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Crewdog, I appreciate your post about legitimate prices. The man in the basement buying for buddies is no different than say a model railroad club seeking parts or locos etc or a customer looking thru ebay and calling hobbyshops for the item. The internet is a tool of communications and as such, we communicate faster. Couplers, tools, paints and small items costing a couple dollars add up over the course of the year. I see my budget in the hobby a full 1/3 of it goes for these items. The rest in trains, structures, and scenery. And some of it for books magazines etc. Frankly I believe a "Good" store will be glad to sell couplers to you. Heck I buy a 20 pack of Kaydee ($19- us) several times a year for my fleet. IF I did not need to buy couplers then that money would be spent on cars, paint etc. The point is, any business is good for the LHS. As a customer, I have seen cases where I hear and see 'Grumbling" because I bought a 1.50 part for a badly needed engine that has been rotting on the bench for 2 years for want of that part. I pay for the part and say "Thank you!" and not come back becasue of poor treatment. Good Stores will treat each and every customer as "Somebody" to be welcomed and helped where ever possible by answering questions or digging thru for that one detail part for an hour. Those are the ones that will survive. I remember having 5 to 8 hobby shops back home in the Mid Atlantic area and several trips a month we would hit em all. Model Railroader back then was the major source of new products information. And Trainshows such as Greenburg's was a "Forum" for makers of trains to announce and show off the new products. Things moved slower then. Today you can search the world in a hour or less for specifically the part you want. "Scary" It has been my experience that hobby shops will discount some items such as engines and pricey cars by a small percentage to give a customer more incentive to buy. If it results in profit for the owner of the store.. that depends on what price the distributor sold it at. And in turn the distributor must pay a price from the factory for em. For Example, The 4-8-2 HO Scale Mountain from Spectrum. Bachmann wants a retail (Suggested) price of about $200.00 I bought one last year at the LHS for approx 150.00. I dont have any idea if there was a profit to the store or to the distributor. I think that kind of info is kept quiet. But I do know that Bachmann did not get 200.00 for that unit. Code 83 Flextrack is about $2.80- a section. I remember Brass being deeply discounted when everyone bought Nickel Silver. Now everyone wants code 83 on down. You cannot really find brass track anymore. (And I dont want brass) I hope this helps.
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