Mousa Models future production

[jjb1970]

Your reply rather indicates that theses suppliers are "resellers", not manufacturer/retailers, which is what Bill was referring to. Reordering stock and maintaining a "live" ordering website probably takes up a lot of their time, but they may not be tied up actually making anything.

 

No, manufacturers. Re-stock is if they've sold out and whether they will produce a further batch for "off the peg" items. Sometimes they don't, if they intend to they'll generally offer a schedule for their next production or advise you to contact them (potentially it may be that it might have to be a bespoke order, at a higher cost).

[Colin_McLeod]

In the spirit of a new year about to start, and with reference to the title of this thread, what is the future production news from Mousa Models?

[Compound2632]

No, manufacturers. Re-stock is if they've sold out and whether they will produce a further batch for "off the peg" items. Sometimes they don't, if they intend to they'll generally offer a schedule for their next production or advise you to contact them (potentially it may be that it might have to be a bespoke order, at a higher cost).

 

But are these one-man-bands? That's the real difference here. Wind 'em up too far and they'll go off and do something that gets them less grief (especially at the time of life many of them are at) and we'll all be losers. Patience and first-hand interaction with the person you're dealing with are good things too. It's a hobby; it shouldn't be approached in a spirit which is going to give oneself grief either.

[hayfield]

How can it be safer than walking into a shop and handing over cash, presenting a cheque or using a credit card?

 

Online shopping is popular because it is convenient for some, suits the lazy and is often the cheapest option. I increasingly avoid online shopping because purchases have been delivered to the wrong address or claimed to be signed for when left outside (including at incorrect addresses). I have other reasons but those are outside the reason for this discussion.

 

 

Jol

 

I am lucky that I have moved to an area which has a model railway shop, when living in Watford we lost all of our model railway shops, except for one with very limited stock, and mainly relied on taking orders

 

In one way you are correct that we should support our local businesses, but for many who do not but RTR the only option is either buying at shows (if you are lucky enough to be close to one of the big/specialist ones). Or buying on line. The fact is that many of the smaller suppliers rely on either on line and or mail order to exist. So rather than it being the lazy option, for some its the only option and for many businesses it is their preferred method of retailing, or their lifeline mainly due to the lack of retail outlets

 

I do agree many high street outlets are suffering / declining due to internet shopping, but model railway shops had already declined. On the other hand internet deliveries are a lifeline to the aged or infirm, especially where food is concerned

[Steamport Southport]

How can it be safer than walking into a shop and handing over cash, presenting a cheque or using a credit card?

 

Online shopping is popular because it is convenient for some, suits the lazy and is often the cheapest option. I increasingly avoid online shopping because purchases have been delivered to the wrong address or claimed to be signed for when left outside (including at incorrect addresses). I have other reasons but those are outside the reason for this discussion.

 

Cash can be fraudulent/fake. Cheques can bounce. The till operator can make a mistake (like a thread on this forum last week when a shop worker made a mistake and didn't take the money). 

 

I use my card on all major purchases and it's protected for all transactions. I can even use it for buying a pint in Wetherspoons. Where I'm also protected.

 

 

 

Jason

[jjb1970]

But are these one-man-bands? That's the real difference here. Wind 'em up too far and they'll go off and do something that gets them less grief (especially at the time of life many of them are at) and we'll all be losers. Patience and first-hand interaction with the person you're dealing with are good things too. It's a hobby; it shouldn't be approached in a spirit which is going to give oneself grief either.

I agree there is a difference between a small company which is just a single individual and a small company which has multiple employees. The ones I refer to do have multiple employees but in some cases it is in single figures (5 or 6) and they are small outfits. I simply pointed out that some small manufacturers do offer a retail service for the goods they make which is equivalent to that offered by box shifters.

[grahame]

I can even use it for buying a pint in Wetherspoons.

But that isn't purchased on-line, surely? I suspect you would actually need to go in to one of their pubs. I'd like to see Wetherspoon arrange delivery of a pint of draught ale to me at home that I ordered from their website.

 

At least bricks and mortar shops and pubs accept cash (whether it is fake or not), something difficult to do with on-line ordering. And if a cheque is going to bounce it will do so regardless of being used in a shop or sent in payment for an on-line order.

