D500 posted:"If you walk away from an item you like, it may be gone by the time you go back."
I certainly enjoy a train show, even a small one, because it's a train show. Like the sports geeks who go to "sports bars" to be around other sports geeks.
But I have missed numerous items at shows because I had to "think about it" - and these aren't always big-ticket items. "I have too much stuff..." You are young; you do not have "too much stuff" yet. I am also just not an impulse buyer by nature - and sometimes you need to be.
I have friend who is just the opposite - he will buy everything in sight - he never misses anything, but, gee, he has a house full, still in the boxes...
Point is - it can be a balancing act between seeing an opportunity/deal, and not being discriminating enough - "why did I buy this thing...?".
I still go by the idea, when I can: "When in doubt, don't - at least 'Don't' is free".Walking away from a item at a good price has happened many times. I got a lot better with this, years of experience. If you are familiar with the condition and the asking price, shoot a offer. If the seller takes it great if not be prepared to walk. For me nothing on the bottom grade items are scarce and do pop up. I use eBay to help learn about prices. I watch the items that I’m interested in and see what they sell for. Remember to add the shipping cost for the total item cost. Also use a buyer guide to help get in the ball park price.
Sellers- clearly price your stuff...if there is no marked price, I keep moving unless it's something I just can't live without...and that hasn't happened yet
when you take your bathroom break, have someone watch your stuff that is helpful...not the teen that obviously doesn't want to be there and can't take their eyes off that electronic box in their hand to acknowledge someone
and if you're busy talking to someone (customer/buddy) at least look at me and say you'll be right with me
Buyers-be respectful....handle items carefully
do your homework...and sometimes you need to walk away for a bit, I've been doing this at car and train shows for 30 years.....most of the time I find a better deal, sometimes I miss it and and to keep looking, but the world hasn't stopped yet
main thing is as long as both sides are happy with a deal then all is well.and have fun.
and please excuse the idiot on the floor going thru the junk boxes...it's probably just me.
MNCW posted:Duece, Hey looks like you are a Mets fan so right off the bat (!) you you must be very patient and cerebral!
And a glutton for punishment! 
Get there early...preferably while dealers are setting up as there's a unwritten rule that sellers must accept the first offer of they day otherwise they risk jinxing themselves and will have a poor sales day.
Get there early...preferably while dealers are setting up as there's a unwritten rule that sellers must accept the first offer of they day otherwise they risk jinxing themselves and will have a poor sales day
I've never been to a public train show where the buyers could get in during dealer setup time.
York used to have a "shotgun start" where everybody went in together, but that was done away with a number of years ago.
The NETCA show used to do the same.
Good for you bringing your 3 year old. if there are any operating layouts, go there first, let the little one watch for a bit. I second the buy something inexpensive for him. Then you can walk the tables easily. Be careful if it is crowded, little faces then only get to see a whole lot of adult posteriors. Ugh. If he gets tired, visit the operating layout again and respect him if he gets tired. My adult sons still share train show stories and it was a way to give Mom a break for a few hours.
Well the first rule of hand is to absolutely do your homework and know what your looking at and its approximate value. That's the only way to keep from making a mistake besides having someone with you that has that knowledge. Its fine to have a priority list of things to pick up. I always found that when I made the list, nothing on it was at the show. :-( Just keep your eyes open and look. If you find something and the price is right, and you need it or could use it, buy it then and there as it will be gone when you try to go for it later. If you know a price os too high and are afraid of insulting the seller, leave them tell you how low they will go. You see a loco priced at $100 that you know is worth $65. Don't offer $65 as the seller what is their best cash price. Leave them tell you. If they say $75 that's a good mark down and you'll have to consider taking it. But i they say $95 just thank them and move on.
Tin
Casey Jones2 posted:Get there early...preferably while dealers are setting up as there's a unwritten rule that sellers must accept the first offer of they day otherwise they risk jinxing themselves and will have a poor sales day.
As a seller, I found that buyers who were in too early were a real PITA. Here I am trying to make my table look presentable and there's a guy asking me about every item that I haven't yet taken out of the boxes. Also, other sellers come around trying to get a great deal so they can go and resell it themselves. That's fine, just not while I'm setting up.
