5 complete E5 Shinkansens for sale from Seattle, WA

[rpierce000]

I have gotten five complete, ten car, E5s into the USA and have them warehoused in the Seattle area. I have them up on eBay for $352 each, Kato USA list, but I would like to offer them here to JNS forum members for $320 plus shipping.

 

This is a test. If this works out I will offer more discounts on items to JNS members ONLY.

 

So if you want an E5 and don't want to pay shipping from Japan or wait for it, send an email to info@bttrains.com. We take PayPal or Visa/MC.

 

Thank you!

[Martijn Meerts]

Hey!

 

I already have my E5, and since I'm not in the US, I don't have a reason not to order from Japan directly, but still I'd like to say it's nice of you to offer them at a discount for the members here. Don't think all that many shop owners would consider that :)

[The_Ghan]

Bob,

 

While I wish you luck the whole train for US$267 from HobbySearch in Japan plus shipping.  That is 10% off RRP.  Many of us pre-ordered and received a further 10% discount.  If you want to play ball here you need to come up with a better deal.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[rpierce000]

OK, what did shipping run you and how long did you wait once it shipped? 

 

Is there any value to you for the time it takes from Seattle as opposed to Japan?  If so, how much on these units? $10? $20?

 

I need to know these things to keep my prices in line with your expectations.

 

Thank you for your information, we are trying to become a reliable source at a reasonable price.

[Guest JRF-1935]

Bob

  I also wish you luck but I have to agree with The_Ghan -

Rich C

[Tecchan]

I must say that some people (but this might be more right for European than Americans) feel more comfortable buying on a local shop or online shop inside their country. Even if it's more expensive.

I'm not that kind, but still. :-)

 

When I ordered action figures from HLJ (Saint Seiya, aka Knights of the Zodiac on the more than crappy US version), I used to buy them by two. I kept one for me and sold the other one to the people on my forum. I never had troubles finding buyers, even if I sold it 20% more that it cost me. People felt comfy having someone not in Japan sending their parcel and this payed me my shipping costs and customs fee.

 

Rpierce000, yeah maybe you'll need to make a gesture but I also think your offer is worth the price for being local and in direct contact with us (at least for people leaving in the US). ;-)

 

Good luck anyway!

[The_Ghan]

Bob,

 

The answer to your questions is here -----> http://www.jnsforum.com/index.php/topic,3833.100.html ... see my post of 31/03/2011.

 

In summary, Y23,280 including Y4500 shipping.  48 hours from Tokyo to Sydney, Australia.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[rpierce000]

That means that you spent $291 (at 80 yen to the USD, that seems to be where we are these days (what happened to 120?))

 

That means that for USA presence you would spend $320+$10 shipping -$291 = $39 or 10.65% for having it in the USA. I realize this is not an issue that helps Australians, but I hope that for the USA it would be worth it. I think that people tend to forget that you just paid over $50 in shipping, something I do not have you do.

 

Do you have any ideas how I could market it so the competitive shipping cost was more obvious?  My goal is to have Hobby Source prices (not reserve, sorry) in the USA by September. We all benefit from that, please help me out.

 

I am also willing, after discussing this with my partners, to sell ANYTHING on our website for 10% off to JNS forum members. The only requirement is that you buy direct from us and not via eBay. Just let me know at info@bttrains.com and I will set it up for you. We will still take PayPal. The site is http://stores.ebay.com/bt-trains.  If those prices do not convince you, then let me know.

 

I really appreciate the feedback and look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with the people of this forum. I grew up in Japan and love the trains, I rode them 3 hours a day back and for to school (Ebisu-Shinjuku-Musashisakai-Tamabochimae (now Tama)) OR (Nakameguro-Shibuya-Shinjuku-Musashsakai-Tamabochimae).

 

One last thing, does anyone have issues with me promoting the forum on the site? I have limits to what I can do due to eBay rules, but I would like to attract some newbies. We will be offering a tram starter kit, a loop of Tomix tram track, a Tomytec tram shell installed on a TM-TR01 (you pick the color!) and a power pack. These will be near cost, I am hoping they get some folks interested in the Japanese side of the hobby. If it works there will be more Japanese starter packs in the future.

