Exactrail Goes Direct

[warbonnetuk]

With apologies to those who have picked this up from other US forums, Exactrail have annouced that from the beginning of May they will no longer be dealing with distributors and will be selling direct (see below).

 

 

"As of May 1, 2012, ExactRail will no longer offer a dealer discount and will discontinue our dealer network. Cost of production has... increased considerably for ExactRail over the last two years. We have absorbed most of these increases through our margins, however this is not a supportable model for our business. Our conclusion is that we can keep prices reasonable by serving you directly. We believe we can both benefit from having direct interaction.

 

The future of ExactRail is bright with many exciting and innovative new products coming soon. Over the past year we have been busier than ever in new product development, the quality and authenticity of our products will exceed anything that ExactRail has released to date. You have a lot to look forward to from ExactRail.

 

Keep an eye on ExactRail.com and our Facebook page for some exciting upcoming announcements!

 

Happy Railroading"

 

This most probably means that if anyone in the UK wants Exactrail cars in the future we'll be looking at full price (no dealer discount) plus postage, duty and the Post Office's handling fee.

 

Cheers

 

Dan

[Adrian Wintle]

It will be interesting to see how that pans out. I know that, for me, if Exactrail product (N-scale) didn't show up in my local hobby shop I would never know of its existence (which would make it difficult for them to get an order).

 

Adrian

[Glorious NSE]

I know Dan & I have talked in another place - but I think this is awful news for those of us this side of the pond. We're losing the ability to get them from a handful of quality traders where we can get them at somewhat predictable times and costs, it'll pretty much kill the 'impulse buy' end of their sales over here I think.

[trisonic]

It's not that great over here either - I bet it'll all be "pre-orders" only and no stock. I hate that. I'd rather pay $10.00 more per unit.

 

Best, Pete.

[CraigZ]

It's not that great over here either - I bet it'll all be "pre-orders" only and no stock. I hate that. I'd rather pay $10.00 more per unit.

 

Best, Pete.

 

Oh you'll pay $10 more per car all right.

 

When ER first came out, it was direct only. And there was a feeding frenzy when each car hit. It was a bit of a pain to deal with...no preorders accepted. It was first come first serve. Feh.

[TheEngineShed]

Needless to say, if there is a car you've been thinking you'll need, and it is currently in stock, don't wait.

 

I picked up four this afternoon and felt guilty I didn't get a few more...

[J-Lewis]

Ouch! The import duty is going to be a killer. I doubt this will be good news for any of us this side of the pond, and it's especially bad news for the traders.

[steve1]

That's a real pain. I was looking forward to getting one of those 'wagon top' cars in REA markings and had it on pre-order from Model Junction. Now I guess I'm stuffed.

 

steve

[Mike Arnold]

Guys,

 

It may not be bad news for us over this side of the pond. I e-mail Exactrail last week and pointed out that they would increase the cost based on their selling price by nearly 65% when you add on shipping costs, VAT at Customs and the handling charge from Royal Mail or Parceforce. This is the reply I got:

 

Mike,

 

 

Thank you for contacting me. I understand that there are challenges related to International business given our new direction; however, we do believe that we can provide solutions. I am not sure about the specifics of the work that Dan Larson is doing in that regard, but I believe that we will be able to serve you going forward.

 

 

Thank you for your email.

 

 

Best regards,

 

 

Blaine Hadfield

 

 

Vice President, Product

ExactRail, LLC

[Adrian Wintle]

My local store (Credit Valley in Mississauga) is selling off all their Exactrail stock at a discount.

Their justification:

 

As many of you know, ExactRail recently made the following announcement:

'As of May 1, 2012, ExactRail will no longer offer a dealer discount and will discontinue our dealer network. Hobby stores may continue to purchase ExactRail products from ExactRail.com at the standard consumer price.'

 

If Credit Valley Railway were to purchase models from ExactRail and pay to have them shipped to our store, we would have to price the models far above the MSRP. Thus, their suggestion that we order directly from them is beyond any reasonable expectation. (This is our euphemism for saying, Do they think we're nuts?)

 

We believe that Exactrail has manufactured excellent models in the past, so we are naturally disappointed in their sudden announcement. Moreover, in light of this new development we have to take action.

 

One consequence of ExactRail's decision for Credit Valley Railway is that we intend to make room on our shelves for products made by other manufacturers who continue to support their dealers. In order to do so, we will be offering all of our HO and N scale ExactRail stock models at a considerable reduction in price, effective immediately.

