Web Only Model shops can enhance the hobby

[vintagemodeller]

Hi there

 

This all started because of a thread going on in one of the other Forums which Google had directed me to. The topic concerned a retailer with an online presence who it was alleged was selling Bachmann without having a bricks and mortar shop and quite rightly Bachmann reacted by informing people through their website that items sold by this concern would have their warranty security rescinded. What did show up, however was the level at which the model railway world, you in other words mistrust web based retail outlets, which in turn possibly goes a long way to explaining why my business is taking longer than I'd hoped to take off  (I use this term advisedly as you will see later!) 

 

Like many modellers I feel that what might be referred to as the hardware of the hobby, the track locomotives rolling stock and operational electronics such as controllers and point motors should and must remain the prerogative of the local Bricks and Mortar model shops to sell and I firmly believe as a modeller that it is our duty to support a local retailer in preference to the likes of the Hattons and Gaugemasters of this world most of the local shops will by now have an on line presence so if you don't have a retailer in your immediate locality use your nearest.

 

I firmly believe too that with the multitude of lines there are to enhance layouts scenically or the multitude of switches, plugs connectors plus the tools needed to put models together there is room for shops such as mine which have a purely on line presence for instance in my case I specialise in N Gauge working to 2mm scale  for ease of measurement. My specific USP is to provide various scenic items such as models from which N Gauge modellers cam create cameos and scenes using things like road vehicles, tents, and caravans we are also working on a range of coastal vessels such as the Thames Sailing Barges, Clyde Puffers, Paddle Wheeler's such as Medway Queen and Waverley and also ferries such as the small inter island ferries of Cal Mac (Caledonian Mac Braynes) and river ferries such the chain ferry from Torpoint to Saltash on the Tamar. all models are supplied ready made. In addition to the ships  I have found a range of smaller resin and plastic aircraft such as the Piper cub, Cessna 172 Cessna 310 and the Dragon Rapide together with the sort of Airliners that would have been seen at any small provincial airport in the 50's and 60's such as the C 47 Dakota, Douglas DC4-DC7 (aka the DC Seven Seas) Vickers Viscount and finally the Trident Heron and Dove, all are to 1:144th scale so again are ideally suited for use on N gauge models In addition I have found both the aircraft that formed the Channel Air Bridge in the 50's and all three of the helicopters used by the RAF for Air Sea Rescue  and Mountain Rescue  namely the Whirlwind Wessex and Sea king  I also provide a range of transport decals to give the aircraft a feel of the 1950's and 60's and provide a bespoke vehicle construction and alteration service.

 

It is in the provision of services such as the ones I offer, and that help back up the local Bricks and Mortar models shops where we the web based side of the industry can help, services that people may wish to avail themselves of but that are outside the remit of basic modelling and therefore not needing the benefit of close proximity for advice  or ease of service    

[Andy Y]

in other words mistrust web based retail outlets, which in turn possibly goes a long way to explaining why my business is taking longer than I'd hoped to take off

From our conversation yesterday I know you're concerned how web-only enterprises are viewed but I think there's a justifiable case where the products are niche (rather than just being an RTR retailer) and better supplied direct rather than through any distribution channel. There is an onus on the business though in these cases to promote their website beyond merely being on the 'net and to get some form of reference or validation from buyers hence my invitation to raise awareness of the range.

 

Good clear images of the end product and even some 'how-to' guides can increase confidence levels of potential buyers as well as making sure the site is well designed and easy to use and purchase rather than just being an online catalogue. Some great suppliers are very poor in this respect but there again they're not IT pros.

[Phil Parker]

There is a wealth of research and advice available to anyone who wants to build trust in a web only business. Try Jacob Neilsen's website useit.com and look under articles for lots on the subject based on testing with real users.

 

Building trust is the responsibility of the site owner and no one else. There are plenty of dodgy web only businesses out there after all!

 

The simple way of doing this is to give the visitor all the information they require in a way that meets their expectations. As Andy says, good photos are essential for a start.

