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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by BRAKIE Guys,I freely admit that I stop using full price hobby shops long time ago except in some extreme cases..To my mind there are to many shops offering discounts and of course the super discounts found on line.I stop playing the e-bay game as many of the so called deals can be beaten by shopping on line and not to mention the ridiculous bidding. I suspect if the truth was known NONE OF US will rush out and pay $99.95 for a engine we know we can get for less else where-in most cases for $64.95. I know we need our local hobby shops but,THE OWNER MUST REALIZED WE ARE NOT TO BLAME DUE TO HIGH MSRP WE MUST SHOP ELSE WHERE FOR THE BEST DEAL FOR OUR LIMITED HOBBY DOLLARS! The owner should give discounts and setup a on line store to compliment his local customer base if he/she wishes to survive.. MR.HOBBY SHOP OWNER,Your store's future is IN YOUR HANDS..Whatcha goin' to do? Are you going to sink or swim? Its YOUR call! [/quote] Actually your access to an LHS is in your hands! The LHS owner can close his shop and get a real job with a better income. As each LHS closes, you will find it increasingly expensive and frustrating to obtain small items in a hurry. Imagine, needing a small package of very small brass screws or a pack of code 83 rail joiners and discovering that you will have to mail order them. It may be that you will find out just how much you need an LHS. In addition, the number of newcomers to model railroading will continue to dwindle. If model railroading is out of sight, then it is also out of mind. LHSs promote model railroading. Their disappearance reduces the promotion of model railroading. To carry this discussion further, manufacturers depend on sales volume in order to develop and produce products profitably. As the numbers of model railroaders diminishes, the ability of manufacturers to maintain profitability diminishes as well. It may be that Life-Like may have seen that their model railroading division was not as profitable as their other endeavors and decided to get out of the model railroading business. You have to ask yourself, if model railroading is so profitable, why would the corporate leaders of Athearn and Model Die Casting (Roundhouse) sell out? One of the concerns of some hobby product manufacturers is producing the product and getting it out of the storage facilities and into dealers hands. Manufactures do not want to sit on inventory. They want to make the product, ship it, and be paid for it within a very short period of time (if not in advance of shipping). Hobby distributors typically buy large amounts of product and resell it to LHS's in much smaller quantities. Distributors hold a great deal of product in the warehouses all the while waiting for LHS to take products off their hands and pay them for it. When the LHS's begin to sell less product, then the distribution channel begins to choke with product resulting in revenue starvation for distributors and manufactuers alike. The online world recirculates old product and some new product with much lower revenues. New product volumes are limited to online buyers as the remainder of the distribution channel is not buying and holding as much product. If the current trend continues, you, the consumer, are going to lose out. There's going to be lots whining and complaining about not being able to get certain locomotives or rolling stock. When manufacturers suck it up and become more fiscally responsible, somethin's got to give and most likely that will mean less new product tooling. You will also see far more short runs of locomotives. Short production runs means that the manufacturer's warehouse clears out quickly allowing him to make more product from old tooling. If you look at the plastic model business you can this happening. Pretty soon, online dealers will begin to see less competition from LHS's. They will very likely realize that they are leaving money on the the table. They will respond by aggresively "buying out" the manufacturers short product runs and increasing online prices because the know they have the product and you cannot find it anywhere else. INHO we are probably looking at a timeline of 5 years for this to happen. You just don't realize how much you need your LHS!
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