[David]

I think it may be hard to impossible to compete directly with Hobby Search or Plaza Japan on price alone, to say nothing of the less approachable dealers like Rainbow Ten. They've got a good position in the supply chain so they can offer Japanese street price plus the cost of direct shipping. I don't think there is a way to undercut them on cost price or overall shipping cost.

 

I don't want to sound negative (I support your effort) but your main audience may be the kind of people that just don't know that these easy to use overseas dealers exist. As an example NewHallStation is still in business selling Japanese trains and accessories, many which are in production and easily available, and sometimes even being sold by KatoUSA, despite selling them at 2 or 3 times the MSRP. I wouldn't suggest going down that route, as a look at their inventory will show you some of their trains really are 'rare and out of production' because nobody has been willing to spend $400 on $150 train.

 

Even with the markups you need to make ($320+shipping for a $260 set) there is still a lot of value for American buyers compared to what they often put up with (Con-cor, Athearn, etc). I might suggest going mainly for the new up to date models (rather then reruns of older tooling) to emphasize those features.

[foxhsu]

The price still a little higher than directly EMS. Rakuten can ship it to Atlanta only took 3 days by EMS for less than $291. Unless you can get the dealer price from Japan, you will hard to make your selling price in US below the Japan retailer price.  

[David]

Just as a suggestion there is one thing that is inconvenient to import from Japan - Tomix Finetrack (to a lesser extent GreenMax and other kits fit into this too). I don't know if the finances could be made to work in importing it, or if a good profit could be made given the smaller unit price.

[bill937ca]

Exactly how do you figure you can compete with EMS delivery at 3-5 business days to most North America points?  Shipping anywhere comparable in speed is many more times expensive on this side.

[rpierce000]

Thank you very much for all of your answers. Let me answer all of you:

 

1) We are working on a Japanese corporation becoming an official dealership, that will give us lower prices. I hope that if I can bring Japanese street prices here that you will consider us.

2) I realize that EMS is fast, but Priority mail gets to most places in the USA for a fraction of the cost. To ship an engine from Japan runs $20, from Seattle $5. For an E5 $40 from Japan, from Seattle $9.40. Priority mail gets to almost anywhere in the continental 48 states in 3 days.

3) Fine Track is an idea we are looking at very hard. We just got some Wide Tram in today, if anyone wants some email me for a list before I get it all posted. (No points, sorry) We also got in a bunch of TomyTec Tram shells.

4) Part of the effort here will be to go OUTSIDE this community. You guys are very knowledgeable as to the ways of getting trains from Japan, but was pointed out, the majority of the public runs into Newhall or Mokei, both of whom have really raised the price bar.

 

Please keep poking at the concept, I need to kill this quickly if it won't work.

[The_Ghan]

Bob,

 

I realise I pitched the first strike here, so I'll try to be a little more positive and helpful.  Also, I'm on the other side of the world in Australia, so my ideas might not be so valid in the US.  In Australia, the hobby shops wack a huge markup on the product, like Newhall does.  It almost forces us to buy direct from Japan.  In fact, if I buy the E5 from you and add, say, $50 for EMS freight, I will still get it cheaper than if I walk up to my local store "Robbery Co" ... so imagine how happy I am to shop at Hobby Search!!!

 

I suggest the following:

1. Pick up the rights to product not readily available in Japan - the Tomix, MicroAce, Greenmax might be worth reviewing;

2. Market yourself as the cheapest in the US, if you can;

3. Service, service, service ... warranty and support is going to be your edge over your competition, is my guess;

4. Watch these pages closely ... the new releases that interest us here are probably going to be the most popular, along with the classics such as the original 0 Shinkansen.

 

In short, if you want it, you're going to have to know Japanese trains and modellers of Japanese model railroads inside out.

 

Wishing you all the best,

 

The_Ghan

[Martijn Meerts]

For me, service is always the most important. Be helpful, even towards customers who never bought anything, and who might never buy anything either. Also, offer just that little bit extra that others don't. For example, have the option to buy trains with DCC decoder(s) pre-installed for a reasonable price. You could also try and stock as many spare parts as you can, as these tend to be harder to get, even in Japan (there's so many of them, most stores don't list them.) Getting stuff out as soon as possible after order/payment is complete is also something that buyers like.

