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2020 in Review

December 30, 2020

As we ponder the events of 2020 and look forward to 2021, it is difficult to recognize the differences now, compared to this time last year! Here at Trainsporters we have to pinch ourselves to remind us how lucky we have been in starting our new company and the success we have had so far. Our saving grace has been launching our online sales website. Little did we know that when we attended our first exhibition at Kettering in March this year, that would be our last for quite some time. We are still not entirely sure when we will be able to take our wares on the road again and hopefully meet many of you.

We began our actual trading activity in August this year and have been delighted with the response, not only the sales, but also the very positive feedback and reviews we have received. We have been looking into how we can adopt some of the suggestions made and many of those improvements are in the pipeline. One area we have started to improve on, is to make the cardboard boxes we use to transport the product, more resilient to the trials and tribulations of shipping. Whilst we have been quick to replace any damages that have occurred in transit, we would ideally like to reduce the chance of that happening in the first place. So, we are adding an additional internal cardboard wrapper to give even more protection to the lid and handle sections of the boxes.

Unfortunately, we have also seen the price of the foam used for our inserts rise dramatically this year and while we have been able to absorb most of these additional costs, we are not able to sustain our current price model. Therefore, from the 1st January 2021 we will be charging a couple of flat rates for our boxes. These will include shipping, so the 20L versions will retail for£40 and the 33L versions will sell for £45. For orders of 5 or more we offer a 5% discount and for 10 or more a 10% discount.

We have also been looking at developing the range further with the option of a two-layer box. Many of you have suggested this would be a good option and we are working on that design.  The biggest hurdle at the moment, is keeping the box’s rigidity while not making it too heavy, once fully loaded with two layers of stock. We are also looking into the viability of supplying just the foam inserts, as we are aware that many of you already have a selection of the 20 and 33 litre versions of the Really Useful Product.

Also in the pipeline for 2021 is a range of train sets; these will all be prototypical of actual train formations, with photos to evidence the formation so that customers can be assured of complete authenticity.  We are planning to work with several companies to ensure we have the best of breed from a range of manufacturers, so that authenticity is not compromised. We are currently working on what train formations, in both O and OO, would be the most appealing, so please put forward any suggestions you might have. We are likely to be offering the first batch, very early in 2021, so do keep your eye out for announcements on our Facebook and Website pages.

One of our other passions is education and the wish to keep old skills alive. One such area is soldering and electronic kit building. To this end we are working on a number of DC and DCC kit projects, especially targeted at the locomotive control side of the hobby. Access to some of the older tried and tested versions of controllers in kit form, seems to have struck a chord with some of our customers. In addition, we are working on a kit based DCC booster, which should offer DCC improvements for larger layouts at very reasonable prices. Please keep an eye out for our sister company, Trainsistors, for future kit releases.

So, a very big thank you to all of our existing customers and we look forward to meeting many of you as we get back to some semblance of normality next year. To those of you that have not bought from us before, we believe the quality of product and service will help you understand why many of our customers keep coming back to us. That just leaves us to wish you a Happy New Year, stay well, stay safe and we look forward to serving you for many years to come.

Very best wishes, “The Box Boys”,

Mark, Carl and Tony.

info@trainsporters.com

www.trainsporters.com

0333 4040 811