 

This is something everyone can gain from. Back in the days when I taught this stuff, I explained that all the get rich quick schemes for eBay had you looking for badly described items with no or terrible photos. You buy these at the last minute for peanuts, since no one else wants them, and then re-sell with a proper, informative listing and you WILL make a profit.

 

One day, a lady at the back of the group said her husband did this and in the last year had earned enough to take the family on holiday. To Australia.

 

On the web, clarity pays.

[Accurascale Fran]

 

Good clear images of the end product and even some 'how-to' guides can increase confidence levels of potential buyers as well as making sure the site is well designed and easy to use and purchase rather than just being an online catalogue. Some great suppliers are very poor in this respect but there again they're not IT pros.

 

This would be a key way of increasing your 'Search Engine Optimisation' (SEO) levels to help with your google ranking, surely something very important if a web only enterprise. Google is looking at more regularly updated content driven websites to push up the rankings, so if you can have a regular 'how to' blog and do some video content it will really help people find you on the web. 

 

I usually charge a few quid for such info, you can have it for free.   

[peter220950]

What did show up, however was the level at which the model railway world, you in other words mistrust web based retail outlets, which in turn possibly goes a long way to explaining why my business is taking longer than I'd hoped to take off   

 

I don't think this is necessarily true, on the case in point the problem was not that it was an on-line retailer, it was that what was offered raised concerns that it was either an ill conceived business model or a scam, either way putting customers at risk. Like many other modellers I purchase a large proportion of items on-line, often with shops with no retail base. As long as I can ascertain some substance, or security, I am happy to do so.

 

If goods are paid for by Paypal, or there is some means of establishing feedback on the seller as in the case of Ebay, I don't have a problem, even if the seller is in China or Russia.

 

The only time mistrust comes into it is when goods or services are offered that it can be easily demonstrated are at an unrealistically low price, are generally not available through other outlets, and are being sold by someone who doesn't appear to have any compliance with statutory legal requirements.

 

I don't think, therefore, it's going 'a long way' to explaining why your business isn't taking off, I would look more at marketing and advertising, exposure in relevant scale magazines, and the visibility of your on-line presence etc. Whatever you 'hoped' in terms of time taken to become established was probably optimistic, successful businesses are rarely formed on the basis of 'hope'..

 

I don't model N gauge, so can't pretend to be an expert, however, taking as an example your comment about having found a range of 1/144 resin model kits for aircraft, is it not possible that your potential customers  will do exactly the same and cut out the middleman?

 

If it's the range from F-rsin, it took me 2 minutes to find the website, establish who they are, where they are based, and that they have Paypal facility, if it's not there's someone else selling similar products on-line who is more visible than you. If I were in the market for such things I would be quite happy and able to buy from them in a matter of moments, so are you selling something that an established on-line presence is also selling, and could this be why customers are not helping the business to take off?

 

The biggest problem with on-line retailing is that if people can't see your shop they aren't going to spend money with you, it's not that they distrust the on-line shop, they probably don't know it's there.

[Catkins]

In my mind, a business HAS to be visible to be viable.

I drive an un-liveried vehicle, and no-one knows who I work for, or what I'm delivering*

A bricks and mortar shop has a presence, so does any business that advertises itself, be it in the relevant publications, on the respective web forums, or with an eye catching livery on the side of a vehicle.

 

If your business doesn't seem to be taking off as well as you had hoped, why don't you get permission to have your business name as a signature on here?

 

 

*I stopped at Bardney station museum in August 2012, and the vehicle I was driving had my employers name on the side, and the owners of the station museum say it, and asked me about the company and products. Being visible works.

[Tricky-CRS]

This is an interesting thread, I am finding it still very difficult to build a N Gauge internet business. I started in 2009 and I am still struggling even though I have done over 50 model railway expos, advertised in the NGS journal for 4 years, advertise on her and the NGforum. I have advertised in BRM, Model Rail, Hornby and Railway Modeller and business is still very slow even though I have over 400 products visible at any point in time. 

