Unreal!!!!!

[texhorse]

I'm not a British modeller.  Well not any more but I used to be.

I had a nosey around the Bachmann stall and saw this.

Absolutely unreal!!!!!  Who in their right mind will pay £374.00 for an N Gauge model?  And if you are prepared to pay this, you must REALLY want this Strathclyde 101!!!!!  This is more money than some people earn in a week!

Have a word with yourselves Bachmann.

Andy
UK

[Bob G]

And Dapol are planning the complete mock Blue Pullman HST 11 car set for £495.

Then of course you have to buy all those Hunt magnetic couplings else the Mk III coaches will come uncoupled.

Who would be a modeller these days.

Bob

[Luke Piewalker]

I really wanted as Strathclyde 101... 

That is with sound though...

[njee20]

I'm not a British modeller.  Well not any more but I used to be.

I had a nosey around the Bachmann stall and saw this.

Absolutely unreal!!!!!  Who in their right mind will pay £374.00 for an N Gauge model?  And if you are prepared to pay this, you must REALLY want this Strathclyde 101!!!!!  This is more money than some people earn in a week!

Have a word with yourselves Bachmann.

Andy
UK

Ugh, well thanks to the clickbait title I'm here. But what's your point? Purchase isn't mandatory. What's the right price for it? Are you the arbiter of pricing? Plenty of people have no job, so are you saying £5 is too much by that logic? What if people want to save up for one?

I spoke with Mech Models, who've recently sold a Southern Pacific AC-12 for £800. Without sound. Second hand.

Will make sure I consult you on all future purchases to ensure I'm in 'my right mind'.

[ntpntpntp]

Who in their right mind will pay £374.00 for an N Gauge model?
UK

I have paid that much in the past (and more) and I will again if I judge the model to be worth it *to me* based on quality, rarity and/or simply really attractive to own.     It wouldn't be a Farish Strathclyde 101 as that has no interest to me, but some of the Continental N models I do buy and run have cost more than that.  So have a couple of the CJM models I bought back in their heyday.  I wouldn't consider myself not "in my right mind".   It's a toy train, nothing forcing me to buy it.

[Mito]

For those that can afford it , fine, if you think it's value for money. For those who can't afford it there's no alternative. These high prices are driving potential modelers away from the hobby. This has been my hobby for all of my life but I can't afford to buy more stock. I'm reaching the stage where I'm going to put all I have in a box and chuck it.

[njee20]

Or sell some of your lesser used items for the increased second hand values and buy the new bits you want.

I fail to see people being priced out of the hobby. Yes, maybe if you just have the latest models, sound fitted, and you have a shoestring budget it's hard. But model railways have the great advantage of negligible ongoing expense. Build layout. Buy trains. Done. A minuscule amount on maintaining locos and spares, you basically need never spend another penny. Compare this to so many hobbies and it's a huge advantage. Look at the price of consoles and games, young people aren't being priced out. People new to the hobby don't remember 'the halcyon days' so aren't in a position to moan about prices.

Nick nails it for me, I will appraise each model on merit and decide what I want to pay. I don't care what anyone else thinks is the 'right' price, I have the power of independent thought.

[exmouthcraig]

But that's as bad as whinging motorsport costs are driving potential newcomers into it.

Costs are costs if you can't afford it, tough! It's a hobby at the end of the day, no one HAS to model Railways but look at other hobbies

Golf
Fishing
Flying
Model aircraft / trucks / cars
Yachting
Surfing
Power kiting
Kayaking
Classic cars

I do quite a few of these and not one of them is cheap but no ones got  a gun to my head forcing me to do any of them

[texhorse]

I'm not a British modeller.  Well not any more but I used to be.

I had a nosey around the Bachmann stall and saw this.

Absolutely unreal!!!!!  Who in their right mind will pay £374.00 for an N Gauge model?  And if you are prepared to pay this, you must REALLY want this Strathclyde 101!!!!!  This is more money than some people earn in a week!

