In an age where people are constantly complaining about the rising costs of model trains, and manufacturers being interested in profit and nothing else, I had to post this rather different ethos posted by Rapido Trains:-

"With the Canadian dollar heading deeper into the toilet, Canadian model railroaders are watching their buying power shrink. A $300 USD locomotive will soon reach the $500 CAD mark. We are all modellers at Rapido so we are feeling this at both ends.

That's why Rapido is now locking in Canadian prices against the falling loonie. No matter how low the loonie falls, our prices will not go up beyond what is shown below.

RDC - price locked at MSRP
Royal Hudson - price locked at MSRP
Budd Mid-Train Dome - price locked at MSRP
FP9A/F9B - price locked at MSRP + $25
FA-2/FPA-2 - price locked at MSRP + $25
All forthcoming 2016 Canadian product announcements - price locked at MSRP

Will this cost us a lot of money? Yes. Will it make some projects unprofitable? Possibly. Is it the right thing to do for the health of our hobby in Canada? Absolutely.

We're in this hobby with you for the long haul, and we want to make sure you can afford to buy our products.

-Jason

Nice to see someone putting customers concerns first for the good of the hobby (and yes, for their own future custom, but they didn't have to do it ) - well done Jason and the team at Rapido


Paul

Hi Paul,

Jason Schron (Rapido's boss) is himself a genuine enthusiast and a decent guy.

That has been clear in all my dealings with him.

The only thing that surprises me about this announcement is that I also consider him to be a shrewd businessman; he has obviously taken the view that he is in this for the long haul and feels it right to support his customers through the bad times, as they have previously supported him through the good.

cheers

Ben A.

The Australian $ is also tanking against the greenback. So, Jason is also helping us in Oz with his pricing policy. Note that if the prices are locked into CAD, then this will be a real boon for US purchasers. 

I've got my eye on the Rapido Royal Hudson even though it is HO and am much more likely to go for one if the price has not gone through the roof.

Webbo

Worth remembering here is that most, if not all, Chinese / Hong Kong factories deal in US$ or HK$ only, so any devaluation of the UK£ against either, hurts us all, no matter how or even when we pay.

Not sure if any factory in China will lock prices, as they are and will continue to be, a law unto themselves. If it looks like they will lose money / profit, the prices go up with no argument from anyone else taken.

Try taking your tools away and lose some unless you pay a 'fee', don't pay? Then prepare to get taken to court ( and in China it's hugely expensive), and does and will happen.

This means that at the moment, China still has the whip hand in all this, and with more price rises on the way ( yup, May 1st again) models from China are fast becoming far too expensive for the average modeller.

I fixed my prices 3 years ago, by the way, in which I would take a lack of profit against reinvestment monies, and a slow down of production of new tooling.
Cheers
Dave

From DJM Dave...
This means that at the moment, China still has the whip hand in all this, and with more price rises on the way ( yup, May 1st again) models from China are fast becoming far too expensive for the average modeller.
                                                    ------------------------

I recently said that I am now very selective about what I buy, as their isn't a bottomless pit of money to play trains.

I also said that I am glad I purchased so much over the last few years that I do not actually need to buy anything else. I will of course, but being selective and focussed as opposed to purchases on a whim.

There will surely come a point where the differential between production costs in China, coupled with the transportation and time factor will make China far less attractive. Could we actually see some production return to the U.K. I wonder?

There is an old expression about killing the goose that has laid the golden egg, which seems very apt.

Quote from: trkilliman on January 20, 2016, 08:34:35 AM
There will surely come a point where the differential between production costs in China, coupled with the transportation and time factor will make China far less attractive. Could we actually see some production return to the U.K. I wonder?

There is an old expression about killing the goose that has laid the golden egg, which seems very apt.

That is one of the outcomes of globalisation (we have seen as much in the EU when Ireland was very cheap there was a rush to move production etc to Ireland then Ireland became expensive and things moved again). Eventually (the theory is) that you drag most places up to a level of income (and therefore cost in manufacturing) that makes things like transport etc the deciding factor so you start to bring things back.

The real problem is then whether you have the skills or willingness in the workforce to perform the work...

Cheers, Mike

Firstly fair play to Jason and the guys at Rapido, the call they have made is great for the hobby for those interested in North American stuff. Also it could be another very clever move as pointed out it in effect makes things cheaper in the states where the higher dollar will make things potentially cheaper to buy.

They may have to make more but if they lose say a third of the profit per model, but it doubles sales then they will still be in a good position (Just an example, not based on any fact).

I can't remember where I read it but I do distinctly remember somewhere reading that with China becoming more expensive and the system in China been very much on side of the factories, there was growing interest in India to take over the production front due to the costs been lower and the court system been to a degree less bias towards the factories.

I've heard rumour that the Japanese model railway companies are starting to bring more production back to Japan. Kato and Tomix certainly always produced some stuff here, although the no. 3 in the market, Microace, is or was apparently pretty much dependent on one factory in China (apparently the same one Dapol uses) which severely disrupted their production schedule in the past year or so. They do seem to be getting back on track, albeit with an alarming price hike to almost British levels.

Edit: actually I'm pretty sure Kato produces in Japan only.

Sterling is also falling against the dollar. Hopefully once the referendum about our relationship with the EU is concluded one way or the other, some measure of confidence will return to the currency. We are outperforming most European countries economically at the moment but sterling is falling vs the Euro due to "uncertainty" 

Of course the US is the only place where the economy is chugging along sufficiently to justify raising their interest rates so no surprise the dollar is flying high. Depressingly, Sterling is even falling vs the Yuan meaning we are being clobbered on all sides.

Still, at least it makes our exporters and manufacturers more competitive. Oh, wait a minute....