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Ian Hargrave
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I was disappointed with my store visit. There is a good stock but it is probably the most expensive place I have come across. Almost everything is at RRP. 

 

When I asked them to test a locomotive they told me there wasn't a test track in the public area. They eventually and reluctantly tested it on a display layout. I bought it but was given the impression it was all too much of an effort. 

 

In fairness I have found their mail order very efficient on the rare occasions I have used it, but why bother when so many others (rails, trains4u, Hereford) offer the same for a lower price? They are only useful if you want continental and prepared to pay top ticket. 

Edited by fezza
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  • 1 month later...

Does anyone have a contact or a name for a senior member of staff at Gaugemaster? An order to be sent overseas never arrived after 4 months, no reply to my webform submission or 2 emails. I repatriated to the UK and went into the shop to be told that it was apparent that the item was picked but never posted but they couldn't sort this out in person. Told to ring, but then when I did so my request could not be handled and they would return my call, which of course never happened.Mt card was charged. Apologies for posting here but what does one do when email, in person and phone enquiries get no response?

 

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  • 7 months later...
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I lost an exhaust pipe from my 00 Heljan class 128.   An internet search came up with Gaugemaster as a Heljan spares stockist.   I ordered the part number 17, described as "left hand exhaust pipe", but the one which Gaugemaster sent was for the other side.  A telephone call with a very helpful member of staff said he would send the correct one and I could keep the other as a spare.   Another of the same arrived a few days later.  Another telephone discussion when it was agreed the confusion arose from the description on the Heljan parts diagram describing the piece which I needed as left-hand, which was correct from the perspective of the viewer of the diagram.  However this was actually the right-hand piece from the perception of a train driver at his seat/desk.   I sent both parts back, with a screenshot of the parts diagram, highlighting the part which I needed.   The correct part was sent promptly, at no extra charge.  This small transaction must have been an unprofitable hassle for Gaugemaster yet they handled it courteously and generously.   Excellent service and definitely a model shop to which I would give future business.

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I was looking at some of their tools the other day, wasn't quite sure about the details so made a phone call where the person was very helpful and knowledgeable. So back on website, order placed and fairly promptly arrived with the free postage option. One happy customer.

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Must say I've never purchased anything from Gaugemaster, the reason why?

I have never seen any new product priced less than RRP on their website every time I go there, I'm sure their service is good but they are very expensive compared to everyone else (the latest Bachmann Class 90 a perfect example).

I remember when I first started in G scale (1998), their LGB prices were always the cheapest AND they offered free postage on stuff that heavy. 

They are still among the best prices for Scalextric, probably THE best prices when you factor in free postage. 

There are model shops that are a pleasure to buy from and some that aren't. I always find Gaugemaster in the former category.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 24/09/2020 at 09:22, fezza said:

I was disappointed with my store visit. There is a good stock but it is probably the most expensive place I have come across. Almost everything is at RRP.

 

That's how the trade works.

Gaugemaster are the importers/distributors of many of many product ranges to the trade. If they started discounting those ranges their trade customers would not be very happy at being undermined.

On 24/09/2020 at 11:33, fezza said:

European dealers are often cheaper.

Not so much now with all the fuss/problems post brexit.

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I often wonder how many professional people on here would react if the general public started asking for discounts, doctors, dentists, solicitors, estate agents, accountants for example.

 

I can understand "discounting" on stuff like sofa's where the markups are in the 100's of %, but AFAIK the model railway dealers markups are very low.

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35 minutes ago, SamThomas said:

I often wonder how many professional people on here would react if the general public started asking for discounts, doctors, dentists, solicitors, estate agents, accountants for example.

 

I can understand "discounting" on stuff like sofa's where the markups are in the 100's of %, but AFAIK the model railway dealers markups are very low.

 

I pay for Doctors through tax, Dentists at NHS rates and I shop around for the other three.

 

In a market economy you either have to be competitive on price or on another factor e.g. availability, service etc. The few times I have been to the Guagemaster store, it looks great but leaves you disappointed. Even stock from lines it's not the importer for isn't competitive. Other than for some spares the second hand section was the only reason I went to the shop. This is contrast to Dapol (well, as it was several years ago) and to a certain extent Peco where their own products are full price, except for NQP at Dapol, but products from other manufactures have been at similar prices to my local model shop.

 

This is not to say price is everything (I won't buy anything with motor from certain shops in Widnes or Sheffield due to poor service to me or friends) but full price for everything does make you think twice.