Have a word with yourselves Bachmann.

Andy
UK

Ugh, well thanks to the clickbait title I'm here. But what's your point? Purchase isn't mandatory. What's the right price for it? Are you the arbiter of pricing? Plenty of people have no job, so are you saying £5 is too much by that logic? What if people want to save up for one?

I spoke with Mech Models, who've recently sold a Southern Pacific AC-12 for £800. Without sound. Second hand.

Will make sure I consult you on all future purchases to ensure I'm in 'my right mind'.

Hi Njee

Make sure you do consult me first, Mate!!!!!   

My point isn't to pick fault with people who are in a position to spend all that money on a model.  Rather it's a comment aimed at manufacturers to bring their prices down, not that they will while people are prepared to pay them!

Anyway, your comments made me laugh Buddy so thanks for that!

Andy
UK

[ntpntpntp]

Tiny production runs (relatively speaking) for the limited British N market, cost of tooling, cost and availability of materials and labour, demand for ever-increasing fine detail and DCC features... it all results in increasing prices.  That's just the way it is now, the only way you'll see prices go down is manufacturers re-using old tooling and producing simplified models such as Hornby "Railroad", Arnold "Hobby"  etc.   

I may buy a few expensive rare models now and again as per my previous reply, but I still struggle with things like general run-of-the-mill German coaches costing more than £20 each brand new as that's the figure still lodged in my head from a couple of decades ago. Nowadays they're easily double that.  Fortunately ebay is a great source of new and nearly-new bargains

[njee20]

Hi Njee

Make sure you do consult me first, Mate!!!!!   

My point isn't to pick fault with people who are in a position to spend all that money on a model.  Rather it's a comment aimed at manufacturers to bring their prices down, not that they will while people are prepared to pay them!

Anyway, your comments made me laugh Buddy so thanks for that!

Andy
UK

But that isn't what you said. You said "who in their right mind would pay [that]". If that isn't picking fault with people then what is? That's not remotely the same as 'I think manufacturers should bring prices down', and again, what is the right price for that model? If £375 is lunacy, should it be £300? £250? Im genuinely interested to know what you think it should be. One presumes Farish have done some sums, and probably understand their margins a bit.

Everyone has different financial priorities. I'm sure you could spend £375 on a model if you really wanted, ok maybe you'd need to save up. People spend money on all sorts of things; drinking, smoking, mortgages, cars, childcare, other hobbies, home electronics etc etc. I don't understand why anyone is judged for what they choose to spend their money on. 

[Railwaygun]

Let's all calm down! It's a hobby, and we all have our own needs, and resources. Each according to his own?

[east anglian]

To  pay   that   sum   for   a   model  that   could   be   mass   produced  seems  a   bit   expensive,  but  it  could  be  justified  on  limited  editions  or   one   offs ,  I  have sold   many  models  that  have   been  expensive  but  less   than  10  off   each  model  I  have   made,  in   fact  I  now   only  produce  5  as   the  donor  models   are   getting   scarce  and   my   eyesight   is  not  up   to   standard,  If   you   want  to  look   up   page   33  in  the   members   gallery  under   the   name   of   EAST   ANGLIAN  you   can   see   some   of   my   work  and   the   layout  will  shortly  be   up   for   sale,  due to   health   reasons  and   eyesight  I  shall  sadly  be   leaving  N   Gauge , any  member  that  will   be   visiting  the   WIGAN  show  would   be   welcome  to   visit   my   humble   home  to   see   my    large   collection  of   unique  one   off   models, 

[Railwaygun]

To  pay   that   sum   for   a   model  that   could   be   mass   produced

But how big is the market?
what are the development costs ?
How long to actually make a profit ( to reinvest)?

UK N Gauge is a minnow!

[east anglian]

 True  its   only   a    small   market  and  it  would  depend   on   what   they   produced  to   recoup   tooling   costs,