley.com/
It depends on what I need. If I need it now, I will see if the LHS has it. If not, I check online. I also price match as well. If its cheaper online I will get it from there. The LHS near me don't price match. Plus, I am always checking out eBay.
"Rust, whats not to love?"
I'm very lucky here in the Sacramento area to have two extremely large and well-stocked model railroad stores--Bruces Trains in Sacramento and Railroad Hobbies in nearby Roseville. So I very seldom shop 'on line', except when I'm in the market for a used brass steam locomotive. Then it's usually Caboose Hobbies in Denver, because they carry a very good inventory of used brass for the railroad that I model (Rio Grande).
I have dealt with Walthers on occasion--at least enough to keep getting their catalogues--and I have gone to both PSC and Bowser for castings that my two LHS' don't happen to have in stock--and have told me that I'd get them quicker going direct. But for the most part, I'm a LHS kind of guy. But then, reading some of these posts, I realize that I'm a very LUCKY exception.
But I've never gone online to the various discount hobby dealers advertised in MR or RMC, mainly because I've never really needed to. Though I will admit, some of their discounted prices are REALLY enticing. But for those of you who have a REAL distance problem with LHS' , I say go for it.
One thing about California, we may be the Land of Fruits and Nuts, but we have a whole series of good hobby shops that seem to be within comfortable driving distance all up and down the state.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
Guess I am turly blessed with 2 OK LHS and one Great one with in 2 miles of me. For my self I support K-10 Model Trains in Maryville IL. Now I have had good luck with interner companys when there has been a problem, with turn around time and shipping cost it was a bit of a pain.
With K-10 if there is a problem, I head back and get a new one.
Sometimes the cost alone is not the bigger factor. A good LHS will guide you on your quest, if they charge a little more well worth the cost.
Cuda Ken
I hate Rust
i have been by that place several times but they are always closed. is it a side line operation? their store hours seem to be more for the owner's convenience that for that of the potential customers.
grizlump
Unfortunately, the nearest two train stores that I really know about are either in Pensacola, FL (about 4 hours), or the Birmingham metro area (about 2-1/2 hours). So it looks like most of my purchasing is going to be online, period. I've really got no other choice, I guess since there isn't a LHS here in Troy, AL, and the two shops in Montgomery, AL are both closed (one the owner died, the other, well, just shut down one day, no warning, no nothing, and I know the guy is still alive), so that leaves me with just a Hobby Lobby (fat lotta good they are, except for the ocassional scenery piece). Kinda only leaves me with the one option of online.
I rarely darken the door of any hobby store. The local one is 45 miles away and he stocks very little in terms of craftsman kits and scratch building supplies. If I'm in the area, I'll sometimes stop in for a bottle of Floquil paint or scenery material, but he doesn't stock the kind of stuff I generally use (and his prices are a little steep).
I buy nearly everything I use in the hobby on eBay and at train shows. I'm rarely disappointed and the prices are great. If I need something sooner than I find it on eBay, I generally go online to Caboose Hobbies in Denver.
I feel no sense of duty to support the local business; he could compete with the online dealers if he wanted. He could even compete with eBay by doing consignment sales.
I shop where I get what I want at a price I want to pay.
Phil, I'm not a rocket scientist; they are my students.
I talk to both of my regular stores by email regularly in my area. They usually have the stuff ready the next time I make the trip. One is like an hour away and the other not so far away. However with our gas/total weekly mileage restriction on one vehicle we try to go through both shops when we are already in the area.
That said, both shops get my business like 99% of the time. Now... with regard to limited run, OOP items or other recently discontinued items, I search several other stores around the USA by product number and nail it. If necesary I will get it from ebay at whatever it takes to finish the final bid at 3 seconds remaining without regard to actual real life pricing. I might pay three times retail for a widget, but I will get that widget. If someone else got it... well.. they had more money than I did. More power to them whoopeedeedo.
I second the opinion that Micromark is a good place to get tools and such. I happen to be preparing a shipment for 2009. If Micromark would just populate all the hobby shops all the time, it would be great. But think that it will push everyone else who offers tools out.
The closest LHS to me is about an hour away, but get this: he isn't open on weekends.
