Is it cheaper to preorder, or to wait for the model to come out and them buy it? I have been considering preordering the Athearn SD40-2 High hood and was curious as your what your thoughts are considering preordering. I found that I can preorder it at www.modeltrainstuff.com for $70.00.
Thanks,
Smoke
Depends…I am yet to perorder a Athearn and still get my road name choice…I have preordered Atlas locos though.
It depends.
I just found a Stewart AB set of NYC FT “Cat Whisker” locomotives at Empire Northern for about $170. I called Tim to ask about it first, and what he said was that he was able to work out a deal with Bowser/Stewart that his prices would be significantly cheaper than buying through Bowser directly. I didn’t ask about how good the discount was, although looking at other FTs that Stewart offers, I’m saving a fair bit of money.
On that info, I did preorder… However if it was “yeah, you can wait and still pay thesame price” then I may have passed on the preorder.
It’s a crap shoot. Order now and get a few dollars reduction as a bennie, or wait until it sells for much less if…if…there is a blowout because they didn’t sell well. Also, the risk is that they will all sell quickly, and you won’t have one.
Priorities, I guess.
If you have the memberhsip of www.rrtrains.com then you can get that Athearn SD40-2 High Hood for $64.99 (membership is $50).
Pre-ordering mostly guarantees you the model you want. Wait-and-see is another possibility but it might happen that the model is sold out when you finally decide for it.
I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ll no longer pre-order anything–everytime I have in the past, it has turned into an endless waiting game. In one case (from the B&ORRHS, not their fault), the items were never delivered by the manufacturer. Frankly, I haven’t missed out on anything that I’ve wanted and waited to order–and I think I’ve gotten good deals to boot. Places like Train World or modeltrainstuff.com (MB Kleins) are usually well-stocked, and there is always ebay, which despite the nay-sayers, I have found reasonable bargains on. So my opinion is to wait.
Mr B&O
I base it this way. If the loco is something special -like the Atlas D&M C425’s coming, I pre-order because - that will not be a popular road name, meaning limited quantities and most dealers will not order any. If it is Athearn C&O for instance, they will be popular, dealers will order for stock and there will be a good supply - no need too pre-order.
I will pre order for limited/small run items that have a pre production discount and/or are likely to sell out. Since these are sold only by the importer/manufacturer they are not likely to be discounted after arrival either. Otherwise I wait.
Of course one time I waited I didn’t get an order in quickly enough. So if you really want it, pre order might be best. Fortunately, for me the manufacturer is doing a second run, which I have pre ordered.
Enjoy
Paul
With the history this hobby has of things taking WAY longer to produce then the time frame given, I won’t pre order stuff. I don’t even like the stories I hear of people waiting 6-12 months for stuff to come from Walthers.
It seems that it will be about a 2 year wait from the time I made a reservation before I get my Santa Fe division superintendent’s business car from The Coach Yard. It may be even longer. I don’t want to risk not getting one, though. I wouldn’t be surprised if they sell out very quickly.
I am getting really disgusted with PCM in regards to the release of the PAs/PBs. It seems like they waited until they got a certain number of pre-orders before they started production. The original release date was either September or October of last year, and it looks like they won’t be released until next month (I still ain’t holdin’ my breath on a May release).
There are certain things I would like to have. But nothing I absolutly have to have. So I wait, and buy them at half price from trainworld. I bought two NYC Hudsons, with sound, from Trainworld for $129.00 each. Less than half the BLI website price. No idea why they were so cheap, but I’m happy with them, and that’s all that matters.
I pre-ordered BLI F-7s with sound. A year later I cancelled the order. I bought some Proto 1000 F-3s and put sound in them myself, for half the money. And the Soundtraxx, 1st gen diesel sound is the best I’ve heard. Actual recordings. BLI is computer generated.
The manufacturers each have their own policies. The pre-order/built-to-order method eliminates virtually all risk for the manufacturer. They don’t have to go into production without enough demand and they then only make what they have total confidence they will sell. they can also keep their margins healthy as there will not be much of a need to discount to sell the stock. This is a total win-win for the manufacturer. The modeller takes all the risk. The modeller gets to wait until the product shows up. He get to accept a model that he has never seen or had a chance to evaluate. He gets to own a model produced in such limited numbers that spare parts are less likely to be available. He gets to pay the manufacturers asking price with little or no opportunity to get a discount or a good deal.
So far I have not pre-ordered anything. Nothing has been released that was so appealing that I was willing to put my money down. I like to browse, touch and look at what I am going to buy. For now, this built-to-pre-order policy has saved me a bunch of money!!