Opinions please-To Kato or not to Kato (Track that is)

[rpierce000]

I am debating whether to carry Kato track. On one side it makes BT Trains a more well rounded supplier. On the other it is competing in a market saturated with people who are willing to make 3% margins on eBay.

 

What would YOU do? Carrying the Kato to Tomix converters is a no brainer, and of course we will carry the DioTown and UniTram materials, but is it worth spending the thousands on Kato Unitrack inventory when I could be bringing in more Japanese exclusive materials?

[bill937ca]

I use Tomix and see no need for Kato.

[David]

I don't see a reason to carry Kato track. Unitrack is the main products of KatoUSA and there are plenty of online and LHS dealers. To be honest if I want to buy it I'll either pick up the odd piece at the LHS if I need it right now, or go to the cheapest Kato Gold Spike (meaning they carry all the track) online dealer, which is likely going to be MB Klein (modeltrainstuff, who you cannot hope to compete with). Next to Atlas code 80 track Unitrack is the most ecommonly carried track in North America.

[Hobby Dreamer]

OK, I'll bite..

 

What is your store about? Are you selling rare items, hard to get  items etc or servicing the Japanese collector or general hobbyist. What's your plan?

 

Why do you carry Tomix? Do you plan to have a decent inventory. If someone knows or collects Tomix, they probably know how to order from Japan. If they don't know Tomix, would they be convinced of its quality based on an internet photo?

 

Carrying an item like Kato track has a cost but there is also a cost to not carrying it!

 

I think the hard part of you selling track IIRC is that your track prices are high but your delivered price is good. If you are going to sell track you should really clarify that better by direct comparisons. That sends the message.

 

I don't know why some stores have a fixed price for items while others seem to be able to offer better deals. If you can sell track at a very low cost (almost no margin), you might lament the $ you are not making but you would get tremendous market penetration. At an early stage that might be good.. And something like track takes little space in inventory and customers who get a train are likely to buy track at the same place. So you may get a loyal customer.

[KenS]

On the whole, I agree with David.

 

However, in part it depends on your vision for your store.  Do you want to be a specialist dealer for things people can't easily find in the U.S., or a more rounded source for Japanese or "International" trains, or ultimately a full-service hobby store? And do you want to specialize in something like Light Rail, or more broadly Contemporary modeling, or be more general?

 

U.S.-based International modelers are a pretty small niche.  To get the most from that group it may make sense, at least as you're building the business, to focus on harder-to-find stuff, like carrying a complete line of Fine Track, and enough of it that you're insulated to an extent from their periodic "out of stock" situations.  But that's ultimately limited and, if you want to hook in new users, perhaps you also want to carry at least some starter sets (Tomix and Kato) and maybe some of the V sets along with some more general structures that go along with it (e.g. Kato and Tomix stations), and other things that will help you be a one-stop shop for at least some people beyond that niche. There's an obvious trade-off there on how you tie up your capital in inventory.  There are also other costs, as new users will need more support, and potentially more often be unhappy with what they actually bought as opposed to what they thought they were getting. Investing in some "how to" or "how it works" FAQS (e.g., about how track sets fit platforms, or issues a Fine Track user will see with Kato platforms) could address that, but such support takes time you could be spending on other things.

 

One of the local hobby stores that caters to U.S. prototype modelers carrys a few of the "Japanese" Kato items that are likely to appeal to U.S. modelers of passenger trains (Unitrams, the new Kato buildings that come with Japanese signs) because they want to serve the modeler who has an interest in "modern" trains, and there's a shortage of such things from U.S. suppliers. While their bread-and-butter is freight modeling, they see enough interest in contemporary passenger trains that they think it's worth trying to serve that group (and it works; I keep buying stuff I might be able to get a little cheaper elsewhere, because I'm in the store to buy paint, or scenic materials, or whatever). But in their case, they're not really competing with someone; I could get the same thing online cheaper in many cases, but I'm already in the store for other reasons. And most of their inventory serves a more general audience that wants to come in and see freight cars in display cabinets or buy Woodland Scenics scatter.

 

So in their case, looking beyond their core market makes some sense: they make additional sales for a small percentage of their total capital.  You might gain something similar with focused stocking of Unitrack, but trying to be a full-service Kato dealer, while it has advertising benefit (people go looking for "Gold Spike" dealers), is probably a very costly business with a low return if you don't already have a customer base.

[cteno4]

Bob,

 

i dont think messing with Kato Unitrak is worth your while. like you say there are a lot of cut rate places out there in a very saturated market. i worry that the inventory costs to stock it well would really hurt your coverage of other more japanese items. track is bad as there are so many items to keep in inventory and you are never sure of what folks will want at any one time.