 

G

[Steamport Southport]

That is fine so long as you only want to deal with retailers whose sole function is to stock and sell products. If you want to deal with, mainly, smaller companies whose primary function is to design and manufacture new products then they are not going to meet your expectations because the amount of time they can devote to dealing with sales is a fraction of the total needed to run the business.

 

Is there any other sort of retailer? You provide the goods and we buy it. Simple.

 

Sorry I'm not a charity for impoverished companies. If you advertise that something is available then it should be available within a reasonable time. It doesn't matter whether you are a one man band or Tesco. It's actually illegal under the Trade Descriptions Act to advertise something which is not available.

 

 

Funnily enough yours is one of the better sites in that it's clear about the terms and conditions. It actually has the click button "Terms Of Business" on every page. It seems to be reasonably up to date. It explains about the "availability" as here. http://www.mousa.biz/index.html#new-for-november

 

I wouldn't have a problem using that website.

 

 

 

 

 

Jason

[Steamport Southport]

But that isn't purchased on-line, surely? I suspect you would actually need to go in to one of their pubs. I'd like to see Wetherspoon arrange delivery of a pint of draught ale to me at home that I ordered from their website.

 

At least bricks and mortar shops and pubs accept cash (whether it is fake or not), something difficult to do with on-line ordering. And if a cheque is going to bounce it will do so regardless of being used in a shop or sent in payment for an on-line order.

 

G

 

I mean I'm protected for that purchase. It may be a small item, but it still comes under the protection of my bank card. Walk to the bar, order a pint and swipe. No messing with cash.

 

You'll find more and more people are using cards or their phones for transactions. Even buying something small like a packet of sweets. Cash will be virtually obsolete in ten years time. Not a prediction but fact. The Scandinavian countries don't use cash for anything. Everything is on their phone.

 

 

Jason

[Porcy Mane]

Cash will be virtually obsolete in ten years time. Not a prediction but fact. The Scandinavian countries don't use cash for anything. Everything is on their phone.

 

What about those that don't own/can't afford/have no need/can't get a signal/the networks down etc etc.

 

Remember what happened when the banks tried to abolish cheque books?

 

P

[jjb1970]

Is there any other sort of retailer? You provide the goods and we buy it. Simple.

 

Sorry I'm not a charity for impoverished companies. If you advertise that something is available then it should be available within a reasonable time. It doesn't matter whether you are a one man band or Tesco. It's actually illegal under the Trade Descriptions Act to advertise something which is not available.

 

 

Funnily enough yours is one of the better sites in that it's clear about the terms and conditions. It actually has the click button "Terms Of Business" on every page. It seems to be reasonably up to date. It explains about the "availability" as here. http://www.mousa.biz/index.html#new-for-november

 

I wouldn't have a problem using that website.

 

 

 

 

 

Jason

 

I think this post gets to the heart of many discussions on smaller businesses (and not just model train businesses). The relationship between a seller and a buyer is strictly business, the seller agrees to sell goods or services, the buyer agrees to pay the agreed price. That is where it begins and ends. I think it is nice to be on good terms with customers or suppliers but ultimately a buyer isn't buying a friend no more than I'd expect special service from a supplier just because they're mates.

 

This isn't intended for the OP of this thread, but if somebody is an amateur making a few extras to fund their own hobby and does business on those terms then that is one thing, if a company presents itself as a business and sells its wares via a website or old style catalogue (or at trade shows) then they should be held to the same standards as any other business. I wouldn't expect any business to go beyond what is normal (unless they promote themselves on that basis), equally I wouldn't expect anything less. I think the reason a lot of feelings go south when it comes to small traders and businesses is because people mix social and business sentiment.

 

This may sound a bit blunt but I expect the same level of service from a small outfit selling low numbers of specialised goods as I would if buying an equivalent product made by a global mega-corp and sold via an on-line box shifter. That doesn't necessarily mean next day service or mega discounts but it does mean professional service meeting whatever has been stated in terms of product description and delivery. 

[Steamport Southport]

What about those that don't own/can't afford/have no need/can't get a signal/the networks down etc etc.

 

Remember what happened when the banks tried to abolish cheque books?

 

P

 

Unfortunately it's the way the world is going whether good or bad. Have you seen a student on a night out or doing their shopping. Most of them don't carry cash. They use their swipe cards for everything. I work in a charity shop and even then the vast majority of customers use cards.