 

   

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The point here is that Gaugemaster presents itself as a retail outfit, not a supplier to the trade. If it doesn't offer competitive retail prices, why would one bother?

 

Even their very specialist imports like Kato unitrack are cheaper at Traintrax, Kernow and elsewhere.

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23 minutes ago, fezza said:

The point here is that Gaugemaster presents itself as a retail outfit, not a supplier to the trade. If it doesn't offer competitive retail prices, why would one bother?

 

Even their very specialist imports like Kato unitrack are cheaper at Traintrax, Kernow and elsewhere.

There are plenty of shops that sell at full RRP, either because they have to in order to survive, or just plain want to.

 

Gaugemaster have been in business for a very long time, so charging full RRP isn't harming them, if you dont like their prices, go elsewhere rather than moan about it online

 

No connection other than an occasional satisfied customer

 

I just cant get my head around why people moan about the price of things and expect the manufacturer/retailer to drop the prices.  Are they not entitled to make a profit?  Would you accept a pay cut so your workplace and sell things cheaper?

Edited by Monkersson
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12 minutes ago, Monkersson said:

 

 

I just cant get my head around why people moan about the price of things and expect the manufacturer/retailer to drop the prices.  Are they not entitled to make a profit?  Would you accept a pay cut so your workplace and sell things cheaper?

 

Our family business was sports retail. We offered competitive prices and good service while our competitors arrogantly tried to sell everything at RRP. Needless to say we cleaned up while the older RRP shops in the area went to the wall one by one in the early  1990s. They all complained about the competition not seeming to realise it's a market economy and people have a choice. We eventually sold up, but not before it had paid for nice retirements for the older members of my family .

 

So yes it's your money - keep paying RRP at Gaugemaster if you want. Just don't be surprised if other people think that's a bit odd when there are demonstrably lower prices and better service to be had elsewhere.

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10 minutes ago, Monkersson said:

There are plenty of shops that sell at full RRP, either because they have to in order to survive, or just plain want to.

 

Gaugemaster have been in business for a very long time, so charging full RRP isn't harming them, if you dont like their prices, go elsewhere rather than moan about it online

 

No connection other than an occasional satisfied customer

 

I just cant get my head around why people moan about the price of things and expect the manufacturer/retailer to drop the prices.  Are they not entitled to make a profit?  Would you accept a pay cut so your workplace and sell things cheaper?

 

If you can't understand why people moan about above inflation increases over the last few years when most people have had pay increases less than inflation then there is no point going into detail. As for Gauagemaster's, and others, pricing not harming them, how do you know that lets say a 5% reduction in prices won't increase sales by 10%. You will always get a number of customers 'loyal' who are not price sensitive. As with many insurance companies some shops have an adequate business model with them.  

 

It is quite OK to question whether a low production/high cost model of lets say Kader would produce a larger profit than a high volume/lower cost model such as Kato. As Kato's distributor Gaugemaster will know the figures.

 

 

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2 minutes ago, Bomag said:

 

If you can't understand why people moan about above inflation increases over the last few years when most people have had pay increases less than inflation then there is no point going into detail. As for Gauagemaster's, and others, pricing not harming them, how do you know that lets say a 5% reduction in prices won't increase sales by 10%. You will always get a number of customers 'loyal' who are not price sensitive. As with many insurance companies some shops have an adequate business model with them.  

 

It is quite OK to question whether a low production/high cost model of lets say Kader would produce a larger profit than a high volume/lower cost model such as Kato. As Kato's distributor Gaugemaster will know the figures.

 

 

I fully understand why people moan about above inflation increases over the last few years when most people have had pay increases less than inflation, for essential items, not toy trains.

 

By your reckoning Gaugemaster should charge less than they do because some people haven't had a pay rise matching inflation?  The items they sell are luxuries, not essentials, no one needs to buy them.

 

Maybe Gaugemaster have very high overheads, maybe they just want to sell at RRP and make as much profit as they can?  Who knows, and indeed, what customer needs to know?  Its none of our business.  Look back at the thread on the Hornby tier system, many, many people were saying support your local model shop, even if they charge RRP.  Local model shops often sell at RRP, what is the difference between them and Gaugemaster, who are also local model shop?

 

If Gaugemaster reduced their prices by 5%, there will be people moaning that they didnt drop them 10 %.  Lower prices do not always guarantee more sales.

 

My local model shop sells at full RRP, I dont know his overheads (one man band), but one thing I do know is that rent costs in that area are huge so I imagine that accounts for a good chunk of his revenue.

