A hobby shop owner I deal with told me the following price increases are coming soon:
Atlas - 10%
Woodland Scenics - 8%
Bachmann - 8%
Everything is going up while people are taking pay cuts or losing jobs and they expect people to pay more when people don’t have the money to spare? Nice rational thinking! HEY, LETS RAISE PRICES SO PEOPLE CAN’T AFFORD OUR STUFF DO TO A BAD ECONOMY. THAT WILL MAKE US MONEY!!! …
I will continue to do what I’ve done ever since I got back to Model Railroading in earnest. I will wait for the inevitable blow-out sale for what I want because it did not sell at the over inflated initial price.
Mark Gosdin
megh…
I’ll just do what I have always done…just buy the dang things when I find 'em on sale…
As to why prices have gone up…well…cost of living in China has gone up as their wages have gone up…next stop for cheap labour is not going to happen…unless it is in Africa…and doubt that it will be cheap there…
I guess it is time for the cheap labour kvetch…
This is news how?
I’ll do what I’ve always done. Wait for blowouts or buy second hand.
There was an article published sometime in the fall of 2010 about Chinese labor. Apparently they somewhat organized went on strike or some kind of slowdown and got a pay raise. They went from $200/month to $250/month.
The price of oil is going up, and that means the price of plastic is going up.
Either that or the things were really better back in (insert year) kvetch (aka The Golden Age kvetch) …
1941 when the average price of a car was around $850 and you could buy a house for about $4,000
1954 when, as a kid of 8, I could get into a movie for $0.25
1959, when you could buy a PFM Sourthern Ps-4 4-6-2 for $49.50. In handcrafted brass no less.
1962, when you could get a McDonald’s hamburger for $0.15
For that matter, in 1962, you could get Model Railroader for $0.50 and still have enough left over from a buck to have lunch at McDonald’s
In 1965, you could fly from San Fransisco to LA for only $13.50 on a 727. If you weren’t in such an all fired hurry and willing to take a Lockheed Electra Turboprop, you could skate by for $11.43 IIRC. That’s all. No baggage fees, no non refundable tickets, no groping from the TSA.
Life was perfect. Children were universally polite and respectful, women more winning and attractive and a Hershey bar only cost one thin dime.
And the frosting on this oh so perfect cake was that there was no Internet to enable the throwing of group tantrums.
Now that I think of that last sentence, I have to con
In my neck of the woods (Germany) kvetching is a national sport, especially kvetching about price increases [:-^]
I have my doubts, that the good old times were as golden as we want to see them. Have you figured out how many hours of work it took a person with an average income to be able to afford to buy that PFM Southern Ps-4?
In the late 1950´s a Marklin Class 01 German Railways 4-6-2 was the equivalent of a weeks pay and this loco was not often found under the Christmas tree. The today´s model of the loco, in much better detail, equipped with all the bells and whistles you can get nowadays, is priced at $ 600 (here in Germany), but that equates to less than 3 working days for an average salary.
I don´t think the hobby is much more expensive than it was in our childhood days.
Btw - when I got my first car in 1975, a gallon of gas was .75 Deutschmark for a liter or 2.85 Deutschmark - roughly 75 cents, for a gallon. We are now way above $ 8 a gallon, a lot of money, but only a little over half the price in 1975 income terms.
Price increases are a given with Atlas products. They have nowhere to go but up.
Only 8-10%? Good that means models from those companies will still be a bargin! As those of us with an understanding of economics have explained and deminstrated over and over on here, ajusted for inflation prices are the same or lower than ever. And one cannot blame hobby manufacturers for larger global economic problems that may have effected your personal buying power.
One response here sited the poor economy as a reason prices should stay low. Well no matter how bad the economy, if a product cannot be sold at a price suitably above the cost of production, the company and the product will go away just the same as if no one can afford the product - no difference - lowering prices will not fix that - businesses have to make a profit - how much work can you or will you do for free?
All of you who have never run a business can dream on about how “everybody” in business is getting rich at your expense - but it just isn’t so.
Sheldon
Hey… i WORKED at McDonalds when hamburgers were 15 cents. I was making $1.25 an hour.
Perfectly said.
I do not like price increases any more than anyone else does. But it’s a fact of life. You want a raise, how do you expect the boss to pay more money if he doesn’t make more money.
We all complain about rising fuel costs, a few years ago I couldn’t put $40 worth of gas in my truck without a few 5 gallon cans in the back. Now, it only goes for about a half a tank.
