Inexpensive Bachmann On30 has vanished, why?

Don't know about On30, but my LHS has mentioned that Bachmann has had some pretty hefty price increases lately. At the time I took that to mean O gauge, but they could have been talking across the board on all lines?

The cheap On30 is still there, only the prices have changed so it's no longer so cheap! When the freight cars first came out, the list price was less than $15 each, and the street price was even less. I bought a few box cars and flat cars for $8-$10 from one of the mail order dealers, but unfortunately those days are long gone. I guess now that there's a market for On30, it no longer needs to be low priced!

 

On the other hand, there doesn't seem to be many low prices on eBay for much of anything anymore, most all the vendors seem to think their old AHM, Tyco, and Model Power items are worth their weight in gold...

 

Bill in FtL

Agree with Lee. It wasn't too long ago ads in Model Railroader had 3 On30 freight cars for $39. The newest models are exactly the same, but at 3x the street price. I have no issues with prices increasing over time, I get it. But 3x in just a few years?

 

My guess is Bachmann is trying to make up for all the "free" gear sets they needed to produce and mail out. While the steam locomotives are all outstanding and have great value, I personally don't feel a Bachmann On30 reefer is worth $50 street, let alone $78 retail.

 

On the plus side, the prices have made me look at the many "ma and pa" manufacturers of On30 kits. There is a great selection out there and the final result blows away anything Bachmann can produce.

 

I'm with ya though. The days of On30 being "Narrow Gauge for Everyone" are over. A newbie will look at those prices and go back to the shelves and shelves of HO.

 

Scott

 

Edit -- I'll add that Bachmann has said they believe the market is saturated with On30 products, and more will be produces when the supply dwindles a bit. Also, I've watched the price of boxcars from The Favorite Spot go from $29 to $33 to $37 in just the last month. Amazing...

always entice the market with low prices when you get them hooked reel them in and charge whatever the market will bear. its a shame that they are killing the market that they started with high prices. on30 was a great way to promote o scale now their greed may kill their golden goose too bad.

only saving grace most on30 layouts don't need 100 car hopper or 12 car passenger trains.

Yeah, remember when they were the place everyone went? Man, those days ended almost overnight!

Speaking as a manager at our LHS, I don't believe anything has really changed re the relationships between the retailer and Bachmann.  i.e., Early-Buy and quantity discounts are yet available.

 

But, as the prices to the LHS go up, so must the shop adjust the selling prices.

 

Rather, I believe Bachmann's China production and U.S. market sales/economy are experiencing ye olde squeeze play which has been discussed ad nauseam in this forum, and could probably qualify for a 3-credit college-level course to capture the full spectrum of causes.

 

After the October York meet, hearing pre- and post- discussions re pricing, reading the newspaper nightly, listening to the talking-heads blather on TV/radio, seeing members of our church congregation going through increasing struggles of survival, etc., etc., etc., I have no idea why increasing prices of new toy trains imported from half a world away are so shocking to so many people.  To believe that since the advent of Bachmann's On30 product line the average American Joe has been keeping up with the rest of the world economicaly, et al, is....well...stupefying....IMHO.

 

But, then, that's just this one man's opinion. 

 

KD

It's not that prices have gone up, that's a given. But that they have gone up so disproportionately to the rest of the model railroad market is unusual. We're not talking an exceptionally rare, high quality product here.

 

I also find it odd that the used market has also disappeared. Gone.

 

I guess we'll see what the market does. My understanding is that the new diesel is selling quite well. As for me, since the price jump a year ago, my On30 purchases have slowed significantly. About 90% of what I have spent on this hobby in the last year has been in another scale.

 

Still, I love On30 and the modeling being done. I keep hoping Bachmann has something up their sleeves and just wows us!

 

Scott

Nobody should be surprised that the prices are going up. I used to be a buyer for a grocery chain and I can tell you prices are raising very fast. Go to a grocery store and look at the prices, you will be shocked. 

 

I do think Bachmann priced their On30 at the beginning too near their actual cost of production. So now when buying has slowed they have to raise the price. That is backwards, somebody at Bachmann is not paying attention. 

And there was me thinking it was because I live in rip-off Britain. 

Porters that I could get for £25($40) now are going for £100($160) or more.

But some times you can pick up a bargain when it is miss advertised like the Sprit of England set I picked up for £32($51) listed under OO trains.

