The closest train shop to my home is about 2 hours away. Most of my buying comes from websites. I was just wondering what is your favorite website to work with and what is the hardest to work with? Some are real easy and some are frustrating
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While I can't name particular sites, one thing that frustrates me is the lack of GOOD search capability on MOST vendor's sites. As an example, if I'm searching for a 6-19011 baggage car, I'll start with "lionel 19011", "6-19011", "madison baggage car", etc. (Yes, I know this is a long-ago part number, but I just picked one that popped into my mind.) Most sites won't provide a hit, even if they have one. It seems like most of the vendors add or subtract characters, and their search engine can't provide a "numbers CONTAINING" function. Some provide numbers like L19011 or 619011, etc., that, unless you know their numbering convention, you'll never find that for which you are searching.
Ones that have the sort column vs the ones that have one but gives you the exact opposite of what you need
I echo Carl's sentiment about some sites search functionality accuracy. There are tons of good vendor sites but not too many that have good search capibility.
I get tired of trying to remember or figure out a vendors model numbering system for those that don't use the manufactuerer's model number and format.
I don't doubt that some of these sites web presence are based on some old technology. But being able to find a product on a site can make a big difference in sales.
The othe big peeve for me is when I do a search using 1 or 2 simple keywords and end up getting a boatload of completely unrelated results that have no correlation to either keyword. I'll give those sites 2 or 3 shots before I just move on to someone else.
Gee, didn't realize I was so miffed at bad search capabilities on train sites. If getting a bad search result is the worst thing that happens to me on any given day then I am doing pretty good.
Ed
Ditto to Mr Orton. When it comes to computer literacy, for me, it is all in Swahili, but l encounter a lot of websites where l think they should have paid the chimpanzee a few more bananas to design it. The problem may be, the designer knows zip about trains, and the shop owner is not qualified to proof what he paid for.
I like trainworlds web sight. Have ordered three lionel items so far all 100% working and arrived packed very well. Like you I have no hobby shop close. Would recomend trainworld to anyone. Plus they have resonable prices on most items. There web sight is well done also. They also told me as soon as you place the order. If the item you ordered is in stock. They ship it out right then. Great customer service with returns also. Just my two cents.
I don't doubt that some of these sites web presence are based on some old technology. But being able to find a product on a site can make a big difference in sales.
The othe big peeve for me is when I do a search using 1 or 2 simple keywords and end up getting a boatload of completely unrelated results that have no correlation to either keyword. I'll give those sites 2 or 3 shots before I just move on to someone else.
LOL, if the site used old technology, and your spelling was correct, I think you would get better results.
Many sites, including EBay and Amazon give results that you and I would consider completely unrelated. But their algorithms must be deciding that you might be interested in that other stuff based on your search criteria.
I also find this to be very annoying.
Just this morning I ran into this on the Lowes site. Home Depot's site gave much more accurate results. Guess which site I stayed with...........
Most difficult for me was backdrop warehouse. Good photos but hard to navigate and figure out.
I will say once I called them the man was very helpful, and I really like the product.
Rich883 posted:Most difficult for me was backdrop warehouse. Good photos but hard to navigate and figure out.
I will ill say once I called them the man was very helpful, and I really like the product.
Wow! And, he sure loved different fonts, and colors, and cliparts, and gadgets. lol
I ended up going to Joey Ricard's Trackside Scenery.
Best websites I use, that are very easy to navigate:
1) Trainworld
2) Nassau Hobby
3) Marios Trains
4) TK Trains and Hobby
Worst: All of these dealers have lost sales from me due to the website alone. I really won't even consider them when online, despite terrific in-person sales.
1) Just Trains of Delaware (shows item in stock and then the fine Print says "0 in stock". What a PITA to select the item And check out only to have it back fire on you
2) Pats Trains. Maybe delete some of the hundreds or thousands of things listed as "sold out" (and update the MTH product locator accordingly)? I have no desire or time to sift through that mess.
3) Mr Muffin - at least his search function is great. It would be nice if it was a bit easier to get started Shopping vs sifting through the pre-orders section and the "more X Manufacturer products" or whatever (which, when you hit that button will bring a ton of random products that are not grouped together at all). The overall design isn't bad but the opening is difficult, IMO. Easier to search by item number but no good for random "cruising" when you've got some money burning a hole in your pocket and you don't know what to buy.
I get a lot of these stores are one man operations. However, a good or bad website WILL make or break your business and is a easy way to ensure repeat business or solidify that the shopper will never return. The three listed above are the ones I go to simply because I can find what I want, check out and be done all within a few minutes. Every deal is easy, quick and the item is found without going down a rabbit hole or two....
