> > The ma and pop manufacturers really
> > hurt me. No discount worth anything by the time I add postage back.
--snip--
> > So to the Mom and Pops out there, If my
> > local hobby shop orders from you can you offer them a decent profit
> > and at cost postage?
--snip--
> > Ken
Folks.....
The above is a very accurate description of a problem that has existed
for 40 years or more. Back in the '70s, local hobby dealers would
complain that S Scale Locomotive & Supply (SSLS) would only offer them
a 5% dealer discount. After paying postage, the dealer would suffer a
financial loss on the transaction. Others, like "S"cenery Unlimited,
would not offer any dealer discount. I was once asked to leave the
local hobby store when the owner discovered I was the Prez of NASG
because he was so mad at the importer of a brass doodlebug who refused
him a dealer discount. The owner incorrectly assumed that as NASG's
Prez I had total control over everything that happened in S scale. He
later apologized for kicking me out of his store (THE TRAIN SHOP) and
the matter was forgotten. At this point, the store does not stock any
S products other than Kadee S couplers and similar items. The ill will
runs deep and long.
Most of the mom&pop manufacturers are selling direct to avoid the
distributor/wholesaler and retailer discounts. They will claim the
profit margin is simply not there to do otherwise. The local hobby
shop will claim that without being stocked in retail stores, S scale
will never take it's rightful place among the other, more popular,
scales. So what to do? That is the question -- still unanswered after
several decades.
Any new ideas out there?
Cheers...Ed L.
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