 

Getting a bus or train? They use their phone or local travel card (Oyster/Walrus/whatever it is in your area). The rest are usually pensioners/disabled with their cards. It's only a few people like me that pay with cash and then it's got to be the correct amount as the bus drivers refuse to take notes.

 

I'm in my forties and reckon that my generation is probably the last that uses cash and even cheques on a regular basis.

 

 

Talking of cheques, when was the last time anyone used one for something that wasn't hobby related? Apart from a few model railway manufacturers ​I haven't used one for anything else for well over twenty years. If it wasn't for those manufacturers then I doubt I would even need one.

 

 

 

 

Jason

[barrowroad]

I mean I'm protected for that purchase. It may be a small item, but it still comes under the protection of my bank card. Walk to the bar, order a pint and swipe. No messing with cash.

 

You'll find more and more people are using cards or their phones for transactions. Even buying something small like a packet of sweets. Cash will be virtually obsolete in ten years time. Not a prediction but fact. The Scandinavian countries don't use cash for anything. Everything is on their phone.

 

 

Jason

 Not when I was there in the summer.

[PaulCheffus]

Cash will be virtually obsolete in ten years time. Not a prediction but fact.

Hi

 

When I did my degree twenty years ago one of the students researched the cashless society and it was claimed then it would happen within ten years. I'm still waiting.

 

I pay my credit card bill every month with a cheque.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

Edited December 30, 2017 by PaulCheffus

[Bucoops]

Unfortunately it's the way the world is going whether good or bad. Have you seen a student on a night out or doing their shopping. Most of them don't carry cash. They use their swipe cards for everything. I work in a charity shop and even then the vast majority of customers use cards.

 

Getting a bus or train? They use their phone or local travel card (Oyster/Walrus/whatever it is in your area). The rest are usually pensioners/disabled with their cards. It's only a few people like me that pay with cash and then it's got to be the correct amount as the bus drivers refuse to take notes.

 

I'm in my forties and reckon that my generation is probably the last that uses cash and even cheques on a regular basis.

 

 

Talking of cheques, when was the last time anyone used one for something that wasn't hobby related? Apart from a few model railway manufacturers ​I haven't used one for anything else for well over twenty years. If it wasn't for those manufacturers then I doubt I would even need one.

 

 

 

 

Jason

 

I'm just 40 and tend to use about 6-8 cheques a year. Not many but still enough to need a cheque book. Ground rent payments for example they only accept it as a cheque.

[Bucoops]

Hi

 

When I did my degree twenty years ago one of the students researched the cashless society and it was claimed then it would happen within ten years. I'm still waiting.

 

I pay my credit card bill every month with a cheque.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

 

When I did my degree it was a cashless society - we'd all spent it on copious quantities of beer.

[Compound2632]

This may sound a bit blunt but I expect the same level of service from a small outfit selling low numbers of specialised goods as I would if buying an equivalent product made by a global mega-corp and sold via an on-line box shifter. That doesn't necessarily mean next day service or mega discounts but it does mean professional service meeting whatever has been stated in terms of product description and delivery. 

 

One can expect all sorts of things. I expect that in the moderately near future Bill's LNWR D33 covered goods wagon will be available; I'm confident he will have noted that the doors on the non-brake/non-roof door side are narrower than those on the brake/roof door side. Then I trust that in the fullness of time the various Midland covered goods wagons and cattle wagons will appear, noting that none of these duplicate vehicles in the Slater's range, which, we are led to believe, may soon also be available once more. The latter might undermine the feasibility of Bill's proposed D342 coke wagon and D390 10 ton brake van and perhaps take away from future sales of the already available D299 open wagon - but happily for Bill, I've already bought my dozen of those!

 

My expectations make me happy.

[Porcy Mane]

Unfortunately it's the way the world is going whether good or bad. Have you seen a student on a night out or doing their shopping. Most of them don't carry cash. They use their swipe cards for everything. I work in a charity shop and even then the vast majority of customers use cards.

 

You may be right but nobody knows where technology will take us in ten years time. I bet the Swiss watch industry would have liked such a crystal ball as it may have prevented them spending a fortune in re-inventing itself. I remember watching Tomorrow's World in the late 1960's and 70's and been shown how we would be living in the future but most of those inventions showcased thereon slowly and sometimes spectacularly fell into obscurity.

