Class 50, Class 59, prototype HST, Battle of Britain will be shelved for now

[longbow]

True, but with all the tooling already incurred the marginal unit cost of ordering the extra 1500 will be much less than that of the initial 2500 so maybe that justifies carrying the extra stock.

[Snowwolflair]

True, but with all the tooling already incurred the marginal unit cost of ordering the extra 1500 will be much less than that of the initial 2500 so maybe that justifies carrying the extra stock.

From what they were saying initial 4-5000 for a new tooling - thats the problem.

[woodbury22uk]

The working capital tied up in dead stock can sometimes break a business. Over the past 25+ years Exclusive First Editions issued thousands of 1/76 scale model buses. In recent years they also published a list of old models still in stock, which were over-produced in the hundreds. Many of these dated from far back in the mists of time, and basically no-one was going to buy them. They converted what they could into alternative versions sold as limited editions at relatively high prices. Their investment in new tooling died about 5 years ago, and last autumn they became insolvent and ceased trading. Bachmann bought the brand name and most of the tooling, but wisely steered clear of the old stock. Releasing the money tied up in dead stock can provide funds for new investment, and it is often sensible to take a low amount of cash by selling them rather than have them sitting in a warehouse where they cost money to store by taking up space and clogging up the operation.

[longbow]

Given the economics it's easy to see the temptation to over-order to get a lower unit price.

[Nik96]

Off topic I confess but EFE stock was selling for the change in your pocket once the real stock clearance started just to get rid of them.

The idea of having rolling stock to match the locomotives you make isn't too far away from the ikea business model on the bed frames. They'll take a hit on one part, for example the frame itself, but make huge sums (in comparative terms) on the slats and a little more on the head/tail boards. it's a risk doing this but if you've tried to mix and match ikea you'll realise how they managed to make it work.

overall Ikea make a profit.

If the manufacturers could do the same...

isn't Hornby's railroad range their old tooling?

[davidinyork]

isn't Hornby's railroad range their old tooling?

Not really. Some of it is, but there have been some new railroad models (steam locos), plus some of the older tooling is still in use for main-range products.

Hornby also have the ex-Lima tooling, much of which they still use.

[Snowwolflair]

In America shops and manufacturers used to do loyalty deals where you buy a loco and you get a stamp card with 12 spaces like Nero coffee cards.  Each stamp gets you 20% off a matching wagon or coach from the same manufacturer and compatible for that loco.

[broadsword]

The idea of having rolling stock to match the locomotives you make isn't too far away from the ikea business model on the bed frames. They'll take a hit on one part, for example the frame itself, but make huge sums (in comparative terms) on the slats and a little more on the head/tail boards. it's a risk doing this but if you've tried to mix and match ikea you'll realise how they managed to make it work

Is that the same as the train packs that Farish sometimes sell, a loco + 2-3 coaches,
I wonder how successful these are ?

[davidinyork]

The idea of having rolling stock to match the locomotives you make isn't too far away from the ikea business model on the bed frames. They'll take a hit on one part, for example the frame itself, but make huge sums (in comparative terms) on the slats and a little more on the head/tail boards. it's a risk doing this but if you've tried to mix and match ikea you'll realise how they managed to make it work

Is that the same as the train packs that Farish sometimes sell, a loco + 2-3 coaches,
I wonder how successful these are ?

I'd see it as more like producing a loco and coaches / wagons in a matching livery for separate sale, and discounting one item as a lost-leader in order that purchasers will buy the whole set. I can't really see the model train market being large enough to make this work, plus of course a given loco can normally be used with a wide variety of different rolling stock.

[Nik96]

The idea of having rolling stock to match the locomotives you make isn't too far away from the ikea business model on the bed frames. They'll take a hit on one part, for example the frame itself, but make huge sums (in comparative terms) on the slats and a little more on the head/tail boards. it's a risk doing this but if you've tried to mix and match ikea you'll realise how they managed to make it work

Is that the same as the train packs that Farish sometimes sell, a loco + 2-3 coaches,
I wonder how successful these are ?

It'd allow quick disposal of large volumes of carriages. Cumbrian mountain express comes with BSK, RMB and FK Mk1's three coaches less that have to be sold as individuals... How successful they are in terms of profit depends on how they price against buying like for like models individually.

Of course the sales gimmick is the throw-ins such as Ais Gill Signal box that (I believe) can only be obtained by purchasing the train pack.

The idea of having rolling stock to match the locomotives you make isn't too far away from the ikea business model on the bed frames. They'll take a hit on one part, for example the frame itself, but make huge sums (in comparative terms) on the slats and a little more on the head/tail boards. it's a risk doing this but if you've tried to mix and match ikea you'll realise how they managed to make it work

Is that the same as the train packs that Farish sometimes sell, a loco + 2-3 coaches,
I wonder how successful these are ?

I'd see it as more like producing a loco and coaches / wagons in a matching livery for separate sale, and discounting one item as a lost-leader in order that purchasers will buy the whole set. I can't really see the model train market being large enough to make this work, plus of course a given loco can normally be used with a wide variety of different rolling stock.

Are you thinking along the lines of the Kernow exclusive weed killer train? The tankers, coaches and class 20's.

[davidinyork]

Are you thinking along the lines of the Kernow exclusive weed killer train? The tankers, coaches and class 20's.

That would be one example. A more general example would probably be HSTs as these are fixed-formation sets requiring specific coaches.

[Karhedron]

That would be one example. A more general example would probably be HSTs as these are fixed-formation sets requiring specific coaches.

I wonder how much Dapol hurt their sales of the HSTs by releasing them in dribs and drabs making it hard to collect a complete rake in matching livery?

[davidinyork]

That would be one example. A more general example would probably be HSTs as these are fixed-formation sets requiring specific coaches.

I wonder how much Dapol hurt their sales of the HSTs by releasing them in dribs and drabs making it hard to collect a complete rake in matching livery?

Quite a bit, I expect - especially when some required coaches in certain liveries have still not appeared years after the rest, and there were issues with different batches not matching. Looks like they are releasing some of the missing ones this year, but the only indication is on retailers' websites - Dapol's own forum, despite claiming to be "the definitive source for Dapol product news" has no mention of them, and I received no answer when I asked on there a few days ago. Having that forum seemed to be a really good idea to start with, but if they are going to ignore it most of the time it's likely to have a negative effect on perceptions.

[leachsprite4]

I'm inclined to ignore the digest now. No comments on their in response to questions about the BoB and J72 is available to comments on.
Also worth noting that in June 2016 on the digest it said they would be releasing collet full brakes, hmm really as I thought n gauge society owned the tools.
Graham