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Re:Hobby Shops, was RE: (erielack) New EL car from Tangent S

If anything it's eBay that's killing the Hobby Shop.  Key example:  Bachmann 
Spectrum On30 28-ton Climax.  One eBay seller lists them as auctions and 
they go anywhere from $60-$90 - it's a typical eBay pattern with repeat 
lists of the same item that the price fluctuates.  The list price is $225. 
The best I can do at a train show is $150.  I did see one at Springfield for 
$75 that I should have bought, but that's also 4 hours away from me.  My 
local dealer, if he got one, would give me a discount - like 10%, maybe more 
if he gets a good price - but that's still going to be in the $200 range.

Now on eBay I do pay somewhat high shipping, but he's not the only one 
selling these for less than half of the original retail price, and when they 
go for $60 they're at or just below the dealer cost on the last round.  And 
if I pay $75 for a $225 locomotive, what's another $10 to have it sent to 
me?  I don't even have to get up out of my easy chair.  If you're driving 40 
minutes to your hobby shop, you're using at least $5 in gas anyways (in 
July, closer to $10).  Not quite a wash, but close.

And if you're a regular eBay user, you can watch as short runs particularly 
of HO locomotives will follow the market trend - when they're new and 
everyone wants one they sell well.  About three weeks and they die off. 
Then they get old and out of production and sometimes the price will come 
back up to more than original retail. I've picked up older runs cheap at 
shows because I happened to know they were hot on eBay at the time and made 
money with them.  So it makes sense for guys with shops to sit on them 
longer rather than clearance them out cheap, too.

On the other hand, if I need paint, glue, scratchbuilding supplies, 
flextrack, that sort of thing, it makes more sense to go buy it locally than 
pay the shipping on it.  The problem is it's hard for a guy to pay the rent 
on the profit margin of stuff that sells for $5 or less.

I have to add a caveat, though, anyone familiar with eBay knows they're 
trying to make moves to become some kind of Amazon clone; the people running 
it don't understand what eBay is or who made them what they are.   What that 
means is if you look around it's sometimes possible to find better deals as 
former eBay sellers move to other places - Amazon, a whole host of other 
auction sites, people's own websites, and so on.  The world keeps on 
evolving.  And everyone's familiar with the economy issues right now - that 
will slow everything down.  (my summer flea marketing sales were down 
30-50%, a couple times I just barely broke even on my trips).


Bill K.



- ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: Janet & Randy Brown <jananran_@_mymailstation.com>
>> Subject: Re:Hobby Shops, was RE: (erielack) New EL car from Tangent S
>> To: erielack_@_lists.railfan.net
>> Date: Sunday, November 9, 2008, 5:28 PM
>> 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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