 

Living as I do in a university town I see students on an almost daily basis using swipe cards (or their phones) to make purchases. I also witness their panic attacks when the technology (or their bank balance) fails them. This usually results in a frantic phone call to their parents or/and an embarrassing request asking if they can call back and collect their shopping later after they have been to the bank. The three branches of the local Tesco is a good places to see this.

 

I suppose charity shops qualifying for such reduced High Street rents and rates they can easily afford the transaction fees charged by the card handling company?

 

 

 

Getting a bus or train? They use their phone or local travel card (Oyster/Walrus/whatever it is in your area). The rest are usually pensioners/disabled with their cards.

 

Due to meds I haven't been allowed to drive for almost fifteen years so I use public transport again on a virtually daily basis. Most card users in my area are those that use pre-paid tickets or over sixties using their free transport passes and I've seen these fail. Only last week a students electronic pay method failed. She was at the front of the bus passenger queue and a lengthy delay would have ensued as she remonstrated with the driver who refused to let her board without payment. I ended up paying her bl**dy fare (cash) just so we could all continue our journey.

 

I have also been on a bus when the ticket/payment machine has failed and despite multiple attempts at re-booting the machine. It left the driver only able to deal in cash. I leave it to your imagination regarding the resulting chaos that ensued.

 

Strangely where I live it's the tech savvy japanese students that predominantly use cash. The now retired Bursar of their college explained they are persuaded to do so as it helps them get use to the currency and interact with their "hosts" thus honing their language skills.

 

On another level a mate who sits on a public transport consultative committee (also on RMweb) highlighted a major problem with electronic card payment on the supposed integrated transport system.  In the NE, the different Metro/rail/bus/coach operators cannot agree on a standard fare system or a standard card payment system that would work across the board. It's not that the technology doesn't exist. It's just that there is disagreement between operators as to how to implement it. The only place it works well is in the high population, dense service areas. Once you start to move a few miles out of the major conurbations the system/integration stars to break down.

 

 

Talking of cheques, when was the last time anyone used one for something that wasn't hobby related? Apart from a few model railway manufacturers ​I haven't used one for anything else for well over twenty years. If it wasn't for those manufacturers then I doubt I would even need one.

 

I know of a number of small and large businesses that still deal with cash cheque only.

 

Locally I trade with a number of business that will only accept cash or cheque. One is the local window cleaner and I still get my milk delivered (in recyclable glass bottles). Both of these will not consider electronic payment.

It's the thousands of small businesses like these up and down the land that refused to accept the abolition of the cheque book. When they work to very tight margins the additional handling fees (including VAT) that cards and electronic payments accrue could make the difference to that business making a profit or not.

 

Myself: I think we should return to these:

 

 

 

P

Edited December 30, 2017 by Porcy Mane

[chris p bacon]

 Myself: I think we should return to these:

 

luncheonVoucher.jpg

 

Luncheon-Voucher-Advert-1963-sm.jpg

 

P

 

Sylvia Payne would be happy to accept. . . 

[MarkC]

Sylvia Payne would be happy to accept. . . 

I fancy that some of our younger members may not get the reference...

 

So...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_Payne

[APOLLO]

In the spirit of a new year about to start, and with reference to the title of this thread, what is the future production news from Mousa Models?

 

One of these.

 

Brit15

[Porcy Mane]

I suppose in these modern times should we be desperate to withdraw cash we could always use a Manchester Credit Card.

 

 

P

Edited December 30, 2017 by Porcy Mane

[billbedford]

In the spirit of a new year about to start, and with reference to the title of this thread, what is the future production news from Mousa Models?

 

 

Regular readers and customers will know that this has been covered in another thread.

[Porcy Mane]

Regular readers and customers will know that this has been covered in another thread.

 

Then why start this one Bill?  The foot analogy comes to mind.

Edited December 30, 2017 by Porcy Mane

[chris p bacon]

Regular readers and customers will know that this has been covered in another thread.

 

And for those that would have liked a link to it 

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/117049-mousa-models-wagon-kits/

 

Post 12 is probably the most relevant.

 

 

Regular readers and customers....this always has a hint of "Local suppliers for Local people...we'll have none of your sort round here"