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We were hoping that the situation would stabilise and that the Pound would regain some its fallen value and Dapol resisted the short term requirement to increase its pricing. It is now clear that this is not going to be the case and perhaps a weaker Pound is here for the longer term. As a consequence, we now need to recoup these increased costs from imported goods.
For all products that have been ordered already, Dapol will honour the old pricing, however for orders received after October 31st the new price list will come into force. We have endeavoured to keep these prices rises to a minimum by merely passing on the increase in costs and not maintaining our target margins, which have been impacted by the devaluation, even after this price increase.
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http://dapol.co.uk/index.php?route=blog%2Fpost&post_id=19 (http://dapol.co.uk/index.php?route=blog%2Fpost&post_id=19)
Unfortunately I think they are very unlikely to be alone in that move. Hornby's prices have already risen at the beginning of this month.
Cheers, Mike
Fair enough, methinks. I don't have a problem with that.
All I have on pre order with Dapol is the BoB light pacific and, at the rate they're going, I'm not sure whether I'll see it :worried:
I had the bachmann rep in the other day and he said a price rise was inevitable. The question was to what extent it would be. This would also be done in January as thats where they now announce all their new products.
Richard
Kato & Tomix up 20% as well
Nothing I want from Dapol currently available or in the pipeline so that specific rise doesn't worry me.
The inevitability or price rises driven by Far East wages was always there, and the recent drop in the pound against the dollar has made that worse for the time being, but it is the nature of things that currencies fluctuate - that's not new.
Costs passed on will hopefully be based on increases to the prices that Dapol/Bachmann pay their suppliers so the impact on RRPs may be less in percentage terms if all that is passed on is these.
The hobby is getting more expensive than it has been in fairly recent history for sure, but I maintain that those prices were unrealistically and unsustainably low so increases were inevitable.
This is more of the same.
Roy
With the pound falling like a rock through a wet paper bag, price increases for anything imported are inevitable. I really hope that this doesn't price some people out of the hobby and the manufacturers can take some of the heat off the consumer.
Still, I have as much faith as I have always had in our beloved government to sort out our woes. :P
Nothing that's new to us, but someone at the BBC seems to like model railways!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37755137 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37755137)
Interesting link.
Thanks for posting! :thumbsup:
Ben Ando... BBC News and Revolution Trains...
The article is by Ian Pollock though? ;)
Paul
I still say that, when total costs rather than just piece price are considered, some cheaper parts of the EU must soon be competitive with China. The Chinese are not good at quality control, they keep hold of the tooling and don't work to the requests made (from what I have heard). Stock is a long time on the boat and a long time in customs. Visits to manufacturing facilities are expensive. So when taking total costs of getting a model into a marketplace the answer might be different to the answer just based on the piece price of each item.
Manufacturing in the EU probably wont be much help to us much though.
It was always inevitable that with the Brexit vote the pound would drop so there would be price rises, my personal view if my concerns are limiting what models I get a bit more then I am a lucky sod there are people in worse positions than I am lucky to find myself in!
Quote from: acko22 on October 25, 2016, 12:41:43 PM
It was always inevitable that with the Brexit vote the pound would drop so there would be price rises, my personal view if my concerns are limiting what models I get a bit more then I am a lucky sod there are people in worse positions than I am lucky to find myself in!
Very true - we should all keep this sort of thing in perspective. Fortunately I find that this forum seems to be populated by people who have their heads screwed on, unlike some other parts of the internet!
Quote from: Sprintex on October 25, 2016, 11:00:29 AM
The article is by Ian Pollock though? ;)
Paul
Indeed, but maybe there needs to be separation between work and hobbies... but with a nudge to another hack about a story...
I take a philosophical view, I buy a lot less "New" these days.
This is partly as I have caught up with what I want, and I now generally concentrate on building kits or handmade which the parts for are with the exception of Shapeways sourced form the UK or Ebay for mechanisms. Almost all new is from abroad.
Unfortunately there appears to be a hike on Ebay second hand, particularly from the retailers who sell there.
I'm very happy to promote British kits and manufacturers, avoiding the trouble of the pound, and it would be nice to see more threads on the forum encouraging home made kits and conversions.
Incidentally with my business hat on I think the pound is now where it should be and we have been lucky in recent years, and it wont go back any time soon.
Quote from: Snowwolflair on October 26, 2016, 04:13:43 PM
I'm very happy to promote British kits and manufacturers, avoiding the trouble of the pound, and it would be nice to see more threads on the forum encouraging home made kits and conversions.
I couldn't agree more, @Snowwolflair (http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=3761).
