Well After doing some reading I went to an LHS (Nicholas Smith in PA) and checked out a Light Mikado. It’s a nice loco but they were charging $449.00 which is full MSRP. They also have a couple of Berks that they have marked down to $399.00 from $449.00 MSRP.
I asked the person behind the counter if he could ask the manager if the price is correct and would they mark it down like they did the Berks. He came back and said the price is correct and will not be changed. I said thank you and left. The loco was nice but I’m not about to pay that when every place I’ve seen them posted were for at least 50 bucks less.
I guess in a way it’s a good thing. I definitely will not do any impulse buying at that shop anymore if there is a chance they charge full list price.
I’m wondering how often retailers do this and mix marking down and charging full price for current products by the same manufacturer.
You did not need it anyway! [:D] Owner must feel it will bring the prices. Can’t say I blame the person for trying to make a buck. Check back and see if it sells at that prices. If not, make a offer to the owner and see if they will sell it for what you want.
Which model/make of Mike was it!!!?? $450-plus for an HO non-brass Mike? Well, that reinforces my conviction that I can get better deals on line. Like nearly two QSI-equipped Mikes for that much, shipping included.
That would be the MTH version, I’ve seen it in the display case at the store, its nice, but I wouldn’t pay near that much for it either.
Hamltnblue, there is another mike at Joe’s Train Station (northeast philly) last time I checked, selling for $399 I think. I haven’t been there for a few months though.
It’s the MTH version. They are nice but the price is high enough without pushing the extra 50 bucks. They are all die cast with good detailing and also have workign cab and running lights in the loco and tender. There’s a shop in newport Delaware that carries them and advertises $399.00 and no sales tax. for 75 bucks I’ll wait.
Its on the corner of Street Rd and Bustleton Ave in Feasterville Trevose, PA which borders the northeastern part of Philadelphia. Google lists it in “Langhorne”, I’m not sure why.
I heard something recently about them changing owners, I think they are still open. You can call them today, last I checked they were open until 5 on Saturday.
Generally, retail pricing is all about moving stock. The store usually has to buy the stock from the manufacturer or a distributor, although there are some notable exceptions, where the manufacturer or distributor establishes “point of sale” displays, manages the inventory, and gets all the profit from the sale, with the store owner being paid for the space the display takes up. Woodland Scenics stuff is often sold this way.
Usually, though, this means that the retail outlet owns the merchandise. If the stuff sells (at some price set buy the store’s management), well and good. If it doesn’t the store’s accountants start to depreciate the value of the stock, in effect taking an offset to the store’s income before they calculate their taxes. This depreciation, in turn, allows the store to mark the item down and still make a profit on it.
I’ve found Bachmann Spectrum models on sale for $35 at my LHS, simply because they were “shelf-worn” (the retail term for something that’s been on the shelf for a while, hasn’t been used or returned, but the packaging is starting to look a little shabby due to all the handling). Whether it’s a current model or not doesn’t usually matter. What matters is how long the item has been on the shelves or in the storeroom.
This generates a nice dilemma for the buyer: you can wait for the price to come down, which it eventually will, but you run the risk that someone else will find the price attractive before you do and purchase the item.
In this case the buyer doesn’t have to wait for the price to come down. The buyer has 2 other places in driving distance to go. The internet is another option. Like I said the Other MTH items were marked down to the price others in the area are charging for them. No biggie, just an LHS that lost some business.
Constantly. At a store the other day the kitchen mixers were different prices, and I asked what the difference was between models. The woman said “No difference. Its just that nobody is buying the green ones, so we took $10 off to get rid of them.” Suddenly, I liked the green just fine.
HB, I mean the BLI ones that are often available here and there for about $220 with sound. Back maybe four months ago, the refurbished section on their site was loaded with Mikes. I wonder if you can get a deal from FDT…they are likely to have some in stock.
Keep an eye on the Refurbished Deals list at BLI’s website. About once a week they update the offerings available to the public. Recently they have had two Y6b’s from the latest run (gone for two weeks now), currently two Brass Hybrid UP 2-10-2’s (superior locomotives!), and there are likely to be others, maybe even more Mikes before long.