There's "early" and then too early! If someone is shopping while a vendor is setting up, from the shows I have done, I would say they must be a fellow vendor and they should be a little more understanding. Luckily, I never had that problem...I only deal in books/paper, so the excitement level is only so high!
Tom
Train Nut posted:I bring money and my wife. That way im not afraid to come home!!
I’m not afraid to come home either! My wife comes with me to every York!
depends on what that paper is Tom
Honestly I stopped going to allot of local shows... I really like York! If you can make it, its worth the time and effort.
Dan Padova posted:Casey Jones2 posted:Get there early...preferably while dealers are setting up as there's a unwritten rule that sellers must accept the first offer of they day otherwise they risk jinxing themselves and will have a poor sales day.
As a seller, I found that buyers who were in too early were a real PITA. Here I am trying to make my table look presentable and there's a guy asking me about every item that I haven't yet taken out of the boxes. Also, other sellers come around trying to get a great deal so they can go and resell it themselves. That's fine, just not while I'm setting up.
That seems sort of ... wrong. At least if they're selling it at the same show.
That seems sort of ... wrong. At least if they're selling it at the same show.
Some people (table holders) are bothered by fellow table holders buying trains from them only to immediately put the item on their table at a higher price.
Never bothered me. I got my price, if they want to carry the item from show to show, then that is their privilege. And if I did make a mistake on pricing, that is on me.
What I do find annoying is fellow table holders who always are looking to dicker when buying, but won't give an inch on something they have that you want.
I've been in the hobby for 28 years and this thread has been nothing short of illuminating. From suggestions on personal hygiene to negotiating tips and diet recommendations, I think just about everything has been covered short of make sure you have a full tank of gas and a fresh oil change.
Seriously; in all this time I've been attending train shows I had no idea there were this many unofficial rules. We have a show coming up in Atlanta the 20th and I'm already debating whether I need to stay up late the night before to study and commit all these rules to memory.
To the OP; go to the show with your son; enjoy your time together and don't try to turn train show attendance into rocket science. This is a hobby and supposed to be fun, for Gods sake!
Curt
PS: Sorry for the sarcasm but geez...
On the way home, stop somewhere and have a ice cream treat with your son.
My advice would be wear proper footwear does not matter if it's a small show or a larger show your feet will thank you the next day. Drink plenty of water and stay hydrated and of course bring cash cash is King at any show. Above all have fun with your son. From all the advice so far that had been posted there could be a book written haha. Hope you and your son have a great time at the show.
Figure out how much you want/can spend, put that amount in your wallet plus a little extra. Wear comfortable shoes and clothing, clear your mind and go with the idea that it is all for fun. Sometimes I've waited and watched an item and other times(like the last one) I thought "I want that" and went whole hog. Sometimes you win, other times-not so much but better than a casino.
Do? GO! Don't? Stay home! : )
Jim
Our simple strategy is to "circle the block" doing a quick look over of stuff. If I see a must have, I usually buy it then even though a better deal is next aisle over, because if its exactly what I need, then I may regret it returning to the vendor just to see a hole on the table. 
Wife and I attend together and have a list. We have those two way talkies which saves time dialing up cell phones. And if she see something she has my blessing to spend the money. We go with a set amount and when its spent, we're done. Most times we have money left over which goes for refilling the gas and maybe lunch out. 
But your train show strategy mileage may vary. 
Train Room Gary’s Train Shirts
(Click on photo to enlarge)
I like to wear these shirts on my YT Channel, at RR Meetings, Train Shows and out Rail-fanning
From left to right: My Youtube logo embroidered on a polo shirt, DMRRC, CSX Transportation & Diesel Summer Shirt.
My suggestion, wear a train shirt. It can become a conversation starter. There is a company in my home state of Michigan that sells these types of shirts. (Click here to learn more)
There will be local shows: Jan. 14, 2018. • Feb. 11, 2018 • March 11, 2018 • April 8, 2018 - Wolverine Railroad Club Toy Train Show. • http://www.ttoswolverine.org/
Gary: Have fun & enjoy
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Do:
- Be honest with your spouse about your trains.
