Re: Puzzled

... but where can you find them, not around here anyplace?

Where the Hell is 'here anyplace?'

Reply to
Mark Mathu
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Mark=A0Mathu wrote: Where the Hell is 'here anyplace?'

--------------------------------------------- I hear tell it's a sort of a very really little small town up on the top of that there hill back that-a-way somplace over yonder or something like that not far from there.

Bill Bill's Railroad Empire N Scale Model Railroad:

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Reply to
Bill

I believe it is a great hobby. There are so many manufacturers that there are supply issues sometimes. Very few hobby shops can carry everything. It's not their fault, it is very difficult to predict what people will buy. Many products will sit on the shelves for years while others continually move. There are other options if your local shops can't get what you want - mail order, buying direct from the manufacturuer, and eBay.

Sometimes it's frustrating but it does not mean there is something wrong with the hobby itself. Perhaps you live in an area where the hobby shops (if there are any) are not very good.

Salinas

Reply to
Salinas McGee

Paul, Since you don't specify where 'around here anyplace' is, we can't help you.

Find a Model Railroader Magazine and look in the back at the hobby shop list. It is laid out by state. You should be able to find something near you.

Reply to
Frank A. Rosenbaum

I believe our puzzled person is talking about locomotives - he as yet does not understand that the manufacturers basically fill advance orders, and the retailers take advance orders from customers and then fill only them, so that they don't have expensive product sitting on their shelves and not being sold. Especially true when online retailers will heavily discount those same items, and hobby shops pretty much have to charge full price, because of their overhead.

I believe that this is one thing that holds model railroading back from "greatness". I personally don't understand why manufacturers spend $$$ for full-page ads when they know they're only making enough to fill advance orders???

I also believe that this is largely the "greatest" hobby for only a select group of individuals, who demographically fall into the well-to-do, retired category. The rest of us don't have the time or the money to build the railroad empire of our dreams. Take a look at the photos of the vast majority of modelers who get written up by MR, and tell me they don't fit this demographic...

Reply to
Digital Railroader

I don't know about that. Considering the lead time required to get a factory to make your models in China, I just don't see how it's possible to fill only advance orders. Also, when you see mistakes like the serious under-production of the P1K DL-109, and the over-production of the P2K SD60, it shows to me that manufacturers are still going with their best guess of what the demand will be for a particular model. I suppose it's possible they only fill advance orders from wholesalers, but I doubt it... I mean, it's not like this is brass, where the announcement and the actual delivery date can be years apart.

Depends on the retailer. But the good ones can anticipate the demand and order more than have been reserved if he feels it's needed. The problem with a lot of small (and new) LHS's is their inability to even get the models from the wholesalers in the first place, never mind extra.

Such is the brick-and-morter retailer's lament. It's been going on for decades, except it was the "evil" mail-order businesses that was forcing them out. The trick is that a brick-and-morter store has to offer something better than low prices to bring in the dough. They can offer services (like repair or construction), a great atmosphere, a great selection, or even classes on "How To". If they simply try to compete on price alone, they'll get handed their rear-ends, eventually.

In your opinion, what does it take for a hobby to be "great"? I think model railroading is a great hobby as it has a little of everything going for it. Action, collectibility, history, competition, etc. You name it, and it's more than likely a part of this hobby, somewhere.

What makes you think they are only making enough to fill advance orders? Proof, please. Because if you don't have proof of them only making enough to fill advance orders, than it makes perfect sense to pay for full page ads that come out at about the same time the model does since they have no idea just how many will sell. They make a WAG about demand, and publish ads so as to sell out these models as quickly as possible. Makes sense to me.

Oh, puh-lease. This hobby is as expensive or as cheap as you want it to be. It is not anybody's fault that you can't "build the railroad empire of our dreams" except your own. My advice to is dream smaller. There are thousands of ways to save money or time when building a layout. You just can't do both. It's like that old saying:

You can get 2 of the following 3 choices:

1) Cheap 2) Quick 3) Good

IOW, you can get it Cheap and Quick, but it won't be Good. Or you can get it Good and Cheap, but it won't be Quick. Or you can get it Quick and Good, but it won't be Cheap. To put it bluntly, it's your choice.

Paul A. Cutler III

************** Weather Or No Go New Haven **************
Reply to
Pac Man

That's part of what makes it a great hobby. Surf the web and view some of the great train layouts on various web page. Then realize that these layouts were built from scratch, not for some ordinary store bought products. The creators of these layouts had to do it all: find the kits or scratch build items, search high and low of the train engines and cars, walk up hill in the snow both ways going to school (oh wait, that was my dad).

While many retail hobby stores are skimping in the train department, there are many resources available on the web. If you want a model railroad, today there is no reason not to have one (other than the reason expressed by the spouse).

Reply to
Ken Rice

---------------------------------------------

Ah, I think I saw it, close to the village of Hell. The one that froze over last winter? I saw it in a Newsletter, I think... maybe!

David.

Reply to
David F.

Next to Rah Cheer, which is a mite bit away from Ova Air on the way to Down Home.

Walt

Reply to
OLDFARHT

I love hobby shops. Many need to start realizing that it is a business and if being a brick and mortar establishment does not pay the bills, and you still want to be in this industry, you need to take another look at other ways to sell your merchandise. Online hobby shops and magazine mail order are just another way to sell merchandise. There is no service with either but the lower price of the merchandise offsets that for many buyers. Owning a hobby shop is not an easy business. Give credit to those who are still around because most of them are in it because they like the hobby not because they want to be rich.

Do the math. They'd only sell 20,000 locomotives if they did not run the advertising. That's about $900,000 in sales. ($100 retail price per locomotive x 20,000 units at 50+10 off to distributors = $900,000).