 

Also, like Ghan said, keep checking the forum for the new announcement posts and what interests people here (except, don't look at my collection, because you'd end up having to stock everything ;)) Also check our decoder installs and other tips and tricks, which could help you answer questions of customers. And of course, don't be afraid to ask the forum for help, most of us tend not to snap at questions, even ones that might seem silly.

 

 

I know Tomix has some official dealers outside of Japan who buy directly from Tomix, so you could see if you can get some sort of agreement with them, that would definitely take off some more of the price, plus it should be a lot easier to get track and accessories that way.

 

You could also consider stocking the not-so-common brands like Real Line and World Kougei (brass kits), but those may not be worth it.

 

 

Oh, and try not to list everything is being rare or hard to get, unless they REALLY are. Newhall for example lists almost everything as rare/out of stock at manufacturer/hard to get/only 1 in existence or whatever else they can come up with. Just be honest :)

[Guest ___]

Do note for the most part, everyone ion the forums have used Plaza or HS for the comparison, and while I'm an HS loyalist, a big chunk of the group on here buys from Rainbow 10, HobbyLink, the now defunct Hobby World where their shipping costs were lower and had better deals on street price to begin with. HS recently lowered their % off, and their shipping costs are actually higher than what EMS would go for at Rainbow 10 or Hobby Link. (Hobby World's departure has allowed HobbySearch to go up in their prices a little bit)  But keep in mind HS also allows us accumulation in points as well to be used toward future purchases as well. However, my biggest issue with dealing with non-Japanese outlets is still product availability.

 

I think it may be hard to impossible to compete directly with Hobby Search or Plaza Japan on price alone, to say nothing of the less approachable dealers like Rainbow Ten. They've got a good position in the supply chain so they can offer Japanese street price plus the cost of direct shipping. I don't think there is a way to undercut them on cost price or overall shipping cost.

 

I've heard this since day one, six years ago when I went from American HO to Japanese N scale, but I can't honestly say I have yet to meet any Japanese n-scaler online or in any club that doesn't order online from abroad. Essentially the market has driven the online sales from Japan.

 

But putting that aside with how the US market has gone nuts over DCC installed, DCC ready, and just straight up outrageous prices here, I find buying a train even at cost, and shipping from Japan costs me less that buying a train in the US. Just look at the cost difference even after converting against a strong yen, an -scale KATO EF-66 compared to a KATO AC4400, but I digress.

[Darklighter]

2. Market yourself as the cheapest in the US, if you can;

 

This could be difficult because MB Klein have pretty good prices on Kato items (almost on par with HS).

[Guest ___]

I live less than 45min from MB Kline's. I've been there once in twenty-two years living in the area. The selection of what they have is not very impressive. I thoguht to comment about MB but saw no reason to, they would hardly be much of a competitor in this regard, IMHO.

[David]

I think the importance still stands - MB Klein (and other dealers that choose to) can get low pricing when KatoUSA brings in select Japanese models for them. The E5 is going to be a challenge because it will very soon be offered by a number of US dealers at Japanese pricing (see BLW for example). So from a business perspective any Japanese model that gets officially imported by KatoUSA is going to see tough pricing competition, though that doesn't mean US dealers will actually advertise or do a good job describing the models beyond saying "and here is another Japanese spaceship".

 

On the plus side as you saw Shashinka is that the variety of items imported is limited and sporadic - so once every 16 months KatoUSA brings in 100 each of some common models - Shinkansen, JR Kyushu express trains, and a few unique romance cars/tourists trains. That still leaves a wide gap in terms of what is available, especially to any Japanese prototype modeler who isn't modeling Shinkansen. I've only bought 1 Japanese prototype from MB Klein (despite otherwise being a big customer for most other supplies), and only because they had the Keihin-Tohoku E233 basic set that was sold out at HS (the same month I ordered the addon set from HS). The set I received had obviously spent a lot of time in the warehouse at MB Klein before it was sold to me.