When I lived in Illinois there was a great LHS about 40 minutes away but they closed their brick and mortar store because they were being too distracted from managing their online store by keeping an eye out for shoplifting teenagers. They moved about two miles down the road to an industrial park and allowed local customers to order online, but pick up at the warehouse on Saturday mornings to avoid shipping costs. They also gave a discount to make up for sales tax, so if you bout something that was $100, and the sales tax was 8%, they charged you $92.59 then added the (manditory) 8% sales tax so it ended up being $100.
I buy from both the internet and my LHS. For me there are three issues here. 1) Shipping costs over the internet often add tremendously to the cost of internet buying. 2) Many LHS's offer gret discounts, especially for regular customers. I get 20% off MSRP for most items at my LHS. 3) There is value in having a person locally with whom you can discuss purchases and problems. Customer service is a very real asset to me. Also, being able to see and touch an item before I buy is sometimes a great value. I prefer the buy through my LHS. I do buy on the internet some, but it is not my preferred method.
Ron
Owner and superintendant of the N scale Texas Colorado & Western Railway, a protolanced representaion of the BNSF from Fort Worth, TX through Wichita Falls TX and into Colorado.
Check out the TC&WRy on at https://www.facebook.com/TCWRy
Check out my MRR How-To YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/RonsTrainsNThings
WaxonWaxovThe closest LHS to me is about an hour away, but get this: he isn't open on weekends. When I lived in Illinois there was a great LHS about 40 minutes away but they closed their brick and mortar store because they were being too distracted from managing their online store by keeping an eye out for shoplifting teenagers. They moved about two miles down the road to an industrial park and allowed local customers to order online, but pick up at the warehouse on Saturday mornings to avoid shipping costs. They also gave a discount to make up for sales tax, so if you bout something that was $100, and the sales tax was 8%, they charged you $92.59 then added the (manditory) 8% sales tax so it ended up being $100.
8% is a horrible discount from an LHS. Unless I get at least 20% I don't buy. Instead I'll buy over the internet for 20 to 30% discount. We have one LHS that offers 20% and thats where I buy and order many of my train items. I just purchased an Athearn Genesis HO loco through him and saved 20%. I could have gotten it for $10 cheaper through M.B. Klein, but I decided to give him the business this time as I was feeling quite generous at the time.
My local train shop (LTS) is Train Buddy http://www.trainbuddy.com and it is only about a 10 minute drive from the house. Kim Parker is the owner and he is very helpful and knowledgeable. He also does Internet orders too. His prices are 20% marked down from MSRP, so any prices listed in Walther's will be reduced accordingly. Here is how it works, Walther's and most of the hobby suppliers mark up their products by 40% margin for MSRP. So, for example, an item that costs $60.00 to manufacture is listed at an MSRP of $100.00. Yet, many of the good shops will cut the mark up by 1/2, thus giving the 20% discount off the MSRP. You should never have to pay more than 80% of the MSRP for any item in the Walther's catalog.
Train Buddy also offers that extra personal touch you won't get online, customer service and a laugh or two when I hang out with the 'Buds at Train Buddy.
On occasion I have ordered stuff online, and typically for hard to get items or specialty items that TB cannot access.
Ryan BoudreauxThe Piedmont Division Modeling The Southern Railway, Norfolk & Western & Norfolk Southern in HO during the merger eraCajun Chef Ryan
If your using Atlas track, this is the place to get it from.http://www.nhshobbies.com/category_s/368.htmHere's another couple places with good prices.http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/
http://www.dallasmodelworks.com/
My closest hobby shop is 65 miles away and is about 40% higher than online. All they seem to have in stock is what they've bought out from other shops that have gone belly up.
I am very fortunate to have a couple of very good sources in my area. The LHS right by my office has great staff, great prices (comparable to online prices), and a great supply of N-scale stuff. The other "LHS" I buy from is actually 45 miles one way, but they are also a significant online retailer in the N-scale world and as such have an excellent inventory. So I will drive there when they have something that the other guys don't--with gas prices low I can beat the shipping charges by doing so and as a bonus I actually get to personally eyeball all the stuff. Jamie
CLICK HERE FOR THE CSX DIXIE LINE BLOG
I was very lucky (especially when I was too young to drive) to live only a block away from the Hub Shopping Center (Richfield MN) back when the original Hub Hobby shop was still there, there was also a bike shop that sold some train items about six blocks away. Later when the Hub Hobby shop split - one owner moved it west a mile or two, the other opened a new hobby shop a couple miles east - we had two very good hobby shops in Richfield.
