First, I'm in Canada so I try to buy from Canadian sources precisely because of the shipping costs.
I have two 'go to' hobby shops (in addition to eBay). The first is Action Hobbies in Kingsville, Ontario, and the second is Hobby Wholesale in Edmonton, Alberta. Both of these shops have excellent shipping rates. They both charge less than $10.00 per shipment, and that is a flat rate. By Canadian standards those are great prices. Plus, they ship really fast! I get my stuff from Action Hobbies in two days to the door via courier, and Hobby Wholesale is usually less than a week via Canada Post. Both are brick and mortar stores by the way.
EBay shipping costs really tick me off. If a seller uses the the eBay shipping system the costs are outrageous, and if the value of the item is below $100 their duty charges are fraudulent.
Regards,
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I'm another fan of MBKlein. I really like to search their site and group my orders so shipping is not unreasonable on a large (couple of hundred dollar) order.
My go to hobby shop is Eugene Toy and Hobby, 45 miles away in Eugene Oregon. I buy enough there so the owner is willing to negotiate and will match or come close to MBKlein. I special order almost everything, let it accumulate in "will call" and every couple of months make a trip to the big city (fortunately it is a pretty drive with not a lot of traffic).
In either case, internet shipping or a long drive to the hobby shop, I need to plan ahead and have substantial supplies on hand.
Grinnell
Hiawatha Hobbies, in Pewaukee, WI. About a 40 minute drive.
Walthers, West Florist Ave., Milwaukee, WI. About an hour drive.
Sommerfeld Trains, Butler, WI. About a 45-50 minute drive.
Ebay, my computer, no drive time.
Mike.
My You Tube
Lately I've been buying stuff from MBKlein. They seem to have what I want in stock, decent prices, and prompt shipping. That is to say, prompt in getting my stuff from the shelf to the loading dock; actual shipping is the weak leg in this chain. UPS or USPS takes at least eight or ten days to arrive, and either costs a ton.
Still, a pretty good deal all around. I'm not complaining. The nearest LHS is 120 miles away. Billings. The next nearest is 450 miles away and has recently changed names. Caboose. Denver.
Robert
LINK to SNSR Blog
BigDaddy Have you personally shipped anything via UPS lately? It's expensive. Size matters, weight matters. I assume Amazon has negotiated some special deal on shipping. How they manage to ship part way via UPS and then USPS to my mailbox, on a Sunday, is totally beyond me. Even with that, they are starting their own delivery service. Model Train Stuff was a long time hobby store in a section of Baltimore, where you would think twice about, before parking your car or getting out of it. They moved to the 'burbs and established a mail order business. They won't be able to compete with Amazon for shipping. Neither will Trainworld, neither will the DCC shops Lichtfield Stations, Streamlined Backshops, Tony's Trains and others. Eventually Amazon will be the Train Store, except they will be selling "train sets". They will have sellers, where you won't get free shipping, that will sell you the same products you could have gotten at Trainworld or MTS at higher prices. You can already see that on Ebay where there are sellers routinely advertising stuff at above MSRP.
Have you personally shipped anything via UPS lately? It's expensive. Size matters, weight matters. I assume Amazon has negotiated some special deal on shipping.
How they manage to ship part way via UPS and then USPS to my mailbox, on a Sunday, is totally beyond me. Even with that, they are starting their own delivery service.
Model Train Stuff was a long time hobby store in a section of Baltimore, where you would think twice about, before parking your car or getting out of it. They moved to the 'burbs and established a mail order business. They won't be able to compete with Amazon for shipping. Neither will Trainworld, neither will the DCC shops Lichtfield Stations, Streamlined Backshops, Tony's Trains and others.
Eventually Amazon will be the Train Store, except they will be selling "train sets". They will have sellers, where you won't get free shipping, that will sell you the same products you could have gotten at Trainworld or MTS at higher prices. You can already see that on Ebay where there are sellers routinely advertising stuff at above MSRP.
1) Gulf Coat Model Railroading, Sarasota, FL
2) Riverdale Station, Atlanta, GA
3) Colonial Photo & Hobby, Orlando, FL
4) Ready To Roll, Miami, FL
5) Antique Barn Trains, Rocky Mount, NC
6) Metro Trains, Fort Myers, FL
7) Trainmaster, Buford, GA
8) Discount Trains, Fort Lauderdale, FL
.
Places I miss:
1) Hawkins, Lafayette, IN
2) Gandy Dancer, Atlanta, GA
3) Happy Hobo, Tampa, FL
4) Chattanooga Depot, Chattanooga, TN
5) Bobbie Hall's Hobbys, Dallas, TX
6) Wayside Engine House, Gainesville, FL (gone for decades)
I rarely order from internet sellers. I like to see what I am buying, and I love digging through hobby shop stock.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
SouthPenn Maybe if more people supported the LHS that was only 20 minutes away, they would still be in business too.
