As many hobby retailers will tell you, the margins on model cars and trains have been shrinking over the last year or so. This is on account of stores trying to absorb some of the increases in wholesale prices that occurred during and after COVID. Thankfully, much of the world has returned to pre-COVID conditions. Even container and shipping charges for goods shipped out of China have returned to close to pre-COVID levels. Nonetheless, wholesale prices on slot cars and trains continue to rise, some quite steeply. Even traders who don’t have much of an eye on making a profit are finding it harder to cover “hidden” costs such as increasing rents and insurance charges. I’ll be doing my best to keep prices down. But I have decided that in future some discount arrangements need to change. From 12 July 2023, the following discounts will be available:
- For full price slot cars ad locos, there will be a discount on one-off purchases over $250 of 10%.
- Members of bona fide Slot car clubs and/or model train clubs will receive an automatic discount of 5%.
- Discounts though will not be cumulative – purchasers receive either the bulk purchase discount or the member’s discount. Not both.
I’m hoping that this will be the last change in these arrangements for the next 12 months. Cheers Bob