Have ordered many times from Trainworld and never had a problem
I recognize that many model train dealers are relatively small businesses that don't have the resources to develop a comprehensive website. If you are going to have a website (which I think is mandatory to survive), you need to have a good search engine that allows customers to search based on various criteria. For example, some may know the exact catalog #, others may want a Lionel tank car, others may want an SD45, etc.
The key to rolling out a good website is (what we used to call in the old days of IT) user acceptance testing. Before rolling out a new or updated website to the public, contact your most recent 50 customers as well as many of your "regular" customers. Give them access to the new/updated website and solicit their feedback and listen carefully to what they say. And, make sure whoever is developing the website hears and understands the feedback.
I think I have been to almost all forum advertisers' websites. There are some whose websites were so poorly designed (at least from my perspective as a potential customer) that I don't plan to ever purchase from them.
Bottom line, a poorly designed website will lead to lost sales. It's up to each dealer to assess the cost of a well-designed website vs. the cost of sales lost due to a poorly designed website.
I don't buy much on line however yesterday I went to charlesro.com looking for Lionel WIFI items. It was the easiest I've ever experienced finding what I was lookin for. Great site.
Rod Miller
For two days I have been trying to order some parts on line from Hobby Surplus, it takes for ever to get to the parts area and when you want to check out and empty your cart, it won't let you pay????
Marty
Modeltrainstuff and Trainworld are my favorite for ease of navigation, good search, and live inventory.
Some I won't mess with as they're cumbersome and clunky to navigate are Pats trains and Mr Muffins could use better setup to determine in stock vs preorder.
Modeltrainstuff, Marios, trainworld, Menards are some of the best. The worst, the list is just too long.
Any dealer who has a bad web site looses my business right from the start.
Western Depot - very good site with correct inventory.
Trainz - parts are complete mess with poor search and photos, no tech support.
Not just the website but the people behind it. For the most part I only order from Mr. Muffins, great guy. And There are others with very good websites but the people behind the site are less than professional who I will not mention here.
I find that a Google search with all the keywords for the item gets me a lot further than trying to navigate around clunky sites.
I like CT Trains website. Easy to find things on the list but you have to call to order. Liked Charles Ro website before they changed it. Looked there the other day and was confusing to me
I like modeltrainstuff.com as well.
Excellent prices and they have a very good search engine. You can sort the results 8 different ways including availability. If an item is out of stock, they will email you when it is available.
They are also a brick and mortar store, MB Klein.
Bob
My favorite is TrainWorld. Simple to use and accurate.
I have to agree, the biggest thing that annoys me about some sites is the "Sold Out" items. It would be really nice if someone took the time to remove items once sold.
Another website I really like is ebay. I know that probably doesn't count but I buy more train related stuff there than from anywhere else.
Carl Orton posted:While I can't name particular sites, one thing that frustrates me is the lack of GOOD search capability on MOST vendor's sites. As an example, if I'm searching for a 6-19011 baggage car, I'll start with "lionel 19011", "6-19011", "madison baggage car", etc. (Yes, I know this is a long-ago part number, but I just picked one that popped into my mind.) Most sites won't provide a hit, even if they have one. It seems like most of the vendors add or subtract characters, and their search engine can't provide a "numbers CONTAINING" function. Some provide numbers like L19011 or 619011, etc., that, unless you know their numbering convention, you'll never find that for which you are searching.
AMEN!!!!!
Yes, agree with some others that poor search capability just kills the buyer experience. Some of the more well known dealers fall in this category.
Another plug for M.B. Klein, aka Model Train Stuff. Some of the best prices in the business and a real-time inventory on their web site that shows exactly what's in stock.
Agree with David1. For what it's worth:
I have ordered tons of stuff from Trainworld, Menards, Marios, and Modeltrainstuff. These are the best, and all the guys are very accommodating and knowledgeable. Mario's always has free shipping, which normally equals best price. Their website is only OK, and they don't have most Woodland and Miller stuff, but they have a good inventory and are great to help with any problem. Trainworld seems to have anything you need and the guys are also great help.
Jerry
Some of the manufacturers (or should I say, importers) don't even have user-friendly websites...never mind the dealers.
For example, I just went to the brand "L" website to get some info on the just-released SD45 Legacy diesels after seeing quite a few comments about them here on the Forum.
I didn't know the product #'s, so I pulled up the website's Search function and first entered "SD45". It did not return any results for the new diesels.
So, I then entered "SD45 Diesel"...this did not work either.
Then I tried "Legacy SD45"...nope. Then "Legacy SD45 Diesel"...nothing.
