The original appraisal said $ 4500. I'm thinking that they just didn't see the decimal point in the middle. And, even that is probably high.
If your stock just sits there for months, or even years, how much profit will you really make? And if all your competitors also sell at MSRP, who has the edge?
Not only did they relist it for $900.00 they took out the part about the $4500.00 appraisal in the description.:rotfl:
I don't disagree. Like I said in the rest of the post. An engine I will more than likely not buy at MSRP, an car or structure maybe. None of the shops within driving distance of my house have any sort of discount over MSRP (woo woo woo doesn't count since it's a HAUL and I can order online anyway). I will buy from them just not in the high dollar items I can get a much better price on somewhere online.
I wonder if this is a side effect of hobby shop owners being hobbyists more than astute businessmen. First, they can't ignore the competition that comes from the internet anymore. Online stores are too good and too cheap. Therefore, they have to provide value that the online shops do not. Being able to see, touch, feel and test the product is a major advantage that they should not be giving away, for example. Being able to discuss and educate is another. They should be playing those advantages up. Second, the idea of not discounting the high-dollar items from MSRP seems odd. I don't know what the margins actually are - maybe they really are too razor thin - but even the grocery store takes a loss on some products in order to get you in the door, and NOBODY has tighter margins than the grocery business. IMHO, folks are much more likely to come in and get that "steal of a deal" on that locomotive and then "while I'm here" pick up a bunch of extras at even inflated prices (once you've gotten them to open their wallet, it's much easier to keep it open), than they are to get rock-bottom prices on C80 curved track, and then "while I'm here" pick up a MSRP locomotive. Even if the customer would end up *in fact* saving more money paying MSRP for the loco and discounts for the track. Human shopping psychology doesn't work like that. PT Barnum was right (even if he never actually said it!). My LHS has pretty decent discounts over MSRP on their locos and rolling stock. Not so much vs. online, but hey, I can take it home RIGHT NOW with NO SHIPPING (another advantage of bricks/mortar over online). I don't even know about the discounts on track and scenery. Can't say I've noticed, except to know it's not horribly overpriced. But I sure as heck notice the price difference on the rolling stock!
