What do they do?
What do retailers do when they have stock bought when the Canadian dollar was low and now their shelf price is too high?
I found a general hobby store in Quebec City last week that had a fair amount of model railway”stuff”. I was looking at their display of locomotives when I spotted an EMD switcher in CP’s tuscan and grey scheme. I got the itch to buy so I asked a sales person about it. “It’s a Proto with sound.”, he said. I nearly flipped! I’ve been looking for one for a while. “How much?”, I asked. “Only $399″ was his response.
ONLY $399!!!! Holy crap! Brian bought a Proto switcher with sound not long ago for about $170. I paid less than $300 at the Truro show in 2006 for two Proto RS18′s with sound. $399 for one loco!!
So, I told him as much. Fortunately the language barrier helped tone down his response – I have no idea what he said.
I did notice that most things in their store seemed to be priced higher than I’ve seen other places. Perhaps they just have a high markup?
So, the hunt for a sound equipped switcher in CP colours continues. But, since I don’t really need another engine, I’m in no rush – the price will have to be right.
Scott
Zut alore! High dollar or not, that seems a little out of touch…
Yes it does. I’m thinking (hoping for their sake) their customer base must be used to paying higher prices for things. There were quite a few things in their store that seemed to be priced higher than I’ve seen – like Athearn kits for $18. I paid about $8 for the ones I bought at Hoby Junction in Montreal.
Scott
Answer – Nothing – they hope you wont notice and pay the asking price!!!!! That price is way out of line. I bought one of the first Proto units with sound – GP 9 I think approx 3 or 4 years ago and it was about $310. Like I said it was when Proto first came out with sound, so more hype about it at that time and hence higher price. For $399 I would expect just about 2 sound equipped loco’s for that price.
Wayne
At some point they’ll have to drop the price and possibly take a loss, or a reduced margin, when the stuff doesn’t sell. In the meantime they wait for the schmuck that has more money than common sense to pay the asking price and then laugh all the way to the bank.
Scott