 

Scenic items do not sell well as most are only interested in RTR rolling stock at best, which I do not stock.

[peter220950]

 

Scenic items do not sell well as most are only interested in RTR rolling stock at best, which I do not stock.

 

Sorry, have I misunderstood your post? You don't stock what most people are interested in and you do stock quite a lot of things that don't sell well?

 

If that is what you are saying could there be a relatively simple answer to why you might be finding it difficult to build the business?

[Tricky-CRS]

My point is that it is difficult with a large range so very hard with a small one.

[Bernard Lamb]

My point is that it is difficult with a large range so very hard with a small one.

But there are many one product companies that do very well.

A good product will always sell itself.

Bernard

[vintagemodeller]

This is an interesting thread, I am finding it still very difficult to build a N Gauge internet business. I started in 2009 and I am still struggling even though I have done over 50 model railway expos, advertised in the NGS journal for 4 years, advertise on her and the NGforum. I have advertised in BRM, Model Rail, Hornby and Railway Modeller and business is still very slow even though I have over 400 products visible at any point in time. 

 

Scenic items do not sell well as most are only interested in RTR rolling stock at best, which I do not stock.

 

Et tu Brute' (or for the non Latin speaking "I'm the same") oh and yes I do know the literal translation! thanks 

 

 

I actually think that there are a lot of N gauge modellers who model N gauge because it's small. That may at first sight seem a strange thing to say, but what I'm getting at is, we in Britain don't seem to have kicked the habit of model railways being toys and many so called modellers just want to watch trains go round and round.  I am actually a 2mm Scale Association member and there seems to me that there has been far more 2 mm scenic layouts on the exhibition circuit than N gauge, or am I just biased for my own scale.  off the top of my head I can name the following  2mm layouts all individually owned  Ashburton, Brafferton, Burnham on Sea, Chapel wharf, Chipping Norton, Fencehouses, Highbury Colliery   Kingswear,  Mini-MSW, Niddbeck Bridge, Percy Nook, Wansbeck Road, Wenford Bridge Sidings and finally Ynisarwedd Sidings. all have 2 things in common the fact that they are all owned by single modellers, and,  their owners have paid as much attention to what is going on away from the railway line as on it.

 

I get the impression that many N gauge modellers live and die by the rule that their layout must be nothing more than 4' x 2' and they loose the scenic potential of 8 square feet of space and scenic potential because they want their layout to use 9" or 12" curves in order to be a toy railway not a model one. what I am getting at is there is the school of thought that says I've got 8 square feet of scenic potential and didn't I see an add in one of the magazines with a picture of a paddle steamer I wonder if they could help me recreate a small harbour station or doesn't the branch from Darlington to Teesside run somewhere near an airport I wonder if I could ..... To me railway modelling  seems to be becoming  like a computer with a broken Hard drive we seem to boot up then go no further. It's a bit like the guy who comes to the National Railway Museum buys a replica "Grease Top" climbs into Mallards Cab and asks the explainer if he can sit in the drivers seat and gets his friends/ partner to take a picture of him "driving" Mallard. when in fact he could drive for another hour or so either east or west and find out by volunteering on a preserved (sorry Heritage) railway what it is really like working with a steam (or diesel) loco. I suppose I feel a bit like the heritage railway in that  in that I'm receiving visitors (hits on the website) but not Volunteers (Actual sales)         

[edcayton]

Well, FWIW I won't use web-only businesses. I need to see and touch the products before i will think of parting with my cash. I am, however, a dinosaur, and my sons think differently. They ain't into toy trains though!

 

Ed

[peter220950]

Vintage Modeller/Tricky-CRS

 

A couple of common points seem to be emerging from this thread, and relate to the basics of Economics, Supply and Demand.

 

The first is the implication that because a business has been set up, based on what the seller believes the public should be doing, that when they don't buy it's somehow their fault for lack of vision.

