08-12-2012, 04:13 PM
Terry,
In 45+ years I've worked in several shops as a weekend employee and as the Manager. It's basically a great experience but as in every job there are people of all sorts entering the store. Some come looking for help, some for a release to bitch about everything in their lives but most are there to enjoy another aspect of the hobby by spending time with fellow modelers and seeing what's new.
There are most definitely those looking for huge discounts which aren't possible. In the past most hobby items were only marked up 40% from cost which didn't allow much leeway on prices. Books & many other items were at 10-30% markup. I remember years ago when Atlas first came out with their GP-35, FP-7A and SD-24 models. They cost me $15 and retailed for $25. A huge local R/C airplane shop decided to enter the HO train sales area and was selling them for $11.99. I had many customers coming in complaining that I wasn't matching their price. Even after showing them my invoices they still didn't understand.
Many like to tell you they are PLANNING to buy a huge amount of equipment & supplies so you "owe" them a discount. Usually they buy about $100-200 worth which really won't be enough for the owner to retire to the Bahamas. Most customers or potential customers have a much different idea of what a huge amount of money actually is. To some folks $100 is a lot of money, and it may be for their budget, but in the grand scale of operating a for-profit business it doesn't amount to much.
Also, the mention of appraisals was mentioned. That's a common happening and if you aren't knowledgable I wouldn't give an appraisal to anyone. It leads to hard feelings and angry people. You will find that almost everyone believes the old beater of a Lionel 2-6-4 thinks it's worth a Zillion dollars and you're trying to rip them off. Reality is that few old items are valuable and especially those with lots of hard usage on them.
For the most part the customers are enjoyable and have as much to offer you as you have for them. They often will be there when you open the doors and when you close up for the day.......ESPECIALLY on Saturdays! We had a fellow that came in with me every Saturday morning, stayed all day, read every magazine & book, touched every new engine & car and left at closing with no purchases ever being made. The redeaming part was he was extremely up on everything in model railroading and real railroading and was a great source of info for us and customers.
Best of luck with the job, relax and enjoy!
Roger
In 45+ years I've worked in several shops as a weekend employee and as the Manager. It's basically a great experience but as in every job there are people of all sorts entering the store. Some come looking for help, some for a release to bitch about everything in their lives but most are there to enjoy another aspect of the hobby by spending time with fellow modelers and seeing what's new.
There are most definitely those looking for huge discounts which aren't possible. In the past most hobby items were only marked up 40% from cost which didn't allow much leeway on prices. Books & many other items were at 10-30% markup. I remember years ago when Atlas first came out with their GP-35, FP-7A and SD-24 models. They cost me $15 and retailed for $25. A huge local R/C airplane shop decided to enter the HO train sales area and was selling them for $11.99. I had many customers coming in complaining that I wasn't matching their price. Even after showing them my invoices they still didn't understand.
Many like to tell you they are PLANNING to buy a huge amount of equipment & supplies so you "owe" them a discount. Usually they buy about $100-200 worth which really won't be enough for the owner to retire to the Bahamas. Most customers or potential customers have a much different idea of what a huge amount of money actually is. To some folks $100 is a lot of money, and it may be for their budget, but in the grand scale of operating a for-profit business it doesn't amount to much.
Also, the mention of appraisals was mentioned. That's a common happening and if you aren't knowledgable I wouldn't give an appraisal to anyone. It leads to hard feelings and angry people. You will find that almost everyone believes the old beater of a Lionel 2-6-4 thinks it's worth a Zillion dollars and you're trying to rip them off. Reality is that few old items are valuable and especially those with lots of hard usage on them.
For the most part the customers are enjoyable and have as much to offer you as you have for them. They often will be there when you open the doors and when you close up for the day.......ESPECIALLY on Saturdays! We had a fellow that came in with me every Saturday morning, stayed all day, read every magazine & book, touched every new engine & car and left at closing with no purchases ever being made. The redeaming part was he was extremely up on everything in model railroading and real railroading and was a great source of info for us and customers.
Best of luck with the job, relax and enjoy!
Roger