WHY DO MANUFACTURES SELL DIRECT?

[Forum-1211528]

Hornby sell direct as do Dapol, Peco, Repilca Railways, Oxford Rail, Marklin, Roco. Fleishmann, Piko, and many other manufactures this is wrong it gives the slow destruction of the Local Model shop due to many that have been around fifty years have vanished and will never be replaced as you got advise off the bloke in the model shop and if a loco needed to be fixed he did it for you so will it mean HORNBYS FACTORY in Margate becomes britains answer to WALTHERS it seems thats what will happen as gone is the golden age of Railway Modelling as WRENN vanished in 1992 they never sold direct nor does Bachmann but the US version does i just hope Hornby takes into account that it has stockists all over the country and it doesnt follow the way of some us manufactures where you can only get their models direct from the manufactures as this would mean a trip to Hornby to get a loco and Kent can be a long trip so i just hope we still have model shops in the future!

[BrumDave]

I see nothing wrong with manufacturers selling direct so long as the item is quite a bit cheaper than it would have been if it was sold in a shop, in the case of international dealers there is transportation costs to a distributor plus the same to a retailer, then of course there is the profit made by distributors and retailers that have to be made, to buy a decent non DCC fitted Hornby loco in Oz is around $300,  British N gauge in Oz can cost over $300 for a non DCC steam loco, for most model railway hobbyists you would need to have shares in an oil company to be able to buy stuff at that price.

The retail sector has changed so much to what it used to be so I guess it was to be expected that manufacturers would jump on the bandwagon and sell direct, easy to buy anything from a packet of safety pins to a Car, Caravan or House online these days so I think we all need to move with the times and accept the inevitable.

[The son of Triangman]

The big problem with manufacturers selling direct is they cut the retailers out. This has caused a lot of anger and debate in the model trade as a lot of retailers will tell you. It's good for the consumer but when they want advice or help with a model, have run out of an item and need it that day or layout issue or that must have rare part the retailers won't be there because they will and are going. Already up against it with high rents and business rates, low margins, big discounting outfits, manufacturers selling direct is often the death blow for small to medium retailers. It's very much a double edged sword, good for the consumer in the short term but bad in the longer term. Hornby no longer have a uk factory so support for older models will become more of a problem as time goes on. If your retailers have gone then the knowledge and support will be gone.

[BrumDave]

I agree 100% SofT but the problem is these days is the Holy Dollar or Pound is placed way above the customers needs or requirements, I think the attitude these days is don't waste your time talking to staff in shops but do your research on the internet and buy online, if you strike any problems send it back or fix it yourself, I am staggered at the amount of modellers that buy brand new faulty N Gauge locomotives that they have to return because they are faulty, problem there is the purchaser wants a particular loco so much that the only thing to do is rebuild it yourself, its sad that modellers are finding it hard to buy items locally but I can see a time when nearly all local model train shop will cease to exist, where I live in Brisbane Oz there used to be plenty of shops selling model railway items, not so today as there is only one specialist model train shop in Brisbane and they specialise in American trains only, the metro population of Brisbane is 2.3 Million, that is why we are pretty much forced to buy online.

[Yelrow]

Hornby/ any model rail company,. have no interest in keeping older models running, any more than indesit have in keeping spares for old washing machines. In todays world, its volume of items sold, equals  greater profit. If your  drill, kettle etc breaks, you replace it. I remember my dad soldering our toaster, rather than buy a new one.  Model shops are no different to the local ironmonger,  deli,  electrical shop. Lack of demand, coupled with massive rising costs.   Its a bit better, here in france, where ironmongers  are well supported, but as for model shops, getting very hard to find.  . Even Peters Spares, must be finding the sourcing of bits more difficult. john

[trainlover23]

 You asked this question on 27th April . Why ask it again ?

[poliss]

Because he didn't get the answers he liked? Sure you got advice from a bloke in a model shop, but you wouldn't know if it was good or bad advice. I've walked out of a few shops because the owner was too busy chatting to actually sell anything.

There's a lot more choice today than there ever has been, thanks to the Internet.

[Fazy]

??? What has liking the answer got to do with asking the question again? 

 

Hornby is a company and they are there to make money!  If Hornby can see a marketing plan to help this then all to the good.  

Selling direct brings in the money so why wouldn't they.

 

[trainlover23]

Because he didn't get the answers he liked? Sure you got advice from a bloke in a model shop, but you wouldn't know if it was good or bad advice. I've walked out of a few shops because the owner was too busy chatting to actually sell anything.

There's a lot more choice today than there ever has been, thanks to the Internet.

Is he going to get a different answer now ? I doubt it