In praise of online shopping
Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2021 10:41 pm
I'm new here and busy reading through old posts. MAN but you guys write a lot ...(grin!). (but see below!)
Sixty years ago there were two or three model train shops in Perth Western Australia, which did me no good because we lived 230 miles to the east. Still and all into my teenage years (high school and Uni) I could purchase KALBS (Kitmaster and Airfix Locomtives (British (Steam)); also paints, track etc.
Ten years ago and newly-retired I found a hobby shop on The Danforth (Avenue) in Toronto, but it was all weaponized planes and tanks .
There are a few hobby suppliers in Southern Ontario, but not much in the way of KALBS.
And now here I sit in Bonavista (third pointy bit up the East coast of Newfoundland, closer to the Azores than to Toronto, I believe), surrounded on 350ยบ by saline-laced rain water. There is no option for me but to order from an online supplier. The GOOD news is that there are no lawyers closer than 90 minutes drive to the south!
So. I have ordered track, kits, and paint from three different suppliers. And of course I shall post with great excitement and fanfare in NRMF when the packages arrive.
I am not sure how to start this, but for some of us, and in the end possibly all of us, the only way to purchase fine stuff will soon be via the internet.
Yes, my new-found-friends, soon we will all be struggling to read the numbers that were once visible on the front and back of our credit cards.
The GOOD NEWS is that as long as you are not in a hurry, the stuff is going to arrive before too long, and in truth it ought not to matter to you WHERE the Real Guy Supplier is based - Canada UK Australia Poland or The Hutt River Province. Shipping will be a flat 9.99 and free for orders over 60.00, whatever your currency.
So now might be a good time to have some mechanism where we can rate Good Online Supply stores. I don't mean Amazon/eBay, as much as what used to be brick-and-mortars which have switched to, or are switching to, home-based online stores. It is the way of the future.
Now, I will never meet Angelo or Bruce or Mary-Ann in person, but if they answer my emails carefully, and make good substitutes for me when things are out of stock, or tuck a free sheet of decals just to say "Thank You", might we not have some sort of scoring system whereby we could recommend decent online stores to each other?
Right now I am anticipating enough material to keep me happy until spring arrives (July in this neck of the woods) but come the end of Summer (August 1st) I will be getting ready to buy again, and for me it will be online shopping. Now, and forever.
This thread is not a place to post names of good suppliers, but I would be happy to see discussion about what sort of mechanism might be set up within the cosy confines of NRMF.
Thanks
Chris
Sixty years ago there were two or three model train shops in Perth Western Australia, which did me no good because we lived 230 miles to the east. Still and all into my teenage years (high school and Uni) I could purchase KALBS (Kitmaster and Airfix Locomtives (British (Steam)); also paints, track etc.
Ten years ago and newly-retired I found a hobby shop on The Danforth (Avenue) in Toronto, but it was all weaponized planes and tanks .
There are a few hobby suppliers in Southern Ontario, but not much in the way of KALBS.
And now here I sit in Bonavista (third pointy bit up the East coast of Newfoundland, closer to the Azores than to Toronto, I believe), surrounded on 350ยบ by saline-laced rain water. There is no option for me but to order from an online supplier. The GOOD news is that there are no lawyers closer than 90 minutes drive to the south!
So. I have ordered track, kits, and paint from three different suppliers. And of course I shall post with great excitement and fanfare in NRMF when the packages arrive.
I am not sure how to start this, but for some of us, and in the end possibly all of us, the only way to purchase fine stuff will soon be via the internet.
Yes, my new-found-friends, soon we will all be struggling to read the numbers that were once visible on the front and back of our credit cards.
The GOOD NEWS is that as long as you are not in a hurry, the stuff is going to arrive before too long, and in truth it ought not to matter to you WHERE the Real Guy Supplier is based - Canada UK Australia Poland or The Hutt River Province. Shipping will be a flat 9.99 and free for orders over 60.00, whatever your currency.
So now might be a good time to have some mechanism where we can rate Good Online Supply stores. I don't mean Amazon/eBay, as much as what used to be brick-and-mortars which have switched to, or are switching to, home-based online stores. It is the way of the future.
Now, I will never meet Angelo or Bruce or Mary-Ann in person, but if they answer my emails carefully, and make good substitutes for me when things are out of stock, or tuck a free sheet of decals just to say "Thank You", might we not have some sort of scoring system whereby we could recommend decent online stores to each other?
Right now I am anticipating enough material to keep me happy until spring arrives (July in this neck of the woods) but come the end of Summer (August 1st) I will be getting ready to buy again, and for me it will be online shopping. Now, and forever.
This thread is not a place to post names of good suppliers, but I would be happy to see discussion about what sort of mechanism might be set up within the cosy confines of NRMF.
Thanks
Chris