Announcing the Portfolio Store at RailroadMerchant.com Thanks to many of you on TrainBoard and the continued growth of RailroadMerchant.com, we are pleased to announce the opening of our newest online store, Portfolio - where visitors will be able to browse through our collection of distinctive model railroad products offered at exceptional pricing. In our ongoing support of model railroad manufacturers that bring innovative and top quality products to the US market, the N scale and HO scale items displayed in our new store represent some of the best values available today. The nice part for our customers is that we actually have the merchandise we sell. No special orders, no waiting for ships to arrive and no price surprises when the goods finally get delivered. Our new store is also an ideal destination site for gift purchases. Along with our RailroadMerchant.com™ Portfolio Gift Certificates, we showcase products that are perfect for giving or receiving. With the great product values and our careful selections, we want to exceed your expectations with a high level of customer service. Here are some of the ways we take care of our customers: We offer safe and secure online purchasing with a recognized and preferred Payment Gateway that processes your transaction immediately. For your protection, there are no credit card numbers “on file” or held somewhere while waiting for manual entry and approval. We accept major credit cards including, Visa®, MasterCard®, Discover®, Diners Club International®, JCB® and American Express®. Our shipping options include your choice of USPS®, FedEx® and UPS® and we give you a price quote for each service before you decide on a shipper for your Order. It is easy to track your Order from start to delivery and we keep you informed during the process. Not satisfied with your Order? No problem. Simply login to your Account and request a return. (See the Returns Policy on our website for more details.) As more stock for the new store arrives and we gear up for the peak of the modeling season, look for distinctive items, added vendors, special offers and great deals on products that you want. To help you stay on top of our latest product news and information, we offer an e-newsletter that we know you’ll enjoy. If you have any comments or questions, feel free to Contact Us anytime. I sincerely appreciate your consideration as you check out our new model railroad store, while all of us at RailroadMerchant.com look forward to the opportunity of serving you to become a part of your list of favorite online dealers. Best regards, Roger Bernhardt _ About RailroadMerchant.com Established in 2009, RailroadMerchant.com has evolved from an information-only website to offer two e-commerce stores with our branding. Our future plans include expansion of our retail presence and partnering with leading manufacturers on product development and distribution projects. We are proud to be a TrainBoard advertiser in support of the membership.
Nice to see someone tackling an upscale vibe online, I like it! Website looks sharp. No brick-and-mortar, huh? Also nice to see another trainboard advertiser I'm off to browse your stock!
I was browsing the website and it is very nice, but I am unsure of of what niche' they are trying to fill. The selection of locos and rolling stock is very limited and what I believe to be somewhat of an odd selection and the prices are close to MSRP. Also, I am not sure if these are item are all new or some are pre-owned in some sort of way as it doesn't specifically say anywhere. I would also like to see them separate N scale from HO scale when doing searches. Just my $.02 and nothing more.
As they get more items in stock, I am sure they will have newer items shown in stock. They even said that they only show what they have at the time you have looked at there site. I wish some of the other stores would work that way. I have ordered other items on other sites and got told after the fact that they were out of stock! That has been the biggest reason that i never liked on-line stores. This site may change my mind.:tb-cool:
I appreciate the interest, comments and encouragement here on the forum and as PM’s that we have received today. You guys are great and why TrainBoard and the membership fits well for our company to support. Dave, I would like to respond to your post specifically since it has a direct impact on our business and the livelihood of my employees. All of our merchandise is new and obtained directly from manufacturers or their distributors and agents. We do not sell used merchandise, items obtained from estate sales, consignment agreements or train shows. Given that our new store is less than a month old, you can expect our product selection to widen, especially for Western roads, with product depth always part of our buying practice. In time, the product groups represented will also increase as our business grows. I am sorry if you are disappointed with our opening week assortment, but even in the future, you probably won’t see every SKU offered at your local hobby shop, which I hope you patronize. It is true that many items are at, or slightly below MSRP, especially if they are new to market or if we have MAP agreements with our vendors on specific items. It is also true, however that many prices are below our competitor’s. The bottom line for us is that we want to provide the best value for our customers and you can be assured we are sensitive to price parameters in the marketplace as a result. If you subscribe to our newsletter, you can stay informed about special price promotions that we have planned. The brick-and-mortar comment is a great call-out. While I would like to be more specific, at this date, I can tell you we are going forward with plans to move from an office/warehouse to a retail store in a Historic Railroad District here in northern California. It is in a redevelopment zone where every part of the process moves slowly, but our planned store renderings are very cool and provide encouragement when bureaucracy moves like a snail. Finally, our goal is not to fill a niche, as you suggest, nor is to replace any dealer who advertises on TrainBoard. Just so you know, I am personally a very happy customer of several train dealers including those who advertise here. Every dealer offers something different and each with their own merchandising style. In that spirit, I hope you will give us a second look in a few weeks and then perhaps give us a shot. Who knows, but I think you may be impressed when all is said and done and the paint in our new store starts to dry. Roger Bernhardt RailroadMerchant.com
I have to agree. If you're going to start up a new on-line store, I think you really need to stand out on selection and price or you will just get lost in the crowd. A quick check at another popular on-line store shows the same items for less.
Nice to hear that you will be dealing in many Western roads, I'll be checking in since I and many are SP fans
Roger, you have a beautifully presented webpage ... can only suggest you permit a top selection for catagory like "N" scale to save looking to what I can only dream of (as a persecuted Nscaler I lust for what is never there for me!) Good luck your business ... we need good sites always ...