 

This isn't how business usually works, there are exceptions where attitudes and perceptions are changed by a revolutionary product or a new trend, but this is not the norm. A retailer is there to satisfy demand, you are both trying to satisfy the demand you think the customer should have and then bemoan the lack of sales.

 

You have to be selling something pretty spectacular to change the habits of the majority of the customer base, they probably don't have the time or inclination to model highly detailed layouts. The difference between going to NRM or volunteering for a Heritage line, is that most people have busy lives with other things to do, one requires a great deal more committment, they generally don't have the time to invest in what is, after all, only a hobby.

 

The second point is on the products being supplied. Customers in N Gauge, as you rightly note, are often doing it through lack of space, and by implication they won't need much in the scenic department, layouts are small, and built rarely. The products, however sophisticated, are also relatively cheap, so it is unlikely that you will ever move as much product as those selling rolling stock and loco's.

 

In summary you are both trying to supply products with relatively low turnover, which for whatever reason, people don't require much of. - Don't blame the customer for this, it's the market, and as we are often told, 'You can't fight the market'. You will sell more when you supply goods which satisfy the actual demand, not the perceived demand.

[Tricky-CRS]

I am not blaming the customers at all, I get a lot of very positive feedback, it is just a lot smaller market than I appreciated before I started. I am now to deeply in to just walk away, in fact I must keep trying harder to make it work. That said I doubt it will ever be a full time job has I had hopped when I started, as we climb out of recession it may improve and I need to be ready when it does.

[raymw]

Hi Richard,

 

I'm not into 2mm, nor buying rtr, but I've bought and sold stuff on the web, so here are a few of my thoughts -

 

I do not think I've ever bought from a seller who only has a mobile phone number - that, to me, implies 'instability', by association.

Because of high postal charges, then the seller has to have something that is just not obtainable elsewhere, or cheaper than other suppliers of mass produced stuff. I need to know if all the items I order are in stock, and I expect them to be sent within a day or two, (with a choice of postal method, at cost plus a bit for packaging).

 

imnsho, the web site could be improved - confusion between crs and ntastic shop - you only want the one. Perhaps put 'new' and 'contact' obviously on front page, etc. I know this can be difficult, if it was easy, everybody would be doing it. If you really want to be successful, in any enterprise, you need to put in about 10,000 hours of effort. Did you really think you could make a living straight away from this? Also, find someone to proof read what you write - spacing, punctuation and spelling (a spell chegue is knot much use if yew want 'hoping' and it fines 'hopping'). You need to advertise your site - magazines, fora, etc.

 

These may be minor things, but they all add up, to the state that if I wanted to buy from you, I'd most likely not bother, or at least check you out a bit more, but not via a mobile phone number, but maybe that's just me.

 

Best wishes,

 

Ray

[Tricky-CRS]

RAY 

 

Hi Richard,

I'm not into 2mm, nor buying rtr, but I've bought and sold stuff on the web, so here are a few of my thoughts -

I do not think I've ever bought from a seller who only has a mobile phone number - that, to me, implies 'instability', by association.
Because of high postal charges, then the seller has to have something that is just not obtainable elsewhere, or cheaper than other suppliers of mass produced stuff. I need to know if all the items I order are in stock, and I expect them to be sent within a day or two, (with a choice of postal method, at cost plus a bit for packaging).

imnsho, the web site could be improved - confusion between crs and ntastic shop - you only want the one. Perhaps put 'new' and 'contact' obviously on front page, etc. I know this can be difficult, if it was easy, everybody would be doing it. If you really want to be successful, in any enterprise, you need to put in about 10,000 hours of effort. Did you really think you could make a living straight away from this? Also, find someone to proof read what you write - spacing, punctuation and spelling (a spell chegue is knot much use if yew want 'hoping' and it fines 'hopping'). You need to advertise your site - magazines, fora, etc.

These may be minor things, but they all add up, to the state that if I wanted to buy from you, I'd most likely not bother, or at least check you out a bit more, but not via a mobile phone number, but maybe that's just me.

