DropTheTap

Hattons often price certain new releases lower for just a few days before upping the price after a set period in time. Those initial few days (or weeks) are a great time for discounted items: I just purchased a new in stock blue 03 for 63 pounds, which was significantly less than the green liveried versions. This item has now disappeared from the website so I'm feeling quite glad that I took the plunge early! Now that I'm aware of this tactic, I tend not to stall with my purchases of newly released items that I particularly have my eye on. As to why the blue version and not the green was discounted is a bit of a head scratcher though. Their second hand stuff is (I find) more reasonably priced than say Rails and they often have quite hard to find items. I think I've put more cash their way in this manner (versus buying new) since Bachmann's recent hike. The above makes shopping much more time consuming now: Rails, Kernow etc. are very competitive, so if I'm after something specific will check other places as well as Hattons. For a general browse, I usually start with Hattons then if I see something that catches my eye will price check it elsewhere.

Perfect! Thanks very much Dave, just the revelation I've been waiting for! :-)

Uncoupling magnets for which you don't have to ream out your baseboard? Perfect!! What are these and where may I purchase them please? Many thanks!

There's the "railroad" version! Seriously, I don't understand this either. Just a plain old BR blue refurb. or unrefurb. would go down just fine and was a most common "latter day" livery. Hornby have a couple of livery headscratchers in their catalogue: they don't seem to like many blue 08s either...

I don't quite understand. I paid less than 100 new for my defective 31 years ago, yet was quite happy to have been offered that in compensation. Surely they should either provide a replacement (non- defective) chassis, or compensate the amount you paid for the model (I would have been happy with either). Why would they offer market value of the model as it stands today? These chassis defects haven't been widely available on new models for quite some time. Ordinarily when we as consumers replace defective items, we are required to provide receipts etc. and we're compensated to the value on the receipt. Hornby aren't insisting on these for practical reasons, so I think what they're offering and how they're offering it is quite fair to be honest.

I didn't disagree with you at all. I've ordered from them many times and find their customer service and new stock prices impeccable. If you consider any of the following examples (from different manufacturers) to be good VFM for used stock, then "bully for you": http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bachmann-OO-GAUGE-RAKE-4-ASSORTED-GOODS-WAGONS-/201230659121?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item2eda482e31 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dapol-RAKE-3-WEATHERED-ENGINEERS-GRAMPUS-WAGONS-/131297410352?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item1e91ef7d30 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hornby-R6486-PACK-3-WEATHERED-YEOMAN-PGA-WAGONS-/201171534101?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item2ed6c20115 A simple Google search reveals that R6486 could be had new for less than 30 pounds new in many places, Dapol Grampus wagons are generally around 15 and most Bachmann four wheelers in the 12 pound range. You'll notice that I'm not questioning the validity of any of their listings, customer service, nor anything on their main website, or even disagreeing with anything you said. I am simply re- stating my previous post: their used prices are too high for me. Nevertheless, I also understand that people are willing to pay a premium to obtain something that can no longer be had new on retailers' shelves. Good for those that do so.

However fair their descriptions and terms might be, their prices for *used* stock are often at a premium. I can usually buy brand new for less, which somewhat negates the value of eBay. Yes, I realize that it's often items that have sold out at retail establishments...

I just can't believe anyone with an ounce of knowledge would be willing to part with so much for so little. I suppose you only need to reel one in every so often to make a tidy little side income...

Looks like it got attacked by a fungus!!

Why wouldn't they be? This issue is solely confined to a small number of variants of Hornby's OO class 31 model. Deep breaths there fella, it's not like you spilled coffee over your new cure for cancer or anything...

Just throwing this out there. A few months ago, 2 car blue/ grey class 108 DMU showed as a bargain for 59 quid with more than ten in stock. Then (just as I'm about to order one!), it disappeared from the website as no longer available. It has reappeared today as a "bargain" for 108 pounds... "Back in stock"?

