I really want to support my LHS....but

[Janry]

I'm new to the hobby and have been to 1 hobby shop to look over things before getting started. It was the one nearest our home, but still, it was around 8 miles away. I know that doesn't sound that far but WTH, it takes about an hour our of my day to drive there and back. I'd like to visit other hobby shops around Nashville, but they are on the other side of town, and frankly, I'm not crazy about driving in city traffic so I just let the mail/UPS/FedEx people do my errands for me. Plus, I don't think any of them are open on Sunday, leaving just Saturdays available to me to go to their shops. I'm sorry, but Saturdays are reserved for college football. LOL

 

[diburning]

Well, I've seen some good convincing reasons for all sides of the argument, but the bottom line is:

It's YOUR money, YOU decide what to do with it!

 

[Lester Perry]

Well I have been following this for several days now. Saving taxes has been mentioned a few times. For me taxes are a non issue. I live in Delaware no sales tax. If I can get it through my LHS which is one mile from me, I usually do to save shipping and help him out a little. I know its not about helping the LHS but it is nice being able to run there at 8:00 Saturday evening to get a bottle of glue after spilled mine all over my bench.

 

[Janry]

I had Friday off so took the opportunity to visit another area hobby shop (15 miles away). It is dedicated to trains and not a general hobby shop so I was optimistic. It was a rather large shop but I was disappointed in the inventory. Forget locomotives and rolling stock. And, even basic scenery details and craft supplies were sparse. Seriously, the shelves were thinly stocked and it looked like a store that is getting ready to close. I had a shopping list of about 5 general items I wanted but they had none of them. Went to a nearby craft store and got all 4 of the items. I guess there is no need in a hobby shop stocking such items when nearby competition can beat them on price and inventory. But, I really would like a locally owned place to spend my money.



Oh well, I'll try another train shop after the holiday crowds have thinned. But, I'm not very optimistic.

And, to those of you saying you shop online to save sales tax, I'll point out, every state that has sales tax requires it's residents to pay use tax on items bought out of state and it is the same rate as sales tax. So, you really are suppose to be paying it but very few people do.

 

[PEIR]

My "local shop" is 1-1/2 hours from me and I bought 99% of my model RR good from there but it is full retail and I get a 5% discount. Over the past year I have been ordering a lot more online and for example I just ordered three Genesis SD45-2's and will have them at my door in a few days for what I would pay for two units from my local guy and take probably a month from the time he ordered them till I received them. I'm all for everyone making some money but I also like saving money.

 

[SABRR]

I've got two shops in my area. One is a generic shop and although they have a good amount of train stuff, there is nothing there that really fits what I model. The staff is polite and friendly.

The other I visited for the first time and was basically brushed off and treated like "meh" so I won't go back. I'll be staying with internet and eBay for the most part, which is sad, because I'd rather support my local.

 

[sd50f]

I have one hobby store that is an hour away. A lot of stuff in stock, but I'm not looking for $300 P2K engines with sound, or $40 boxcars. The stuff I want, Cannon and Railflyer parts, he doesn't carry. I'll pick up glue, paint, and razor saw blades there because he's reasonable with those, but anything else I'm getting is online.

 

[CBCNSfan]

The thread is now cleaned up, it took a lot of work, please be civil stay from government issues and keep it friendly, no name calling.
I'll delete this post in a day or two as that should be enough time for all to read it.

Moderation on this forum does allow some posts to wander a bit off topic (if the thread also follows that direction) and it is at least distantly related to the original thread topic because that is the way people react during a conversation, we also find that the members participating in such a thread come back to the original topic on their own without prompting from us.



Cheers

Willis