Just a few thoughts and maybe some advice from someone in the same situation. I currently purchase most of my trains and gear from a local hobby shop. Its a nice little mom and pop business run by a older man and his wife. They are just the nicest people you will ever meet. Being a small outfit they have troube competing with the big mail order places you see on the web. Even though the owner gives me a small discount and cuts me a deal on some of the older stock he is still 20% higher in price than the big outlets on line. I told him several weeks back that I was going to install a TMCC system and use PM-1s for conventional operation. He was out of PM-1s but said he could get some. He quoted me a price of 79.00 plus tax. I went online and ordered two of them for 55.00 along with the command set for 110.00. Good prices no doub’t. Well he called me yesterday all excited and told me he had two PM-1s in. I just told him I wasn’t ready for them yet and not to worry about holding them if he gets a buyer. I’m pretty sure he will sell them with no problem but I feel terrible. Some of the deals you can get online are just too good to pass up especially the big ticket items. For a guy with a small train budget like me that savings adds up fast. I really like the personal interaction of going to the hobby shop but I may have to limit my purchases to small items and supplies. Anyone else have the same problem?
STEVE
online comparison shopping or make your own
I have the same problem, and I work for “trains”…but here’s the catch, and it does cause a pause for thought…
So, these items you buy on the internet break, where are you going to return them? The person you got them from on the internet? What, takes a couple weeks? Your local guy will try to exchange it for something in the store to replace it, or get the same RA from Lionel or MTH to get it repaired, closer & faster than the shipping from your LHS.
You have a particular problem with something your doing on your layout? Fine, will the internet (not us, of course…[swg]) help you repair it? How about a layout design question? All these things you get from your local LHS. usually at no charge.
I mean, I also look for deals, but I go to my LHS to get the help & stuff I need to make my layout even better.[2c]
Sometimes I even feel guilty not buying from the hobby shop cause I know its way too high a price. I try to find things while I am there that are reasonable. I just bought a hopper for $74.00 that is $65.00 on line, but the shipping makes it more or then taxes, ah close enough. Let’s keep them in business! In the future, lets be carefull not to have him order something that we don’t intend to buy.
I stop in just about every week, sometimes multiple times during the week, and during construction time I’m in there 2 or 3 times a day (LHS is only 5 minutes down the road)… yes Rich 5 minutes!
I have found things there that I couldn’t find elsewhere and he works on the price for me… if I’m buying a couple pieces of track I pay full price, but if it is a good sized purchase he gives me a discount. As Rich stated, I can get information at my LHS that I can’t get elsewhere… OH and need I mention the friendship and comradarie? I swear it’s like going to a family reunion when I walk in! [:D]
You should feel lucky you HAVE a LHS. Mine is an hour and a half away!! Seems like eBay is my LHS. It would be nice to have some place close to inspect the stuff I want, instead of relying on a picture and a feedback score…
I buy most of my model train stuff at local hobby shops or train shows, I buy some parts online because of the deals I can get from Ross Custom Switches. Personally I prefer to see what I am buying so I can see if it is damaged or not.
A word of caution about ebay buying: I have been stung by ebay sellers! Example; not the right size(listed as H.O. instead of O gauge) but I was happy with what I did get, parts missing from a locomotive or came off two days later(a used Williams SD-45), not happy with that deal!
My words about ebay; buyer beware!![2c]
Lee F.
Unless the two of you specifically agreed that he would order them for you, you have no reason to feel any guilt. It’s likely he was just letting you know he got them in. If he bullheaded the deal without your acknowledgement, and acts as though he went out of his way for you, then you still have no reason to feel any guilt.
I buy from ebay and other places on line but also the local hobby shop( yes he knows I do and did when there ) I use to have when I lived in VA (about 10 minutes from the house) I still order from him especially big ticket items as I appreciated his suport when I was there and still (I’m about 400 miles away) I can order and he’ll send it to me and the bill inside if I wish. Returns no question return and we can do a credit or refund your choice in fact about 5 months ago I asked about some track I bought from him but didn’t realy use ( told him I did have it on a shelf but just had cars on it) He said return it I’ll give you a full credit or refund ( I used the money to buy some smaller radius track and some other items from him which I’m waiting to get as mth back order so probally be in october and I’ll have moved again but no biggy we keep intouch and will send him new address as soon as I’m sure of it.
Brent brought up a great point that I failed to mention. Comraderie. We see our usual customers on a regular basis. At Christmas time, he invited all the usual suspects and their families to the exhibit and we had beer & wine and some snacks. We rans trains and BS’d most of the night. He even pulled some of the new stock off the display and ran 'em! I have some great friends and customers there!! HEY MEL!! YOU LISTENING?[:-^]
(Yeah, Brent, make it MORE tempting, why don’t cha?[:-^])
None of my locos are from the LHS, 99+% are second hand and mostly Bay of E, but I do purchase a few freight cars and almost all my other stuff there(track, paints, plaster etc). They are more along the lines of a Michael’s then just a hobby shop and most everything is MSRP but that is to be expected when you are a relatively small fish in a big pond. So I’ll try to support as much as budget will allow, the smaller shops need a little support from the manufacturers to help them compete and service their customers.