 

A lot of people are loyal to particular retailers, I know I am, and the retailers that Im loyal to provide great service which is something you cant put a price on, some items are cheaper than other shops, some things are more expensive, however I shop in those places because they generally have what I want, or can order it in quickly.

 

I know I can get things cheaper if I shop around, but I dont have the time nor inclination to scour the internet or press adverts to see if somewhere else has the items I want even cheaper.   I have used places that advertise items at a decent price but were always on back order.  Whats the point in saving £20 if its never in stock?

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49 minutes ago, Widnes Model Centre said:

 

There are a few shops in Widnes and Sheffield. 

 

Sorry, I had no ideas there was more than one. It is a foreign country and I have lost my passport so am not permitted past Jct 22.  If you want to be more specific its a shop in Widnes which used to be be based in Liverpool (I assume there is a difference) - I thought that moderators did not like people mentioning individual retailer other than the one relevant to the post.  

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19 minutes ago, Monkersson said:

I fully understand why people moan about above inflation increases over the last few years when most people have had pay increases less than inflation, for essential items, not toy trains.

 

By your reckoning Gaugemaster should charge less than they do because some people haven't had a pay rise matching inflation?  The items they sell are luxuries, not essentials, no one needs to buy them.

 

Maybe Gaugemaster have very high overheads, maybe they just want to sell at RRP and make as much profit as they can?  Who knows, and indeed, what customer needs to know?  Its none of our business.  Look back at the thread on the Hornby tier system, many, many people were saying support your local model shop, even if they charge RRP.  Local model shops often sell at RRP, what is the difference between them and Gaugemaster, who are also local model shop?

 

If Gaugemaster reduced their prices by 5%, there will be people moaning that they didnt drop them 10 %.  Lower prices do not always guarantee more sales.

 

My local model shop sells at full RRP, I dont know his overheads (one man band), but one thing I do know is that rent costs in that area are huge so I imagine that accounts for a good chunk of his revenue.

 

A lot of people are loyal to particular retailers, I know I am, and the retailers that Im loyal to provide great service which is something you cant put a price on, some items are cheaper than other shops, some things are more expensive, however I shop in those places because they generally have what I want, or can order it in quickly.

 

I know I can get things cheaper if I shop around, but I dont have the time nor inclination to scour the internet or press adverts to see if somewhere else has the items I want even cheaper.   I have used places that advertise items at a decent price but were always on back order.  Whats the point in saving £20 if its never in stock?

 

As I implied if you don't understand the basics of a market economy they you don't get why people have issues mentioned in this thread. You may want to google 'Price elasticity of demand'. For discretionary spend, and for a market where the majority of potential clients have price as one of the major buying factors (so not you) lowering prices will increase demand if potential customers are aware of this. The change in sales is not linear so a 5% drop in price may realistically increase sales by 10% but it would be faulty logic to extrapolate this to say a 10% reduction will result in 20% increase in sales as it depends how elastic the market is.

 

I don't frequent the two nearest model shops as they are full RRP. The third farthest (easy parking in a fairly cheap industrial area with good size displays) gets about 60% of my model spend, it provides an acceptable discount on Farish and model equipment while still having sufficient range in stock. If they discounted some of the slower sellers, e.g. the O6 and O7 a bit more then I would buy more from them and less on-line. However, they are happy that they have priced products to be attractive to customers to have enough turnover to keep the income and profits up.  There are occasional customers who try to get discounts but from chats with other customers the pricing is considered generaly to be 'fair'. That is at a point where the shop would get diminishing rates of return for having across the board reductions.

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7 minutes ago, Bomag said:

 

As I implied if you don't understand the basics of a market economy they you don't get why people have issues mentioned in this thread. You may want to google 'Price elasticity of demand'. For discretionary spend, and for a market where the majority of potential clients have price as one of the major buying factors (so not you) lowering prices will increase demand if potential customers are aware of this. The change in sales is not linear so a 5% drop in price may realistically increase sales by 10% but it would be faulty logic to extrapolate this to say a 10% reduction will result in 20% increase in sales as it depends how elastic the market is.

