Hornby announce RRP reductions on some forthcoming rolling stock items

[298]

I wonder if there is more to follow in terms of RRP cuts. There are not many people willing to pay £130 for a locomotive and nearly £50 for Gresley etc!! Glad to see some more sensible pricing around some of the rolling stock. I might well consider some fish vans now instead of building further kits.

 

I want to pay a good price for a quality item- if the RRP of a model is based on the production cost then you ought to expect to pay that much for a finely detailed and finished Gresley coach, as opposed to thinking it ought to be less than £20 like the new basic Mk1 or a 35yr old Airfix moulding in a simpler livery. A lack of progression in real-term pricing won't ecourage manufacturers to up their game, if £20 is the percieved limit for a coach then we'd be stuck with what was being churned out 30 years ago, and there are plenty of those available secondhand without wasting valuable materials or production slots.

 

I've not looked through every post, but is there a reason from Hornby as to why the RRP's have been reduced...? Fair enough if production costs have been reduced, but if it means the trade price has stayed the same, then it's going to hit the smaller retailers who sell at RRP in order to maintain a business. It won't affect the box shifters, as they heavily discount stock anyway.

[The Stationmaster]

I want to pay a good price for a quality item- if the RRP of a model is based on the production cost then you ought to expect to pay that much for a finely detailed and finished Gresley coach, as opposed to thinking it ought to be less than £20 like the new basic Mk1 or a 35yr old Airfix moulding in a simpler livery. A lack of progression in real-term pricing won't ecourage manufacturers to up their game, if £20 is the percieved limit for a coach then we'd be stuck with what was being churned out 30 years ago, and there are plenty of those available secondhand without wasting valuable materials or production slots.

 

I've not looked through every post, but is there a reason from Hornby as to why the RRP's have been reduced...? Fair enough if production costs have been reduced, but if it means the trade price has stayed the same, then it's going to hit the smaller retailers who sell at RRP in order to maintain a business. It won't affect the box shifters, as they heavily discount stock anyway.

Wholly agree with your first para.

 

As far as the question in yours second is concerned I would suggest that Kernow gave us the answer as they have reduced their retail price and - as noted by someone in an earlier post - have stated this is a consequence of Hornby reducing the price to them.

[coachmann]

The LMS 4-weel CCT van with toplight windows isn't the one I've seen on another website where a member has photographed forthcoming models at an exhibition. That model has outside steel strapping and looks to be a very different animal. Is Hornby producing two different CCT's?

[rembrow]

Spoke to my local model shop today, a Hornby retailer for nearly 30 years, about these price changes and they had heard nothing from Hornby direct about it. They said that this is not unusual, as Hornby has very poor communication with its retail customers and previous rrp price changes that have occurred over several years, outside of the initial catalogue pricing each year, have not been advised to retailers by Hornby. In his experience, the normal method of him getting these is when he receives an invoice for delivered goods and checks the wholesale price, of course by then he may have undercharged or overcharged the early buyers. He intends to check this out with the Hornby sales rep. So it seems that changes in the Hornby management structure, have yet to deliver improvements in their sales communication to the smaller customers. Shame, I'd hoped that would be one of the first of their priorities after the debacles with the 2 BIL and 72xx releases earlier this year.

[Legend]

In fairness the announcement was only last week. Probably he'd get informed when the rep visited, although I have heard from another retailer that Hornby don't seem to tell them much. hopefully the new management will address these inconsistencies.

[Fat Controller]

The LMS 4-weel CCT van with toplight windows isn't the one I've seen on another website where a member has photographed forthcoming models at an exhibition. That model has outside steel strapping and looks to be a very different animal. Is Hornby producing two different CCT's?

They've done this for both the Insulfish and the CCT; the prototype photos are different to the prototypes the models represent.

[Mike at C&M]

Spoke to my local model shop today, a Hornby retailer for nearly 30 years, about these price changes and they had heard nothing from Hornby direct about it. They said that this is not unusual, as Hornby has very poor communication with its retail customers and previous rrp price changes that have occurred over several years, outside of the initial catalogue pricing each year, have not been advised to retailers by Hornby. In his experience, the normal method of him getting these is when he receives an invoice for delivered goods and checks the wholesale price, of course by then he may have undercharged or overcharged the early buyers. He intends to check this out with the Hornby sales rep. So it seems that changes in the Hornby management structure, have yet to deliver improvements in their sales communication to the smaller customers. Shame, I'd hoped that would be one of the first of their priorities after the debacles with the 2 BIL and 72xx releases earlier this year.

From time to time, we receive an e-mail from Hornby that is obviously a circular for all traders for whom they have an e-mail address. Usually, this just contains an updated set of order forms, should you wish to look through them in detail for further information.

 

However, this last e-mail clearly stated the amended prices in bold and colourful print on the 1st page. It might be worth your local retailer getting the rep. to make sure that he receives this e-mail circular direct from Margate.