Where do you shop online?


T

Tank

New Member
Well, about the only place I know of to buy engines and rolling stock online is horizonhobbies.

Where are some good stores with some good prices? I would very much appreciate some good links!

Thanks.
 
I have purchased from the following, and not necessarily engines:

traintrack.net filled my order for a #6 doubleslip very promptly. Wasn't cheap by the time I got it to the door, but his price out of his door was darned reasonable.

modeltrainstuff.com (really M. B. Klein) several times, always at my door within 8 days or so through CCRA.

caboosehobbies a couple of times.

Factory Direct Trains at least three times, twice for Hybrid BLI engines.

BLI's own Refurbished deals at their website....you can get some good bargains on repairs or refusals (even for damaged boxes), with full warranty.

discountrails although they were selling an Atlas Gold Fairbanks-Morse Trainmaster with DCC/sound for USD$149 :eek::D, I see he has since gone mainly to a supplier of N scale.

Modellbahnott who sells Trix...got about the last GG1 not on eBay, and he was good to deal with.

canadianmodeltrains are very good, but don't expect much in the way of discounts....pretty pricey, but right down the pike with their customers.

internethobbies have been good. Note that I didn't type internettrains...they were horrid until the past 8 months or so, but I think someone got a clue there or it was bought out and now runs like a clock.

Don't overlook some of the etailers on eBay. Many hobby shops/shippers have outlets, or virtual stores and listings there. Type in your scale item you want, and look for the 'buy it now' listings. Those guys are happy to sell you something right away, and often the price is very competitive. Look for their transaction ratings, though...they should be above 98%.

I would have to say that cherrycreek and peachtree hobbies both get good reviews, as does empirenorthern. toytrainheaven never comes up on my list of places to slam. In fact, about the only place where I have seen persistently negative comments for a couple of years across the various model fora is internettrains, and I understand that is now a non-issue.

Do take 30-40 minutes of surfing, and go three or four pages into the hits that your web browser brings up for you. There are bargoons to be had if you are willing to search for them.

Crandell
 
I'll +1 on modeltrainstuff.com . Just ordered a bundle of flex track from them and they were prompt attentive and courteous.

I also like hobbylinc.com . Their service is top notch.

For the old used obsolete discontinued stuff... it's ebay all the way. :)

Greg
 
Online Canadian Ship Shopping

Keep in mind that UPS and Fedex can have outrageous brokerage charges.

USPSFCI (US Postal Service First Class International) is the only reasonable service for small items and many of the online vendors will not use it because there is no tracking. Postal deliveries over 20$ may be subject to HST and a 5$ service charge.

If you want something that is more practical for US shipping there are a number of places like Blaine Enterprises that will hold a package for pickup (3$/ standard package).

,,, ken
 
A most emphatic ditto on the suggestion to not accept parcels shipped by the couriers. Only purchase from sellers who will agree to ship your parcel via USPS or Canada Post. The couriers UPS and KHL, and probably the others by now, will charge you a hefty "brokerage fee" for getting the item out of customs. I got tired of having to lift my plastic out of my wallet when the package arrived, already with $15 shipping added to Canada, and then have to sign for an additional $40 (yes, that's a four and a zero).

Grrrrrrr........so much for shopping around for bargains. I might as well have bought the darned store. :mad:

Crandell
 
Hi, I'm from Australia and trying to take advantage of high dollar against the greenback at the moment. Does anyone have any good suggestions about online US stores that have good stocks of HO locos and rolling stock, who ship internationally AND accept PayPal? (rather not to shop with credit card if I can avoid it, I'm a little suspect of that haha!)

Thanks :)
 
Hey Everyone,

There is a "Sticky" Thread at the top of this forum (general discussion) that is titled "Best Hobby Shops on the Web" that was started a year or so ago that has many pages of great info about this subject.
 
Any one ever bought from wholesaletrains.com ? they have just the lowers price I ever found online, but i dont know if they customer service is nice or not.
 
julienjj said:
Any one ever bought from wholesaletrains.com ? they have just the lowers price I ever found online, but i dont know if they customer service is nice or not.
Click to expand...

I have bought from them several times. They do have low prices, but they have expensive shipping IMO even to the lower 48. Even with the shipping charges added in, they are still cheaper than almost everyone else. Case in point, I got 2 Athearn SD70Aces with sound coming soon that were $186 each. Also got 2 Intermountain ES44s w sound for $175 each.
 
I always have good luck with and often darn good prices at :
wholesaletrains.com and with: internethobbies.com . in either case I live close enough to either that if I have a problem I can go to their stores and complain LOUDLY.
________
VAPIR NO2 VAPORIZER
 
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