Inexpensive Bachmann On30 has vanished, why?

Don't know about On30, but my LHS has mentioned that Bachmann has had some pretty hefty price increases lately. At the time I took that to mean O gauge, but they could have been talking across the board on all lines?

The cheap On30 is still there, only the prices have changed so it's no longer so cheap! When the freight cars first came out, the list price was less than $15 each, and the street price was even less. I bought a few box cars and flat cars for $8-$10 from one of the mail order dealers, but unfortunately those days are long gone. I guess now that there's a market for On30, it no longer needs to be low priced!

 

On the other hand, there doesn't seem to be many low prices on eBay for much of anything anymore, most all the vendors seem to think their old AHM, Tyco, and Model Power items are worth their weight in gold...

 

Bill in FtL

Agree with Lee. It wasn't too long ago ads in Model Railroader had 3 On30 freight cars for $39. The newest models are exactly the same, but at 3x the street price. I have no issues with prices increasing over time, I get it. But 3x in just a few years?

 

My guess is Bachmann is trying to make up for all the "free" gear sets they needed to produce and mail out. While the steam locomotives are all outstanding and have great value, I personally don't feel a Bachmann On30 reefer is worth $50 street, let alone $78 retail.

 

On the plus side, the prices have made me look at the many "ma and pa" manufacturers of On30 kits. There is a great selection out there and the final result blows away anything Bachmann can produce.

 

I'm with ya though. The days of On30 being "Narrow Gauge for Everyone" are over. A newbie will look at those prices and go back to the shelves and shelves of HO.

 

Scott

 

Edit -- I'll add that Bachmann has said they believe the market is saturated with On30 products, and more will be produces when the supply dwindles a bit. Also, I've watched the price of boxcars from The Favorite Spot go from $29 to $33 to $37 in just the last month. Amazing...

always entice the market with low prices when you get them hooked reel them in and charge whatever the market will bear. its a shame that they are killing the market that they started with high prices. on30 was a great way to promote o scale now their greed may kill their golden goose too bad.

only saving grace most on30 layouts don't need 100 car hopper or 12 car passenger trains.

Yeah, remember when they were the place everyone went? Man, those days ended almost overnight!

Speaking as a manager at our LHS, I don't believe anything has really changed re the relationships between the retailer and Bachmann.  i.e., Early-Buy and quantity discounts are yet available.

 

But, as the prices to the LHS go up, so must the shop adjust the selling prices.

 

Rather, I believe Bachmann's China production and U.S. market sales/economy are experiencing ye olde squeeze play which has been discussed ad nauseam in this forum, and could probably qualify for a 3-credit college-level course to capture the full spectrum of causes.

 

After the October York meet, hearing pre- and post- discussions re pricing, reading the newspaper nightly, listening to the talking-heads blather on TV/radio, seeing members of our church congregation going through increasing struggles of survival, etc., etc., etc., I have no idea why increasing prices of new toy trains imported from half a world away are so shocking to so many people.  To believe that since the advent of Bachmann's On30 product line the average American Joe has been keeping up with the rest of the world economicaly, et al, is....well...stupefying....IMHO.

 

But, then, that's just this one man's opinion. 

 

KD

It's not that prices have gone up, that's a given. But that they have gone up so disproportionately to the rest of the model railroad market is unusual. We're not talking an exceptionally rare, high quality product here.

 

I also find it odd that the used market has also disappeared. Gone.

 

I guess we'll see what the market does. My understanding is that the new diesel is selling quite well. As for me, since the price jump a year ago, my On30 purchases have slowed significantly. About 90% of what I have spent on this hobby in the last year has been in another scale.

 

Still, I love On30 and the modeling being done. I keep hoping Bachmann has something up their sleeves and just wows us!

 

Scott

Nobody should be surprised that the prices are going up. I used to be a buyer for a grocery chain and I can tell you prices are raising very fast. Go to a grocery store and look at the prices, you will be shocked. 