I would say 90% of my train items came from ebay. Parts come from on line sources. The local hobby shop has a very limited supply of tain related items and even fewer American Flyer items and when he does have AF I usually can find something I can use. The closest train shop is almost two hours drive away, but I have bought from them, (Smokestack in Lancaster).
I would love to have a local place to buy train related items from on a regular basis. If it were not for the internet availability, I probably would not have the collection I have or be as interested in the hobby as I am. I believe the internet has been a major shot in the arm for the hobby. Unfortunatly, the local hobby shops have became a victim. A similar market is the plight of hardware stores.
Short answer, I buy my trains on the internet
Jim
HI GIZ,
Id say 90% come from BARRYS TRAIN SHOP, ELIZABETHTOWN, PA.
Others come from EBAY if I see a good deal? And also JUST TRAINS of Delaware.
laz57
My local hobby shop is 3 hours away…unless you do business with yours, it will be the same. That being said, I have a friend with a train store in NJ. I buy most things from him, to the tune of over $10K last year. I also check eBay, but have found better deals at ChooChooAuctions (they are getting ready to move to Florida). In the end, if you have a local hobby shop that the proprietor tries to do his best and give good customer service and not over charging you, try as much as you can to use him. I have been to some places that charged over 125% of MSRP…those places, I will not go back to. I have also been to some where the owner said, look at this box and see if there’s anything you want. A good place in North Florida (by Tampa) is Hollash’s trains. I have purchased some very good deals with them and Bill is a real friendly guy. The store is attached to his house and he will take you inside to show the layout, etc.
Dennis
If a LHS has what I’m interested in, is eager to show and run the engine to my satisfaction, I will buy it from them even at list price (but not at above list). If not in stock or the shop isn’t customer friendly, I purchase from one of the well-respected advertisers found in Classsic Toy Trains Mag. (whichever one has it in stock and at the best price, incl. shipping).
Thanks for the input guys. Glad to say that I feel the same about supporting the local hobby shop. It would be different if I specifically had him order the TMCC equipment and then went out and bought somewhere else. I would never go as far to do something like that. He does have a very nice MTH Hiawatha set thats been taking up shelf space for a while and I think I will go get it to make up for the TMCC. Its no Lionel Hiawatha but I just love the look of it. He has the Loco and 4 cars marked down to 390.00. Thats more than the TMCC anyways. You are so right in that buying off the internet lacks the personal attention and interaction. You just don’t get the thrill of seeing it run, talking about it and then watch him box it up for you. Thanks again for the opinions.
STEVE
Sounds good Steve. You may want to look into converting it to TMCC if you don’t already have the DCS system too.
Dennis
I am Fortunate to have Whistle Stop Trains, just 4 miles away from home (NOT so Fortunate for the budget though) I buy what I can from them, and count the whole team as Friends. Charlie the owner will give me a discount on most items, but on the small stuff I don’t bother asking for it, He treats me well on the big purchases. In March I bought both of the Lionel FEF-3s and the Legacy command system from him.
But because of the nature of 3-Rail having smaller runs and fewer road names/#s than the little scales, I sometimes mail-order to find what I want, just yesterday I ordered a Lionel 3 truck Shay (Weyerhaeuser) from Grzyboski’s, they actually had a NOS one still sealed, this was a 1999 model [:D] then today I was able track down some MTH short Skeleton Log cars from another dealer and the Bobber Cabooses from yet a third.
Ebay is another source for out of production items, but I also sometimes find things on ebay that I didn’t even know I NEEDED, so I will give Charlie a call and see if it is something that he can get for me, if not then I’ll bid on ebay. Using ebay it is important to know the price of things and then not forget to factor in the cost of shipping, which sometimes makes the LHS competitive price-wise, but as has been mentioned the camaraderie is “PRICELESS”
Doug
Todd’s Train Depot and Choochoo Auctions. Some I get when travels around the country and go to local hobby shops. Did that in Roanoke last weekend.
Since I collect prewar and postwar stuff, I am limited in places that offer a good selection. I go to auctions Ted Mauer train auctions in Pa. He has train auctions usually every other weekend. Some new, old, lionel, AF etc. Usually 300 or so lot of stuff. Most of the time it sells for much less than you would find on e-bay. you can also inspect each item in detail before bidding. It is relaxing to spend a Sat. morning looking at trains that you normally won’t see in person even if you do not buy anyhing.