Maybe if more people supported the LHS that was only 20 minutes away, they would still be in business too.
Rich
Alton Junction
I buy all of my train stuff except for the few things I pick up at the trains shows in Timonium , Md from Mainline Hobby Supply in Blue Ridge Summit, PA. Bonnie and Brad are good people and they discount their products. If you need a special order just let them know and when it comes in they call and tell you its here.
My go to shop is Model Train Stuff and I request USPS and never request UPS or FedEx.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
I buy 99% of my train supplies from MBKlien. They are a brick and mortar store that is still in business. Although they are over an hour away, I consider them my LHS. I will continue to buy from them and support them even if the shipping is high. Usually I pay $6.95 for shipping. Maybe if more people supported the LHS that was only 20 minutes away, they would still be in business too.
My favorite online store in modeltrainstuff. My last order in April had shipping of $11.40 for 3 O Scale building kits and 3 HO car kits. I'm in Virginia which is probably cheaper than Indiana. But I always choose the cheapest shipping, which is usually USPS. I also wait until I want over $100 worth of stuff just to keep the shipping down.
I also love going to train shows and do some buying there.
I also check with Trainworld on prices and have ordered from them several times - again I wait until I have enough to make the shipping worth while.
I also order stuff from Micro-Mark. Also waiting until I have a bunch to order and they are having a sale or free shipping going.
Occaisionally, I use other sources for things I can't otherwise get, usually in S scale which is harder to find.
I tend not to use a LHS. I don't have one in town and the closest 2 carry little train stuff and no discount. One even charges above msrp for some things.
Paul
In no particular order of favoritism:
Palmer Hobbies, Palmer, MA
AA Hobbies, Warwick, RI
Charles Ro, Malden, MA
Great Lakes Hobby, Sterling Heights, MI
Caboose, Denver, CO
Zeintek's, Chicago, IL
Des Plaines Hobbies, Des Plaines, IL
j-tprantle (Ebay seller with reasonable prices and a lot of inventory)
Modeling whatever I can make out of that stash of kits that takes up half my apartment's spare bedroom.
Favorite place to buy train stuff:
My local model railroad shop.
Ed
BigDaddy Eventually Amazon will be the Train Store, except they will be selling "train sets". They will have sellers, where you won't get free shipping, that will sell you the same products you could have gotten at Trainworld or MTS at higher prices. You can already see that on Ebay where there are sellers routinely advertising stuff at above MSRP.
You may want to revisit your statement about eBay sellers. They do not routinely advertise model railroading stuff for sale above MSRP.
As for Amazon, you should study its business model a little closer. Amazon won't be limited to selling trains sets anytime soon, and free shipping isn't going to disappear anytime soon either. Don't resist Amazon. Run to it.
Shipping is exppensive. Yes a big shipper can negotiate their own rates, and as mentioned, Amazon is going into their own delivery business.
WE ship by USPS and it is $6.10 to ship a $4.95 bar of soap.
It is far worse when we ship wine. That has to go by freight, and so any order under 200 pounds is about $100.00. Many of our customers come to the Abbey to buy their wine, but at 55.2c per mile I'd have to charge $85 to deliver it to Bismarck, which we no longer do since I cannot lift those cases anymore.
We pay about $4000 to ship wine from California to North Dakota, but that is for a full truck at 40,000 pounds.
Hey, Youseguys run railroads, you ought to know what shipping costs.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Favorite Places to buy Train Stuff:
AA Hobbies in Warwick, RI.
Train Central in Indianapolis, Indiana is where I went when I was looking for emergency supplies for my modules before the NTS last year. I dont recall how his prices compared to the internet.
There are several train shops sprinkled across northern Indiana and around the Cincinnati, OH area.
I feel your pain, I am originally from Washington, IN. Closest hobby shop was Bloomington (now closed) or Evansville.
jmnienab Model Train Stuff is generally my go-to: great prices, pretty good selection, but the shipping is always the problem. I generally wait until I have several items to order so I can make the shipping count. Ebay is another great place for model railroad finds.
Model Train Stuff is generally my go-to: great prices, pretty good selection, but the shipping is always the problem. I generally wait until I have several items to order so I can make the shipping count. Ebay is another great place for model railroad finds.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Being gone for a while and getting back into the fold where are some good places to get train suppies. I use to use Model Train Stuff quite a bit. But yesterday I went to their website and just odered a box of Woodland scenic cork roadbed' one tank car and a roll of plaster cloth. It was like $58 which was fine but they wanted $19 to ship it to IN. I thought well that seems high. So I went to Amazon and ordered the same thing and got free shipping. Now the cork was $5 higher but I still came out ahead quite a bit. I hate not using MTS 'they have always been good to me' But man their shipping has really got high. It used to never be more than $11 . Any ideas. Thanks