That was the one I had. Right mess, chassis literally crumbled at the ends when I took the body off. I heard somewhere that some examples of this model used the older (faulty) chassis, while others used an "improved" version. Wonder if that's why less failures have been reported with this model?

Wow, that's a looooooong time considering Windsor's practically in the US anyway!!

It looks a little spurious in places I'll grant you, but compared to some RTR wagon underframes it's not *that* bad...

Happened to me a couple of orders ago (I may have written about it a few posts back). The DHL price was only a couple of pounds more than the Royal Mail standard international so I thought I'd give it a go. Sure enough when Hattons processed the order, they sent the same message as you received: could they charge my card an extra amount due to being informed by the carrier etc. I was somewhat peeved by this but agreed and actually received the order *way* faster than the regular service; a couple of days if i remember correctly. I wouldn't use it again though as it ended up being significantly more expensive in the end and by the time we'd emailed back and forth it was several days between my placing the order and them dispatching it... I may as well have just selected Royal Mail!!

Seems like it's GBRF that's bringing '003 home: http://www.gbrailfreight.com/media-centre/news-releases/ Not sure where the DRS rumor came from. As far as compatibility, I assume there's a considerable amount of interchangeable components with the class 66...?

Probably a few decades: it will end up going via India, one of the 'Stans, outer Mongolia and wherever else is (initially) cheaper!!

Signed for, high dollar shipping is very unnecessary and inconvenient and I've been put off many an item (esp. on eBay) by this bizarre policy. Hattons, Rails and more have very reasonable shipping policies/ charges so I know other retailers can make it work too. The somewhat inflated prices are stalling my purchase of these CCTs at the moment, however this applies to the Bachmann range across the board. My overall rate of purchase from this manufacturer has slowed considerably.

My kind of weekend! Layout looks great, keep up the good work sir. I too look forward to some depot scenics.

Looks great, what an effective cameo scene!

2 days. DHL took 2 days to get to the USA. Best. Service. Ever. Only minor niggle was that Hattons contacted me after I placed my order (and paid) telling me that they needed to charge an extra fiver for postage as once they boxed up my items, it went into the next "category" with DHL...! Either way, 2 days (posted Sunday, arrived today) is a new record by FAR!

I'm currently trying to get a couple of "bargain" items ordered that I have had my eye on for a while, before prices inevitably suffer a Bachmann- induced hike. Upon checkout this time I noticed the DHL option came up at only 2 pounds more than Royal Mail airmail. Usually, the latter is the most affordable option by far, although somewhat erratic in their delivery times (see previous posts). I opted for DHL, never having used them before and lured by the promise of delivery within 3 days of dispatch. I'll let you know... ;-)

Possibly. Take off the body and have a gander... They reimbursed me with 100 quid spending cash on their website (which I don't want to use until some of their new products are released!!)

I sent my weathered blue example back to them with a postage receipt about a month ago. As I'm located in the 'States I thought it would take a while to hear something. Late last week I received a check to refund my postage costs... in British pounds! Not that I'm ungrateful, it will just cost me an extortionate amount to cash the darned thing!! On reading the replies to this thread, some people appear to have received a completely new loco or chassis while others received an online voucher. I'm intrigued to know which I'll end up with. I sent the body back with the model as it was well and truly broken and cracked. In fact the corrosion was so bad, the ends had crumbled off from the main bulk of the chassis.

I'm not sure what the fuss is about. It's a fact that a dealer's mark up (and subsequent profit) on many second hand items greatly exceeds that of new. This applies from full size cars to model trains. Savvy folk cottoned on to this a while ago and either: 1. buy when they find the price acceptable, 2. don't buy or 3. use craigslist/ Amazon/ eBay for used items!!! Selling second hand items is a personal thing. Either you're happy to take what a dealer offers or you sell them elsewhere. Usually, if you offer a "job lot", you receive a price for same.