Well I'm glad it was not just me thinking the prices had gone up.James

Not that long ago I watched a friend as he unwrapped his latest order of On30. I was shocked to find out the cost. Prices are almost as much as O-Gauge.

 

God Bless,

"Pappy"

Even with having two of the greatest train stores 50 miles away, Trainland and Nassau Hobby Center , trainland still has among the best prices of ON30. But being so far out on Long Island I'm happy to drive 20 miles to spend a little more but not to much. I remember buying flat cars for dirt cheap years ago when I first found on30, I'm kicking myself for selling it all in the past. I saw the Forney and I was back, I only had one car left a flat car do forney pulling one flat very sad.
Mike

Sales and demand are down for ON3 equipment, hence prices rise to cover costs of doing smaller runs. Black Friday retail sales were down 11% this year following 2013 where they were down 13%.  If general retail sales are down 24% over a two year period, the downward trend in the economy probably has some bearing on all train sales as well. Maybe most model train engine sales will go to build to order in the near future but not everyone pre-orders.  The next few years should be interesting to watch.

I started putting together a small set of On30 and planning a layout. And noticed the same thing. I read that there are more people down under and Europe getting into the scale.

I was interested in On30 until I saw the pricing. No way. I thought of using HO track with slightly smaller cars on HO trucks. Using Marx and AF  cars or scratch build some cars.  There are some nice Marx injection molded cars around that they made. I have some, they are slightly smaller than the Lionel.

Tis, the season for high prices fa-la-la-la-la, la la la la!

I've shopped a lot for On30 watching the auctions. Haven't found "that" buy at the right time yet.

Seriously, more than one vendor has been way more Scrooge like for buying On30 from at a set price, and starting right after Thanksgiving, for at least three years running. Only a slight fade till after the big spring shows. Summer is best!  You have to be ready, and waiting for the forgot ones this time of year.

Now that I read this, I am content to be in On3.

MMI die cast locos with AMAZING detail can be had for about $500.

Cars, too, with amazing detail, from San Jaun Car Co are reasonably priced for the amazing level of detail.

Check out On3.

 

Scrappy

On3 is very nice, especially now that track is affordable and available from San Juan. Very tempting to be honest. But, with a 7 and 4 year old as my regular operators, it's unlikely for me.

 

Many O scalers have the means to buy $40 and $50 cars, and don't mind doing so. But they need to have $40 to $50 worth of value to us. I like to say the Bachmann freight cars make excellent $20 models, but horrible $40 models.

 

The current price of a Bachmann boxcar at The Favorite Spot is $36, and the current price for an AMS On30 boxcar at RLD is $37. Look at the two!

 

I'm not so sure the economy is to blame, at least not totally. The train shows I've been to lately have been packed, and people have been buying. But, we've all seen it: stacks and stacks of HO, plenty of N and O. Very rarely will you see any On30 equipment at a train show - either on display or for sale. The last two shows I've been to had none.

 

Bachmann really had something going there. And perhaps the price increase is unavoidable - they do need to make a profit after all. But I am guessing the On30 market has plateaued and at the current street prices, I don't forsee many newcomers to the scale.

 

Scott

Back when I was into On30, before Bachmann got into On30, most folks rolled their own equipment. Geared steam from kits powered by HO diesel drives. Gas critters and railcars too. Rolling stock from kits or scratch as well with HO trucks. Big fun!!

 

Is the dreaded "I" word coming to On30??

 

Peter

You mean Jimmy Carters buddy? The one that fills inner tubes, and causes consumers  dread? Heck I thought that word might be censured today.   

You can lay the blame on Sanda Khan.  They're the manufacturer in China that makes the trains that Bachmann sells. 

They call the tune, B-mann dances & we pay the piper. 

Be prepared to pay even more in the future since Chinese workers are now wanting a liveable wage.

 

Dave

 

American Flyer hoppers, flats, boxcars, and others are a close physical size to On30. I've converted their steel hoppers to On30 by making bolsters and replacing some of the cast-on details.  You can pick up these cars for as cheap as $5 apiece.

 

BTW, Trainworld has a sale on now for some of the Bachmann locos.

To clarify, Bachmann and Sanda Kan are part of the same ownership group, Kader Holdings.

 

http://www.bachmann.co.uk/pr1.php?id=203

• The current price of a Bachmann boxcar at The Favorite Spot is $36, and the current price for an AMS On30 boxcar at RLD is $37. Look at the two!
• Bachmann really had something going there. And perhaps the price increase is unavoidable - they do need to make a profit after all. But I am guessing the On30 market has plateaued and at the current street prices, I don't forsee many newcomers to the scale.