[Talltim]

I've noticed a few places having Exactrail sales, which seems a bit wierd for items which are going to become harder to get and will therefore be able to retain their value.

[shortliner]

"Dead stock" taking up room on shelves, maybe? - it might sit there for the next 15 years - better rid of now than waiting for it to maybe go to a "collector" down the line

[Zunnan]

It was good while it lasted, some of the EX cars I have I bought in large numbers which when importing is the best way to do it to mitigate charges, but most have been one or two offs as part of a much larger shipment. The batch production that they do will probably make it more difficult to bring together cars from different runs into one shipment which will, from my perspective, make me think long and hard before I commit anymore. This announcement effectively means I'll look elsewhere to fill the larger gaps, and one off purchases simply won't happen because theres no longer going to be a dealer network where such one offs can be found at a reasonable price. I really don't see the logic in the decision, they aren't just lowering their profile in terms of a store presence here, its seems almost self destructive.

[trisonic]

I agree. Mind you if they change their mind tomorrow they have effectively @#$% their best retailers already...Someone else will fill the gap.

 

Best, Pete.

[Talltim]

Does anyone know if anywhere int he UK is still an ExactRail dealer? I got the impression that they decided to keep dealers (at less good rates) outside the US

[warbonnetuk]

Does anyone know if anywhere int he UK is still an ExactRail dealer? I got the impression that they decided to keep dealers (at less good rates) outside the US

I've got a centre beam and bulkhead flat current on order with LSWR Models

 

Dan

[jjb1970]

Funny how some manufacturers such as Rapido want to try and retain dealer sales rather than selling direct and others are going to direct sales. I buy a lot of models from the US and if you group orders I find that dealer discounts and lower shipping costs by bunching orders offsets the VAT and handling charge added by the Post Office but I suspect that equation completely changes if buying direct.

[Talltim]

Thanks, I've ordered from LSWR before so I'll drop them a line

[Talltim]

Did they ever sort out European dealer/s?

[vaughan45]

Don't think so, as most of the usual UK and European stockists appear to no longer stock their products. Have purchased direct before I moved up to O scale, their shipping by UPS was quick and appears to be a flat rate, so the more freight cars you ordered, the better value for money. Although UPS still charge a handling fee on top of VAT (like most carriers) they notified you by email as soon as the parcel was in the UK so you pay the charges online and not slow down the delivery, unlike Parcelforce who notify you by post and wait until the item has arrived at your local delivery centre.

 

Think part of the problem for dealers was that Exactrail only announced product a short while before it went on sale, so there was little time to gauge possible demand and place the order by the deadline.

[The Bigbee Line]

It's a couple of years since this thread started. I wondered how everyone is doing in relation to exactrail purchases?

 

I found that a subscription to their email flyer keeps me up to date with things. I made a couple of specific purchases; Southern Waffle sided boxcars and Big John hoppers. Plus quite a few other cars at discounted prices. Ordering maybe 6 cars at a time, including some full price items.

The postal service is good and the extra payment for import still doesn't make them to pricey.

 

Overall I am pleased with the way it's gone. I have only purchased what you would call better quality cars: Exactrail, Kadee, Tangent etc. Ofher than changing couplers and some weathering it's all systems go. Oh, maybe add some weight if you want.

 

What is the view of others?

[Adrian Wintle]

It's a couple of years since this thread started. I wondered how everyone is doing in relation to exactrail purchases?

 

I found that a subscription to their email flyer keeps me up to date with things. I made a couple of specific purchases; Southern Waffle sided boxcars and Big John hoppers. Plus quite a few other cars at discounted prices. Ordering maybe 6 cars at a time, including some full price items.

The postal service is good and the extra payment for import still doesn't make them to pricey.

 

Overall I am pleased with the way it's gone. I have only purchased what you would call better quality cars: Exactrail, Kadee, Tangent etc. Ofher than changing couplers and some weathering it's all systems go. Oh, maybe add some weight if you want.

 

What is the view of others?

 

They definitely have some very nice cars, but they also have a few which have some issues/compromises (I model in N). The only ones I have were old stock or used equipment, where I can actually look at the car before buying. I can live with the selection provided by other manufacturers who do support dealers and local hobby shops. 

 

Adrian

[Glorious NSE]

I'd bought quite a few new ones from Model Junction in the period before they changed, i've only bought a couple secondhand (from UK ebay or UK dealers) since, they have removed themselves from the marketplaces I use, and since the change nothing they have made has been enough of a "must have" to have made me consider paying more to ship in small numbers direct.