I wish there was an online hobby shop that sold everything and also had reasonable prices. Right now, I need just a few items. But, the store that has a good price on the one item does not carry the other items. And the store that carries all the items charges ten bucks more for one of the items than the other stores I have looked in. So, I either have to pay multiple shipping charges, or buy from the one store that carries all items and pay the ridiculously higher price for that one item.
I'm with you on this one. Even the Cabboose in Denver doesn't carry everything I need. I just use my local LHS and have the owner order stuff for me. He gives me a regular customer discount of 10%, and I fugure that's as good as it gets...and Denver is 100 miles away.
It's still not as bad as driving to every hobby shop In a 100mi radius and still not finding what you need
My closest hobby shop is a 40 mile round trip, and figuring the cost at $.40 a mile that is $16 dollars to go there and find out they don't have what I need anyway.
I always add the common items I need to a larger order. Most of he time you can cover paying a higher price by buying items like a bulk pack of Kadee's, some wheels, decals, paint, or some small screws.
I just got an order of screws from Micro fasteners. I could buy a 100 there for what the other shops are selling 10 for, and I needed 200 of one length and 200 of another. It wasn't har to justify the 7 dollar shipping fee.
With the cost of gasoline going where it is going, I'll save the driving for a vacation and grocery shopping.
Charlie
Charlie - that's what I tend to do, too. if there is one item that I want, I usualy browse around and find a half-dozen "necessities" to fill out the order. it seems like I could always use more couplers or a few packs of wheelsets. And, that may be what I do here. It's just that I saw a great deal on an item from an online store, and the other items that I really need they don't carry. Frustrating, that's all
Maybe ask the shop if they can order what you need and consolidate the order. A lot of hobby dealers are small businesses and can't afford to carry everything, but can probably order just about anything.
The one benefit of living close to a large Metropolitan area, is that there are several Hobby Shops close. One, I could ride a bicycle to, and back ( not bragging, complaining...I'm getting to old to ride that bicycle. But with the price of Gasoline heading to new and dizzying heights, I may have to --- "think young again" ). They all will order things they do not carry in stock. Yes there is the wait time, but, that's how multiple projects "pile up".
Sumpter250 Wrote:The one benefit of living close to a large Metropolitan area, is that there are several Hobby Shops close. One, I could ride a bicycle to, and back ( not bragging, complaining...I'm getting to old to ride that bicycle. But with the price of Gasoline heading to new and dizzying heights, I may have to --- "think young again" ). They all will order things they do not carry in stock. Yes there is the wait time, but, that's how multiple projects "pile up".
It gives you a good excuse to slack off, though..."waiting for parts, Dear!
Charlie B Wrote:My closest hobby shop is a 40 mile round trip, and figuring the cost at $.40 a mile that is $16 dollars to go there and find out they don't have what I need anyway.
Must be nice, being so close to a hobby shop. My closest hobby shop is 600 mile round trip.
My closest is about four miles round trip. He usually has what I need/want in stock. I go there every couple of months whether I need/want anything or not, just to keep an open dialogue.
I'm in the Denver area, Caboose Hobbies is 15 miles away. Always worth the trip
80 miles round trip and they generally have half of what I need. Another shop is 10 more miles and they almost never have what I want or need. :-(
I guess that is why I shop at Walthers or Caboose Hobbies.
Caboose is great if you model in larger scales, but not if you're an N-scaler. I do a lot better in Colorado Springs for that.
MY local hobby shop is about 2 miles away. When I want something, I send him an email asking him to order it for me. If he has the item in stock, he answers that he has it and sets it aside for me. If he doesn't have it, he orders it and lets me know when it gets in. He discounts everything 10% and members of a model railroad club get an additional 5% off. I find that his prices are very competitive with online dealers and there is no shipping charge.
If I want to browse, the nearest LTS's are about 50 and 110km round trips from home. Luckily there's also one about 750m from work.
But on-line, if you aren't in a hurry, I like Dave at <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.canadianexpressline.com">www.canadianexpressline.com</a><!-- w -->. He offers standard prices lower than MSRP, with additional discount incentives that you can even combine amongst club members.
Andrew