Bachmann Farish 2017 Price Increases

[Bob G]

I just saw this on the Bachmann Farish website:

http://www.bachmann.co.uk/details.php?id=349

"Following our recent 2017 range announcements, we would like to inform you that our 2017 prices will come into effect as of the 1st February. This comes eleven months after our 2016 prices were announced, in a year where our prices were held despite the Post-Brexit Sterling exchange rates falling significantly.

Our price increases for 2017 have been held to a minimum, with 72% of our Branchline products either being held or being reduced in price, with an average of only a 6% rise in price. We have also been able to hold, or reduce our prices on 64% of our Graham Farish products with only a 4% average price increase where absolutely necessary.

We've worked very hard to keep any price increases to an absolute minimum in the current economic climate and to enable us to continue to offer the highest standards of design and quality that you have come to expect from our products".

If the average is 4% price rise, and 64% of the prices are fixed, then the ones that have gone up in price (probably the new models) would average an 11% rise.

I would purchase all you can before 1 Feb, as prices are only going one way.

HTH
Bob

[Elvinley]

I am so glad I bought most of my stock when I did. Around the N gauge boom era of upgraded locos and coaches that were coming out thick and fast and before the current high prices kicked in. That was a great time to invest in N gauge. Nowadays I only buy the odd special offer and stock up at events like the Dapol Open day where a Schools needing a chimney glued back on set me back the price of a newly priced Pullman coach.

[Nick]

If the average is 4% price rise, and 64% of the prices are fixed, then the ones that have gone up in price (probably the new models) would average a 6.25% rise.

Without actually sitting down and crunching numbers, I think it's more like 11 or 12%.

Nearly two-thirds of the prices are fixed, so the increase from the remaining one-third has to account for 4% when averaged across the whole piece. So you'd expect a rise in that one-third of three times the quoted overall average.

(Actual numbers would depend on how prices are distributed between the fixed and increasing models.)

Ouch.

Of course, "with only a 4% average price increase where absolutely necessary." could be read to mean that the price rise on the products where one was absolutely necessary averaged only 4%. Which would nice. Well, nice-ish.

I wonder which is true?

[Bob G]

Without actually sitting down and crunching numbers, I think it's more like 11 or 12%.

Yes you are right.
I did the maths wrong - but I do have a stinking cold and cough as my excuse. Post edited to correct the error.
Bob

[Nick]

No worries. Hope your cold gets better. I had on ethat decided it was enjoying my company so much it would stick around for the whole of the Holiday season. 

[Bob G]

My wife said it was because of my promiscuity on New Years Eve. We went on a P&O "booze cruise" to Hamburg and I was a bit happy by midnight. Seems I was dancing with and kissing a lot of previously unknown women that night. 

Of course I have no memory of the alleged events.

[Nick]

My wife said it was because of my promiscuity on New Years Eve. We went on a P&O "booze cruise" to Hamburg and I was a bit happy by midnight. Seems I was dancing with and kissing a lot of previously unknown women that night. 

Of course I have no memory of the alleged events.

Well, there are worse things you could have caught from promiscuity with unknown women. And your wife wouldn't be talking to you by now....  N gauging would definitely be off the agenda for a while...

[JasonBz]

Unless your approach to model train shopping is to  just go around hoovering up anything shiny that takes your fancy, price rises are pretty much only a minor pain.
Any small train plans I have will have a "stock list" and a "maybe nice list" - things not on those never enter my head to just but cos i can.

The biggest price driver has been the Chinese Gvt deciding the workers should get a fair wage for making our trains - Can't really argue on that one much.....

[Nick]

Unless your approach to model train shopping is to  just go around hoovering up anything shiny that takes your fancy, price rises are pretty much only a minor pain.

You mean there's another way? This is news!

Shiny good. Monkey see, monkey want.... 

[JasonBz]

Unless your approach to model train shopping is to  just go around hoovering up anything shiny that takes your fancy, price rises are pretty much only a minor pain.

You mean there's another way? This is news!

Shiny good. Monkey see, monkey want.... 

This monkey learnt to keep his fingers in his monkey pockets!
I dunno why but, with me, it seems to be an N Gauge thing.... I never randomly (much!) buy stuff in other scales....

[Howlin`baz]

Having not yet seen where the 11/12% will be applied or where the 4% applies, it is hard to see where the justification for 12% comes.   I appreciate that new tooling will be expensive (and we will just have to make up our minds if we actually do need this new model rather than would like one) but if the 12% is added to existing (sometime quite old but quite serviceable models,) where tooling costs have probably already been recovered - I cannot see why these items should be hiked up in price in line with with a totally new model.
We (I at least am old enough) have experienced exceptionally high rice rises at least twice before, and while the initial reserve (not purchasing) last for a while, we all eventually give in and pay up.
Perhaps now is the time when this will not happen?    At approaching £150+ by the time I have chipped it, I will make sure that all I buy will be actually what I need.

[red_death]

Having not yet seen where the 11/12% will be applied or where the 4% applies, it is hard to see where the justification for 12% comes.   I appreciate that new tooling will be expensive (and we will just have to make up our minds if we actually do need this new model rather than would like one) but if the 12% is added to existing (sometime quite old but quite serviceable models,) where tooling costs have probably already been recovered - I cannot see why these items should be hiked up in price in line with with a totally new model.

Because the driver for many price rises in China is not the cost of tooling but the cost of production.
Old, poorly detailed tooling should be cheap to run as production costs are low.
Tooling from the Farish move to China ie well-detailed tooling may be very expensive to run (despite the tooling being paid off) as the production costs from lots of seperately added detail can be high.
New tooling can be made to factor in that production costs have increased dramatically but there may be a "cost" in terms of finesse and detail.

Cheers, Mike

[Karhedron]

Also, China is still going through its 5-year wage inflation plan meaning that labour costs will continue to rise for a couple more years yet IIRC.

[acko22]

Hi all,

Well I am no economist but there are a few factors that I think have seen the price rises:

1) Value of the Pound (after the last 6 months we have all seen it drop)
2) The Chinese Government implementing its wage increase 4% each year
3) The wage increases in the UK (while they don't have the worlds biggest staff, third parties have staff who they have to pay more and them costs fall on to the customers in this case Bachmann / Farish)
4) More detailing means more cost

The only thing that's very minor is the oil prices been lower at the minute it can run a little to the advantage if it remains so (cheaper for plastics to produce with / shipping), but again companies tend to balance it out through a year so they charge the same and if these costs are lower its saved and if higher the saved cash comes into play.

While this year its a big hit, fingers crossed it will be a case of big hit now then fractional increases for X years if required.

One thing that will be interesting to see is if as spoke about in 2015 companies start to more to India to lower costs again, this could be beneficial or dangerous but time will tell.

Guess we will all have to suck it up sadly it is what it is, and see what the future holds

[Newportnobby]

2) The Chinese Government implementing its wage increase 4% each year

If I recall correctly the actual annual percentage wage increase was 20%, Gareth, and I believe we still have 2 years of this to come. I hate to say this (again) but I reckon come 2019/2020 the cost of a large loco will hit the £200 mark full RRP.
We're doomed, Mr. Mainwaring, we're doomed!