[Krackel Hopper]

hey hey,

 

I'll chip in my 2 cents here

 

When it comes to most trains, I am more likely to buy direct from Japan because I can pre-order things that I know I want.  Also, while the E5 has a high EMS price tag, that is because it's broken into three different boxes.  If it were sold as a complete set in a single box, shipping would be closer to $20..

 

I think your best market would be with the lower priced items and Tomix FineTrack.  When you want a Greenmax kit ($10-$20) it is really not cost effective to just order one.  You wind up paying almost $10 for shipping on your $10 kit.  Mokei has Greenmax kits marked up a little more than retail.. but I'll pay $14 for a $10 kit.. vs paying $10 + $7 shipping..

 

Also, FineTrack would be HUGE!  I have been wanting to purchase some of the Tomix FineTrack kits (Large Overhead to be exact) but the shipping on this $150 kit is dang near $80.  If you could get these kits, at full retail ($170), it would be a lot cheaper than paying that huge shipping charge.

 

So there ya have it.. small things (greenmax/Tomix containers/etc) and FineTrack.

 

Really, FineTrack would be the golden ticket.

[cteno4]

I live less than 45min from MB Kline's. I've been there once in twenty-two years living in the area. The selection of what they have is not very impressive. I thoguht to comment about MB but saw no reason to, they would hardly be much of a competitor in this regard, IMHO.

 

Aaron

 

To be fair, one trip in 22 years is not a great sampling. I've been maybe a dozen times in the last 9 years and have found it has an impressive stock compared to maybe 40 - 50 train shops I have been to around the us. You can also ask for anything on the website that is in stock. It's probably one of the main suppliers in the country. They are also a regional distributor for kato as well as a seller. Their web site probably has the best stock of stuff in the us that japanese rail Modelers would want. They even have been recently bringing over kato trains, stocking a dozen of each unit. The only japanese oriented items the have backed out of some is greenmail structures.

 

I can't see calling them not a player/competitor at all

Jeff

[cteno4]

Rpierce

 

Interesting you are giving this a go. This has ben discussed a lot around our club over the years as to if importing Japanese trains to the us at a higher price than buying from japan direct. It's a quandary as many of us would like to encourage more Japanese trains in the us but unsure if us paying a premium to do this is worth it for us.

 

I do think there are a lot of folks in the us that are concerned about having to order from japan and would be willing to pay a premium to do so. I would think like 10-30% would probably work. I think being up front on the additional costs to provide a wider selection in the us may help.

 

Also as martijn noted being customer friendly is very important. Many businesses in the hobby have gone down the tubes by not treating customers well and those that do treat them well have loyal customers and lots of free advertising.

 

I'm not sure there any official tomix dealers outside japan. I think that those that do distribute outside japan have an in with a Japanese distributor and order somewhere down the channel. Stocking track is going to be a challenge as it requires a large investment in inventory in a lot of different lower margin items to make your customers happy.

 

Best of luck with the venture and keep us posted!

 

Cheers jeff

[Guest Closed Account 1]

I love EMS.

 

Once I see that the package is shipped in Japan, I plug the tracking number into my iphone4 USPS app and it tracks all my packages. Give it three business days and its here. Once it goes into customs, 24 hours later its mine.

 

People shop the internet for the best deal and the least hassle.

[bill937ca]

Thank you very much for all of your answers. Let me answer all of you:

 

2) I realize that EMS is fast, but Priority mail gets to most places in the USA for a fraction of the cost. To ship an engine from Japan runs $20, from Seattle $5. For an E5 $40 from Japan, from Seattle $9.40. Priority mail gets to almost anywhere in the continental 48 states in 3 days.

 

Please keep poking at the concept, I need to kill this quickly if it won't work.

 

Remember EMS shipments are automatically insured up to 20,000 Yen.  Is Priority Mail automatically insured? Is Priority Mail trackable? Is it delivered on Sundays which is often the case in the US?

[Guest Closed Account 1]

Yes you can insure Priority and that's the cheapest method to use for tracking besides media mail but, Priority originates in the US and is outbound. EMS is a service that can be utilized inbound.

 

UPS FEDEX and everyone else are outrageously overpriced.