price increases again


rusty spike

New Member
Atlas and Bachmann increasing prices in january ...Atlas prices always goin up.I try to buy from local shop but I tell them I use Ebay to try and find better deals.....
 
Yeah I try to support the local guy but it's hard to do when a loco is less than half price on the net.
Thank goodness I have everything I need.... (notice I didn't say want).
Can't imagine starting from scratch at the prices these days!
 
We all want to buy the most for the money we spend so we shop where we get the best prices. On line sellers and private sales on Ebay, etc usually have lower prices. We are free to shop wherever we choose and for whatever reasons we decide.

Local hobby shop owners are not so dumb they don't know their customers buy wherever the price is cheaper. That is part of being in business. As far as making it a point to inform them you do it might not be a smart idea. Letting your local hobby shop know he is your last resort for a purchase isn't going to build a good relationship.

So buy where you find the best deals but use some discretion when talking with your LHS. Never know when he might be the only one who you can count on.
 
Cost of doing business anymore. Labour goes up, parts and material going up, fuel costs going up, transporting goods going up. Really, everything is going up. Soon you will need to be a millionaire just to buy a cup of coffee....:rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
I know why the prices are increasing. Because the Chinese want raises for their poor quality work. If the prices are going to rise anyways, I'd still rather buy it from Americans to help our economy, we sure need that.
 
Prices are going up because Chinese wages are going up. Wages are going up because the manufacturers need skilled and loyal workers for their specialized product lines. Those skilled workers are not only less loyal, but more demanding. They also want central heating, air conditioning, cars, TV sets, and fancier apartments. That means more income, ideally a good chunk of it disposable. So, the upshot is you pay more for what they make for you.

Who has needs in this hobby? I can't think of anything I need in the hobby. I need electricity, to keep my gums and teeth clean, to eat well and sleep well, and the companionship of friends and a good woman. Everything else, aside from a paying job, is merely nice to have....not essential. It represents disposable income, something the Chinese would like to have, too.

Unless we print money, there are only so many dollars to go around, particularly if what we call the dollar today has approximately the same buying power tomorrow.

No one said the ride would go on forever.

Crandell
 
QUOTE: "I'd still rather buy it from Americans to help our economy, we sure need that".

Michael, me too.

For my tastes Kadee makes some nice stuff in HO and N and it's all made here! I love their steam-era boxcars.

All the Laser kits are US-made I think. So all we need is a US-built line of locos -- if I should live that long. All the rest can be scratchbuilt if it gets much worse.
 
Prices are going up because Chinese wages are going up. Wages are going up because the manufacturers need skilled and loyal workers for their specialized product lines. Those skilled workers are not only less loyal, but more demanding. They also want central heating, air conditioning, cars, TV sets, and fancier apartments. That means more income, ideally a good chunk of it disposable. So, the upshot is you pay more for what they make for you.

Ironically if you replace Chinese references in your statement with US or British you arrive at the reason the US and the UK manufacture very little at all compared to 20-30 years ago. We all wanted more wages, central heating, cars and larger and better TV's. Not sure about the air con as we tend not to have it much here in the moderate UK ;)

Eventually they'll be on the same wage as we want and then manufacturing may come back to the UK or US. Well, here's hoping anyway.

Angie
 
Yes, but then we would demand even higher wages to be able to afford what we manufacture. Then, the jobs would just leave again.
 
Prices are going up because Chinese wages are going up. Wages are going up because the manufacturers need skilled and loyal workers for their specialized product lines. Those skilled workers are not only less loyal, but more demanding. They also want central heating, air conditioning, cars, TV sets, and fancier apartments. That means more income, ideally a good chunk of it disposable. So, the upshot is you pay more for what they make for you.

Who has needs in this hobby? I can't think of anything I need in the hobby. I need electricity, to keep my gums and teeth clean, to eat well and sleep well, and the companionship of friends and a good woman. Everything else, aside from a paying job, is merely nice to have....not essential. It represents disposable income, something the Chinese would like to have, too.

Unless we print money, there are only so many dollars to go around, particularly if what we call the dollar today has approximately the same buying power tomorrow.

No one said the ride would go on forever.

Crandell

Very well said Crandell. I also like your ideas of needs and wants.

I've been in the financial services industry for over 25 years and I can tell you one thing is for sure: The entire concept of money is phony. Occasionally, you can trade it for things you need and other merchandise; but if you can find security, happiness, and good health, without money; you're better off. So plan your hobby purchases carefully and lose the impulse, even in good times.

Essentially, the economy is always cyclical. Sometimes, the cycles last longer than others and are deeper. Our economy will return to prosperity when the world's labor prices rebalance, but we've never had global manufacturing of advanced products like we have now. The advanced nations always used to build the advanced products, so it might be a while.
 
The Chinese want more money to manufacture things for us.
So now we are talking to India. Soon India will be the same as china.
Crandell has valid points.
Anytime a First world country takes a third world country and has them manufacture goods for the first world country, it is only natural that the third world people want to have what they are manufacturing for the first world people. Why should they suffer in heat while making airconditioners for us? Why should their food spoil while they make refrigerators for us? Why shouldn't they be able tp buy the clothes they make for us? Why should they live in dung huts while we have bigger and better homes with new appliances they make?

Upgrading a third world country to a first world standard, means the cost of goods manufactured will go up to the level they were at when the first world country made their own goods.
ANd we have to pay shipping costs to get it from the third world counrty here.

There is also the fluctuation of the dollar at work. That doesn't help. Nor does the fact that now third world countries also want oil, to manufacture our goods, and so now we have more competition in buying it.
We can be, in a manner of speaking, sinking our own boat.
________
Lovely Wendie99
 
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I would rather spend my money in India rather than China. It's a simple old fashioned idea I retain that people in India get to vote for their politicians.

In China they do not have that right. More and more it seems to be something that's glossed over. I find that very disturbing.
 



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