Hattons Model Railways of Widnes (formerly Liverpool).

[owentherail]

I wish they would stop using yodel, a box was left on by door step in heavy rail and it was soaked through, lucky there price list mag protected the main item inside the box.

[rob D2]

Yes yodel are to deliveries what Austin rover were to cars

[APOLLO]

My Austin Montego 1.6HL never let the rain in !!!!!!!!!!!

 

Never broke down either, had it 3 years, 1986 - 89, decent car, not the best, not the worst.

 

Brit15

[kernowtim]

My Austin Montego 1.6HL never let the rain in !!!!!!!!!!!

 

Never broke down either, had it 3 years, 1986 - 89, decent car, not the best, not the worst.

 

Brit15

probably did, but you didnt notice as it soon drained out through the rust holes in the floor ;-)

[Horsetan]

Yer they seem to offer very little money for second hand locos,but then have same ones in shop for over "top" prices...

I visited Hattons for the first time today. Probably going to be my last visit. It seems to be half RTR shop, half call-centre. Being at what seems to be the rough end of Wavertree probably doesn't help, either.

 

Some of the new stuff they have looks reasonably priced. The secondhand cabinets seem to be packed with stuff that's seen better days, and the pricing policy is simply put on three basic levels: small stock: £10, medium-sized: £15, and large: £20 (which included some very tired early Triang Princesses).

 

 

"Cash Today" (just not very much of it).

Edited August 4, 2015 by Horsetan

[Horsetan]

Clearly you are not local to the area. Their shop is situated in the better part of Wavertree, ....

That's the *better* part!??? 

Edited August 5, 2015 by Horsetan

[Metr0Land]

Order placed yester 14:20 for Gaugemaster Conroller - arrived here 13:20 today via Yodel (who I have to say are very good here).  Pleased with service from both, and the item.

[Hroth]

That's the *better* part!??? 

 

On the occasions when I've visited the shop by car, I've found it appropriate to leave a passenger in the car casually holding a camera with a telephoto lens.  Seems to work......

 

In the past, I've worked in parts of Liverpool where the environs were more akin to a war zone.  Hattons location otoh is almost gentrified!

[Bernard Lamb]

Back around 1980 I was working in Liverpool.

My colleague went into the local corner shop and asked for some cigarettes.

You are not from round here are you enquired the shop keeper.

My colleague had a strong Irish accent so was not that much out of place.

How do you know? He inquired.

Any local would know that we would be done over if we sold cigarettes was the reply.

Had an order from Hattons last week. Ordered Sunday delivered Tuesday.

Bernard

[melmerby]

That's the *better* part!??? 

As part of my job, in the 1970s I stayed for some weeks in that area of Liverpool (Ullet Road?) in a hotel which had formerly been a Merchants house.

 

Parked my car in the hotel car-park. It was broken into overnight, Nothing was taken but I told the Hotel owner.

"Isn't it alarmed?" He asked. It wasn't, as where I lived (Birmingham) not many people had car alarms.

"Is it a Ford?" He asked again, It was. "Ah, everyone around here knows how to break into Fords because of Halewood"

 

"Get it alarmed and park it under that floodlight in the car park." (I wondered why this extremely bright light was on all night!)

 

Keith

Edited August 12, 2015 by melmerby

[Horsetan]

.....In the past, I've worked in parts of Liverpool where the environs were more akin to a war zone.  Hattons location otoh is almost gentrified!

 

On the 86 bus to Hattons, I passed by two streets of condemned / boarded-up houses. Think this was near to Toxteth Park Cemetery.

[Hroth]

On the 86 bus to Hattons, I passed by two streets of condemned / boarded-up houses. Think this was near to Toxteth Park Cemetery.

Been once on the bus. Smithdown Road is a depressing journey - with the train and the bus it cost just as much as going by car through the tunnel and back, and using the car its easier to get things home, once you've lugged your mountain of purchases from the shop to the car....

 

Of course, 4 quid post is cheaper than either, but you don't get to browse!

 

Ordered some Bachmann weathered conflats, a weathered 23 and some 8 pin decoders over the weekend. Royal Mail delivered this morning.  Quick enough for me!

[Horsetan]

Been once on the bus. Smithdown Road is a depressing journey - with the train and the bus it cost just as much as going by car....

 

I didn't exactly have a choice. I represented a client in Liverpool that day so had to travel up from Euston. The job itself took no more than 30 minutes, after which I had half a day to kill because the prebooked train back to London didn't go until after 6.30pm.