For sure stuff from Farish and Dapol is more expensive than it was, but that just means I'm more careful about what I buy!
At the same time, I'm directing more of my time into the crafting side of the hobby, whether that's scratchbuilding or modifying something off-the-shelf. The variety and quality of kits and bits has never been better, and the Internet makes it very easy to find information on a particular kit, prototype or technique.
I think the NGS has done a great job promoting the crafting aspect of the hobby, and Grahame H. has really pushed the journal towards inspiring casual hobbyists, like me, to try to actually build something rather than buy it.
This forum is also a good place to find out about how to make stuff, and in turn, show off what you've made. If economic factors mean that more hobbyists are forced to become crafters to some degree, then in my view, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Cheers, NeMo
I think that us mere mortals have no bearing on the value of the £, or $ or anything else. We have had year on year price rises from Farish in response to the Chinese workers having a (warranted) better deal, decreed by their Government. I'm not convinced there was a need for 20% year on year, but then I am suspicious of businesses.
Each time there is a price rise it must mean that a further number of modellers have to make decisions on what they really want compared to "oh that's nice I'll have one or two of them" People have already said they will need to or have indeed cut back on their new purchases.
Health issues mean I no longer have the disposable income I once enjoyed, and model railways must come after the mandatory bills/outgoings in life. Increasingly I am looking at my collection of unstarted or part finished projects, what can be converted, could I scratch-build as a Scenecraft item will cost me £30+.
I do believe the response of an increasing number of people will be to be content with what they already have, buy less from new, and/or to try their hands at some actual modelling instead of from the box.
When I was a lad around 55 years back, model railways were out of reach for many. Secondhand was the option for many and it seems this situation has returned for increasing number of people. Yes I could afford the Airfix buildings at two shillings (10p) from my pocket money of half a Crown (12.5p) but overall prices had me learning how to make stuff myself. No Woodland scenics back then, it was cereal packet card strips and gummed paper parcel tape around 50mm wide. Mind you, the dyed sawdust of the 70s could be pretty naff!
There are undoubtedly some very finely detailed models around nowadays, but the cost will become a bit too much for increasing numbers of people. Just my opinion of course.
Quote from: trkilliman on October 28, 2016, 09:23:24 AM
and/or to try their hands at some actual different types of modelling instead of from the box making kits and wagons alongside the baseboard construction, scenery, buildings, track laying, wiring and all the other types of modelling they already do and are just as important and real as building and painting a wagon kit.
There we go, fixed that for you. 8)
Wouldn't want people to get the impression there's an elite end of the hobby that builds their rolling stock and the hoi polloi at the other end who muddle through with stuff from Farish and Dapol!
In seriousness though, I do agree with your general point. The price rises are the inevitable consequence of higher living standards in China and the outcome of the Brexit vote. So yes, I think people may find they get more for their money if they try building a kit or repainting an existing loco into a livery they desire rather than waiting for a manufacturer to do it for them. At the same time, the investment in time and skills is significant, and if you don't already have the tools, paint, soldering irons, etc., so building a kit isn't necessarily "cheap" as such.
Cheers, NeMo
Perhaps the manufacturers will now think of doing an economy range for those of us that can't even see the extra detailing on the models now .
While they are doing that they could make them a bit stronger and longer lasting .
It's all very well having all the bells and whistles and all the fancy brake gear and pipe work if the loco packs up after a couple of weeks,or it won't stay on the track .
I certaintly can't afford many new Locos now as I just get my pension and Val had a head injury last year and isn't old enough to get a state pension just £90 a month from the NHS pension ,so money is very tight for the next six years or more .The only new Locos I will be buying in the future are Union Mills GWR Locos and the most expensive one will possibly
be a class 68 in Chiltern Livery as they run on our line .
Thank heaven for the old Farish and Minitrix they are still going after 35 to 40 years so I will have enough Locos to last my life time .
My Popylino is allready paid for by my family so no worries there though I expect there will be a slight increaseDue to the vote and the Chineese wanting two bowls of rice a day instead of one
Enough Waffle now.
Bob
Quote from: Bob Tidbury on October 28, 2016, 10:05:40 AM
Thank heaven for the old Farish and Minitrix they are still going after 35 to 40 years
These old locos are increasingly becoming my locos of choice, especially when clever guys like Ozymandias have had their hands on them and turned them into something special.
As you pretty much said Bob, if you're at operating distance then you can't see much of the detail of the new locos and the old ones look pretty good to me.
What's most important to me is if the locos just 'look' right. Memories of the real thing add the details.
:beers: