ALSRM - Reading - Sat 8 May

[Kenton]

Not just a show but a real opportunity to purchase all those big and small parts that you need for the more senior gauges.

If you are expecting or are only focused on 4mm or less then you will be disappointed.

 

Riverside Leisure Centre, Richfield Avenue, Reading RG1 8EQ (just along the river from Caversham Bridge)

 

Just the place to go if you haven't noticed a recession or do not have your own personal banking crisis.

 

http://www.alsrm.org.uk/reading10.html

[Kenton]

OK so you all missed it

 

Just thought that I'd report back on something that was very evident to me at this show.

 

The recession has hit the model trade.

 

I've been to this show in past years and have had to queue to find parking, queue to get in and literally fight to get to the front of a trade stand and then wait minutes to actually make a purchase as the vendor discusses his latest release with a previous customer.

 

Not so this year. Arrived at about 11:00 to have any number of parking spaces to choose from.

Not a single person in front of me at the entrance.

Almost deserted isles and traders almost grovelling on the floor for my custom.

 

At two stands customers were negotiating to return kits for a full refund - which they duly received.

 

I felt sorry for some of the traders and managed to persuade them to exchange paper for gold* but overall the trade seemed to be way down on previous years.

 

This is normally a show for the quite affluent or even seriously rich but I had the distinct feeling that their pension pots had taken such a hammering that there was nothing left for the hobby.

 

I'd be interested to hear what others feel.

 

* when I got them home they all turned out to be brass

[pointstaken]

Talking to a model shop owner lately, his impression was that the larger gauges were feeling the pinch, but the smaller gauges were holding up relatively well. I'm not really surprised, looking at the prices of larger scales.

 

Dennis

[The Stationmaster]

Interesting - I managed to completely miss it so I wonder if it wasn't quite so heavily promoted this year? (could just be me of course )

 

I didn't take too much notice of your comment about the car park as use of that always seems very dependent on what is going on in the rest of the 'leisure' centre and it does tend to ebb and flow through the day judging by past experience.

 

But what you said about the number of folk in the show itself does sound a bit more indicative and to be something more than just a 'quiet time'. So perhaps large scale is a bit out of fashion (and that might be financial fashion as you are suggesting). It has already been noticeable (to me at any rate)at exhibitions that the purveyors of large scale stuff seem to be a lot keener with their pricing than they used to be, seem to have quite a lot of relatively new looking secondhand stuff with them, and their stands don't look as busy as they used to.

 

But overall I don't get the impression that there's any particular shortage of money in the reasonably affluent areas of our part of the country. Auction sales round here are doing well (perhaps also indicative of people offloading stuff to get in cash?) with plenty of money being spent. Large scale (which I would regard as 0 Gauge & upwards) still sells well and commands good prices at auction while G scale stuff remains very limited in availability at auctions and seems to do very well pricewise.

 

So as with many things in the present economic climate we are seeing a mixture of things happening and it is very 'bitty' - collectable large scale stuff with a sort of intrinsic or investment value is doing ok, or better, while some commercial stuff is not doing so well because those who bought perhaps were only on the cusp of being able to afford it in the past?

[Kenton]

One of the things I overheard - and it has been no different at previous ALSRM shows/fairs - is the question "do you take credit/debit cards"?

 

So often the answer is "no" when the item concerned can be £1500 and above. Of course most regulars know this and take the proverbial shed load of notes but I always wonder how many lost sales there are.

In the example overheard it didn't seem to make much difference and the wallet was duly opened and the relevant number of sheets produced.

 

I have little interest in the s/h market or indeed the ready built other than just to stand and drool.

 

I mainly go to purchase few kits or to get ideas for the future.

As for the larger gauges well the land required to build a layout in 3" and run 10 coach trains in live steam - is just out of my reach

[Mike Bellamy]

One of the things I overheard - and it has been no different at previous ALSRM shows/fairs - is the question "do you take credit/debit cards"?

 

So often the answer is "no" when the item concerned can be £1500 and above. Of course most regulars know this and take the proverbial shed load of notes but I always wonder how many lost sales there are.

 

Taking Credit/Debit cards does make a difference. I help a trader at some shows and although we didn't promote the facility we could take 'plastic' by filling in a form with the customer's full details, address and phone number so that the transaction could be processed by the business web site after the event using the mail order process.

 

We now use an automated 'Chip and PIN' machine linked through the mobile phone network and in the short time this has been available takings on cards have at least doubled - but what is even better is that it is cheaper to run that machine than the old web based process. There is a rental cost of about £30 month but a much reduced percentage commission and the cash gets into the bank account about 10 days quicker than the old process.

 

We have found that when customers see the machine sat on the table they are more likely to use their card (and spend more )

 

Regarding the show you visited, this seems similar to the one at York last year which didn't seem very busy and trade was slow.

 

Mike

[The Stationmaster]

 

As for the larger gauges well the land required to build a layout in 3" and run 10 coach trains in live steam - is just out of my reach

 

 

The land bit wouldn't present too much of a problem for me (although the curves might be a bit tight and I can't afford the stock) but I have a nasty feeling Mrs Stationmaster would not be at all happy if I started trying to build a railway across her vegetable patch and 'wild' garden.

[Buzz]

I was one of the few that attended this show. I havent been to an alsrm event before so i thought i would give it a go.

I have to agree with kenton regarding the attendance as i expected it to be busier than it was.

A good show though and I particularly liked the invergeachy o gauge layout and the east anglian gauge 1 layout, also plenty of traders there, although I only bought some led's so a cheap day for me.

[deltic17]

I also attended on Saturday - I too hardly had to queue to get in at approx 10.30am and the car park wasn't packed out but it was still 80% full in my eyes (although it does depend what else is on I guess). I never really thought about it at the time but I think it was a bit quieter than last year in terms of numbers of people. I spent £80 personally - £75 on a truck & £5 on some paint. I took plenty of cash this year as last May I tried to buy a couple of trucks at £85 each at this show and the trader had no credit card facility! I didn't have time to pop into Reading to go and find a bank so the trader & I missed out - I bet I wasn't the only one!

I do like this show though - it's so nice to have some quality layouts on show as well as the trade stands.