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(erielack) RE: Hobby Shops and discounts

Randy!!  CHILL!!!

Where in what I wrote did you get the impression that I was talking about a basement bomber?  FWIW,
I'm talking about two above ground, Tuesday through Saturday, full time hobby shops.  No other lines
in the stores.  And they're making, certainly, enough to make a real living at it.  But they do
continue to offer those discounts, and I'll stick with buying my stuff there, for the most part,
unless I find some incredible deal elsewhere.  And if it's just a bit less, I'll ask the principal
of these two shops if he can match it, which he has done both times I've called him (this is  on a
several-hundred-dollar  purchase of a locomotive sound system, BTW).  Further, he will install those
sound systems for me for no additional cost if I want him to.  (and better he let the magic smoke
out of a decoder than me!!)

I don't know Arno Rincke, but I've been to Tucker's, too.  Tucker's is a great shop  in the middle
of the boonies. It's hard to understand how he makes that go, other than the fact that no matter
what time of what day I've been in there, there are a minimum of three or four, usually six to ten,
customers in there.  For a shop that is, as I said, in the far boonies (Warren MA, for those
wondering) I find that pretty incomprehensible.  But Bob (at Tucker's) wants full retail.  Why
should I go there when I can make a trip in half the time to buy it for less?  Only if it's out of
stock most everywhere, and Bob has it still, and I really want it, will I go there to get it.

Let's cover something else.  I don't ASK for these discounts; they are OFFERED to me.  And to all
the other repeat customers as well.  Are you saying I should say "no, no, it says $159.95 on this
sound decoder, and that, by god, is what I want to pay?"

Get real.

SGL

BTW, I assume that most of this list knows about "Mitch?"  If not, contact me off list.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Janet & Randy Brown [mailto:jananran_@_mymailstation.com]
> Sent: Sunday, November 09, 2008 5:29 PM
> To: erielack_@_lists.railfan.net
> Subject: Re:Hobby Shops, was RE: (erielack) New EL car from Tangent S
> 
> So -- how about if your employer applies the same rule to you?  The longer you work there, the
less he pays you?
> 
> Basement operators have killed the local hobby shop.  It's just that some of the LHSs refuse to
die.  When you own the
> building, live in it, earn your living somewhere or someway else (that is:  you get somebody else
to pay for most of your
> expenses) and amortize the mortgage on your tax return, your overhead is really zero.  Of course
you can offer a
> discount.
> 
> Asking or expecting a brick-and-mortar shop to discount is like bargaining with your dentist --
you don't want to win,
> because you'll lose in the long run.
> 
> In the long run, your B&M (no, not PanAm) shop will go away.  How many of them are still Railroad
Only Shops?  I
> know of one in the Northeast, and I hope they charge full MRSP.
> 
> I suggest that all who disagree go down to the butcher shop and  bargain for some meat.  Then you
can go next door and
> dicker for your liquor.  And the next time you need a hospital, be sure to look for the cheap one.
> 
> If you want to pay cut price, you have to be willing to work for cut rate.  Go in and tell your
boss that you are willing to
> work for less, if he'll only give you more work.  That should be worth a laugh.
> 
> Remember, free or cheap stuff is usually worth every penny -- but often, not more.
> 
> End of rant -- for now.
> 
> Randy Brown, who remembers Arno Rincke, and has been to Tucker's.
>  --------------------------------------------------------------
> There is something I don't get about hobby shops and their insistence in most of the rest of the
country that they "have
> to" charge full retail, or as in the case below, more than MSRP.  Here in New England, or more
specifically, in eastern
> Massachusetts, the norm is that there is a discount from the MSRP. . .  My favorite shop, a
40-minute drive away, even
> 10-percent's the special order stuff he gets for me.  And he gets that more or less instantly,
within a few days.
> 
> I feel sorry for you guys in full sticker price territory.
> 
> SGL
> 
> 
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