Have you asked trainworld if they have any for you? I wouldn’t be surprised…
As a seller, the LHS can price items at whatever they want. As a buyer, we can choose to buy at the price - or not. If the prices are MSRP, a lot of buyers will take their business to the Internet, and save 20-30 percent or more. And while you will pay shipping, you often do not have to pay sales tax. Of course all of this is obvious to us.
The thing is, IMHO, if the seller marked the items - and I’m talking big dollar items here - down 10-15 percent, many of us would give him our business. And I say this because:
everyone likes a deal, to not have to pay retail
most all of us wants to support our LHS, but we don’t want to throw our money away
Leastwise when I took accounting classes, the rule was “lower of cost or market”. Thus, the accountant wouldn’t write down the asset (and recognize the loss) until the market price was lower than the cost. So, if the store paid $100 for the item with the idea of selling it for $150, but the market price dropped to $80, the value of the inventory would be reduced by $20 and current expense would be increased by $20. If the owner eventually managed to get $85 on the sale, he would recognize income of $5 at that time.
Depreciation, on the other hand, is allocating the cost of a capital item over the useful life and is unrelated to inventory of goods for sale. For instance, if the owner purchased a new air conditioning system costing $10,000, he would expense $1,000 a year for ten years assuming a ten-year life using straightline depreciation.
We have a large hobby shop north of where I live called The Hobby Shop in Matawan, NJ that for the most part train wise is an O gage store. but they carry a limited amount of HO and all their locomotives are MTH all at list price or above. I was very interested in buying one and hand the cash in my pocket but when i saw the price I was dumbfounded. One of the guys who worked there told me he has the best prices on MTH around. I just gave him that I was borne at night but it wasn’t last night look and said I don’t think so.He said oh you can buy them cheaper from who? I pulled the page from the MTH catalog that was folded up in my back pocket and said right from Mike Wolf. He gawked at the add and said let me talk to my manager. I said no thanks I go to the Model railroad shop up in Piscataway where at least they know what their selling. When I did make it to my hobby shop of choice one of the guys there told me that he’s heard a lot of complaints how people are selling MTH trains at list or above.I had to ask is it something they make the dealers do or do they have that small of a profit margin etc. He siad no better or worse then anyone else. He had what I was looking for at $50 less
I am trying to understand how some LHS operates. I was in one in Tulsa the other day and noticed that the shelves were mostly bare. The display cases were mostly gone. I did see a sign that they were moving to a different location and was trying clear stuff out. Every item that was in stock was marked at 110% above MSRP! If I was an owner of a LHS, I would offer a sale like most places that move, that way I would have less inventory.
Thanks, Finding them for less isn’t a problem. I have plenty of loco’s to keep me busy in the mean time. I think I’ll read up on the Blueline’s that selector mentioned as well.
I’ve seen it. It was at a train show. The dealer said that he put the price on as of when he got an item and never raised it even when the manufacturer had a price increase. In effect it ages into a discount if it doesn’t sell…
In S scale it’s a little more hit or miss on discounts. Small manufacturers are rarely at a discount, larger ones usually are eventually, but you run the risk of not getting it if you wait.
The one and only LHS that deals in only trains is the same way. Only carries western roads, but can get me “whatever you want if you order it”. Of course it’s at retail price he concludes. I just said thanks and kept digging for the ‘deals’ he had.
Hell, I can do better than retail cost on the internet, even after shipping charges. Too bad really as he lost $150 in sales that day.
He’s kinda screwey with prices though. His sales seem random at best. He’ll have ten of the same boxcar, and 8 of them are marked down, but the other two are not. On some stuff he does sell at a good deal, other stuff I don’t know how he ever moves it. I tend to just go there and dig through the shelfs and milk crates to find any deals on clearance and sale items that are worth it.
Sometimes they do that, too… Tell you they have some reason for a sale, but don’t really change the prices. Remember, it’s “whatever price the market will bear”.