Best wishes,

Ray

 

Ray Thank you for your reply.

 

Mobile phone number for 2 reasons, A: out at work all day B: did not want calls on the family number.

 

My postage rates are not high and often do not cover the cost of postage and packaging in fact I have not put them up for 2 years.

 

A lot of my items are not available anywhere else in the UK and a growing amount exclusive to me.

 

Thank you for lowering it down to a spelling mistakes, unfortunately I have always had these issues.

 

New items are on the home page but will be re positioned, I am always reworking the site. Confusion I will take on board as I am currently reviewing that, made a mistake at the beginning I suppose.

 

I have advertised in magazines and on forums, 4 years of advertising in the N Gauge Society Journal prove that, plus on her and the N Gauge Forum as I stated above.

 

It must be said that I wish I did not get involved in this thread as it has all turned on me, even though I did not start it and was only trying to over an opinion. 

 

Mouth now firmly shut.

[vintagemodeller]

I am not blaming the customers at all, I get a lot of very positive feedback, it is just a lot smaller market than I appreciated before I started. I am now to deeply in to just walk away, in fact I must keep trying harder to make it work. That said I doubt it will ever be a full time job has I had hopped when I started, as we climb out of recession it may improve and I need to be ready when it does.

I know what you mean Richard,  I do however think there are a few more of Edcaytons "dinosaurs" lurking than care to admit it. Come on guys yes physically checking the locos and rolling stock I can understand, but do you really need to see and feel a bag of scenic scatters, or see an Oxford Die cast Car or BT Models lorry in the flesh so to speak, before buying it. 

 

The real crux of the matter is there does seem to be a reluctance in many, as the Railway modeller used to put it, "average" N gauge enthusiasts to develop their railway worlds beyond the station Goods Yard, yes they might include the street behind the station but that's often as far as it often goes scenically. I don't know about Richard but several of the enquiries I receive in a week are from  the "Domestic Authority" side of the family wanting to build something for their partners model or even just wanting to buy something to go on the model, now whether it's because they feel more comfortable dealing with someone over the Interweb, than going to their local bricks and mortar model railway retailer, or whether women are happier to buy on line, I do not know,  but having been to many Model Railway Exhibitions on both sides of the layouts as it were and having seen the faces and comments of the "Domestic Management" 2mm certainly gets a high voting ratio, because of its compact size and it appears to create a sense of reality and appeals to their imagination 

 

Turning to the post I've just seen added, this thing about buying from someone with just a mobile number, more dinosaurs lurking!!! I cannot remember what the precise percentage of mobile phone ownership is but I do know it is high, and in business a mobile is a necessity not a luxury. It means that you can always be in touch with a supplier, and, in most cases model railway suppliers use reps.  what happens is more often than not you will apply to a wholesaler, and yes this includes the likes of Hornby, Bachmann Gaugemaster and Peco, who will, once you have your account set up, two telephone numbers one usually their landline for the accounts department and a mobile number which you can contact the local area rep on. Ray do you mean to say that because the reps telephone number is a mobile one you won't do business with him, I don't think so. So why say that just because a web enterprise has a mobile number you won't deal with them, all it means is whether I'm at my office desk or doing on Saturday browse of a local Model Railway Exhibition I can take your call or you can leave a message. There is also a school of thought that within the next 5 to 10 years there won't be landline telephones.  

 

I certainly did not set this thread up with the intention of being critical of customers it is a customers right to shop wheresoever they please, in many ways it is you the customers who have been the critics. All I, and I daresay Richard, are trying to do is dispel this myth that because we have chosen to go down the route of having similar as it tuns out web businesses that  web based does not imply illegitimacy nor illegality and that by doing so we can supply items that are an extension of the services offered by local bricks and mortar establishments.      

[SM42]

I think any web based business is going to have trust issues to begin with.

 

After all  The web has been around for a while now and many people have good experiences of using it, but many have bad experiences and these tend to make the press more often so alarm bells go off a lot more easily nowadays.look at a website, we have no idea of who may be behind this and what their motivation is.

