I was in the only train shop that is relatively close to my house and it is not particularly a good shop for O gauge train enthusiast. The shop owner mostly deals in HO sized trains and he has a very good supply of everything needed for that gauge. When it comes to O gauge he has very little on hand. He had some loose pieces of Fastrack (which is what I went there for) and only 1 O gauge train. It was a Ready to Run Set.
I asked him if he was going to get any new Lionel trains in and he said no, he can only make $30 off of the price he gets them for. That is about all he said to me in the 1/2 hour my 8 year old son and I spent mulling around his shop.
I saw a 2009 Lionel catalog on his bookshelf and asked him if they were free. He said they were $5. I passed since I can look at it for free on line. I bought a Santa Fe el capitan set last year and a free catalog came with my order. Are these catalogs usually free or do most train shops charge for them?
When we left my 8 year old boy commented that the shop owner was not very friendly and did not talk to us at all. I told my son he was a curmudgeon.
Last year I ordered about $200 from one local small train shop, mostly PE cars and accessories for my daughter’s Christmas gifts.
Not only do I receive Lionel, K-Line and MTH catalogs free, they hold them for me until I walk into the small shop and then hand them to me with a big smile. Of course, they ask if there is anything I would like to order, as they should. [:)]
I have another shop where I buy less than $50 per year and they give me catalogs too.
If you ordered the Santa Fe El Capitan from the store you describe in your posting above and they were charging you for a catalog, I don’t think I would darken the door again.
Free for customers, or those that have the strong potential to become a customer. You can tell the ones that bring the kids in on rainy Saturdays to see the trains run and have no intention of buying anything, same ones all the time.
I would not be to quick to go back to that hobby shop by his attitude alone. I personally use a hobby shop i use to live by. I don’t only get 15-20% discount on any order I just ask and it in the mail a new catalog. I also use other online retailers as they seem to cater to you better. I know its great to be able to actually feel it befor you buy or if you just need a couple of pieces of track its convenient but I’m the type that I would rather do with out for a week or so than put up with that type of business.
For the most part a free catalog, or a reduced price is up to the store owner, regardless of how much you spend, just as long as you spend.
Sometimes, you’re at their mercy, especially if you want it bad enough.
My local shop’s owner gives me one no charge, even if I don’t buy anything that day, but then again he knows me and at times I’ll buy something, now and then.
Too bad that store dosen’t have O gauge, maybe if you bought O gauge enogh there, he may give you a free catalog.
The small shops that move only a little Lionel get only a handful of catalogs from their distributors due to publishing costs. If the small shops were to give them out for free to anyone, the catalogs would be gone with in weeks. He would have none left to give free to people who buy Lionel from him. Often times they will charge 5 bucks and knock it off a Lionel purchase…If they remember you.
I must be lucky in this area … no shops or owners are that darn rude … and I’m talking in a 65 mile radius . It’s a wonder he sells anything . No the shops don’t get a case of them … Lionel is pretty sparce handing them out … you know … they " LIONEL " don’t make enough profit or sales … yea right . They’re a tax write-off for them so go figger why not . No don’t blame the shop owners . I like the online catalog better anyway … you can cut and paste and print anything from them and they don’t get tattered … or borrowed/snitched by a buddy and never returned … LOL .
I have only been to his shop about a half a dozen times. I have bought various pieces of track from him but that is it. The only train he has in O gauge is 1 Starter set. I have not been in his shop for about a year and he has the same bare HO track set up that he had last year. No trains or scenery just bare track. He has alot of HO in stock.
This shop is on the outskirts of town and is in a very small farming community so I imagine he does not get much traffic. It is located right by a Union Pacific rail line with lots of real train traffic.
I will look for another shop in town but so far all I have found are a Hobby Town and Hobby Haven. I don’t know what kind of stock they carry. I would like to look at the different Steam Engines and see them in person also just not in a catalog.
I get mine for me and BRO and friends all the time for free. Being the mule for my BRO and friends, I end up purchasing a nice amount from BARRYs TRAIN SHIO, so I guess he likes me? Just go in and ask. What do you have to loose?
I have gotten them for free from a train shop. I paid $3.00 for a 2009 MTH at a hardware store that sells trains too. I guess it depends on the business you are at and if you are buying or just looking.
I can get them from any of my LTS if I show up… but I typically buy from my LTS so if I need something they are still in business.
I also get them from the LRRC and MTH clubs so I typically end up with 2 copies of each catalog! I like to have them when they come out and the clubs mail them 1 - 2 weeks after they are released, so that is how I end up with 2 copies. Back in the day I used to end up with 3 or 4 copies if I order stuff online. Now I ask that they not send the catalogs as I already have them… and it saves them a copy and shipping costs.
I have my Lionel catalogs from the LRRC still in the shipping carton… guess I should open it up and see what else they included. [:)]
There was one hobby shop I went to where I spent $150 on Lionel accessories and cars, then asked if he would give me the latest catalog for free. He said no, it’s $5. I said no thanks to the catalog, paid for my train purchases, and never went back there.