Now living in the SE metro area I don't have a hobby shop really close (especially now that the one in Woodbury moved) but I work in DT St.Paul and Scale Model Supplies is only about a mile from where I work - albeit in the opposite direction that I take home!! I can stop in after work pretty easily, but it's kind of a drag on a Saturday to have to drive half an hour one way to get a $3 bottle of paint.
Anyway, I got in the habit of mail-ordering when I was in O and very few LHS's carried O stuff. I started buying from TrainWorld when it's MR ad was a three or four line classified ad from Peter Bianco. As much as I like shopping at SMS I do find that Trainworld usually has the best prices on stuff, SMS is pretty much full price.
BTW don't overlook Walthers. I get my catalogue from them every year, and regularly order stuff direct from them. If you are a regular customer they send you a monthly sale catalogue showing new products and what items are one sale.
What is a Local Hobby Shop?
I used to have one about thirty miles away, but he went under. Now its train shows and on-line shopping.
Jim, Modeling the Kansas City Southern Lines in HO scale.
Driline WaxonWaxov The closest LHS to me is about an hour away, but get this: he isn't open on weekends. When I lived in Illinois there was a great LHS about 40 minutes away but they closed their brick and mortar store because they were being too distracted from managing their online store by keeping an eye out for shoplifting teenagers. They moved about two miles down the road to an industrial park and allowed local customers to order online, but pick up at the warehouse on Saturday mornings to avoid shipping costs. They also gave a discount to make up for sales tax, so if you bout something that was $100, and the sales tax was 8%, they charged you $92.59 then added the (manditory) 8% sales tax so it ended up being $100. 8% is a horrible discount from an LHS. Unless I get at least 20% I don't buy. Instead I'll buy over the internet for 20 to 30% discount. We have one LHS that offers 20% and thats where I buy and order many of my train items. I just purchased an Athearn Genesis HO loco through him and saved 20%. I could have gotten it for $10 cheaper through M.B. Klein, but I decided to give him the business this time as I was feeling quite generous at the time.
WaxonWaxov The closest LHS to me is about an hour away, but get this: he isn't open on weekends. When I lived in Illinois there was a great LHS about 40 minutes away but they closed their brick and mortar store because they were being too distracted from managing their online store by keeping an eye out for shoplifting teenagers. They moved about two miles down the road to an industrial park and allowed local customers to order online, but pick up at the warehouse on Saturday mornings to avoid shipping costs. They also gave a discount to make up for sales tax, so if you bout something that was $100, and the sales tax was 8%, they charged you $92.59 then added the (manditory) 8% sales tax so it ended up being $100.
I should have been more specific. They never charged MSRP for anything. Often there was about 20% off MSRP on the website. So you ordered online, then when you went to pick it up and pay for it, they gave the 'sales tax compensation' discount on top of the already discounted price. They did this because they wanted to be cool to their local customers they had basically abandoned by closing the brick-and-mortar store.
Re-reading the posts I see I forgot about ebay, I've actually bought quite a bit of stuff there over the years. My problem is that it seems as soon as I decide I need something, it goes out of production so I'm stuck scouring ebay and flea markets to try and find it. For example my free-lance road chose MDC woodside cabooses as their "standard" steam to transition era caboose, but now the undec kits are OOP and apparently won't be reissued. (Now they only offer the cabooses 'ready to run'.)
Then too, some smaller manufacturers sell thru ebay that probably couldn't afford the overhead of selling to regular stores. I don't know if Hay Brothers are still around, but I bought a bunch of their iron ore car loads for MDC and Walthers ore cars thru their ebay store a few years back.
I honestly really miss the two LHS's that were around when I was a kid growing up, it was great to be able to go there and spend the day just roaming around the store, AND running the small layout that one of the owners had set up, but alas they're closed, and lets face it, Hobby Lobby blows except for the "basic" stuff. I really enjoyed the personal service that I got when I could actually go to a LHS, but those days are over, like I said before, its now pretty much all online.
When I was growing up, my home town had almost 80000 people and at times as many as 5 full service hobby shops. Model builder's heaven. Even a couple hardware stores carried pretty good lines. Now, the only hobby shop in town is available on a call for appointment basis. A bit over a year ago, he started an auto detailing business in the part of his building that his father originally had a heavy truck repair business in. His father had started handling model trains, O, HO, and N, as a sideline, and eventually closed the repair shop. Regular customers got considerations and discounts. But also, hotheads who thought they were being overcharged (most prices pretty much matched Walther's) would eventually be asked to find another place of business. About 5 years ago, he went on a cash or credit card system, with a kind of 'Golden Pass' for regulars who were able pay by check. He had been getting too much rubber over the counter.
