Exactrail goes direct

[diburning]

Originally Posted by MGWSY

I try not to judge anyone’s choice or talents as not everyone can build and paint kits and some just don’t have the time to do it anymore. I am also into RC cars and Boats and I remember in the past you had to build ever RC car from a pile of parts but now they too come RTR. Building everything is fine if that’s your thing but some rather buy RTR stuff and work on other things like building a layout or buildings. Also keep in mind that whether you build your entire layout from scratch out of Cardboard, Wood, Etc or Run Bachmann EZ track on the carpet in the living room almost every non MRR will say you just play with toy trains. Building something just makes someone feel good and say I built that from all these parts and that’s all it is. Some MRR's will give you the oooh's and aaaaah's but many can care less. Keep in mind that it’s just a hobby and that’s all, everyone has their talent in one thing so don’t judge people based on something as buying RTR stuff as for most cars that’s all that is available. Also after building a bunch of car kits from Tichy, Intermountain, P2000, Etc I rather have RTR and use my time to do Electronic installs in locos and build buildings. I still will modify cars to my liking even if they are RTR. That means Replace wheels with Intermountain Semi Scale Wheels, Kadee #158 Couplers, Air Hoses, Coupler Cut Bars, and AEI Tags but I don’t say those that don’t aren’t model railroaders.

Agreed!

Your model railroad is just that; YOUR model railroad. You do what makes YOU happy, not what makes other people happy (unless you're one of those who like to show off and derive happiness from showing off... there's a member of my club that does just that).

If RTR makes people happy, then it will sell. If people are happy building kits and making it their own, it will sell. I like to do both, so I fit both markets.

[NH Mike]

To get back to the original point of Exactrail selling direct; it doesn't make any difference whether the product is a kit or RTR. There are a large number of small and mid sized manufactureres in this hobby who only sell direct. Their business decision is not to sell through a wholesale distributer or a retail dealer for whatever reason they choose. If a consumer wants or needs their products they will buy them, period. Not being able to see an item on a shelf and pick it up and hold it is no different than buying something out of a catalog. Can anybody truely say they have never bought anything from a catalog or a magazine ad? Maybe we've just gotten too used to our LHS offering a discount and the idea of paying MSRP and shipping doesn't appeal. Look on the sunny side of this picture. If the price point of an Exactrail car or anything else makes it a very slow mover for the LHS, he can now use that shelf space for something with a lot more turnover and let Exactrail sit on the inventory until a buyer steps up.

[Cjcrescent]

Originally Posted by NH Mike

... Can anybody truely say they have never bought anything from a catalog or a magazine ad?...

I did twice. Once from Micromark, and once from a discounter. I got burned both times! I will not order sight unseen unless I'm very familiar with the product. I only do this on E-bay, and have never gotten burned.

[ChevelleSSguy]

Thats a pretty gutsy move on Exactrails part. Especially when competitors like BLMA, Tangent and Intermountain have plenty of products that fit right in quality wise. You can pretty much kiss Exactrails ARMN refers goodbye then. No one is going to want to pay retail + shipping for the Exactrail product when the BLMA ones fit in nicely without paying a higher cost.

[HF1]

I've given some consideration over the least couple of weeks since the announcement was made by E/R to move to direct marketing.
At first, I was very disappointed and opposed to the decision and voiced my concerns directly to Blaine and Dave Lotz, of Exactrail.

In the final analysis, it is a decision that they have the right to make- positive or negative as it may be.

In my case, I have to drive about 70 miles round trip to buy anything including Excatrail and its something that I haven't given thought to in the past but, that wear and tear on my vehicle, plus the cost of Gasoline at $3.79 a gallon, costs me about $8-9 in gas -on top of the cost of a Exactrail car-let's say a Evolution Series car that retails for 29.95 and at @20% standard discount, costs me $24.
If I buy two cars( I seldom buy just a single car), that's $48 plus $9 in gas to get there and back, PLUS the sales Tax (my rate locally is 8.25%) = $3.
So, in real dollars, the cost of the cars end up being $60 -about the same price I'd be paying retail by buying direct, with orders over $50 receiving free shipping, and delivered to my door.

So, for me, the price is moot, as it will most likely cost me the same as it would if not less than, if I buy them at a train show or at my local hobby discounter.
The only negative facet of this arrangement is that, like so many of you - I've gotton used to the touch, feel and smell of a product before I buy it.
Even with the Hi-Res advertising copy in our month MRR publications showing sufficient detail and appearence, it's no guarantee that it will operate or arrive assembled well or as advertised.

I will continue to buy new releases from Exactrail if it is something I must have, but at a much slower and smaller pace than before, because I'm going to want to 'test' the waters with a sampling first before committing to a large purchase.

This in itself is going to be a problem with the limited production run availability on many products.
It will be interesting to see how Exactrail will market direct on future products and re-runs.

[ChevelleSSguy]

I guess the bright side is there is no middle man. Which means better deals directly from Exactrail. At least thats the thought going around that is. Guess only time will tell.

[Espeefan]

Originally Posted by ChevelleSSguy

I guess the bright side is there is no middle man. Which means better deals directly from Exactrail. At least thats the thought going around that is. Guess only time will tell.

LOL! Well you can hope for that, but experience dictates otherwise. Most manufacturers who sell direct sell at the full retail price. Take a quick look around the web and see. The clear reason for doing this was to increase the bottom line. Your LHS typically gets a wholesale discount of 40-50% from the manufacturer. Smaller outfiits may offer a short discount of 30%. Your LHS usually share some of this with you by offering a 10-20% discount off of MSRP. Maybe 30% if they have the volume to justify it. My guess is that Exactrail will likely sell at full MSRP or possibly offer light discounts if something doesn't move fast enough or to avoid those pesky end of the year taxes. Yep, there will be a better deal to be had by someone, and my bet is it ain't gonna be YOU!

[el3637]

I bought direct from Exactrail when they released their first cars, as no dealers had them at the time. I also bought some undec 4427s direct, because those were made on a pre-order fill basis. Other than that, I bought pretty much everything else from a dealer - some local, some from Bob Bowditch, and a few others.

I just ordered one of the new Berwick Mopac box cars direct, my first order in the new direct era. I really only wanted one so I didn't make the free shipping cut.

Andy

[35tac]

Originally Posted by Espeefan

LOL! Well you can hope for that, but experience dictates otherwise. Most manufacturers who sell direct sell at the full retail price. Take a quick look around the web and see. The clear reason for doing this was to increase the bottom line. Your LHS typically gets a wholesale discount of 40-50% from the manufacturer. Smaller outfiits may offer a short discount of 30%. Your LHS usually share some of this with you by offering a 10-20% discount off of MSRP. Maybe 30% if they have the volume to justify it. My guess is that Exactrail will likely sell at full MSRP or possibly offer light discounts if something doesn't move fast enough or to avoid those pesky end of the year taxes. Yep, there will be a better deal to be had by someone, and my bet is it ain't gonna be YOU!

Choice is yours or mine, buy Exactrail direct and help the company"Live long and prosper" or dont buy from Exactrail and have them go away. Your choice.
Thanks
Wayne

[Espeefan]

Originally Posted by 35tac

Choice is yours or mine, buy Exactrail direct and help the company"Live long and prosper" or dont buy from Exactrail and have them go away. Your choice.
Thanks
Wayne

I don't matter in this particular scenario. While their stuff is nice, it is years beyond my era. I was just predicting the business repurcussions for modelers. I expect their prices to stay the same or go up. We'll see what happens. I hope I'm wrong for the sake of y'all that buy their stuff.