Best Online Pricing - HO Equipment

[MisterBeasley]

I've been happy with Discount Trains Online, Tony's Trains and Trainworld, all mentioned above. I've also gotten some outrageously good prices from M.B. Klein at http://www.modeltrainstuff.com and I love the results. Google is your friend too, and can point you to small niche-market dealers like http://www.imagesreplicas.com for subway-related stuff, as an example.

And then there's eBay. It's a different experience altogether. Buyer beware, but you can get some great deals if you know enough to stop when you should.

[Anonymous]

I would advise against using Internettrains.com, at least right now, based on my experience. I ordered 4 items from them, was told by Chelsea that they were in stock. Got a email 2 days later from Sean saying one item was back-ordered and wanted to know if we wanted to leave the item on backorder. Told him no, take the item off the backorder, and reminded him of what Chelsea said. Got an email back saying Chelsea should not have said that. Ordered the other (backordered item) from www.rrgifts.com and got it in 3 days. Still nothing from Internettrains. Called them today, Chelsea says the remaining 3 items MIGHT come into them in 4 days, then in 3 or 4 more days, they'll ship to us!! When reminded of what was said earlier, she basically called us liars and said she would never tell us anything was in stock.

So, bottom line, Internettrains.com personnel lie, call each other liars, and call their customers liar. There are plenty of other places to order model railroading stuff. I'll never do business with them again. Try www.rrgifts.com if you need it right away.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mlordi

Excellent feedback, thank you all very much.

kchronister, you were extremely detailed, you must do some outrageous work!

I can't say I do, I'm actually not a superdetailer at all... You just can't get me started on anything involving money (especially avoiding the unnecessary spending thereof) without getting a bit of a diatribe. it is one of my favorite subjects!

Casey

[Anonymous]

Excellent feedback, thank you all very much.

kchronister, you were extremely detailed, you must do some outrageous work!

I will start with these suggestions and always keep the LHS in mind.
I've been going to my LHS for over 30 years and now my son spends
my money there too!

Mike

[brothaslide]

First Hobby http://www.firsthobby.com has good prices and they usually have a fair amount of stock.

Good luck!

[Howardr]

Hi, sorry I'm getting in a bit late on this post but maybe this can help.

I've used Trainworld many times and their prices really aren't bad but you really have to be very specific with them when you call, product numbers etc.

I have been buying my HO strutures, cars and loco's from First Hobby.Com.

May they are a $ more or less but their service is great, they don't snap at you when you have to call or give an order over the phone and I beleive I like there web sit better then trainworld...not as cluteret.

Give the a try maybe you'll like ther too. Good Luck.

[MisterBeasley]

I've had good experiences with http://www.discounttrainsonline.com http://www.trainworld.com and http://www.modeltrainstuff.com so I go to those sites first. "modeltrainstuff" is the URL for M.B.Klein, by the way. The last 2 are known for "blowout" prices on discontinued items, still new and in the box, but no longer being made. Discount Trains has a fixed $7 shipping charge. Also, their web site has pictures and descriptions of most items.

That said, I second the recommendation to check out your local train shops. No shipping charges, and you can see and handle the merchandise. Some will give discounts to regular customers, and some give discounts to everyone. (Yes, some are also full-price, and staffed by Do-You-Want-Fries-With-That types, but look for the good ones. It's worth it.)

[cwclark]

www.discounttrainsonline.com are good..another one is Trainworld found advertised in MRR magazine...chuck

[Anonymous]

Well, let's see.

Trainworld.com typically has about the best prices, but don't expect "Nordstrom" level customer service or a lot of info. I'm not saying they won't stand by their product, take returns on defectives, etc, but they're not exactly 'warm & fuzzy' either. (FWIW, I've been there physically and it's about the same in-store too). It's a place to go when you know what you want, and don't need help or info to make your choice. I use them frequently to buy motive power, on which they tend to be unbeatable in price.

Firsthobby.com: Good prices and good service. I usually find them to be about 10-15% more than Trainworld, but in cases where you want to speak with someone and get info, etc. it might be worth it.

standardhobby.com: Generally good prices. Sort of mid-range on the customer service side.

tonystrains.com: my preferred source for all things DCC. Generally good prices and absolutely exemplary customer service. This is the place that did take a lesson from Nordstrom and learn to make customers loyal just by their service. The fact that their prices are quite good too is a bonus.

And don't overlook the support your LHS can give you (and needs from you). While I don't/can't justify paying 3x the price for the same loco, I do make a point of patronizing them for many other things, particularly items I want to see before buying or need quickly. I often buy turnouts there, scenery details, tunnel portals, rock molds, and so forth. And, frankly, I do sometimes make "impulse" buys there of bigger items that I know I could go online and get cheaper, but I'm there, I like it, and it's calling out to me... I have a particular weakness for Beer Reefers, so pretty much anywhere, anytime I see a new one, it's gettin' bought.

PS - One quick pricing benchmark I often use is Bachmann Spectrum locos. This has nothing to do with my, or your, esteem for that line, but it's because nearly everone carries them, so you get relatively apples-to-apples comparison. I've found that I can judge a place's pricing levels 95% of the time just by checking their price on a Spectrum 3-truck-Shay, for instance. Don't use this as gospel. It works very well for full-line hobby vendors, but not as indicative for specalized stores (i.e. if a store specializes in DCC and their spectrum loco prices are high, it may not mean much.)

[ereimer]

i've always found that no single place has the best price on everything , and that no single place even has everything .

here are a few places to get you started
wholesaletrains.com
http://www.internettrains.com/index.html
http://tonystrains.com/

there are dozens more , and everyone has their favorites . many people will pay a higher price from somewhere they've had good experience with before rather than just buy at the lowest price .

sometimes i use froogle.google.com to check prices . you can't find everything there , and sometimes there is another vendor that has even lower prices than froogle lists

and then there's the argument that you should support your local hobby shop by buying what you can from them even though it's more expensive . don't forget to take into account that you won't be paying shipping charges when you buy from your LHS , and that it's nice to have someone local when you need something right now ! , and that if nobody buys from the LHS that they'll soon go out of business and you'll have to remote order everything

and welcome to the forum ! [:)]

[Anonymous]

Hello all,

I'm deciding between 2 rail O scale & HO and I would like anyone's opinion as to which site has the best prices for HO equipment. I've already checked out the pricing and effort for 2 rail O scale, but I don't think I have the room for these bad boys anyway. Once I price out some HO equipment and see how much more I can do, layout wise, I think I'll be able to make a better decision.

Thank you,
Mike