And for most buyers perceptions of value drive our purchasing decisions far more than objective analysis. Hence the weird pricing of $3.99 (which has less effect here in Canada since the disappearance of the penny, if you use cash that is).
This weird pricing pattern is also applied to big ticket items like houses listed for $399,900.00.
We tend to “do the math” in our heads and aren’t really all that good at it. We can do the current transaction ok, most of us anyway, but the statistical analysis over the last several years is beyond our attention span especially when buying something like a model locomotive.
Without this distortion of perception nobody would buy a lottery ticket either.
Much of the reason for pricing houses like that has to do with the way Mortgages are approved. Thresholds start at whole round numbers like $400,00.00, so if you were to add $100.00 to that house price several potential buyers would be eliminated from the possible pool of purchasers.
Right but my numbers are no more reliable than those first given. A single data point in a world where street prices vary and numbers vary over time.
No real points can be made with only a few data points. The only way to prove a trend is to collect a lot more data over multiple brands over time. Wake me up if that ever happens.
Lombards has had super competitive prices that I’ve noticed for years now. They often do deep discounts on Tangent rolling stock that has been out for quite a while for example. Most other products have been a bit cheaper than say MBK for years. Lately I’ve noticed Athearn engines a good deal cheaper than MBK.
As for Lombards pricing in general, this is my read on it. They have a “standard shipping price” of $13.95 per order whether you buy a package of rail joiners or several high dollar engines. I conjecture that, on the average, shipping and handling more than covers those costs and then some. That being the case, Lombards offers lower prices than most vendors and balances it out somewhat by the higher shipping that they probably make a profit on in the over all wash. In some cases, the cost of a couple of engines is cheap enough that it more than offsets the higher shipping cost. It depends.
Its going to be a long sleep, Mr. Van Winkle. [:P]
Nobody disputes that real data is better than anecdotal evidence.
In the world of retail shopping, feel has a lot to do with it. The feel of how the mean line is trending amongst all of those data points gathered over time.
Put it this way, Lombard’s is offering nondiscounted/non clearence on several new run ATHG loco models with a Tsunami2 and speaker installed for $60. Use what ever price point or inflation rate you want, and I doubt that at anytime in the past 15 years could you have gotten those features for that low of a spread over DCC Ready, on a percentage basis. That’s just how it feels to me.
I had never even heard of Lombards, so I looked them up. I could not even find anything I would want to buy. Not very much depth of inventory posted on the web site.
Of course I live here in the east, and have three of the biggest mail order train suppliers in the country so close it is often just two day shipping, at least pre pandemic. All three with great prices…
I have no dog in this fight since I doubt I will be buying too many more locos, especially new releases. And DCC or DC, if the price is right I will buy DCC and remove the decoder.
I have actually spent the last couple days evaluating the roster and the new track plan to see if any additional motive power is desired or needed.
As it stands the desired operational plan is pretty well covered and the engine terminal will still be full of backups and power changes.
A couple more Pacifics and Mikados are tempting, specificly in B&O and ATLANTIC CENTRAL, but they are not necessary.
I happen to know that residential mortgages, as for commercial mortgages, are based on appraised values. Asking price is not relevant to either mortgage approvals or fair market value appraisals. Typically, competent appraisers give a range of value in round $1,000.00s. I have never seen a competent appraisal given to a precision of $100.00s. I would have a field day cross examining any appraiser who tried that on for size.
My point was only that we humanoids have trouble accurately calculating statistical data in our heads and even more difficulty retaining any of that data for very long. Therefore, we tend not to recall very accurately the price differences we noted last year, or even last month.
It seems obvious to me that the cost of DCC is dropping both absolutely and relatively. I would be extremely surprised if a locomotive manufacturer charged more than an aftermarket supplier of a decoder. Not even counting the install cost.
Bearing in mind you can simply switch off the sound and also all modern decoders are dual mode when fitted by the locomotive manufacturer, albeit with serious drawback to truly dedicated DC users, it seems inevitable that DC only locomotives will not be available fairly soon.
As an east coast guy who was blessed with MB Clein and trainworld, and who goes to college in illinois and had the opportunity to check out lombard in person, I gotta say, they got more stuff than their website would make you suspect.
Although I generally dont agree with their prices.
They did have a huge inventory sale last year, I think they bought an entire rare collection and was trying to get rid of it within two days. EVERYTHING was atleast marked 50% off market value. I ended up spending $1000 on items, most I was planning to sell to make some profit. They had things like an Athearn Bigboy for $175, MTH steam engines for $200, etc.
I did ended up keeping a new BLI Brass hybrid Dreyfuss I got for only $150.
That first impression gave me a positive impression for Lombard. Although they dont beat MB clein in their online store, their in person store is one of the better if not best in the midwest.
I’m with you – really happy with the Bachmanns I own. I got an FA-FB-FB-FA set, 3 with sound and one silent, for less than the cost of a single Genesis unit. They badly need speed matching and they dont’ pull individually, but four of them? No problem! Also very happy with my GG1, my E60 (bummer there’s no sound version), and I have an F7 that just needs numbers. The detail isn’t great but from 30 feet away you can’t tell. But you sure can hear them!
One of these days I’ll get an S4 – the sound is great in those, and all that stops me is that a single-unit switcher can’t do the job at my club.
Congrats! Great engine – one of the few that can pull like the real thing. A friend has one and it can easily pull 15 car trains up our club’s 2.5% grades. We don’t have a 1938 Century so we model it in “secondary service” pulling old heavyweights and dairy/express trains. I bought a BLI plastic Hudson w/o traction tires and it won’t pull nearly as well.
So cool seeing your Penn Central “Brick”! I saw them in action a a kid (yes I’m dating myself) in NYC. I’m aware that when we think back to our childhood memories, they tend to become a bit skewed, but I remember the Bricks to be rather quiet as they cruised along Bruckner Blvd in the Bronx hauling long strings of mxed freight heading to Queens / Long Island. But of course, there was plenty of street traffic to "fog out’ the sounds of those muscle-bound motors.
I plan on installing sound on my Bachmann unit. However, I wonder what horn they used? I heard the Hancock “Whooooo!” from the Jets and FL9’s, but zero from the New Haven “Bricks”.
I have to admit that as much as I’ve criticized Bachmann over the years, I give them a “High 5” for doing a decent job on the GG1 and for even producing the E-33 / EF-4 model.
[quote user=“gmpullman”]
Autonerd
I’m with you – really happy with the Bachmanns I own.
Excellent detail and running quality at this price point. I doubt there will be another manufacturer coming along with a better one anytime soon.
My pair of former Virginian EL-C > New Haven EF-4s will have to be stand-ins for a PRR E44 until those may, or may not, come along.
