What worse than a LHS not having a website?

MSRP on a 10 year old loco that can be bought a few hundred dollars cheaper as a legacy reissue.

I can't imagine a business surviving these days if it doesn't accept credit cards of some sort.  Bad enough that some don't accept American Express (their fees are higher than most, so I somewhat understand), but in my online transactions, and even in personal visits, if either Amex (preferred by me) or MasterCard isn't accepted, the place doesn't get my business.

Soon we will be hearing he is going out of business, gee I wonder why? 

We have one like that here in Houston.  It's also the closest to me of the three here that sell any O at all.  The store is a dump and usually piles of boxes and garbage everywhere.  Only cash or check.  I don't carry checks and never enough cash to make significant purchases.  Plus the guy is very odd, not rude or nasty, just odd.  There's never anyone else in the store when I've been in either.  I haven't figured out how he actually survives.

The whole retail thing is a gasser too.  I have no desire to drive an hour across town to pay full retail for anything.  Especially as said then it's ten year old models.  I get a kick of all the PS1 stuff on ebay for original retail buy it now prices as well.

Unfortunately Houston is the 4th largest city in the US but hobby shops here are severely lacking.  This is why 99.9% of my purchases are made online.

I got my hair cut last week at this old time barber shop.  When I went to pay they only accepted cash or check.  The woman who cut my hair said I could pay the next time I came in, but there was a BOA just down the street so I got some money out and came back to pay.  She cuts good hair and I didn't want to leave with a bad impression.

It was only $20 including tip, so it wasn't much.  I can't imagine a place that sells items for hundreds or even thousands of dollars NOT taking a card these days.

About the only thing worse is when some folks only accept PayPal.  If you're in the business of selling something I would think you'd want to cover all the bases in order to sell as much as possible.

Unbelievably true! I am often in Houston on business and I was amazed that there were no decent shops.I did find a nice small shop in Angleton however.

My local LHS is the same way. cash only. when I asked abut the

credit/debit card thing he told me it was $300 a month to have the machine

+ a percentage. A business decisions I guess. 

Not having a seating/computer area where I can order from online competition as I peruse the REAL THING!!!

There are many ways around the machine these days.  There are several options (some through major banks, one through paypal, and others) which attach a reader to your smart phone.  I have the paypal one just because it was free.  Quickbooks has one that ties directly to your QB account as do some other business accounting software programs.

I also had it when I had my own business.  People like the convenience and protection cards offer.  It's only a few percent of the sale and weighed against lost business, pays for itself rather quickly.

As for paypal, I only use them because the discounted shipping typically makes up for the fee and the buyer/seller protection is very nice.  Plus it eliminates the hassle of dealing with extra steps of accepting money orders.

Worse than not having a website??????

How about one with a website you cannot find what your looking for?  Navigation is key to a good website and one where I cannot find what I am looking for is a pet peeve.

As I go through the last pieces of testing prototypes for my own business venture, I will be eying the wide, wide world of web building. Being I have spent endless - as in 8 and 10 hours on-line looking for a single part or piece.... I can't tell you the number of website horror stories I came across - and crappy websites are past being just a pet peeve.

*Lots of decent websites (means you don't want to gouge your eyes out after 15 seconds) but not a pic or price to be found for nary a thing. Zilch. What's the point??

*A good handful of "eye gougers". Backgrounds in dark blue or black - with the entire product listing in yellow or red text...again with nary a pic. Meanwhile, there is this overly busy animation flashing "SALE!!!!" at a frame rate that few high end cameras could keep up with. (If their actual store looked like this you'd probably get arrested for 'crimes against nature' just for entering.)

*"The on line catalog." R-i-g-h-t! It's "online" for downloading - by sections in pdf. Of course, no index as to which section you want...  Just pick one...it really doesn't matter....

*"Call for quote" or "Call for pricing". Uh...is it a big, big secret - or are you wanting to have the opportunity to call an ambulance for me when you hear me hit the floor? Their idea of 'opportunity' is definitely tilted.

* Dead End's. Gotta say, I love these the most. You spend a bunch of time finding what you want....and no way to buy it or get back to ANY page on the domain. So, you have to close the whole thing down and start over....or will you?

*Dead product links. You finally find what you want..and click...and "URL not found".

*Who are YOU? How about those sites that won't divulge much past their name until you register or give up the email addy??  Does the word 'browsing' have no merit? It is for sites like these that I maintain a "spam" email address. I can't say I recall being forced to divulge name, rank, serial - and email addy - the last time I actually went to a LHS. I've been ignored - but never got the shakedown.

*No Phone? No City? No State? JUST email??  Sounds pretty fly-by-night (with my money) to me!

*Site search engines. I really like typing in "caboose" and seeing what comes back. Usually - there is a caboose...followed by everything else in the entire store. Plastic trees, glue, switches. Amazing!

I could go on and on....but it seems there is no end to some really stupid business moves on the web.

Ok...I'll get off my soapbox now....

An LHS with very little O gauge 

Hey...maybe we could have a "Top 10 O Gauge" website poll/vote/forum-type thing. Building a good website takes a lot of time and money....and sometimes is as good as the physical LHS. And...we pass kudos on to the great stores that are out there - so why not good websites?

Here in the land of the Pennsylvania Dutch, it is not uncommon to find cash only businesses. There is a restaurant in Boyertown that accepts only cash. But, they do have an ATM machine in their lobby. Problem is I do not have an ATM card, so we went elsewhere. Around here, counting napkins and dispensing them one-at-a-time is big, also.

