As I was reading the Why Hobby Shops Fail thread I got the impression that most of the discussion focused on big ticket items like locomotives and cars. I bought lots of locos and cars over the Internet and very few at the local hobby shop.
However, when I decide to do a project, a local hobby shop is really handy for buying small stuff like paint, brushes, tiny drill bits, scratchbuilding supplies, couplers, etc. I’m the kind of model railroader that does projects when I want to do them, and it’s nice to be able to walk into a store and get the little things I need when I need them…
Online shopping won’t work for that kind of stuff. Unless I place a large order, the shipping costs aren’t worth the trouble.
Gidday, I think I should firstly apologise to all those I’ll offend before I even start.
One of the ironies I’ve observed since the “take off” of on line shopping are the modellers who take the advantages of purchasing the big ticket items on line yet protest loudly when the LHS is temporarily out of stock on the particular item of “small stuff” they require at that very moment.
I’m sorry lads, but it seems to me as very much of a case of “trying to have your cake and eat it too”.
It is a dilemma I face, and I’m a fan of promoting the hobby on a budget, cheap prices off the internet or support your LHS while you have one. There is no easy answer.
As for shipping costs give a thought for those of us who live on the other side of the world.
I have been trying to get some spare parts for my 25 + year old Märklin loco, yet no on-line store is offering these. MY LHS (actually not so local) stocks them, those old light bulbs, pick-up brushes, and a lot of other long time out of production items. The chap running the place is now 76 years old and I hope he lives forever. Without him, quite a number of modelers would have to retire some of their treasures.
Except that the OP isn’t protesting loudly about the small stuff being out of stock at his LHS.
The OP is singing the praises of the LHS for stocking the small stuff, and I couldn’t agree more. I, too, shop the Internet for the cost savings on the big stuff and avoid the Internet for the small stuff because of the disproportionate shipping charges,
So, I think that the OP makes a great point. When I need stuff like light bulbs, LED’s, flex track, ground cover, ballast, you name it, the LHS is the place of choice.
If that is a matter of having your cake and eating it too, so be it.
Ja Bear, you are really getting on my nerves ! [(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D]
We would very gladly patronize a local hobby shop, if we had one within a reasonable distance, but the nearest one to us is 70 miles away in Tucson, Arizona.
Unless I’m in Tucson to shop for other items, it’s cheaper to pay UPS or the U.S. Postal Service to do the driving, even for small items.
We used to have two local hobby shops here, and there used to be six in Tucson – now there’s only one, and it’s an Ace Hardware store that has no employees who know anything about trains.
Both of the ones we used to have locally went out of business because of the high cost of rent, utilities, insurance, etc. In today’s business climate only a large corporation has any chance of survival around here.
I have purchased most of my locomotives (8 steamers/18 diesels) online because I can get (and have gotten) them for substantial discounts (40% and more). However, I support my LHS as often as possible with purchases of rolling stock, structure kits, and supplies. (I’ll be heading over there later today.)
To me it’s worth the extra $$$ to keep them in business. I’m blessed with three in my area. However, I fully understand that others reside in an LHS “desert” so online shopping is there only “local” option.
I make it a habit to only buy online from real B&M hobbyshops.I prefer to support my loco shops as much as possible.The only time I buy on Ebay is for the little stuff that no HLS carries (such as custom painted cars,or buildings ).
I buy most of my Z stuff from Stonebridge Models that is really a laser company and a MTL dealer (Intermountain now too).
I also buy from M.B.Klien because their prices are good and they are a B&M store too.
If all the stuff I want or need for the hobby were available here (West Michigan) I would never buy online.
Online shopping won’t work for that kind of stuff.
Yes and no…
It will work if such small items is added to a larger order I have done that several times in the pass instead of making a 52 mile round trip for glue,paint,balsa wood or ABS plastic shapes.
Of course to order a single bottle of paint would be as silly as making a 52 mile round trip to Mansfield so,I usually have a supply list when I go( a gamble that everything I need is in stock) or just include the needed items it in my next order…
In my case the lessor of the two evils is including such items in my orders since I live in the middle of nowhere with no guarantees what I need will be in stock…
I would much rather make a Saturday morning trip to a nearby hobby shop to buy the majority of my hobby needs and wants but,I can’t justify a weekly 52 mile round trip.
Now a shop in Galion (26 mile round trip) or Marion(34 mile round trip) would work for me but,neither city has a hobby shop!
Hobby shops seem to make more money on casual shoppers than they do the enthusiasts who are more demanding and want specialized items. A MRR will only buy a specific road name and model loco that they need while an older lady may walk into the store and say “I want to buy train set for my husband, how about that big red one on the wall?” I witnessed a lady do that and spend $5,000 on some G scale stuff. I’ve had my LHS owner advise me to buy my locos online because they usually can’t meet the manufacturer’s minimum order numbers. They only stock what happens to fall in their lap.
I didn’t even bother with the LHS thread that crashed. But I think it’s worth thinking positively about what makes a hobby shop succeed.
The very first survival strategy for a hobby shop is to be sure to carry and stock the basics. If the shop is more than trains, this is really a no brainer, although stocking levels can make a big difference in sales. If it’s not on the shelf when someone comes looking for it, that sale will be lost and – if there are ANY local alternatives – future sales will be lost, too.