 

I don't frequent the two nearest model shops as they are full RRP. The third farthest (easy parking in a fairly cheap industrial area with good size displays) gets about 60% of my model spend, it provides an acceptable discount on Farish and model equipment while still having sufficient range in stock. If they discounted some of the slower sellers, e.g. the O6 and O7 a bit more then I would buy more from them and less on-line. However, they are happy that they have priced products to be attractive to customers to have enough turnover to keep the income and profits up.  There are occasional customers who try to get discounts but from chats with other customers the pricing is considered generaly to be 'fair'. That is at a point where the shop would get diminishing rates of return for having across the board reductions.

Whilst I am not an expert on the whole economy, I am professionally qualified and have been working with product costings from ideas sketched on a post-it note, to items on shelves for over 20 years, in various fields, I am part of a small team who turned our company from almost going under in 2009 to trading healthily and making a profit which keeps the shareholders happy when they see their dividends, and we achieved that not by decreasing our prices on our almost unchanged range, but changing the packaging, getting the product placement correct and increasing the prices, all in a price sensitive market with massive competition.  So I do have a good idea of pricing in fluctuating markets. Cheap prices do not always mean higher sales.  Perceived value for money drives sales.

 

If you think the majority of the model railway market are price sensitive, tell that to the manufactures who sell out model after model, a lot of the time on pre-order.   How do you know that price isn't a factor in my spending?  I dont have a bottomless pocket, and even if I did, I wouldnt be spending it all on my hobbies.  I put a value on what I will spend and its not always monetary.  Judging by the posts on this forum of what people are buying and pre-ordering, my spend is pretty small compared to some of them.  What I do value is service - and I receive that in abundance with the retailers I deal with, both in person and online.

 

I've used a retailer that a lot of people praise highly on this forum who's prices are competitive, but I found their service abysmal, I had to chase multiple times for updates on my order.  Firstly they had plenty in stock, turned out they had none, but stock would be with in in a couple of days.   This went on for a month or so, same old excuses.  When I eventually received my order, one of the items, supposedly new, was most definitely not.  Should I have been happy to have saved £20 when I was having to chase them every couple of days to keep on top of their broken promises?  Should I have been happy to have had to take time out of my schedule to post the clearly used item back to them because I saved £20?  Oh and I never did get the return postage returned, despite repeated broken promises.   

 

I could have gone to one of my usual retailers, paid £20 more and received what I ordered, new,  in a couple of days.  To me, that is more important than saving money.

 

I could probably have saved £150 or more building my layout by shopping around for the cheapest price, but would I have it to the stage I have it now if it did?  I doubt it.   The value in ordering multiple items from different lines from one retailer and having it all delivered at once is more important that saving money

 

Going back to the subject of Gaugemaster, they are certainly doing something right by charging full RRP as they have been going strong for decades, and they certainly dont need us on a forum telling them to drop their prices in case their sales increase.

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Monkersson said:

1. Whilst I am not an expert on the whole economy, ...

 

2. If you think the majority of the model railway market are price sensitive, tell that to the manufactures who sell out model after model, a lot of the time on pre-order. 

 

3. How do you know that price isn't a factor in my spending?  I dont have a bottomless pocket, and even if I did, I wouldnt be spending it all on my hobbies.  I put a value on what I will spend and its not always monetary.  Judging by the posts on this forum of what people are buying and pre-ordering, my spend is pretty small compared to some of them.  What I do value is service - and I receive that in abundance with the retailers I deal with, both in person and online.

 

4. I've used a retailer that a lot of people praise highly on this forum who's prices are competitive, but I found their service abysmal, I had to chase multiple times for updates on my order.  Firstly they had plenty in stock, turned out they had none, but stock would be with in in a couple of days.   This went on for a month or so, same old excuses.  When I eventually received my order, one of the items, supposedly new, was most definitely not.  Should I have been happy to have saved £20 when I was having to chase them every couple of days to keep on top of their broken promises?  Should I have been happy to have had to take time out of my schedule to post the clearly used item back to them because I saved £20?  Oh and I never did get the return postage returned, despite repeated broken promises.   

 

5. I could have gone to one of my usual retailers, paid £20 more and received what I ordered, new,  in a couple of days.  To me, that is more important than saving money.

 

6. I could probably have saved £150 or more building my layout by shopping around for the cheapest price, but would I have it to the stage I have it now if it did?  I doubt it.   The value in ordering multiple items from different lines from one retailer and having it all delivered at once is more important that saving money

 

7. Going back to the subject of Gaugemaster, they are certainly doing something right by charging full RRP as they have been going strong for decades, and they certainly dont need us on a forum telling them to drop their prices in case their sales increase.