- Set a budget and bring cash.
- Eat something before you go to the meet
- Wear comfortable shoes.
- Keeping the first rule in mind, come up with outrageous stories of how you sneak trains in as this "fishing story" thread pops up from time to time and you're obligated to participate.
- Be judicious in your shopping -- don't buy it if you can't use it.
Don't:
- Go overboard on purchases
- Grab the first thing you see
- Use credit cards. Controls your spending.
rrman posted:Our simple strategy is to "circle the block" doing a quick look over of stuff. If I see a must have, I usually buy it then even though a better deal is next aisle over, because if its exactly what I need, then I may regret it returning to the vendor just to see a hole on the table.
Good advice and quite true! I found this neat (circa 1910) PENN porcelain subway sign around a year ago...I picked it up, put it down, someone else picked it up looked at it and then put it down...and I was lucky. It was the only one there and basically in immaculate condition. Now one of my favorite signs which I have, it would have really bothered me for a long time if I was not able to get it...
Tom
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Don’t touch the guy that smells like pee
Dan Padova posted:Some very good suggestions so far. One point I would like to make is about food. The Greenbergs shows that I have attended, Oaks, Pa., and Edison, N J, have food that I would not feed to pigs ! Add to that ridiculously high prices. The one show I did attend that had good food at fair prices was, Greenbergs I think , down in Delaware two years ago.
As for bringing your three year old, I'll pray for you.....LOL
Go to their Wilmington, MA show - great food there, the concession is run by a local farm outfit.
Best chance to find something low priced is at the beginning of the show, best time to try to haggle over the price of something is at the end, when the seller has the choice of either packing it up and carry it back to the car/van/suv, or have you carry it to your car/van/suv. But sellers leave at different times. Good luck with the three year old.
These comments are for a serious buying train meet
Make a wanted list. Put your top 5 or so must have or wanted/needed list on top. Add other items you would like to have to the bottom of the list.
Take a large light weight backpack. Include pencil, paper for notes, tape measure, camera or phone as a camera, one or two large open net bags about the size of a pillow case to hold big items or overflow and be tied on the outside of the backpack. Carry several plastic bags to hold cars to keep them from rubbing together in the BP. Carry an apple, granola bars, etc. and bottle water to keep from wasting time with those needs. My wife often drops me off and goes shopping so I have to carry all my loot thought out the show.
Go early as possible, stand in line to be up front if necessary. Look in to the show space if possible to spot dealers and layout. If you have been before seek out dealers you know and that have stuff you may like. Make a quick tour of show, scouting, if not really big. Work your list from the top. Remember often there is only one of the item you may be looking for and the early one gets first shot. If you find or see some item you may be interested in pick it up and look it over and think it over. I have had others beat me to an item by picking it up first and he is control to make his decision.
Be friendly and smile and talk to everyone. Ask sellers and other buyers at the table if they have or have seen what you are wanting. Often you miss seeing it or it could be under the table or not on the tables due to space. Look at boxes under tables. Lots of fix um ups or items for parts are there.
After you have gone to all tables, go again as you probably missed lots of stuff you may be interested in. I find I miss stuff I wind up getting after 4 or 5 trips around the show. I have often found my best item not really looking for it but just giving an item a chance to grow on me or give me time to figure out how it might fit on the layout or add to the collection. Do not over look train books, magazines and catalogs, paint, tools, train parts, decals, trucks, wheels, etc.
Go late to the show. I have found many dealers will almost beg you to take some items real cheap just so he does not have to take it home. I have gotten a few great deals in the last hour of a 3 - 4 hour show or of a two day local show that I returned to at the end. If leaving, it helps to keep the original ticket as they may let you return a second time (ask) or day with the original ticket (works usually at small local shows, not big commercially run ones).
I have gotten 90 plus percent of my train gear for the layout and cars, engines and accessories at train shows and meets.
Years ago I ask if dealers at a show if they had any Marx 1590 switches and one fellow said he had 20 or so at home and said he would ship them and give them to me if I paid the postage. I was excited to get them and he was glad to get them to someone who would use them.