With advertising they sell about 35,000 locomotives. That's $1,575,000 in sales. ($100 locomotive x 35,000 units at 50+10 off to distributors = $1,575,000). So if they spend $100,000 on advertising their increase in sales is $675,000.

Or those who are disciplined in what they buy. You don't need 100 $150 locomotives to enjoy the hobby. 30-40 will do :-)

Seriously, some of the happiest modellers I know have switching layouts. Total investment was about $1000.

Sal

Reply to
Salinas McGee

I love hobby shops. Many need to start realizing that it is a business and if being a brick and mortar establishment does not pay the bills, and you still want to be in this industry, you need to take another look at other ways to sell your merchandise. Online hobby shops and magazine mail order are just another way to sell merchandise. There is no service with either but the lower price of the merchandise offsets that for many buyers. Owning a hobby shop is not an easy business. Give credit to those who are still around because most of them are in it because they like the hobby not because they want to be rich.

Do the math. They'd only sell 20,000 locomotives if they did not run the advertising. That's about $900,000 in sales. ($100 retail price per locomotive x 20,000 units at 50+10 off to distributors = $900,000).

With advertising they sell about 35,000 locomotives. That's $1,575,000 in sales. ($100 locomotive x 35,000 units at 50+10 off to distributors = $1,575,000). So if they spend $100,000 on advertising their increase in sales is $675,000.

Or those who are disciplined in what they buy. You don't need 100 $150 locomotives to enjoy the hobby. 30-40 will do :-)

Seriously, some of the happiest modellers I know have switching layouts. Total investment was about $1000.

Sal

Reply to
Salinas McGee

I love hobby shops. Many need to start realizing that it is a business and if being a brick and mortar establishment does not pay the bills, and you still want to be in this industry, you need to take another look at other ways to sell your merchandise. Online hobby shops and magazine mail order are just another way to sell merchandise. There is no service with either but the lower price of the merchandise offsets that for many buyers. Owning a hobby shop is not an easy business. Give credit to those who are still around because most of them are in it because they like the hobby not because they want to be rich.

Do the math. They'd only sell 20,000 locomotives if they did not run the advertising. That's about $900,000 in sales. ($100 retail price per locomotive x 20,000 units at 50+10 off to distributors = $900,000).

With advertising they sell about 35,000 locomotives. That's $1,575,000 in sales. ($100 locomotive x 35,000 units at 50+10 off to distributors = $1,575,000). So if they spend $100,000 on advertising their increase in sales is $675,000.

Or those who are disciplined in what they buy. You don't need 100 $150 locomotives to enjoy the hobby. 30-40 will do :-)

Seriously, some of the happiest modellers I know have switching layouts. Total investment was about $1000.

Sal

Reply to
Salinas McGee

I love hobby shops. Many need to start realizing that it is a business and if being a brick and mortar establishment does not pay the bills, and you still want to be in this industry, you need to take another look at other ways to sell your merchandise. Online hobby shops and magazine mail order are just another way to sell merchandise. There is no service with either but the lower price of the merchandise offsets that for many buyers. Owning a hobby shop is not an easy business. Give credit to those who are still around because most of them are in it because they like the hobby not because they want to be rich.

Do the math. They'd only sell 20,000 locomotives if they did not run the advertising. That's about $900,000 in sales. ($100 retail price per locomotive x 20,000 units at 50+10 off to distributors = $900,000).

With advertising they sell about 35,000 locomotives. That's $1,575,000 in sales. ($100 locomotive x 35,000 units at 50+10 off to distributors = $1,575,000). So if they spend $100,000 on advertising their increase in sales is $675,000.

Or those who are disciplined in what they buy. You don't need 100 $150 locomotives to enjoy the hobby. 30-40 will do :-)

Seriously, some of the happiest modellers I know have switching layouts. Total investment was about $1000.

Sal

Reply to
Salinas McGee

I love hobby shops. Many need to start realizing that it is a business and if being a brick and mortar establishment does not pay the bills, and you still want to be in this industry, you need to take another look at other ways to sell your merchandise. Online hobby shops and magazine mail order are just another way to sell merchandise. There is no service with either but the lower price of the merchandise offsets that for many buyers. Owning a hobby shop is not an easy business. Give credit to those who are still around because most of them are in it because they like the hobby not because they want to be rich.

Do the math. They'd only sell 20,000 locomotives if they did not run the advertising. That's about $900,000 in sales. ($100 retail price per locomotive x 20,000 units at 50+10 off to distributors = $900,000).

With advertising they sell about 35,000 locomotives. That's $1,575,000 in sales. ($100 locomotive x 35,000 units at 50+10 off to distributors = $1,575,000). So if they spend $100,000 on advertising their increase in sales is $675,000.

Or those who are disciplined in what they buy. You don't need 100 $150 locomotives to enjoy the hobby. 30-40 will do :-)

Seriously, some of the happiest modellers I know have switching layouts. Total investment was about $1000.

Sal

Reply to
Salinas McGee

Now I am puzzled, as to why you sent 6 identical replies within 20 minutes!!!

David :-))

Reply to
David F.

Because sometimes I'm an impatient knucklehead. When I hit the "post message - no preview" it just sat there. I only wanted it to appear once. The other day when I hit the button to send a message a Google error message appeared and I lost everything I wrote. Sorry about the multiple posts. I know sometimes it's bad enough that only one of my posts makes it :-)

Sal

Reply to
Salinas McGee

No Problem - with all that Spam flying about on the wires, it's little wonder that a few messages get held up on the way to the servers!

I guess 7 out of every 10 Emails I get are 'junk' - it sure does keep my text-filters busy!

David.

Reply to
David F.

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