Trainz - bizarre pricing, or am I going crazy.

Lee

I have seen the same thing from them, between their own web site, Amazon, DASH, and eBay, only the good lord knows the price on their items.

Going to suggest that getting their pricing model straight is akin to trying to figure out who on a plane paid the highest, lowest, and average fare -- might involve a Nobel level economist and fortune teller.

You are not alone.

Best,

Jason

I have seen the same thing with other dealers - and I agree that it's a lot like airfares.

There are obvious reasons for the difference between "direct" sales off the retailer's own website and those through an auction/buy-it-now medium, namely the commission and related costs. Or at least that's what I have been told by those who could be expected to know (sellers).

Many times I have seen 2 of the same, exact, IDENTICAL items (NOT auction items) on Trainz priced far, far apart.  Obviously the right hand and the left hand are on different pages (and people).

Not necessarily. Some of their goods are on consignment from private sellers who may be willing to settle for a lower price. I have got a couple of engines from Trainz of that kind. 

I have seen some odd pricing in the secondary market of late. I saw a loco I have wanted for a while on ebay. I looked up what they have been selling for recently. I was willing to pay the going rate and since this one was missing the box, foam and paper work figured it would sell at the going rate or less. NOPE! Went for almost $100 over the average. Why? I'll just keep looking.....but prices do seem to be acting odd of late. 

It may be that the dealer is selling only one item at a low price.  Something like what Megabus does where it sells one or two tickets on the first or last trip of the day at $10, then all the other tickets have a higher price.  But they can say fares from $10....

I also spend a lot of time shopping before I purchase. I am amazed at what goes on with prices. I have noticed this with Trainz also.

I've picked up some crazy-good deals on Trainz.com from time to time. I'll take a deal when I can get it. Just picked up 5 hoppers (that I really didn't need) for $10/each. Just couldn't pass them up... I also picked up a NIB PRR wheel load flatcar. Pulled off the wheel rack, kept the wheels, and gave the car away. Still got a great deal! 

Gilly

If that is going on in trains, it must be going on in everything else...means you have

to search and shop harder..

supply and demand? you took one off the market raising the "value" of the remaining items? that, or whichever site they happen to catch your attention on and how anxious you are to press that buy button once having found the item, they'll take the sale. i'll bet not all shoppers are as diligent as you are, Lee. 

jerrman

I'm enjoying some of the speculation in this thread so much I almost don't want to get involved. 

Our pricing on new items is actually pretty straight forward. We use a formula to arrive at our price based on our cost and the margin we need to make money on selling the product. It’s a bit more complex than that, but it’s nowhere near airfare demand pricing complexity.

What you stumbled upon was our super-secret Amazon sale. We had a business reason to increase our Amazon sales; we decided the best way to do that was drop prices for a little while. So on new products you will see Amazon coming in a little cheaper.

There was a time when we made adjustments to prices based on what it cost us to sell on a particular marketplace. Now we more often lean on just not listing items on marketplaces where the regular price won’t absorb the fees.

As for the price changing on our website after you purchased the item on Amazon, I can’t readily explain that one. My best guess is that you bought the last one available from a specific vendor, so our cost (and therefore price) changed as well.

We actually do want our customers to be able to price compare, that’s why we participate in so many comparison shopping feeds, and will eventually be launching our own site that lets you compare prices across our items on different marketplaces.

I will admit that our unique (used/collectible) item pricing is way closer to the complexity of airfare demand pricing. We’re basing our prices on past sales most of the time, and external sales research when past sales data isn’t available. We try to keep that pricing consistent, but there are variances for condition and other factors across the same item. Above that, there’s a human factor involved as well, one person pricing may just be more optimistic than the other. After a price is set there are still quite a few other factors that may result in that price being adjusted further.

Hopefully I added something to the conversation. I’d love to tell everyone exactly how we do it all, but I don’t think Scott would keep me around if I gave away our pricing strategy. 

Thanks for taking the time to contribute.  

About a third to a fourth of my trains and rolling stock came from Trainz.  I always thought everything I bought from Trainz was fairly priced and it was always fairly represented - when you say a used loco was C7 it was C7, etc.  I appreciate that. 

Lee, a lot of my pieces are from Trainz, though thru the auction portion. I've seen that in that section things can go crazy sometimes...I guess it's a simple matter of who wanted that bad enough then, but then again the set pricing market{non auction} is full of those who'd pay more here than from there for their own reasons. Everyone is trying to save a buck there and there...and I figure Trainz is just trying to make a buck when they can...what business wouldn't that wanted to stay in business. Folks need to shop around and business' need to be competitive...to a point.

Lee, there are websites (including Trainz , airlines, and others) that raise the price if you go away and then return to the product.  This is automatic, built into the system.  There are other sites that raise the price on the remaining stock if you buy something.

Welcome to the "new" economics.

In the large scale world there was a mega-store called St. Aubin..they had a 3 tiered pricing system for awhile and it was internet/ mail order (cheapest), phone in then walk-in (highest). They claimed walk-ins had to pay more because they needed a furnished store with all the amenity's. BUT the showroom/ store was the warehouse and all the sales were handled from that location. The folks that checked you out were the same folks that answered the phones & took the internet orders. All orders got pulled and shipped from that location.

What us locals would do is go in and drink their coffee, look at items we wished to purchase the go out in the parking lot & phone in the order. Then walk back inside and pick it up. Guess it was cheaper for a sales person to walk to the shelves and set it onto the counter then it was for the customer to "pick" it??!! Oh the inventory that was accessible to the public was also the warehouse stock.     

