03-26-2010, 06:29 AM
Gary S Wrote:I do what I can to keep my LHS in business. They are a good bunch of guys and I want them to stay in business. Now, their selection isn't all that great, so there are times when I purchase online or if I am looking for older stuff, I'll check out Ebay.Gary, I just got 200 sections of Model Power Flex track from Trainworld. It is not as flexible as Atlas, (I think that is a plus). It was $189 per 100 sections, and I added 20 pairs of KD's to put the total to just over $400 to get $40 dollars off on the Presidents Day sale. The 2 hobby shops here wanted 4.95 a section, and 7.95 a section (no quantity discount) (that was for Atlas) .
A few years ago, there was another shop nearby that had a great selection - old, new, consignment, lots of stuff. But he moved to Colorado = closed down shop here. The current LHS pretty much charges MSRP. However - I will soon be in the market for 300 feet of flex track and cork roadbed, a couple dozen turn-outs, kadee electromagnets, etc for the layout expansion. What I'll do is give them a list of what I need and see what kind of quantity discount they will give me. Surely they know what this stuff sells for on the net. And even at net prices, they can still make some money off me with the large quantity.
Model Power has both 83 and 100. I stayed with 100 because I have loads of turnouts and other flex to add.
Charlie