 

As someone mentioned, a mobile only number, (whilst useful and convenient for your personnal situation)  indicates someone who wants to remain anonymous or hard to trace should something go wrong.

 

I've recently been looking for a tradesman and looked at many websites which I have discounted for many reasons including: no landline number, Identical websites with different landlines depending on which town you look at, No details of the company or its legal status (ie. Ltd, sole trader etc)  , lack of alternative contact details and the "it just doesn't look right to me" feeling.

.

Thes are all things that can be solved and  like any business it is a matter of time and hard work to get it going and keep it going. How much time and hard work no-one can predict

 

After all it is a very, very big market place you are in and so a good on line reputation is going to be hard to achieve.

 

It's always a good idea to get someone unconnected to you to look at your site, or any marketing for that matter. They may see things that put customers off that you can't (because you are too close to it)

 

Keep at it though and  I wish you luck. Unfortunately I'm not really part of your target market.

 

Andy

[SM42]

Vintagemodeller, I've just seen your comment (added whilst I was typing)  about how useful a mobile is and I agree. But this should be one of many options for contacting you, not the only one

 

A quick browse at daytime TV programs about dodgy businesses will find warnings against dealing with a mobile number only business. Rightly or wrongly this is one of those alarms bells.

 

You are right that web based has a place in the market.  I just think it's just a tougher market than bricks and mortar simply because the web has gained a reputation (for whatever reason) for being where those of dubious intent hang out. Customers are therefore naturally cautious.  They also hang out in  bricks and mortar but a building with sign above the door seems to convey trust better.

 

I can understand why those who aren't the household modeller being more inclined to buy via the web as this cuts out face to face embarassment caused by lack of product knowledge. Believe it or not there are some retailers out there whose interpersonal  skills leave a lot to be desired

 

As to whether people model beyond the boundary fence? I would suggest in the home environment  where space is at a premium  most of us would build one layout maybe up to three in a lifetime and perhaps for home use only  have more railway than scenery.

 

Scenic items will, I suggest, always be slow movers simply because we don't all have the time, space, money or inclination to build layouts on a conveyor belt and once you have it, you don't need more. There is also a lot of choice when it comes to suppliers out there too. People will always want more trains though

 

I'm also willing to bet there are many layouts out there that have track, electrics and nothing else.  The play factor can take over.

 

Andy

[raymw]

Hi to Vintage Modeller & Richard,

 

wrt mobile phone only -SM42 has answered it, but also consider, should I, as a dinosaur, pay for a phone call to interrupt someone at their other 'job', when they are unlikely to have with them the information that I need? Of course, the real way to win customers is to refer to them in derogatory terms. It shows, to me, an attitude, which is not conducive to creating a business.

 

You've mentioned about women shoppers, enquiries, a germ of an idea as to why they may prefer mail order compared to speaking face to face with a guy in a shop. There could be your answer. Put in some work on your web sites, show scenery made with your products, for example, learn how to sell, try harder. Put your ads in womens magazines. If you look at http://www.jimmcgeown.com/ for example, see the difference in the information it carries, the helpful free pdf's etc. (and he is staking his name and reputation on his business, as many do). A different approach to yourselves, but I bet it didn't evolve overnight.

 

If you want to make money at it, then about 10%, if that, is about product, the rest is marketing and finance. If, for example, you can't look after the details that show - sorry, back to spelling again - get a paper copy of the Oxford English Dictionary, and refer to it - make decent sized images, different than ones just grabbed from a catalogue, show that you care and then maybe you can carve a niche for yourself.

 

If you can't learn the skills, and can't afford to pay someone to help you, or have nobody to help for free, then maybe you consider doing something else.

 

Anyway, I think you are getting an idea of why the world does not dance to your tune, or at least my world.

