What is "sticker shock"?

In other words:

 

It ain't 1983-2003 anymore.

 

Rusty

The term doesn't just apply to something that costs more than the equivalent did x-number of years ago, but can apply to virtually anything with or without a point of reference to compare to that has a price significantly higher than anticipated.

Most people cannot believe that these toys cost soo much.

3rd Rail, or Sunset Models,  I saw the website,

that is sticker shock, but isnt there some out there headed to $3g

thanks

Of course, it's all relative.  The same item that may evoke a sticker shock comment from you or I may just be chump change for some in the hobby.  Problem is, the sticker shock items outnumber the chump change items by a wide margin for me these days. 

only if you don't understand the difference in brass import models over metal or plastic diecast.  and frankly, considering a comparable HO model would sell for only about 20% less than its O scale counterpart, in 1:48 you get a model that's 500% bigger than in 1:87.  N scale brass is what gives me sticker shock.  how can anyone pay so much for such a tiny bit of metal?

Just because a product is smaller than a larger size equivalent doesn't mean its cheaper to produce.

Pittsburgrailfan, you are correct. While I agree all things are relative, it didn't change the fact that after being away from the hobby for 40+ years and looking at the 2011/12 lionel catalog, I couldn't help but utter "holy s*#*." This both from a technology and price point.

A few years ago I came back to the hobby after a 20 plus year absence. I never heard of MTH or Legacy.  I remember going to my LHS with what I thought was enough money to come back with track, switches, cars and an engine or two.  Needless to say I was dumbfounded by the prices.  I did come home with track and a couple switches but that was it.

Now I'm used to the prices but I'm very cautious when people start asking the cost questions.  It costs as much as you want.  There are items available in all price ranges.

Sticker shock was a term coined by master marketeer, Lee Iacoca when he was head of Chrysler Corp in the 80's to differentiate his product from the other two domestic manafacturers based on price. His pitch was for consumers to go to their local Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth dealers as a cure for "sticker shock".

Over the winter I dug out some stuff I bought back in the late 80s early 90s  to sell. 1 of the items I had was a O27 Lionel B&O green president engine 6-18636. The receipt was for 599.00.   600 bucks for a couple cars an air whistle and E-unit arm stickin out of the top of the boiler.

 

That was sticker  shock to me. Never even phased me when I bought it.I think its just no one  is makin the big bucks they used to.

 

Todays prices are right in line for what you get.(sometimes)

It was not like that for me.  When I got back into O (2005-2006) I was coming from N, where are very expensive loco was about $400.  I had not paid any attention to O guage prices for years, but I was astonished that the mid range locos I started with like a Lionel SD70 cost only about what premium N gauge did, and didn't cost a lot more considering all I got (sound, about 10 times the weight and detail).  I still think that. 

"Sticker shock" is what you get when you look through one of the new catalogs.

 

Rod

I got past "sticker shock" with trains in the 80's but this is going to take some time.  BTW these prices are for 24 count cases.

 

So what is it called when a guy foes to sell his Postwar collection bought in the 90's for today's flea market prices?

Sticker shock is what we will have when we see the price of Lionel's upcoming gold plated Polar Express scale Berkshire.

sticker shock-what we owe to china-cha-ching big time

I gave up drinking 12 years ago. I went to get a case of beer for a gathering recently, and thought I mis-heard the dealer when he told me the price.

They want a lot of money just for toys, don't they?  A modeller who thinks nothing of paying several hundred dollars for a little N gauge engine no bigger than his forefinger can't seem to pay the same amount for an O gauge version.......Human nature?   Odd-d

In my opinion we have less of this phenomenon in our hobby than exists in many others. Thirteen years ago Lionel was in the $ 1,600 range and up for the Allegheny and Big Boy.

Model trains cost more today, but they are better than they have ever been, and I already did my major purchasing.  So, now, for me, it's an occasional engine, car, building, accessory, etc.  

 

I can live with the current prices, because the detail and electronics keep getting better.

The Alco passenger set I got for Christmas as a kid listed in the 1953 catalog

 at 66.00.  According to an inflation calculator, the same set today would list for 574.00.  A similar set in the 2012 catalog (Anniversary set) listed price is 459.95.

I guess it's all how you look at it.

For me, it's more than just a feeling of "surprise" at an item's cost; things are generally more expensive across the board than they were a decade or two ago, so that's to be expected.

 

Sticker shock for me is related to my personal perception of the item's value.  For example, when I read a list of features and think, "based on what I'm seeing, this locomotive should be about $300" and it turns out to be $600, that's sticker shock for me.  Its been happening a lot lately.

 

I've never felt "sticker shock" on a Williams locomotive, for example--because my perception of what you get for the price is so exceptional.

it's interesting to me how some people calculate value.  let's take that $600 locomotive.  in my job as an engineer, i took home that much money in less than a week.  i'm sorry, but you could lock me in a room full of parts and tools and i doubt if i could put together an engine from scratch in a month, no less those few days.

Exactly! Although I am not selling, it is sticker shock to see prices lower than I paid in the 80's and 90's. Often for items in better condition. Best I can hope for is to someday break close to even.

The PW values dive is simply called a bad investment. 

 

I always try to buy high and sell low! I'm so darn good at it!

We've had several (okay, quite a few) of these "train price" threads. One of the things that always struck me was that several forumites have made the case, convincingly it seems, that electric trains have always been a fairly pricey hobby in any era. In the 20s, 30s, post war, and today.

 

I suppose they're right. Haven't we always had a bit of "sticker shock?"

But I don't make locomotives, I buy them from companies that are in the business of doing so.  We make determinations of value every day when we assess the things we may choose to purchase--a car, a house, furniture, a meal at a fancy restaurant.  

 

When there is a dramatic disconnect between the cost of the item and our perception of value, that's what I call 'sticker shock'.  At least for me, it's not "can't afford"--it's "that's not a good buy for me".  

 

Admittedly, it's a highly subjective process unique to each of us.

My latest experience of Sticker Shock is going to Horseshoe Curve Saturday to see 765 and was charged $20.00 per person instead of normal $6.25 because it was a special event. So sticker shock was instead of $12.50 for my wife and I it cost $40.00. 

Paying to watch trains at Horseshoe Curve? I never knew. Now that's sticker shock!