 

 

 

 

1.  Thanks for confirming it, professional status is not always a good guide - a distant cousin is a consultant medic and can't do basic arithmetic never mind maths.

2.  It is not clear if you are referring to companies like Revolution which generally make the number of models based on demand, or other companies such as those owned by Kader who have limited capacity for UK models. In any event we are taking shops not manufactures.  I checked a few 'full RRP' shops for online availability - as expected they have run out of Farish Mk2f TSO, as have nearly everyone, but they had plenty of BSO, FO, RFB left while many discounters have sold out. So if demand exceeds than supply everything sells; if not the least competitive retailers normally have stock longest.

3. In your previous post you said that you could get things cheaper but were not prepared to search. Given that searching on the internet is a trivial excessive it is acceptable to infer that you are price insensitive.

4. I have no ideas which retailer this is but I only order from retailers with an obvious live stock management system, why did you not cancel the order at the first sign of problems?

5. There are plenty of retailers with same day dispatch which discount new stock at, or near, the limit the manufactures set for the first 90 days etc.

6. Unless you have been building your layout for a matter of days then I would not believe ordering different products from different retailers with live stock systems would have had any impact on progress.

7. Going back to my point, unless you know the elasticity of demand you have no idea if Gaugemaster could increase income or profit by selling stuff in store at lower prices than RRP. Basic economic practice would indicate that it is likely. Given that Gaugemaster manufacture's their own products and is a major distributor then they may consider the shop of secondary importance, when I have been most of the staff were doing a lot of stuff, almost none of it related to the retail shop.

 

So going back to the original point about the person travelling to Ford and expecting a really good shopping experience only to be disappointed is something a retailer needs to be aware off, even if they don't intend to do anything. In this case fezza's main response was the pricing, with poor service second. If the experience was - this is a great model shop with good service, but prices could be a little better - then it's an OK retail experience which has some positives. Back in 2019 I was visiting a site investigation near Arundel, not more than 10 min drive from Ford Station, I was not incentivised to go to the shop even though I had a list of things to get and the whole quarter's budget still unspent.

 

Conversely quite a bit of my next quarters' spend will be on Gaugemaster specials (NR Class 73 + HST), or from products they distribute Kato Azuma.         

 

Edited by Bomag
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I am fortunate to live down the road from Gaugemaster and, whilst I know they generally charge full RRP,I have found them to be friendly and helpful and they have a fantastic range of products.  If you have time to kill, changing trains at Ford Station is never a chore.
 

They are also open on Sunday so I will be heading westwards later this morning to get the right* shade of blue paint for my NIR CAF 3000 model and quite possibly some other things.

 

Cheers

 

Darius

 

* or as close as I can find.

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I can never understand how shops (models or otherwise) make a living. 

First you have to buy or rent a shop, pay business rates on it and then stock it. 

Stocking a model shop with just a quarter of a million quids worth of models (that's not much stock today) would cost wholesale more than half of that from the shops coffers. 

Then they have to sell it on and plough back into stock as stock depletes. 

Then there are staff costs and write offs ... and the shopkeeper pays income tax and stamp on any profit he makes. Then of course, you are always reliant on someone actually wanting to buy your stock. 

That to me is a nightmare. If I had the money to invest in a shop and stock, I wouldn't bother ... I'd just salt it away and drag an income from it ... then get an ordinary job working for someone else. 

Some friends I know (we all have well paid jobs), whenever we go into a model shop, they always ask for a discount ...... they wouldn't go into a supermarket and ask for a discount. What makes a model shop fair game? 

Most people forget that turnover is not the same as profit. It may look like the shop is minting it but some are just about covering overheads. 

Worse, when retirement beckons, and the stock has to be reduced, I'll bet they still get asked for further discount.

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It's pointless speculating about GM discounting products that they supply to the trade - it simply will not happen, they know where there main profits lie.

The trade/retail percentages are heavily in favour of the trade, now why, would GM want to upset the majority of their customers ?

fezza mentions Kato Unitrack (as an example) being cheaper from some retail outlets that GM, so is there really an issue with that ? Simply buy from a retailer that offers the discount/cheaper prices & GM make a little bit, the retailer makes a litle bit, the end user saves a little bit - win/win all round.

 

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6 hours ago, Bomag said:

 

1.  Thanks for confirming it, professional status is not always a good guide - a distant cousin is a consultant medic and can't do basic arithmetic never mind maths.