That said, I’ve been in train-only hobby shops and found lots of empty spots in the basics section. Paint, tools, couplers, trucks, stripwood, flextrack, cork – “Really? You don’t have that?”
This stuff is usually high margin and demand, so really no excuse.
Catt has a good point. Even if it’s not local, buy from a B&M store anyway. It’s pretty easy to find 20% off on most everything. Sure, you can squeeze out a few more pennies somewhere else, but finding a LHS with good service and reliable practices in pre-ordering, etc is well worth not worrying about getting absolute bottom dollar.
Maybe its a generational thing (and an occupational history thing), but service is the absolute last thing I care about when shopping for anything.
There are…seven hobby shops within reasonable driving distance of me. Of those, three are railroad centric. One of them is pretty lousy. The other two are MB Klein and Star Hobby. Used to have Peach Creek too. The rest are either all around pretty bad or cater to other hobbies. But through being a savvy shopper and willing to find alternate sourcing, I can get anything I need.
Tools are universal. The RC plane guys use a lot of the same tools that we do.
The wargaming guys use the same lines of paints that we do. And scenery supplies.
The big national craft store chains are hit or miss on things, but there’s lots of things in there that are useful. Like Sculptamold and things like that.
Art supply houses, especially if you’re lucky enough to be in a major city, that cater to architects will yield stuff you’d never expect. There’s one around here that, if I remember right, actually carries Plastruct, Evergreen, and K&S products.
I guess what I’m saying is the lament of “they don’t carry much train stuff” isn’t a showstopper. Hell, even a lot of the shops that do, aren’t going to have exactly what I’m after when I’m after it just because I’m looking for a specific thing.
For instance, a while back, I had a girlfriend that wanted to get me a specific number for a boxcar because I was looking at pictures I’d taken and sure enough I’d actually photographed a boxcar that someone offered with that exact number. She tracked it down somewhere in Texas, I think. That’s the sort of shopping I’m doing and…oh well, local shops can rarely help me. Even if they were stocked like the ones I remember when I was a kind
The LHS needs to adapt like the local hardware stores did. When the big box hardware stores moved in, everyone lamented about the demise of the local hardware store and a lot did fail, but others banded together for buying power and the fact that most people don’t mind paying more for the small stuff. I constantly go to the local ace affiliated store when working on, say benchwork, yes I can save by going elsewhere but the local is 3 blocks away. I have even paid double for an item that I needed now when I had a plumber here and needed something. The online places usually don’t even have some of the items we need in the hobby. That being said I will tell you how short sited most LHS owners are. We had one that used to promote a sidewalk sale and show in there parking lot and even though it was quite a distance, all the hobby guys would show up. They stopped doing the show because an employee from another show brought a bunch of stuff to sell, still don’t know if it was his stuff or the others shop, the point being, who cared as people like me would scrounge for bargains and then shop in the real store that had a number of sale items but I would end up seeing a few items I wanted to try out at full boat, a number of items on sale etc. That time I found a few bargains outside but I spent 4 times as much in the shop. Same with alot of others. Short sightedness, plain and simple. Another local hobby place knew of this and even though it was a hobby shop in a hardware store, it has been a real draw (wish they had more stuff to sell though). Last time I went to that one I spent alot in the hardware store (not train related) and nothing on the parking lot flea market!!!
The last time I participated in another thread it was pretty much the same stuff, really.
There was even a point made that carrying the small stuff cost a lot of $$$$ in inventory for a store…gee, in a 5’ X 3’ space? Meanwhile these same stores carried books and books and books…none on sale…if ever…[:-^]
I am lucky in that we have a few good shops around here…complete with every’t’in you might need…[:)]
I’ve bought several locos and cars from the hobby shop, but my only complaint is that I’m limited to what they have in stock and what they can get. Most of the locos and cars I bought online were out of production or are in roadnames that the hobby shop couldn’t get or missed out on.
Gidday, When a friend of mine owned the LHS I would relieve for him on the occasional Sunday so one of my observations was personal.
A modeller came in wishing to purchase the two boxes of flex track which we had in stock but did not like the price proclaiming that he could get it far cheaper on the internet, that was true as by bringing it in himself , he was not only getting the discount but also, legally I should add, avoiding the local sales tax. About a month later having received his track he was back wishing to purchase a packet or two of rail joiners and was most vocal in his protestations when he discovered that they had been all been purchased the day before along with the boxes of track !!!
I fail to see how my observations could be construed as having a crack at the OP as I’m well aware that the LHS can’t possibly even start to stock what we as individuals would like as far as locos and rolling stock go, let alone with a particular road name, heck there’s lots of stuff we’d like that hasn’t even been manufactured yet, if ever !!! So if an item that is wanted becomes available on the interweb, go for it.
[banghead][banghead][banghead] I had stated that a faced a dilemma, part of which is that I am selfish enough that I do not wish to loose the convenience of my LHS which unfortunately others in this thread do not have, through no fault of their own, yet still do like a bargain. [sigh]
Special ordering locomotives, freight cars, craftsman structures and other big ticket items is one thing, but I feel kind of bummed when I have to order things like screws, paint and other small things. Oh yeah, the screws are a 100-piece bulk pack for a little less than two packages of Walthers screws.