# Are train show prices going up everywhere?



## tkruger (Jan 18, 2009)

Just went to my first show of the year. The prices were the highest I have ever seem on used items. Blue Box kits, both built and un1built were averaging $10-$15. The BB locomotives were starting at $35, $50 if DCC was added. This was not just once vendor or brand. It was across the board. New items were only 10% - 15% less than in the local hobby shops. Attempted to haggle but kept getting the same line, the used items is only a fraction of the price of the new one already.

Hope the rest of the ones I go to are not like this.


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## mikek (Dec 29, 2013)

I don't expect bargains at a show, they had to pay to be there, didn't they? I try to make contacts for future needs and learn as much as I can. I always get a new T-shirt. I wish I had gotten a card from the vendor that had the nice working crossings with realistic bells and gate action. I take problem locos that need parts with me to check fits.


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## tkruger (Jan 18, 2009)

In the past I would get bargains on older or in need of repair items. Those are now being sold with the working stock for almost no discount.


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## L0stS0ul (Feb 6, 2015)

I've been to two shows this year in Virgina. The Greenberg's train show. The prices were ridiculous for what I was seeing. Twice what I can get for items online. The first show I did find a few bargains but this last one I walked out empty handed.


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## Rip Track (Dec 15, 2012)

I almost never buy new items at train shows. But I manage to find some nice buys for used. I try to look at the BB kits on the tables. There are so many! I usually take a cursory look, then move on.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I went to a train show a couple weeks ago. I spent $7.00. I used to spend 1 to
2 hundred a show. I look for bargains and there was few. In the past year at
shows I have noticed less and less BB cars. It had to happen. They don't make
them anymore. They are going higher in price. My limit on BB cars is $7.00.
I was looking through e-bay the other night and the cheapest BB kit was $10.00
plus shipping. I still remember paying 3 something even at the train stores.
Its nuts what people want for tyco, Bachmann, and lifelike cars. I could make a
bundle selling my stuff. I have 125 pieces of atlas NS 3 ft flex track that I paid $1.29
each. Whats that selling for at the shows. I see over $4.00 a section. Bargains
are still out there you just have to watch and jump when you see them.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Here is a post for a train show I went to just one year ago. Hot all kinds of deals.
No where near as good this year.

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=22146


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

tkruger said:


> Attempted to haggle but kept getting the same line,



I am curious as to what the same line said?

Most think they have a pieces of gold.
What will they all do when people stop going to the shows?:smokin:


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## JNXT 7707 (May 5, 2013)

To answer the subject line of your post - YES, prices are going up. The value of the dollar is not getting any higher, and prices are going up on everything else, so train shows aren't going to be immune.
On the other hand, I've been to two shows over the last two weekends in my area (WV) and they have been the best shows I have been to in years, based on what was available and the prices asked for. 
That said, I've saw a few vendors at both shows that were indeed under the impression that they were selling gold. I've become familiar with these guys over the years - and frankly have no idea how they stay in business. I go past their tables and recognize the same items they have been putting out year after year!
I've not noticed any shortage of BB stuff. Vendors have boxes of it, and usually in the $5-$10 range. I rarely look because the stuff is in boxes and has to be sorted through to find anything. 
One observation on the Greenberg-type shows - I overheard a couple of vendors talking about a large show going on the same date as the smaller local club show I was at. Apparently they were at the local show because the tables were $16. The big show? $65. So things like that naturally affect the prices vendors ask.


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## longle (Mar 7, 2015)

mikek said:


> I don't expect bargains at a show, they had to pay to be there, didn't they?


and the bigger, more advertised the show, the more they pay which is why I tend to frequent the smaller shows rather than the big ones except for one thing, replacement/repro parts. At the big shows I'll fulfill my parts want-list first, then I'll scrounge the junk boxes under the tables. I'll keep an eye open for anything that I can't live without but only if the price is right and it fits the fixed-income budget. For instance at the Fall Allentown show last year I picked up a decent three car set for the AFL 312 Pennsylvania passenger set #4609A at a cost of $40 for the three. I didn't think that was too bad but it wasn't the norm either. I also picked up a complete, and functioning, operating crossing gate #591 for $20 and a working #4B transformer for $5. Some good buys can be found but you really have to hunt them out.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

I still buy a lot at train shows.......Supertrain here in Calgary is one of the largest, if not THE largest, in Canada. I find that I can find stuff there that I can't find in a regular hoobby/train shop. Prices are about the same, but some vendors will not charge GST, or will take "reasonable" offers.....we in this hobby tend to be "cheapos", expecting stuff for next to nothing.....


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

I only go to a couple every year, including the big show in Springfield MA at the end of January.

I go primarily to look at layouts and get product ideas. Sometimes, there are bargains, sometimes not. If there are bargains, I buy. If not, I look.

I take with me a price list of things that I want, with the MSRP and pre-calculated values for 20% off, 25%, and 50% off. This way, I can tell at a glance whether something is a bargain. It also lets me spot the crooks: you know, the guys who have things marked way up over MSRP, then mark it back down to MSRP (or even still higher) and call it a "show special". I got one guy in trouble once -- he was doing this with MRC products right around the corner from the MRC booth. About 2 hours after I pointed this out to the MRC guys, the "show special" was gone, although the product was still there.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

And, just for the record, prices tend to rise over time, so you should expect prices at this year's shows to be about 2% higher than last year (based on the change in the US CPI).

Of course, we could all complain about wanting lower prices, then complain when manufacturers shift their production to less expensive places. Oh, wait....


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