 

Now that I look back on the visit, the place seems more a mix of retail shop, call-centre, and Cash Converters. The staff are very very hard-nosed when it comes to trade-ins, and the impression I got was that the female staff on duty that day were noticeably more clued-up about models than their male colleagues.

[rob D2]

[Horsetan]

A, A, A, A....Cah'm down, etc.

[ParkeNd]

I don't intend to sell any of my locos but I suspect that Hattons are no more hard nosed about secondhand prices than the camera industry - where the products have more perceived value anyway. A typical mid priced camera body retailing at £1000 new would be about £750 selling secondhand from a shop - who would have paid 1/3 of that to the owner - say £250.

Thus, although selling mint discontinued used locos for virtually new prices, then for Hattons to pay even £30 for a used loco doesn't seem out of line. Not offering to buy a re-numbered or amateur weathered loco at all would even seem realistic. Who really would honestly expect Hattons to give them £75 or £80 for a loco that was £100 new?

Edited August 14, 2015 by ParkeNd

[TheSignalEngineer]

That's the *better* part!??? 

My daughter lived just by there when she was a student. One day a burglar was leaving the house opposite with a video player. The local dealer in mind altering substances raced up, trapped him and called the local constable. He kept the street relatively crime-free as he didn't want any outside plod to get drawn in.

[Horsetan]

..... Who really would honestly expect Hattons to give them £75 or £80 for a loco that was £100 new?

You'd be surprised....

[ParkeNd]

You'd be surprised....

No I wouldn't be surprised because I see all the complaints from disappointed folk. But I don't understand the logic of how people get to the point of expecting more for what in reality is a chassis with some value - but a plastic body whose value considered in real terms is no more than a few pence. Especially in a credit card driven environment where a brand new one is obtainable for a mere £100.

Edited August 14, 2015 by ParkeNd

[rob D2]

Real terms ? Well that's like saying my car should be valued at the cost of sheet metal. Not really the same.

 

Simply, if I buy a loco for £100 and hattons will sell it SH for 85 I'd expect 60 for it.

 

But that my perception of what mark up is fair, they may have a different view

[40F]

You'd be surprised....

 

A fair few people as has been noted earlier in this post. It ain`t been out of the box/used honest guv is the most heard phrase when purchasing model railway equipment ... often said when looking at a Mainline Royal Scot that has ben to America and back several times.    

Edited August 14, 2015 by 40F

[ParkeNd]

Real terms ? Well that's like saying my car should be valued at the cost of sheet metal. Not really the same.

Simply, if I buy a loco for £100 and hattons will sell it SH for 85 I'd expect 60 for it.

But that my perception of what mark up is fair, they may have a different view

The amount of labour that has gone into a steel car body is considerable - a plastic train body sells at train shows for about £10 on the Dapol or Bachmann stand.

 

I can't argue that you would expect £60 for a loco that would sell for £85 secondhand. If you say that your expectation is to get 70% of the shops selling price for it then that must be what you think. As a private sale you would be in the ballpark I expect - but as a sale to a shop without being a part exchange you would need to put it to the test.

[rob D2]

Yeah, I did they fell short.

That's fine, I was only trying to avoid selling individual stuff in eBay , but I did in the end.

[andyman7]

Real terms ? Well that's like saying my car should be valued at the cost of sheet metal. Not really the same.

Simply, if I buy a loco for £100 and hattons will sell it SH for 85 I'd expect 60 for it.

But that my perception of what mark up is fair, they may have a different view

You are of course entitled to your view, but bear in mind that Hattons will need to pay VAT on the markup so you seem to be expecting them to sell your goods at a net profit of £20. You're assuming it will sell straight away and not sit on their shelves for a few weeks or months.

If you want £60 you need to list it on ebay for £80 or so, hope it sells and take all the risk and hassle of the sale (including the possibility of someone returning it because they're not happy). Once ebay and PayPal take their slice you'll have earned your £60.

If however you just want to hand it over, get your cash and walk away having dumped the whole hassle of selling it on someone else, then really, you shouldn't be expecting more than £40. It's not profiteering, it's called business!

Edited August 15, 2015 by andyman7

[Derekstuart]

Andy,

 

are you sure on the VAT rule? I am sure there is an exemption for second hand items that have been purchased from a non-vat source (ie a private individual). It might only apply to certain situations. I will check on that.