Then I figured I should try the search with a road name: "Erie-Lackawanna SD45 Diesel"...yup, you guessed it...still nothing!
I went to a DEALER's website to do a search and was able to get the actual product #'s for the new diesels. Only THEN did the Search tool on the brand "L" website return the product details for the SD45! I had to know the actual product #'s to get the desired results...what a joke!! Sort of defeats the purpose of a "search" tool IMO!!
Unfortunately like many others on the forum, I live a good distance from a hobby shop and have to depend on the internet so I try to deal with brick and mortar with a store front whenever possible. My first choice is Nicholas Smith who has the best prices and I known the current owner Chris Gans long before he owned NS Trains. Not to mention Mario's and Model Train Stuff. All three seem to have the best prices and customer service and 99% of my orders had same day shipping.
I haven't really come across a great website for buying train stuff. There are some great vendors, and there are some with awesome inventory and prices, but the website catalogs do lack good search functionality or even ease of viewing when you bring back numerous items. Things like a gallery view and showing the image with the item v just line items text with a link (making me click more = making me work to buy = potentially turning me away). Or lack of advance search features to see a class of item but exclude some items (e.g. out of stock as someone else mentioned, or price range, etc.). For some sites, I can't figure out how to do a search using a string of words, so you get back really long lists of items, showing only a few per screen, and so you plod and plod your way through it.
Of course it is possible that each site's search engine has little tips and tricks that I might not know, but that would be on the vendor to highlight that on the website if the navigation would be enhanced for the buyer.
That said, I would and have bought from all of the prime sponsors of the forum. They are the biggest of the vendors for a reason. And if you are poking around during working hours, a phone call is the quickest way to see if they have exactly what they want. Sometimes we, and I mean I, forget I can still call people.
As an aside, everyone's opinion here is shaped by their own experience, but hopefully not from just 1 experience. Things happen in life.
Case in point, several have stated Trainworld is very good. My own experience is I found things I wanted to order from them on 2 different occasions and in one case they contacted me to say they actually didn't have the item, and the 2nd was a pre-order that never got fulfilled. Nice people, easy to talk to, just have gone 0-2 with them. Based on other people's experience, I wouldn't be reluctant to give it another try, but just saying 1 person's poor experience isn't necessarily a trend. I have 100% success rate with Charles Ro, Pat's, Gryboszki's and Mario's. This has nothing to do with the website experience, but when it comes to ordering online, they have all filled the orders as expected.
Here's some search basics that I use and recommend. If the site navigation and search abilities are bad or hard to use. I go to my favorite search engine and use some of the advance search functions to search a particular site.
Ex. "Some Train" site:somewebsite
The key pieces to remember here are the quotes, which search for that specific phrase and the site: which only runs a search against that specific site.
I agree with the search problems on sites.....
In my book "L" has the worst search engine of any sites I go too. I would expect them to be the best, if not for the consumer but to feed the dealers web sites. When it comes to Manufacturers, Mth is the best.
I like Western Depot's website, Trainworld, Charles Ro (even though the searching is frustrating) and Mario's trains. My biggest disappointment is that most websites are not up to date with their inventory. You try to buy something and you find out they don't have it even though it is listed on the site as being for sale.
Scott Smith
Davety posted:Here's some search basics that I use and recommend. If the site navigation and search abilities are bad or hard to use. I go to my favorite search engine and use some of the advance search functions to search a particular site.
Ex. "Some Train" site:somewebsite
The key pieces to remember here are the quotes, which search for that specific phrase and the site: which only runs a search against that specific site.
Dave, that's a great suggestion! I'll make sure to use that in the future.
Look they have what I have been looking for.
I guess they really don't have it.
At least they stop the transaction before you enter you credit card..Still annoying. Some dealers you enter your card and get confirmation, yet you never receive anything and your card isn't charged...Your in putting information into a black hole.
Scott Smith
My favorite is Nicholas Smith although I don't order off the website anymore I just call Joey. The worst is Pats trains. If you're looking for a random list of trains for sale totaling 700 pages his online store is great to shop
rboatertoo posted:I agree with the search problems on sites.....
In my book "L" has the worst search engine of any sites I go too. I would expect them to be the best, if not for the consumer but to feed the dealers web sites. When it comes to Manufacturers, Mth is the best.
AGREE with you 100%. Lionel really messed-up when they had the "nerds" revamp their website and especially when they dumped the previous catalogs. Used to check in on their website often, NOW - forget it. Supposedly, the "challenged honcho" of Lionel stated he would "fix" the "fix" - still waiting! Use MTH several times per week - guess whose product I buy most often!
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