 

I do think Bachmann priced their On30 at the beginning too near their actual cost of production. So now when buying has slowed they have to raise the price. That is backwards, somebody at Bachmann is not paying attention. 

And there was me thinking it was because I live in rip-off Britain. 

Porters that I could get for £25($40) now are going for £100($160) or more.

But some times you can pick up a bargain when it is miss advertised like the Sprit of England set I picked up for £32($51) listed under OO trains.

Well I'm glad it was not just me thinking the prices had gone up.James

Not that long ago I watched a friend as he unwrapped his latest order of On30. I was shocked to find out the cost. Prices are almost as much as O-Gauge.

 

God Bless,

"Pappy"

Even with having two of the greatest train stores 50 miles away, Trainland and Nassau Hobby Center , trainland still has among the best prices of ON30. But being so far out on Long Island I'm happy to drive 20 miles to spend a little more but not to much. I remember buying flat cars for dirt cheap years ago when I first found on30, I'm kicking myself for selling it all in the past. I saw the Forney and I was back, I only had one car left a flat car do forney pulling one flat very sad.
Mike

Sales and demand are down for ON3 equipment, hence prices rise to cover costs of doing smaller runs. Black Friday retail sales were down 11% this year following 2013 where they were down 13%.  If general retail sales are down 24% over a two year period, the downward trend in the economy probably has some bearing on all train sales as well. Maybe most model train engine sales will go to build to order in the near future but not everyone pre-orders.  The next few years should be interesting to watch.

I started putting together a small set of On30 and planning a layout. And noticed the same thing. I read that there are more people down under and Europe getting into the scale.

I was interested in On30 until I saw the pricing. No way. I thought of using HO track with slightly smaller cars on HO trucks. Using Marx and AF  cars or scratch build some cars.  There are some nice Marx injection molded cars around that they made. I have some, they are slightly smaller than the Lionel.

Tis, the season for high prices fa-la-la-la-la, la la la la!

I've shopped a lot for On30 watching the auctions. Haven't found "that" buy at the right time yet.

Seriously, more than one vendor has been way more Scrooge like for buying On30 from at a set price, and starting right after Thanksgiving, for at least three years running. Only a slight fade till after the big spring shows. Summer is best!  You have to be ready, and waiting for the forgot ones this time of year.

Now that I read this, I am content to be in On3.

MMI die cast locos with AMAZING detail can be had for about $500.

Cars, too, with amazing detail, from San Jaun Car Co are reasonably priced for the amazing level of detail.

Check out On3.

 

Scrappy

On3 is very nice, especially now that track is affordable and available from San Juan. Very tempting to be honest. But, with a 7 and 4 year old as my regular operators, it's unlikely for me.

 

Many O scalers have the means to buy $40 and $50 cars, and don't mind doing so. But they need to have $40 to $50 worth of value to us. I like to say the Bachmann freight cars make excellent $20 models, but horrible $40 models.

 

The current price of a Bachmann boxcar at The Favorite Spot is $36, and the current price for an AMS On30 boxcar at RLD is $37. Look at the two!

 

I'm not so sure the economy is to blame, at least not totally. The train shows I've been to lately have been packed, and people have been buying. But, we've all seen it: stacks and stacks of HO, plenty of N and O. Very rarely will you see any On30 equipment at a train show - either on display or for sale. The last two shows I've been to had none.

 

Bachmann really had something going there. And perhaps the price increase is unavoidable - they do need to make a profit after all. But I am guessing the On30 market has plateaued and at the current street prices, I don't forsee many newcomers to the scale.

 

Scott

Back when I was into On30, before Bachmann got into On30, most folks rolled their own equipment. Geared steam from kits powered by HO diesel drives. Gas critters and railcars too. Rolling stock from kits or scratch as well with HO trucks. Big fun!!

 

Is the dreaded "I" word coming to On30??

 

Peter