These are both good points.

At a hobby shop over the weekend, I heard someone compare Bachmann and On30 to a drug dealer. He said that Bachmann came out with inexpensive, good On30 stuff to get people's teeth into a gauge they'd normally never venture into, then jacked the prices up once people had a layout built and really couldn't afford to switch to something else.

Honestly, I got into On30 (and back into model trains since I left the hobby in the 90s) only because Bachmann made the prototype I'd always wanted (ET&WNC ten-wheelers) in a scale I could do something with. Heck, someone later came out with HOn3 versions of the ame locomotives and I might have gone HOn3 if they'd come out with their brass engines with a price tag I could justify to myself.

But if someone else had come out with the same locomotives in, say, On3, that's what I'd be modeling right now. For me, it was never a mindset of, "I wanna build a layout, what should I model?" as I only would have ever built a layout if I could model the specific RR I wanted. Bachmann just happened to be first in On30 so that's where I am now.

Again, I'm glad I bought all my rolling stock when you could easily get freight cars at about $20 each. As Scotty pointed out, they're not that great as $40 cars, but for $20, they were great for that price...

On the plus side, I've been selling just a bit of my On30 to fund a new (scale that won't be mentioned here but my son loves modern standard gauge equipment) layout. Been doubling or even tripling my money from what I originally spent.

 

I believe this is from 2006 in Model Railroader (buy low, sell high!):

Hey guys we did it to ourselves!  Bachmann had NO intention of MAKING a new scale!  Their target market was LADIES that had Dept 56 Christmas layouts! PERIOD!  All of the first release were all Christmas themed.  WE as modelers saw these killer cars and engines at bargain prices, compared to BRASS ON3 stuff, and we jumped in.  The rest they say is history!  BTW it's still cheaper than ON3!  Russ

Locomotives, yes, as the alternative is usually brass. But rolling stock? Not anymore.

I think the market is pushing the profits of On30 to their limits, and yes I think it will limit further entry, and limit future sales. I still want a narrow gauge line, but bashing my own seems more attractive every day. Buying a new one has dropped quickly on my priority list.

 Intensions mentioned, I don't argue with.

But "bargain prices" for nice scale locos aimed at "Ladies" were profitable. Now they've become barely profitable? And much more expensive, after the market size increased, and a firm sub-market has been established?

 There is no reason not to offer Christmas versions of the newer stuff too. You want the female 25-40 year old holiday buck carriers to all lose their minds? Paint a Porter red & white, and call it "The Holiday Tea Pot" A green low buck Whitcomb for a more modern look?  (that msrp hit about $150 more than most I know expected)

 

The more I look, it seems like shooting fish already in the barrel to me. Glub, glub...

 

  They have established a now intentional, and almost uncontested production of On30 as a scale now. Our fault only if we refuse to vote new with our money. (like that happens anymore). Can't blame Bachmann directly for the online market. But lack of supply, and very high in house msrp doesn't help .

.

I hold brass offerings to totally different standards, and I think their pricings are more consistent in meeting expectations across scales. Anything is possible for enough dough too. I think its exclusiveness is mostly deserved.   

 

Let these increases warn of much more to come.  Inside my industry (health insurance)  we are seeing large adjustments in employe cost cutting and and cost sharing including downward adjusted government retirements  and steep tax increases.

 

Buy copper wire ahead of any anticipated projects. 

There was an interview in the British model railroad press with a senior executive of Bachmann Europe a couple of months ago.  He said that Bachmann's costs in China were increasing significantly and that British model railroaders should expect large price increases across all Bachmann product lines.  Bachmann is one of the leading producers of trains in the OO gauge British market. 

 

He said that the Chinese government was imposing minimum wages and that competition for both raw materials and skilled labor among companies in all areas are driving the cost increases.  Both cell phones and model train manufacturing use plastic, electronics, metal and skilled labor.

 

It seems as if the Chinese are beginning to enjoy a middle class life style and expect to be paid wages that will support that lifestyle.  The good thing is that Chinese will start to have enough money to buy things made or grown in the USA.  

 

Joe

Whatever but it is too pricey. Looking at some HO trucks on some AF rail cars, have an AF loco shell to cut down. Will look for some decent used HO steam running gear to use. Could be a fun kitbash project.