 

As far as I'm aware, you asked some questions, albeit implied, maybe rhetorical ones. I give my opinion, I see no point in you trying to give excuses as to why it is like it is, I have no need to change my mind - I didn't think it was about sympathy.

 

Best wishes,

 

Ray

[edcayton]

Here comes the dinosaur again! You are correct, I don't like "mobile only" contacts. My younger son doesn't have a land line, but even brontosaurus me has trained my mobile to divert to the land line (and hence answer machine), and I dare say I could achieve the opposite were I so inclined.

 

Sorry, but I do want to see die-casts and scatter materials before I buy. I'd possibly buy books and CD's (yes-still) from the web, except I don't think that is fair on traders with a real presence. Bought a book today actually from a trader at Ely show.

 

Ed

[Tricky-CRS]

Hi to Vintage Modeller & Richard,

Of course, the real way to win customers is to refer to them in derogatory terms. It shows, to me, an attitude, which is not conducive to creating a business.

Best wishes,

 

Ray

 

Hi Ray at which point have I been derogatory to my customers, I am always polite everyone is a potential customer?

 

I have worked very hard to build my business with very little finance I will not for a moment suggest that I have got anything right. I will keep trying and will take on board the comments from this thread. I do refer to my dictionary sat in view while sat typing this. Errors do slip in as it is not always possible to get a second opinion when updating the site, that is a challenge of being a 1 man band. 

 

I intend to carry on and grow my business, thus hopefully turn it into something good.

 

Please leave me out of the rest of this thread as I said I wish I had not put my head above the parapet and joined in.

[The Stationmaster]

Here comes the dinosaur again! You are correct, I don't like "mobile only" contacts. My younger son doesn't have a land line, but even brontosaurus me has trained my mobile to divert to the land line (and hence answer machine), and I dare say I could achieve the opposite were I so inclined.

 

Sorry, but I do want to see die-casts and scatter materials before I buy. I'd possibly buy books and CD's (yes-still) from the web, except I don't think that is fair on traders with a real presence. Bought a book today actually from a trader at Ely show.

 

Ed

Very much sums up my view Ed.  There is an awful lot to distrust out there and a high percentage of it is sheltering in the anonymity of the internet and we are forever being told (rightly in my dinosaurus expectations) to treat it with ultra caution.

 

And like you in many cases I want, or even need, to see the product before I buy it - scenic material is a good example where colour rendition over the 'net can be so far adrift of reality that only seeing in the flesh is actually believing.  And with so much variation in production standards nowadays it's either best to see before buying or got to a retailer who you know will have no quibble return policies if you get a wrong 'un.

 

All of this obviously makes it difficult for new entrants to get into the market and develop - to do that they really need a track record and recommendation because that is really the best route to gaining customers and keeping them and i can see that as being hard with a 'net only base for the business.

[raymw]

Hi Richard,

 

My previous post was addressed to both you and vintage modeller**, but I was not meaning that you had been derogatory - sorry about the misunderstanding. I guess it may seem that I was picking on you, but that is most likely because 1) you give a real name, 2) you showed your website url. I understand about the one man band, and the amount of work required to get anywhere with that, and wish you the best of luck.

 

Best wishes,

 

Ray

 

edit 'cos b followed by bracket always gives a smiley, so now 1 and 2 not a and b B)

 

** again, an edit - using one name to post under, signing posts with another, web sites we don't know which one we are looking at - have some sympathy for us older guys - after all, we're the ones with the money, and not much time left to spend it in ...

[dagrizz]

As another dinosaur, I'd like to add my tuppence worth.

 

I've never liked mail order and have always bought from shops and exhibitions/toyfairs where I can get my sticky hands on the goods immediately. The drift towards internet shopping and selling S/H by e-bay removes the fun of going out shopping to me. In addition, the postage costs are a pain - a lot of the little bits and bobs that you'd buy at shows are now sold on e-bay and the postage costs are more than the cost of the item. Stupid.

 

Then there is the business of having to go to the local sorting office to pick up the parcel because you were out when postie called. Not fun.

 

Graham