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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by cwclark I'm with you Mark....I know exactly who you are talking about...but i really don't think it's totally his fault...you also have to remember that UP gets a 5% cut on all items bearing the UP logo which also includes railroads bought up by them, DRG&W, SP, MP, KATY, ect...another thing that is happening is like we all are doing...purchasing from the internet, his store is getting fewer and fewer patrons in it because the deals are better on the internet than in his shop...I still go there but only when i need a specialty item like CA glue, balsa wood, styrene, or brass and wire...these guys do have to make a living but yes, they are marking stuff up more than i'm willing to pay for it, so the internet is my new source to do business with...one more thing...the traffic on IH10, IH610, and US59 is horrible..I had to go thru it to get to the trainshow Saturday...what a hassle!....have you tried that place in Spring yet? (I think it's called the Spring Crossing) ...it's a pretty good hobby shop..unorganized as all get out ,but he does have a lot of stuff...chuck [/quote] That's my tendency too. My LHS is okay. Not great, not terrible. Prices are quite high, service is pretty good but not stellar. I typically go there for "supplies" more than equipment. I buy almost all my paint there, often buy materials I need quickly (i.e. I've run out of ground foam, need a turnout, hydrocal, etc.). Occasionally I buy rolling stock - either something I just can't get anywhere else (I've bought several NOS sets of Rivarossi passenger cars in hard-to-find-anymore roadnames at a couple LHS), or that is discounted to a reasonable level. I haven't bought a loco in a store in ages - there's simply no way I can rationalize paying (often) 2-3x the price I can get the same item for from a mail-order house or new in the package off Ebay. It's not that I'm unwilling to pay a little extra for the relevant advantages of the LHS. I know that in order to have a place I can go, browse, chat, ask, return, etc. he has to pay rent, utilities, payroll, etc. So I don't necessarily expect the LHS to "beat" the mailorder and internet crowd, and I'm even okay with that. But I need him to do a lot better... Easiest example: Spectrum 3-truck Shay. You can get 'em for $100 from the usual mail order suspects, and several dealers on Ebay. My LHS asks full retail $275 for them... Can't do it. If he could find a way to do 'em for, say, $140, I might well pay the extra for the convenience factors - can look it over, can ask questions, have a place to bring it back if it's messed up, etc. But for literally 275% of what I can pay online or by mail... No.
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