How's this for an idea: put a price on it and walk away!  This is the kind of junk that turns people off from some things.  Making something more complicated than it needs to be is simply unnecessary.

Billy,

Does Trainz price match?

Thanks,

Mario

I'm aware of the "dynamic pricing" algorithms some sites have : I see the same thing buying diecast cars and trucks a lot but you can game back through various means.

This is more interesting than disturbing to me - just how people do business anymore.  The bottom line, though, is that I got my Legacy 0-8-0 for 20% off list, from somebody I know is reliable seller, which makes me pretty happy.

I certainly understand businesses trying to obtain maximum profit.  That is how they remain in business.  But this whole pricing scheme thing is just not for me.  If I am looking for something I sure don't want to spend my time looking thru 3 different places for the same company (ie, TRAINZ - Dash, Internet, their own web page).  This is not a dig on TRAINZ.  I guess this is a fun part of the search for some but for me it is a needless waste of my time searching thru all the places.  If I am buying something online I just want to goto a couple of my favorite sites and do a single search at each to see who has it for the best price.  The other reason I do not care for this is that seeing any company selling the same item for multiple prices just leaves a bad taste for me.  I do see the reason they do it, but I'll pass on it.

Thx,

Ed

WE ALL NEED TO BE CAREFUL as the NSA is monitoring these threads about queer pricing formulas that appear anti-competitive  and will likely give them all away to Eddie ,the rascal, Snowdon to make public.

Originally Posted by Billy@Trainz:

Thats interesting... I came in to pick some stuff out for my nephew that lives around the corner... I was in from out of town, and wanted to surprise him. The Customer service folks were flat out rude and all but shoved me out of the door.  Worst experience I have had in years.  You might ought to rethink that showroom at all. In my case it cost you any business I might have done...there or online.  Also interesting that I sent an email remarking on the experience and surprise (Not really) I didn't get a response.

I didn't mean to single the site out for a pricing issue, I meant to use in an illustrative concept only.

Well, let's see what you can do...

I have a case open right now (Case 00123600) where I found the item I wanted for $25 dollars cheaper.  I'd rather buy it through Trainz.com since I already have an account with you and am happy with your customer service, but saving $25 is significant, as it's 15% lower.

Thanks,

Mario

Wish they'd hurry, its been in my cart since 9:30 this morning!

I guess its a good problem to have!

I'm such a child!

24 hours... and counting...

30 hours...

Gone. 

48 hours without a response in too long.  I ordered it through another website for $25 cheaper and I can pick it up; no tax and no shipping charges.

For every step forward that Trainz.com works so hard to achieve, it seems they take two steps back.

In this case, the train has left the station, and left Trainz.com behind.  I will consider them again next time.

Thanks,

Mario

Profit is not a dirty word in my book. The question is how to achieve it. The answer is not by arithmetic alone, but in customer satisfaction (up to a point, because some want something for nothing). Achieving balance is the goal of the business person. In the relatively small profit margin of toy trains, the balance between satisfaction and profit must be observed. It also helps to have a good steady cash stream, so that the owner CAN be use psychology to keep them satisfied.

From the consumer point of view, for me, price is one factor. There is value to me in not getting "ripped off" and paying for the owner's short-sightedness (such as selling a  post war loco which needed major repairs, because short cuts were taken to market it and make it seem presentable). I will pay for quality in price AND merchandise.

I'll ad my two cents.  Bought an item from Trainz online.

Two days later, I get an email.  Cancelled !

Called them, and after talking to a woman who would not find out for me why, I called back and asked to talk to someone else.  Waited on the phone for 5 minutes.  He told me they couldn't find the item.  I did get my money back.

Don't like doing business like that.  That's why I deal with Mainline Hobby Suppy almost 100% of the time.

Corvettte

Well said, counsel.

We have a saying in our business where I am a Sr. Tech Support Engineer... "We are a for-profit organization".

With that said, we have the "Tech Commandments", and number one is customer contact within 8 business hours.

I have nothing against Trainz.com, and have spent way more of my money with them this year than anyone else.  I gave them a chance to at least respond back to me.

A lack of a response was worse than a "no".

I have never had any issue with TRAINZ. They have always been very informative as to the products  and I like their customer service. As to the pricing issues, well we all shop around and know how to.

So if Trainz charges more than another place, you know what to do.

Lee, I did not read all the posts on page 1 so I hope I'm not posting someone elses response.

It's the old rule of supply and demand.  Since you bought one (it doesn't matter where you bought it from) there is now one less out there.  So, supply is one less.  They raise their price because if you (someone) want it there is now not as many as there was before you bought yours.  So, they can charge more for it.  If you check other sites you won't find as many because You bought one and now there is one less.  So, anyone that wants one sees this and panics.  Thinking they may not get one, they find one, any one from anywhere, hopefully from Trainz, and buy it at whatever the price may be.  See?

Rick

RICKC - I understand and agree with your observation about demand and supply: that is what I meant in my original posting by "I guess there is a type of logic to it an economics teacher would point out . . . "

Except . . . the demand also shrank when I bought. When I purchased, both the supply of units for sale and the number of people interesting in buying one shrank by one.  I think a lot of vendors could shoot themselves in the foot with dynamic price readjustment algorithms like this: what Trainz algorithm did in raising the price of their remaining unit is make themselves less competitive against all those vendors out there who did not sell one that day and kept their prices steady.  

The important thing though, is that I got my loco (well, when it arrives today or tomorrow I will get it) at 20% off list: pays to really shop around.