Possible price increases?

[Steamport Southport]

1 hour ago, TomScrut said:

 

I don't think anyone thinks they deliberately annoy customers, but some do seem to do it by accident a fair bit!

 

 

I don't think any of the price increases we get are directly to do with greed as such, but increasing prices is an easy plaster to place over underlying issues in my opinion, and when the competition are acting differently is not a long term solution. All the manufacturers have their different funding circumstances, objectives, overheads etc. meaning it's not a completely level playing field but given the variation in prices we see across manufacturers (Dapol Class 68 for £128 anyone?) does suggest to me that there could be problems that are better off being addressed than just going "put the prices up". If I was working at Hornby, Bachmann or Heljan I'd be asking the question of "why are (in general) Dapol and Accurascale so much cheaper than us, how do they do it?".

 

There will be some legitimate reasons that could be unavoidable for any given company, but I expect there are also changes that could be made within companies to gain margin back without having to put prices up. I expect this is already been looked at by those companies, but the responses won't happen overnight.

 

It is also very easy for me to sit here on my phone and write this. Far more difficult to actually practice what I am preaching!

 

Are the "new boys" vastly cheaper than the "big boys" though?

 

I do think people try and find extreme examples and quote those prices such as limited edition Purple WCs as being typical prices. They aren't typical, any fool knows that Hornby and Bachmann models are discounted by 10 to 15% and will usually be heavily discounted if you wait a few weeks and shop around.

 

The problem I always see is people always look at RRP on the established manufacturers website and quote that price. Apart from a few must have items I don't think I've paid RRP on ordinary items for decades. Even then it's usually only stuff like magazines that are RRP.

 

Using state of the art Panniers as an example. The Rapido 16XX costs £149 as does the new 15XX, whilst the Bachmann 94XX is about £130 if you can find them. The RRP for the 64XX is £139 and can be found for much less. Currently about £110 in a few places.

 

Yet Bachmann are always accused of being too expensive.

 

In other words - you can twist facts to fit whatever agenda you have and I'm afraid quite a few do have an agenda of knocking what they see is the "establishment" of Hornby and Bachmann.

 

The new boys need Hornby and Bachmann to be successful* much more than the other way around. Why some seem to have a desire for them to fail is extremely strange. Be careful what you wish for.

 

 

*For example. Very nice Manor, but who makes all the suitable coaches? Yep. Hornby and Bachmann. 

 

 

 

Jason

[TomScrut]

1 minute ago, Steamport Southport said:

They aren't typical, any fool knows that Hornby and Bachmann models are discounted by 10 to 15% and will usually be heavily discounted if you wait a few weeks and shop around.

 

I agree, the people on Facebook that were complaining about Bachmanns £150 DBSO rather than their £128 DBSO annoyed me (still the same price as a Dapol 68 mind you, which is probably the best value diesel loco on the market at the moment). What you can buy them at is the important metric.

 

Howeve, I think it's only fair to compare newly arrived prices (e.g. Hornby minus 10%, Bachmann minus 15%, Accurascale minus 0%, Dapol minus 10% if I recall correctly) because in some cases if you don't buy when the arrive, you won't get one. Most cases this isn't true but it's the closest to apples and apples we will get I think. So a £170 AS class 37 vs a £205 Bachmann one for example.

 

4 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

I'm afraid quite a few do have an agenda of knocking what they see is the "establishment" of Hornby and Bachmann.

 

I completely agree here. On a similar note pretty much all the manufacturers have their fanboys.

 

5 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

The new boys need Hornby and Bachmann to be successful* much more than the other way around. Why some seem to have a desire for them to fail is extremely strange. Be careful what you wish for.

 

Yes, they have a lot of the stock for the locos to haul, especially steam era stuff. Present day freight however (such as my layout) my Hornby and Bachmann locos probably depend on Dapol and Accurascale than they do on themselves. But I do agree with what you're saying. Especially in the fact that only Hornby make entry level train sets which could be a big part in giving the industry customers in years to come.

 

I aren't hoping for anyone to fail, competition is good for the consumer. From my perspective the question is more whether they need to be adapting to the present environment. One example, is Hornby's alleged desire to be a one stop shop for anything model rail related actually doing them favours or harm? Does the rolling stock side of the business prop other parts of it up (forgetting the other brands which is a whole other dynamic altogether)?