Why have a web site you cannot purchase on or one where the inventory is never updated?  I have spent hours searching for a certain item only to call and try to order only to be told they do not have it while it is listed on the website.

What would we do if we didn't have anything in this hobby to fret over? 

And with these phone based credit card readers with rates that beat many big bank rates I can't see it. My LHS owner does a lot of train shows and he can accept CC at any show. Seems a brick and mortar store could not survive today w/o that ability.

One thing is for sure:  Some folks would be totally lost.  

Unfortunately, it's the same thing here in Dallas too.  Most shops sell smaller gauge items.  I've attended many shows and have always been bummed out when I go home empty handed.  Therefore, I buy everything online as well.

P.S. - Only one thing bugs me more about a store not having an online presence.  That's a shop that does have a website but has terrible customer service, outdated inventory lists/counts,  or never seem to be open at all.  How many shops are only open 3 or 4 days a week and then constantly complain about losing money to the big stores???  Gee, I wonder why. 

Haha... love it.

Don't forget to take pictures with your cell phone of the items that you are looking for while at the store.  That way when the shop owner comes over to you and asks what are you doing, you tell him you are price-shopping and also asking the competition to match, plus beat his store's price by 10%. 

There is one of those in Omaha.  Well worth the trip though as he has a lot of odd toys, cars and stuff.

Not having a LHS! Since mine closed what seems like an eternity ago, I ve become a gypsy

That is my situation here in Forest Grove, OR, we actually have a train specific shop here in Oregon's own Mayberry. Want O-Gauge? Forget about it, a couple of Thomas sets, some Fastrak and a used Lionel model "R" transformer, thats about it.

Or shops that close by 5 or 6PM on weekdays?  I have a 30+ minute commute home from work every day, so it's rare that I can get to the shops closest to my house because they close by 6. 

But they rarely get my business on the weekends because I can go to the shop that stays open until 8PM on the same day that I need the part(s).

Mark 440....you didn't need a soapbox, you needed a string of flatcars so all the rest of

the forumites on this thread who have been in all these same places, could get up there

with you.  'Cause most have been there and done that and most of the other things on this long list!  My local LHS, whose schedule was "guess when we are open" closed for

good after ****, I think.  Didn't notice right away, for obvious reasons.

What's worse than not having a website?

Having a local hobby shop that puts up the new MTH Railking Big Boy Passenger set, slaps a tag on it that says "Special Set" with a price of $1,300 when MTH's website says MSRP is $800.   What's worse?  If you go to the part of his shop where he keeps the boxes for the trains on display, he has the engine unit box marked for $999 dollars, even though the new engine only units should be out in a couple months for an MSRP of $300 less than that.  

Unfortunately, nearly every train in his shop is the same way.  I honestly believe he only stays in business because he sells a lot of starter sets, MTH and Lionel, to unsuspecting parents and individuals who walk by, walk in and buy, not realizing that the MTH NS SD70ACE Deluxe set they just bought does not actually retail for the $500 they just paid.

Flew into Atlanta last summer and called a store on the east side. Called them and just wanted directions from the airport.  They answered and said to call back in five minutes when they opened. Having managed several retail stores, I was not impressed to say the least. How hard is it to give a potential customer quick directions? Needless to say I did not bother to drive there. This store has a big online business, but I wouldn't buy anything no matter what the price. I appreciate good customer service. The website is only as good as the people working there.

Bob

For me there was a big tipping point in credit card usage in 2004.  This is when McDonald's started accepting them in all stores.  Up until that point I think there was an unwritten rule or norm that said credit cards should only be used for larger purchases ($25+?) when cash might not always be practical.  After McDonald's accepted cards, charging something for just a couple dollars was no longer taboo and I think people started carrying much less cash.

I'm not a debit card user, but I think this was roughly the same time debit cards came into prominence.

I remember having a conversation with a friend in 1997 and we debated whether someone could go an entire year and never use cash.  I think our consensus was, it could be done but it would be extremely inconvenient and it would take a great deal of planning purchases ahead.  Now ~15 years later, I think it would be very easy to go cashless.

Business today that don't take credit cards (or have email or a website) are the same as a business in the 1950s without a phone number.  Back then, phones weren't cheap, but it was a necessary cost of doing business.

Sort of like part numbers right?

What worse than a LHS not having a website?     Not having a LHS!

"My local LHS is the same way. cash only. when I asked abut the

credit/debit card thing he told me it was $300 a month to have the machine

+ a percentage. A business decisions I guess. "

Your LHS is blowing smoke!  I got a reader for my cell phone for FREE and the processing fee is 2.9% per transaction with no monthly minimum!  Almost 100% of my business is done on plastic.  Russ

A smart LHS would buy a ATM so that anyone with only a card could get money (and of course charge a small fee for using the machine).  That way, they'd make some profit even if the person bought very little (or ended up buying nothing at all).  The golf course I work at has one and the machine paid for itself in a few months.

Of course, I wouldn't use it, but this was said of tongue-in-cheek

What worse than a LHS not having a website?

Having one close by where the owners are grumpy, where everything is at MSRP, or higher, and the owner is of little help.

My "Local Hobby Shops" are 600 - 1000 miles away.  I get good prices, all the help I need, fast friendly service and an excellent Internet presence.

Remember, cash is easier to hide from the IRS. 

These are actual experiences:

1. having a web site that says you can buy items, but when you try to place things in your cart, nothing.
2. having a business card that tells you to 'shop on our web site' and then going to the web site and you can not buy or even search inventory.  And to add insult to injury the web site tells you "sorry our inventory is not current" and it suggests you come to the store.