cheapest retailer you have ordered from??
How many retailers out there have shipping costs under $6.00???
Thanks in advance.
ICMR
Happy Railroading.[swg][swg]
I only use my LHS, don’t trust what I cant see, doubting thomas! [swg][swg][swg]
The cheapest retailer I’ve ordered from?..Without a doubt, Trainworld.com. However, their shipping price was $7.50.
Victor, the overall cost of the unit is more important to me than just the shipping. I saved over 70% on a brand new Proto 2000 S1 switcher. ($29.99 for a $110 locomotive.) I could have paid 3 times what I paid for shipping and still gotten a great deal. And the time from placing the order to in-hand delivery was only 4 days. Trainworld.com…[tup] [tup]
Tom
I order from my LHS. No shipping charges whatso ever.
Walthers shipping on orders under $20 is $5. Of course they just brought back the free shipping on orders over $100 if you have ordered from them before.
Cheap? What is this word? This is a hobby!
I don’t buy from internet retailers unless my shop doesn’t have it in stock and walthers doesn’t have it so that my shop can order it. I have always bought through my shop, but now that Horizon owns Athearn, Athearn doesn’t have anydistribution through Walthers, and most shops don’t buy from Horizon because they require $500 dollars a month! Most shops can only manage 500 a year! It seems I might have to start turning to the internet for Athearn stuff.
Not having a LHS near me that stocks or would order US outline items I have to order direct from the US. I have ordered from Walthers a few times. Although not the cheapest they have an excellent service. I have also ordered from Discount Trains Online, much cheaper than Walthers but a bit slow. After dispatch from either of these two the parcels have arrived within 1week which I don’t think is so bad. The cost for International Airmail has been between 20 - 50 dollars.
William [:)]
There are reasons not to buy from a distributer but a $500 a month minimum is not a good one. My tool sales business failed and I was ordering an average of $400 a day to replace my inventory. It could be that your hobby shop just does not see any advantage in becoming a Horizon distributer. Most of what hey carry is available from Walther’s. Give them a reason. The next time you are at the LHS say you are going to order some of the Athearn kits and that as much as you like coming in to the store it might just be easier to order everything you need, since they can’t supply the kits. No reatailer likes to loose sales.
Canadian Model Trains is the cheapest I’ve ever dealt with.
I buy all my big ticket items from them and everything else at my LHS.
As Im from OZ I ordered a few times directly from MDC, before they became horizon, and have purchased directly from Con-Cor, postage was reasonable from both, best internet hobby store so far has been www.discounttrainsonline.com
I still look at others…
Don’t forget M.B. Klein, at http://www.modeltrainstuff.com
Their prices are comparable to Trainworld. Like Trainworld, they have a lot of out-of-production models. They may have a different road name available, or even just a different number if that’s what you’re looking for.
But don’t forget to support your LHS. They sometimes give slight discounts, particularly to regular customers. I get a better deal from him on Digitrax decoders than I get at Discount Trains Online.
Shipping costs mean nothing, but for the sake of discussion, the average seems to be around $7. To ship a package that weighs a pound from either coast to Texas, runs about that with UPS. Delivery time is usually 3 days, 4 at the outside. Post Office Priority Mail is flat rate, $3.65, and it gets there in three days. I’m not a fan of the Post Office, but that is a pretty good value. The only problem is that you can’t track it. If it’s insured with a tracking number, the price becomes comparable with UPS or Fed-Ex. Also, Keep in mind that someone has to pull your item off of the shelf, and get it ready for shipping. This is probably done by shipping people, who’s only job is doing just that. They are like Customer Service and technical Support folks. They are necessary to the business, and do not generate revenue. The name of the business IS revenue…That being said, $7 to get a box from their door to yours is not a bad deal.
The things that should throw up a flag are shipping costs based on a percentage of the purchase price, or an inflated shipping charge because of “insurance”. I love that one… UPS includes insurance up to $100, and additional insurance is cheap. Same with the Post office. I’ve seen New York camera stores charge $90 to ship a $1000 lens that weighed 4 lbs. Actual cost… $12.
Even if the shipping charges were doubled, it would still be a good value. I buy locos online for anywhere from $30 to $100 difference in price. Not having to pay our 8.25% sales tax, more than covers the shipping charges. That $100 I save will buy another loco and a decoder for it.
The argument that you should be willing to pay more at your LHS because you get to test the product, and you can return it if there is a problem, is BS. Guess what? You can do the same thing with an on-line retailer. They are happy to do it because it gets your return business. If you now think it’s not a good deal because you had to spend $7 to return it for exchange, go back and re-read this post because you
Thanks. I know shipping isn’t important I was just wondering where I could get the best deal. I have ordered from Walthers, Discounttrainsonline, Firsthobby, and Atlas.
ICMR
Happy Railroading.[swg][swg]
I use Trainworld alot. shipping is 7 or 8 bucks. Or I just order throught the LHS, It’s about two weeks before I get back to pick something up, but no shipping.
Nick
Trainworld has the best overall prices in the industry. Some other retailers MAY have a better price on individual items (which is why you should shop around), but you can’t beat Trainworld for most high-end items ($30 for a P2K diesel? $60 for Spectrum steam? TRY to beat those sort of prices…)
I don’t have the luxury of a LHS here in the Florida Keys so I have to mail order almost everything I need. As a result I have quite a list of online venders I use depending on what I am looking for. But to answer your question www.fshobby.com charges a flat $4.00 S/H fee. Good prices. Have made many purchases from him. Good guy, good service. You can’t beat Trainworld for prices on Loco’s. I just ordered three loco;s from one online vender and they turned out to be all older versions. I can’t remember what vender it was. I learned from that. Just because you buy a new loco doesn’t mean it is the newest version. I usually don’t buy from Walthers because you can almost always find the same item somewhere much cheaper… That’s my thoughts on the subject hope it helps…
Terry
I get most of my day to day stuff at my LHS as he gives regular customers 10% off most items. He handles both Walther’s and Horizen. If I buy direct from Walther’s, I get to pay full price plus shipping. If I buy from the online retailers, I may or may not have a good experience (Had both). There are times that the savings from the mail order places is more than lost by way out shipping and handleing, insurance, and the like. I also like to be able to see and handle what I am getting before I purchase. I am one of those very lucky people that has an excellent hobby shop in town within walking distance of my house (although I usually drive - about a mile and a half from where I live).
To answer the questions: 1. Cost is only one valid consideration - there are others too. 2. Very few online dealers will ship for $6 or less. Many have about an $8 to $10 minimum.
So far I only order my Models from Firsthobby. There Shipping is $7.95. I don’t care about the shipping costs,as long as I get my Model in one piece. And it runs. Allan.