Charlie
Marty Fitzhenry posted:Buy what you want. Enjoy.
Hi Marty. I am brand new to this forum, and I hope I am not crossing any forbidden boundaries to ask a MTH engine question. My GP9 engine has fo4gott3n what to do when you power it up. It does make the engine idle sounds but will not go forward or backward, or ring bell or horn. Is this something I can fix with some help, or should it go to the shop? Thanks.
Hi guys. That was my post, not Marty’s.
Choo Choo Charlie posted:For a buying train meet, make a wanted list. Put your top 5 or so must have or wanted/needed list on top. Add other items you would like to have to the bottom of the list.
Take a large light weight backpack. Include pencil, paper for notes, tape measure, camera or phone as a camera, one or two large open net bags about the size of a pillow case to hold big items or overflow and be tied on the outside of the backpack. Carry several plastic bags to hold cars to keep them from rubbing together in the BP. Carry an apple, granola bars, etc. and bottle water to keep from wasting time with those needs. My wife often drops me off and goes shopping so I have to carry all my loot thought out the show.
Go early as possible, stand in line to be up front if necessary. Look in to the show space if possible to spot dealers and layout. If you have been before seek out dealers you know and that have stuff you may like. Make a quick tour of show, scouting, if not really big. Work your list from the top. Remember often there is only one of the item you may be looking for and the early one gets first shot. If you find or see some item you may be interested in pick it up and look it over and think it over. I have had others beat me to an item by picking it up first and he is control to make his decision.
Be friendly and smile and talk to everyone. Ask sellers and other buyers at the table if they have or have seen what you are wanting. Often you miss seeing it or it could be under the table or not on the tables due to space. Look at boxes under tables. Lots of fix um ups or items for parts are there.
After you have gone to all tables, go again as you probably missed lots of stuff you may be interested in. I find I miss stuff I wind up getting after 4 or 5 trips around the show. I have often found my best item not really looking for it but just giving an item a chance to grow on me or give me time to figure out how it might fit on the layout or add to the collection. Do not over look train books, magazines and catalogs, paint, tools, train parts, decals, trucks, wheels, etc.
Go late to the show. I have found many dealers will almost beg you to take some items real cheap just so he does not have to take it home. I have gotten a few great deals in the last hour of a 3 - 4 hour show or of a two day local show that I returned to at the end. If leaving, it helps to keep the original ticket as they may let you return a second time (ask) or day with the original ticket (works usually at small local shows, not big commercially run ones).
I have gotten 90 plus percent of my train gear for the layout and cars, engines and accessories at train shows.
Years ago I ask if dealers at a show if they had any Marx 1590 switches and one fellow said he had 20 or so at home and said he would ship them and give them to me if I paid the postage. I was excited to get them and he was glad to get them to someone who would use them.
Charlie
My God Charley he asked for some advice not torture him. April will be my 67th straight York and if I followed your advice I would have quit after my first show.
I go to train shows with no lists, no pencil no back packs, no bags. I may know what I'm interested in but don't always stick to it. The whole point is to have fun and look for items that fit your railroad.
Btw get to the show early, leave your coat in the car ( no matter how cold it is ), it's always warm inside the halls. If you buy something and it's a pain to carry around take it to your car, simple.
And most of all, ENJOY THE SHOW.
Dave
Dang, some of you folks have some serious rules. I don't follow that many rules at work, let alone for my hobby. What do you guys do to relax?
Take it all in, its your first show not your last, Walk the floor. I'm not a big show buyer but I do look at some of the pricing of new things on the table. Best example to me is if they are selling a Williams engine for the full MSRP I walk away from everything on the table.
Enjoy the show, and do a better job of picking your trains than you do your baseball team. Orange and Blue since 62!
bill
Maybe things are different in other areas. In my area, local train shows have a mixture of business and hobbyist table holders. (We all must have tax numbers)
Many of today's visitors seem to think that every table holder is running a business.
Why is this significant? ... because many hobbyist table holders cannot take credit cards. Some won't take checks. Most sell their goods "As is".
Some business table holders sell their goods "As is" too.