Of course, with the closing of the local auto plant, ship builder, and automation and reduction in output and therefore employment at the local steel plant, we are now something less than 63000 population.
The next closest LHS is now closing and moving about 30 miles away. Not enough business. Another HS is moving from a larger metropolitan area about 24 miles away to a new shopping center only about 14 miles from me.
Another LHS owner was open for about 6 years, then closed down. He couldn't stand trying to satisfy model builders. He kept a furniture refinishing business and the doll house trade till he retired. Now, the closest decent shop is almost 24 miles away, except for a couple small in -house shops that handle mostly O guage.
I'd like to be able to do more shopping at a local shop. Used to be a lot of socialization there. It was fun. Get to see what you're gettting efore paying. Now, it seems there is a lot of chip-on-shoulder customers who think the world should be run their way. Too many complaints about rip-off prices, even when the marked price is equivalent to an on line price, and often much lower than prices for the same thing I've seen on E-bay.
I still buy locally when I can get to a shop, but have been doing more on-line, especially for smaller hardware and detail parts.
Strangely, I've often seemed to have an easier time getting stuff from sources like Walther's and other Wholesale/retail companies than the local shops do. I once got a couple car kits in about 4 days on-line after that LHS down the street from me had been trying for over three months to get them. Constant out-of-stock notices to him. And the price to me with shipping was slightly higher than it would have cost me with the advertised suppliers price he would have charged me along with the 6.5% sales tax.
An established LHS in a nearby city is up for sale. My wife and son sometimes try to lobby me to try to buy it. I personally think I would end up shooting some of the customers I've seen. I don't want anything to do with the business, especially after the experience I've had trying to sell modeling stuff for a couple estates. My personal opinion is there iare more problems with modelers than with the hobby shops.
feh,
The following two truths apply to me:
With that said, what percentage would you think I spend online vs at my LHS. 40%? 50%? 75%? Would you believe only ~10%?
Generally, big ticket items - like locomotives or manufacturer specific and hard to find items - I am more likely to purchase online. However, when if comes to day-to-day items like supplies, I enjoy giving my LHS the business.
Each that I frequent in my area have their strengths and weaknesses and reasons why I visit them:
So, although stretching the hobby dollar is important, I also feel very strongly compelled to support the local shops out in my area.
With 3 of the 4 LHSes, I've built a relationship with the owners and staff. There's something about being able to look and touch and hold the product before you buy it that you don't get from an online store. This is a must for me buying rolling stock as I want to make sure that the cars I'm purchasing are appropriate for my era - early 40s.
Also, where else can I pick the brains of someone who knows the business or who has the hands-on modeling, kitbashing, scratch-building, and/or prototype experience under their belt to make suggestions or give me ideas about how to tackle a problem. You have to ask yourself the question, "What's that worth to me?"
As far as buying online, M.B. Klien is a favorite of mine for finding some real bargains on locomotives. I also use eBay on occasion and have found some very good deals there, as well.
On either site I have seen and have purchased some *brand new* locomotives for as much as 50%-75% off MSPR. However, with eBay, you have to be VERY careful and know something about the product that you're interested in BEFORE you place a bid on it. Patients is also a virtue when scouting out deals on eBay.
Three other sites worth mentioning are more DCC-related:
Empire Northern (Tim Smith)
Tony's Train Exchange (Tony)
Litchfield Station (Bruce Petrarca)
Tim's site has been recently revamped and is now under construction. However, it looks like he's really broadening out with his online store. Tim, Tony, and Bruce are all very knowledgeable gentlemen and have some very good prices on things.
Anyway, feh, I hope this is helpful for you in some way.
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Hi again,
Last week I placed a fairly large dollar order with Caboose Hobbies via internet and the next day did a change to it via telephone. The folks there were just great! I was ordering my first DCC set-up and they took the time to make sure I was ordering what I really wanted. The really neat thing is the order was at my door in three days! Their prices are very reasonable, and I would have spent another $100 if I had got it at one of the two LHS.
By the way, someone earlier mentioned the high cost of shipping. Well, I consider it a wash with the local sales tax here in Harris county (Houston area).