Heating costs, insurance, TAXES. Illinois just raised the personal income tax by 66%. Yes 66 percent. I guess a business is just going to swallow that? Can’t. Either raise the price of the goods, or…let somebody go.
All this in a Country where the cost of living has not increased[^o)].
Let’s not forget what people made back when gas was a quarter, when a model kit was $2. When a house was $4000. Or a car. I know what MY parents made back in the 70’s 60’s 50’s and even 40’s. They’d tell me every time I’d complain about costs. I remember Mom telling me about life on the farm in the '30’s. They had less buying power back then than they do (did) now. Funny thing is, back then they actually bought less because they didn’t have as much to buy. They grew most what they ate, sewed many of their own clothes. Repaired not replaced their clothing and shoes. Houshold items were a bowl a spoon or whisk and the strong right arm of Grandma. No vacuum
Remember Erma Bombeck?
“The Grass Is Always Greener Over The Septic Tank”…
One of my favorite suppliers has raised prices 25%-37.5% over the last 2 years. So 8% or 10% sounds reasonable - probably they are absorbing some of their increase for now to avoid sticker shock.
Fortunately, I have most of what I need for my next layout, certainly more than enough engines and rolling stock for operations.
Enjoy
Paul
BTW raising the Illinois tax from 3 to 5 percent doesn’t get a lot of sympathy here in Virginia where we have 5.75 percent.
In the last few years prices have been pretty steady. I’m sure the manufacturers and resellers have staff that are due for a raise after these years and have to add it into the price. In the end the market will determine the price. If people think the price is reasonable or they are willing to pay it, then the price is right. If pricing is too high, sales will drop and prices will have to re-allign. I think that in the end, whether we like it or not, it’s probably time for the pricing to adjust higher.
While only perhaps large companies are getting rich, we must remmeber the following:
1}This is NOT the first time it has happened.
2}WE are in a recession. Not just this country, but world wide.
3}Recession brings inflation- whether it be direct price hikes, or reduction in quantity/weight/size of packaging for same price
4}the value of the dollar is declining
5}Many around the world want to take the “dollar” off the international trade standard as it is “unstable”
6}The price of oil is going up, whether for plastic to make locos or cars, or to ship it here {diesel for the ships} or to ship it to LHS {again Diesel for the trains, trucks}
7} The costs of: taxes, electricity, heat, business expenses, wages have all gone up.Must be passed one way or another on the consumer.
8}Goverment and goverment services are shrinking as states/fed “tighten their belts” so small businesses {which we rely on} may get left out in the cold, or have to raise prices to compete.
9} basic needs like FOOD, water, clothing, gasoline is going UP, reducing “expendable income” for many to buy hobby stuff.
10} THERE is NOTHING in this hobby that is a “need” as described in #9 above. I once was into tropical fish. I had 12 tanks and sold/traded to the shop owner of a small fish store I frequented for supplies with fish I bred. When the first wave of the recession hit…he did a sweeping motion with his hand and said “there is nothing here that I have that is a need, it is all want and discretionary disposable income stuff, so I suffer”. I don’t raise fish anymore.
11} I am sure the people in Haity, for one, Chile, or flooded Brazil or flooded Austrailia for others, are NOT concerned about model trains. Their primary concern will be : food, water and maybe getting cleaned up for the day of hard back breaking work to get back to “normalcy”. While certain parts of the USA has had a few mishaps, we ar
…oh…did I mention we pay a 13% HST on top?[:-,][:-^]
Yup,especially the way they keep piling on the tiny details that you can’t see under normal operation viewing.
Oh I assure you, I was not looking for sympathy. I am very aware that Illinois did not and still will not have the highest tax rate in the Country. It was just a reference to things that are not discretionary spending that are going up all around us far more than 10%. That was just the largest and most recently publicized numbers that came to mind. I realize the cost of government increases also and they too at some time must increase income. As the income from the taxpayers decreases, the cost of services do not.
Off topic of the thread I know, and NOT wanting to bring politics into it, I just wanted to clarify it’s use in my comments.
So, to bring it back on topic…
Again, I’m not thrilled, but I’m sure the employees and the employees of any subcontractors for the brands mentioned would like to keep their jobs and possibly the benefits they may have. Unfortunately, the increase in cost may lower the sales and, well…, only time will tell. But that is business and it will likely never change.
Maybe the future may be to turn around and instead of making such detailed models, they become less detailed to keep costs down and the modeler relies on the aftermarket to add his own as he chooses. I’ve seen quite a few TYCOs that in the hands of a willing modeller look pretty darn good. Again, who knows.