2.  It is not clear if you are referring to companies like Revolution which generally make the number of models based on demand, or other companies such as those owned by Kader who have limited capacity for UK models. In any event we are taking shops not manufactures.  I checked a few 'full RRP' shops for online availability - as expected they have run out of Farish Mk2f TSO, as have nearly everyone, but they had plenty of BSO, FO, RFB left while many discounters have sold out. So if demand exceeds than supply everything sells; if not the least competitive retailers normally have stock longest.

3. In your previous post you said that you could get things cheaper but were not prepared to search. Given that searching on the internet is a trivial excessive it is acceptable to infer that you are price insensitive.

4. I have no ideas which retailer this is but I only order from retailers with an obvious live stock management system, why did you not cancel the order at the first sign of problems?

5. There are plenty of retailers with same day dispatch which discount new stock at, or near, the limit the manufactures set for the first 90 days etc.

6. Unless you have been building your layout for a matter of days then I would not believe ordering different products from different retailers with live stock systems would have had any impact on progress.

7. Going back to my point, unless you know the elasticity of demand you have no idea if Gaugemaster could increase income or profit by selling stuff in store at lower prices than RRP. Basic economic practice would indicate that it is likely. Given that Gaugemaster manufacture's their own products and is a major distributor then they may consider the shop of secondary importance, when I have been most of the staff were doing a lot of stuff, almost none of it related to the retail shop.

 

So going back to the original point about the person travelling to Ford and expecting a really good shopping experience only to be disappointed is something a retailer needs to be aware off, even if they don't intend to do anything. In this case fezza's main response was the pricing, with poor service second. If the experience was - this is a great model shop with good service, but prices could be a little better - then it's an OK retail experience which has some positives. Back in 2019 I was visiting a site investigation near Arundel, not more than 10 min drive from Ford Station, I was not incentivised to go to the shop even though I had a list of things to get and the whole quarter's budget still unspent.

 

Conversely quite a bit of my next quarters' spend will be on Gaugemaster specials (NR Class 73 + HST), or from products they distribute Kato Azuma.         

 

1.   By your reckoning, because your professionally qualified cousin cant do basic arithmetic then that applies to everyone else thats professionally qualified?  Thank you for telling me that I'm rubbish at my job when you do not know me.

2.  It is well known that Farish/Bachmann/Hornby have produced excessive numbers of coaches less common than 2nd class vehicles, it is only obvious that these will still be lying around on shelves of full RRP retailers, selling these off cheap isn't going generate enough profit to allow the staff to retire to the Bahamas.

3.  Again, you do not know me to make such a statement that I am price insensitive.   I am time sensitive, I have a busy life, working, family, (including caring for an elderly relative) and other interests and thus I dont have the time (nor inclination) to spend on the internet searching for cheap items and filling out payment/shipping details - I'd much rather spend that time working on my layout.  I buy from those shops I know and trust to provide a good service, have the goods in stock and ship in good time.  They are not always the cheapest, and they are not always the most expensive.

4.  This shop supposedly had a live stock system, and I tried to cancel on a few occasions only to be met with broken promises.  The threat of taking action against them is what spurred on the eventual delivery.

5. Yes there are plenty of retailers who discount and ship quickly, but as I have said, I dont want to spend my leisure time on the internet filling out online forms.

6.  I have been building my layout for 3 or so years, the reason I like to order the items I have used on it from selected retailers is so I have the items to hand when I get the time, or inclination, to work on my layout, which means I dont have to spend that time searching on the internet to get items at a cheap price and wait a few days for delivery - I may by then not have time to work on my layout for another couple of weeks. 

7. I dont know the elasticity of demand for the model railway market, nor do I know (or care to) Gaugemasters reason for pricing their stock as they do, do you know?  What ever the reasons are, it doesnt seem to be doing them any harm.   There are plenty of shops, large and small who sell at or near RRP, yet all you hear is praise, because they give good service, perceived value for money.

 

Previous posts by other posters have shown a positive, very helpful side to Gaugemaster (which is what I experienced too) , its not all about price.

 

This can be an expensive hobby, but it is only expensive as you want it to be.  Its not the manufacturers nor shops that set your personal budget, its up to the individual to set a realistic budget, based on a multitude of reasons, not all financial.  If you cant have all the latest loco's or coaches etc then adjust your expectations, dont blame retailers for selling at RRP.

 

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If Gaugemaster OR ANY RETAILER  reduced their prices by 5%, there will be people moaning that they didnt drop them 10 %.  Lower prices do not always guarantee more sales

How very very very true --- trust me

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