Mail-order Ethics

[dieselfan1]

My LHS sells everything at MSRP. They are about a 45 minute drive from me. They are very well stocked for N Scale. But who wants to spend 120.00 on a loco that I can get from M.B. Kleins for 69.00? Thats almost half price. The only time I buy anything from them is if I need it NOW. I rarely spend more than 25 bucks there. I do go there at least once every few months and the Guy that works there knows me and knows what I model and is super nice to me but I can't just throw money away like that. I have gone there to look at something then go home and order it from Kleins. I really don't care about the ethics part of this either. I do care about my money though. I am sure I'm not the lone ranger here too. It is what it is.

 

[FCL2117]

I have gone there to look at something then go home and order it from Kleins. I really don't care about the ethics part of this either. I do care about my money though.

That's society today.

No surprise we have the governments that we do.

Sent from my Vic20 using Java Moose

 

[Bruette]

Hi dieselfan1,

You are not a lone ranger or a pariah. You are the consumer and the only thing you owe that hobby shop is the chance to match MB Klein's price.

I was a salesmen and self-employed and I would be happy if my customers always gave me the chance to match prices. If I could not match the price I would not have been upset. I did not expect charity from my customers. You have a responsibility to look out for your finances for the sake of your family. You are not talking about $5 or $10, you are talking about $50 in this example.

If you paid full price I would wonder why you are making a donation to a business rather then giving something to charity, if you have money to give away.

I believe in this example you are making the ethical choice.

Louis

My LHS sells everything at MSRP. They are about a 45 minute drive from me. They are very well stocked for N Scale. But who wants to spend 120.00 on a loco that I can get from M.B. Kleins for 69.00? Thats almost half price. The only time I buy anything from them is if I need it NOW. I rarely spend more than 25 bucks there. I do go there at least once every few months and the Guy that works there knows me and knows what I model and is super nice to me but I can't just throw money away like that. I have gone there to look at something then go home and order it from Kleins. I really don't care about the ethics part of this either. I do care about my money though. I am sure I'm not the lone ranger here too. It is what it is.

 

[RCShadow]

I certainly wouldn't feel badly about being a prudent consumer.

There is a national hobby chain locally to me that sells some items at above MSRP. Case in point, I bought two Tortoise Switch Machines from them, along with some flex track, and other misc items. When I got home, I noticed they charged $21.95 for the switch machines and the MSRP for them is $19.95. The joke was on them though, I got 10 pieces of 36" flex track but they had only charged me for one piece! When I called them about the error and to explain the switch machines pricing, they told me to "forget about the other nine pieces of track and we will call it even". They have gone through a management change recently and I can see why.

 

[tootnkumin]

Some clouds do have nickel-silver linings then.

 

[railBuilderDhd]

I have to agree that I'm going to do what I can to make the money I have to spend on the hobby last. I have tried to support the local shop but I get turned off by them from things like I don't carry code 83. Code 100 is the standard and you should be using it. I don't want to be told what I should be doing or "I can order it for you". I can order it for me and for less.

I do try to pick an online site that is a shop in some other city to help keep the shops open as it may not be my backyard but it's someones.

Dave