Internettrains.com vs Walthers.com?


S

StrasburgNut

Pennsy Area rail fan
How can the same item be so much more cheaper on internettrains.com? I was looking at the 44-tonners in HO and walthers is higher by $7 or so.

Has anyone used any other websites that you find reliable and nicely priced?
 
You will find many other websites posting lower prices than Walthers on most products. Some are run by members of this forum.
Walthers is well known to modelers, advertises and has a wide variety of products.
Many people will not comparison shop, but buy at the first place they find an item. You will have to balance an item's price, availability and trustworthiness of an unknown source against Walthers' price and reputation.
 
Walthers also has agreements with some companies on what price they will sell their products for. That doesn't apply to other outlets. Many of the net train stores stock very little merchandise. When you order, they order, usually from Walthers or Horizon. That reduces their cost of business since they have almost no inventory to carry, hence they can charge lower prices. Sometime this means it also takes longer to get your order but it is cheaper. Since many of them are much smaller operations than large distributors like Wathers, they have lower overhead so can survive on less profit. One thing to watch out for is to make sure you compare the total prices shipped rather than just the advertised price. Some net outlets make up lost profit in excessive shipping charges. In addition, Walthers is not always the most expensive. You have to subscribe to their e-mail update service to see when they have some really good deals on items on clearance.
 
I agree with Jim, my wife wanted to buy me a $107.00 train on one of the deep discount sites and shipping was $69.49 :mad:
I was so amazed that the coffee went up my nose!:eek:
David
 
Thats ebay pricing there... lol
Click to expand...
Nope it's Canada Post charges, the "peoples corporation" they need the money to buy out the competition (courier companies).

Cheers Willis
 
Walthers is both a Distributor and a Retailer. As a Retailer, they charge full price (except when they have the occasional sale). This is so they can keep the folks they distribute to in business. Many folks know that Walthers is the high price store.

Now, contrast that with BLI/Factory Direct Trains/etc. BLI will sell a loco to their dealers at, say $125 (wholesale), and sell the same loco direct at $120. Which pretty much undercuts their dealers. For us, it looks competitive, but for those stores selling their stuff, they're pretty mad.

As long as you know the relationship, you can make your buying decisions accordingly.

Kennedy
 
You must log in or register to reply here.



Back
Top