Be certain to ask.
If there is a test track at the show, take advantage of it.
My pet peeve is small time dealers/sellers at shows who want to add sales tax to my purchase.
I can understand major dealers, like many of our forum sponsors, collecting sales tax because I'm confident the money will actually go the state but, seriously, does anybody think the guy with the 6' table from across the country and a supply of used scenery is really going to turn that sales tax money over to the state or is it just going to pay for his lunch and gas money ?
Richie C. posted:My pet peeve is small time dealers/sellers at shows who want to add sales tax to my purchase.
I can understand major dealers, like many of our forum sponsors, collecting sales tax because I'm confident the money will actually go the state but, seriously, does anybody think the guy with the 6' table from across the country and a supply of used scenery is really going to turn that sales tax money over to the state or is it just going to pay for his lunch and gas money ?
To sell at a lot of shows (in NJ) you are required to have a state sales tax ID even if you are a small seller.
If someone from the state checks you will have a problem.
I agree with you as that was the way shows used to be back in the 80's.
Some of the larger dealers do not charge sales tax but incorporate the tax into the selling price of a item.
Richie C. posted:My pet peeve is small time dealers/sellers at shows who want to add sales tax to my purchase.
I can understand major dealers, like many of our forum sponsors, collecting sales tax because I'm confident the money will actually go the state but, seriously, does anybody think the guy with the 6' table from across the country and a supply of used scenery is really going to turn that sales tax money over to the state or is it just going to pay for his lunch and gas money ?
Well our Iowa taxman goes around mid morning and hands out forms, then comes back about hour later to collect them. Granted, its the honor system as how much you report, especially if you do cash only sales.
rrman posted:Richie C. posted:My pet peeve is small time dealers/sellers at shows who want to add sales tax to my purchase.
I can understand major dealers, like many of our forum sponsors, collecting sales tax because I'm confident the money will actually go the state but, seriously, does anybody think the guy with the 6' table from across the country and a supply of used scenery is really going to turn that sales tax money over to the state or is it just going to pay for his lunch and gas money ?
Well our Iowa taxman goes around mid morning and hands out forms, then comes back about hour later to collect them. Granted, its the honor system as how much you report, especially if you do cash only sales.
That is better than NJ.
I really like train shows, don't do eBay or other sites, very little online and sales tax is, what it is. I always use cash so whatever happens to the $$ after I pay, I don't care. If the little guy wants it to help pay gas and lunch, good for him. The state wastes or steals half the money anyhow. Go to the show, go early, use cash, dress comfy and be alert and swift-strike quickly and get the deals. Enjoy.
My pet peeve is small time dealers/sellers at shows who want to add sales tax to my purchase.
I can understand major dealers, like many of our forum sponsors, collecting sales tax because I'm confident the money will actually go the state but, seriously, does anybody think the guy with the 6' table from across the country and a supply of used scenery is really going to turn that sales tax money over to the state or is it just going to pay for his lunch and gas money ?
In New York State, all table holders are required to have tax numbers, make payments and file their forms quarterly or annually depending upon dollar volume. That's even if you don't do any shows and have zero sales.
Are they turning over the money? ....... I build the tax into my asking price, and yes I do turn it in.
Ever notice a small corner store in your area accepting payments for this or that, and not ringing it into the register? I have.
Do you think they are paying taxes on that money?
juniata guy posted:I've been in the hobby for 28 years and this thread has been nothing short of illuminating. From suggestions on personal hygiene to negotiating tips and diet recommendations, I think just about everything has been covered short of make sure you have a full tank of gas and a fresh oil change.
Seriously; in all this time I've been attending train shows I had no idea there were this many unofficial rules. We have a show coming up in Atlanta the 20th and I'm already debating whether I need to stay up late the night before to study and commit all these rules to memory.
To the OP; go to the show with your son; enjoy your time together and don't try to turn train show attendance into rocket science. This is a hobby and supposed to be fun, for Gods sake!
Curt
PS: Sorry for the sarcasm but geez...
r I need to stay up late the night before to study and commit all these rules to memory.
There will be a quiz so study hard
