fortunately for me, there is an LHS close by. I appreciate that it is so close and hope it remains so. The obvious benefit is that if I need something inexpensive or quick, i can run out and get it.
But I doubt spending just a few bucks on some rail joiners is really going to help keep the store in business. So i made it a point to order my NCE PowerCab and some decoders from the store, which they had to order and I had to wait for.
I’m fairly sure I could have ordered the PowerCab off the web for less and have received it sooner, but I believe the extra cost pays for the convenience of having a LHS nearby for the small stuff.
Is this the best way to Support your Local Hobby Shop ?
Maybe if 1000 other people did that on a cosistant basis every month. One, or a few people probably would not even put a dent, in his overhead, let alone any profit. My opinion only.
Every little bit helps. I get the Walthers catalog every month, and I go through every page. When I find stuff I want, I send an e-mail to my LHS, he orders it for me and I pick it up, so he get some small profit every month. I ordered a locomotive, my first new one in a few years, and was rewarded with a very good discount.
One other thing I try to do is pay with cash. Credit card transactions cost the vendor money, so by always paying with cash I save him a small percentage, and it costs me nothing.
Oh goody, another one of these “save your LHS” threads
The best was to support your local LHS is if your not buying anything and standing around the counter drinking coffee and being an expert, get out of the way of those that are actually buying something, and really modeling, instead of talking about it. [:-,]
I agree. There is one close but it’s nice if you need a quick bottle of paint. But like you said it always has a group of guys sitting in chairs, blocking the asils talking, drinking coffee, ect. It a very small store, so you have to have people get up to get to the resister. If I need something big I order onling. They just can’t compete.
Keep in mind, two of the biggest and most reliable internet sellers (MB Klein and Caboose Hobbies) are ALSO retail stores where you can walk in and buy stuff. They are ones who figured out early that this Internet thing was going ot be big, and if they wanted to survive, they would need to be players.
Contrast to the (not so) LHS, where for trains it seems they are content to buy from Walthers and sell at full MSRP. Dusty shevles full of old stock confirm that this model isn;t exactly causing items to fly off the shelves - in fact if you want a dicontinued Walthers kit, this may be the place to go to find it. At least you’ll only pay MSRP and not some extra ebay tax for the !!!RARE!!! item.
As the marketplace changes, your business model needs to change with it. Stick with the same old, same old and ignore potential new markets at your peril.
The hobby shops nearest to me are mostly Lionel with a smattering of HO and N. They carry no or very little accessories, details, model railroad paint, or scratchbuilding supplies. The last good hobby shop closed about 8 years ago.
In my experience, if you give the LHS a chance, they can compete on price… especially on large orders.
In building my last layout (which used up a 22’ x 12’ room), I sent out a materials bid sheet for tools, track, turnouts, roadbed, etc., to three LHSs. The winning bid was a few hundred $$ less than I could get by cherry-picking the best deals in the web.
It was a classic win-win deal, 1) I got the best price (and no shipping charges!), 2) the LHS got a big sale and a reasonable profit with minimal effort and without carrying any inventory, and (as a bonus) the LHS will be there the next time I need a bottle of paint on a Saturday afternoon.
Sure, I shop all sources; but I always give the LHS a shot if I’m planning a significant purchase; and if they’re reasonably competitive… I’m happy to give them the order.
(Re-printed from a long-ago post, but still in tune.)
Yup. Don’t be that guy, and if you do need to chew the LHS worker’s ear, don’t be offended if he jumps off to check in with another customer. As a fellow retail-monkey, I’ll gladly vouch for any salesperson who does this politely; they know that 9 times out of 10 they’ll get a ‘just lookin, thanks’ and be back to help you.
Probably 90% of getting good service is simply being a good customer.
The closest LHS to me is 45 mins away,and they do have a net site: wholesaletrains.com.
I get as much from them as i can. If I order in the AM it CAN be on my door step that PM, or the next day for in-stock items. Out of stock/to order stuff I order and pay the shipping {same as gas to get there]
If I go to the store, I ALWAYS spend more for items that were NOT on my “list”. They now have only about 1/3 the inventory they used to on hand.
Wheterh I order online or in person at the brick & mortar store, I still am suporting them!
A lot of friendships is kindled and layout visits is done by that old tradition and lots of dollars are spent by those “talkers”.
To bad some folks thinks it wrong to have like minded friends…Maybe they’re to standoffish to enjoy a conversation or fear they may learn they don’t know as much as they think?
When my LHS was still around, there was always a small group of old farts standing around, BS’ng, buying nothing. The owner tolerated this as long as they did not get in the way of paying customers. I never had any use for any of them. They did nothing to support the LHS.
Sorry guys, but I’m not paying $125.00 for an N scale Spectrum steam loco at the train shop that I have to drive over 100 miles round trip into the city to get when I can buy it on-line for $75.00 and not even have to leave the house… Let’s face it. The day of the walk-in train shop is pretty much over and the internet is soon going to be the only game in town when it comes to buying train items. What can I say, progress isn’t always a good thing…
Are you sure? I’m sure if you seen me talking you would think I did nothing to support the shop…Many of us spent hundreds if not thousands of dollars in that shop and the owners knows that…Where else would we buy our stuff?
I also seen my fair share of" just looking" and left buying nothing or those that check a new model before ordering from the internet…I’ve seen those that rushed about buying a tube of glue,a magazine or a bottle of paint and rushing out the door…Kinda makes you wonder what they had in their pockets.Even the owner was suspicious of those types.
Larry, I am sure because the owner told me so. Those guys were all ex-railroaders as was the owner. A few had small layouts, most did not. They just had nothing else to do. Some were ex-club members who were asked to leave because they did nothing else but stand around drinking coffee and BS’ng.
As far as the shoplifters were concerned, the owner and his loyal sidekick watched those guys like hawks. If one were so inclined, it was easy to pocket the small stuff.
Out of pure curiosity may I what’s wrong with that or is the club rich enough they can afford to give members the boot? Every club I ever been a member of had bull shippers standing about drinking coffee while shipping the bull–including yours truly.
Every member’s dues count toward paying the bills and insurance-you know how high that can be for public places.
Had a good laugh over that…If every club I’ve been a member dumped the do nothing or the operation night only members they couldn’t afford to keep their doors open.
Back to topic…I been in very few shops that didn’t have its group of Saturday morning bull shippers.It was through such a group I got invited to join a club and later had several layout visits…Some of these friendships remain to this day.
I would support a shop if he gave a mere 10% off-just enough to help off set my gas cost of going there but,no way will I drive 25-60 miles pay full price after buying gas and lunch.
I dunno about the rest of you, but LHS’s aren’t the only one’s that have BS social’s going on during business hours, Bass Pro shops, Gun shops, like Cabella’s and heaven forbid Golf Pro shops. Even Greek restaurants have them in the morning and they always use the first table by the door. [(-D]
Of course, this is my opinion only. For those who may want to dispute it.
