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Some very good ideas from other posters. I'd like to offer a caution on a couple of them, however. 1. Consignment sales are seductive to the retailer, because they don't tie up capital in the consigned inventory. However, local zoning regulations may prohibit consignment sales by a retailer. I know some train shops that have been put out of consignment sales for that reason. Also, consignment sale proceeds should be segregated from other receipts (and held in trust) pending remission to the consignor(s). If the retailer takes in inexpensive items on consignment, the bookkeeping burden overwhelms the benefit of not investing in the inventory in question. I would strongly recommend against accepting any consignment item having a sale price of less than $50. Since the typical consignment fee is 20% of sales price on model railroad items, we're talking about a $10 profit tot the retailer--anything less than that ain't worth the hassle. Used items are a big potential draw to a train shop (better than magazines) and can be profitable to the retailer if they are purchased outright by him/her. The rule of thumb is that the retailer should purchase with a view to selling at twice the cost of purchase, or better. (This is also the standard for antiques and collectibles.) Don't be shy about refusing offers of pure junk or filthy items. Clean, used equipment (even very low-end stuff) can be a bargain for the retailer and the end customer. 2. Blue Box Athearn (and equivalent MDC kits in HO) seem to be all the rage if you read the various threads and posts on this and similar forums. Posters by the scores bemoan the disappearance of these items from the LHS. Guess why it's happening? Because those puppies are shelf dogs. Only the local-road-favorites and brand new shake-the-box kits sell well. The old stand-by kits (some of which have been in production since the 1950s---I'm not making this up) can't be given away. A retailer who makes the mistake of stocking these mutts can only recoup a portion of this mistaken investment by Sale pricing them after an inordinate shelf-dwell time, or by building them up and selling them as ready-to-run (which isn't a bad idea).
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