 

the only place i do see carrying unitrak is good would be for the newbies which i do see as a good market for you. but i can see them easily getting unitrak all over the place (LHS included) but not interesting starter japanese trains and structures. gets tricky if you want to help newbies you dont want to ignore unitrak and act like finetrack is the only thing out there as its the only one you stock. while there is the huge debat which is better, its basically an apples and oranges exercises with lots of personal needs/reason and for many both are just fine, especially when starting out. but the easy availability and use of unitrak in the us, some instructions in english, and its connectors being a bit more forgiving, makes unitrak a better solution for a beginner.

 

tomix track is a good market for the us, but a small market, but virtually no competition in the US. while as others have mentioned many advanced japanese modelers will just order from japan, the speed and ease of getting track from bt trains rather than wait 2-3 weeks from japan or pay for EMS shipping may get you a good chunk of that market. Rick K is the best person to talk to this market as he really has created a lot of it with his tomix site and group.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Hobby Dreamer]

Hi Bob,

 

Both Ken and Jeff make good points. Since I don't know your vision or company plan I can only speak as a consumer.

 

I have a few thousand invested in this hobby, and plan to buy more, but I collect items from Japan and not Japanese items. That is, I like the product but plan no Japanese layout or to collect trains etc because they remind me of Japanese prototypes. I'm interested in the one's that are more generic, or just cool.

 

Without this forum, I don't know how I would find your site. Also, except for an interest in trams I would never have known about Tomix as a track manufacturer, although I knew of the company. (I bet a lot are like me) I found out about Tomix through Rich Ks excellent site, some time ago. I lamented at the then absence of tram track but Rich's drawings using Tomix track made me think of Light Rail since Tomix track had countless variants and the LR vehicles existed in N scale. And since he had this track I knew it was possible to order it somehow.

 

My reason for not being a Tomix aficionado is that the track spacing is not prototypical for my non-Japanese planned layout.  (I also like to support small companies as they keep the big one's honest; and Kato is easier to understand in English - and I just may find a piece in my LHS if I need it now!) I wonder how many of your customers will run their Japanese trains on their planned or existing non-Japanese layouts. Or will they go 100% Japanese. Sorry but Tomix track does not look non-Japanese. But Kato looks both...

 

But there are concerns about your stock of Tomix track.

 

1) How would I know that you carry it, if not this site? I would not Google 'US vendors of Tomix track" as I know that Tomix is Japan-market only. This part is a real challenge.

 

2) How can you convince a potential buyer to go Tomix if they don't know this product?

 

3) You have to have a heck of an inventory because Tomix makes a lot of track! If you don't then Jeff's point

the speed and ease of getting track from bt trains rather than wait 2-3 weeks from japan or pay for EMS shipping may get you a good chunk of that market.

won't hold. If I "need it now" I would go to HS and use EMS, if you don't have the item of interest. People are loyal to their wants.. And they run away from frustration.. If you don't have it and they discover HS or RB10 they might get hooked and not look back..

 

Ken made some good points about what to stock and I find that Ken, Jeff and Rich (and others here) to be extremely knowledgeable. And while I am in a minority on this forum (collect Japanese for non-Japanese layout); I suspect I may be in the majority of your potential customers as you carry a lot of general train stuff. (Again, I don't know your plan). People here have likely found how to get their "fix" the cheapest way possible and unless your price, service and delivery meet or beat others they won't change their buying patterns. And I think only domestic US buyers can see a savings through you, so how many are here and will they buy from you?

 

If you want to sell Tomix and make a go of it I think you should market it more profoundly. e.g. We sell Tomix track: 2 million pieces, prototypical Japanese (I really don't know if this is true), largest N manufacturer etc..  No one will read what you had posted recently. Too much text. Use images...  Selling an unknown item is always difficult when others sell well known ones, regardless of anything else..

 

As for selling Kato track, lets look at Bob's Garage!

Customer: thanks for the repair Bob, I'd also like to get some of those new tires..

Bob: We don't sell them. You can get them anywhere, and besides we really cannot compete.

Customer: Do they sell them at the garage across the street?

Bob: Sure do!

Customer: Hey look, they also do repairs....

 

If you want to grow your business, Ken had some interesting points. I would add that you should attend a train show as a vendor, set up a Unitram Layout and watch people go mental! I know that there are a lot of pro-Tomix/anti-Kato people here but one would have to be somewhat delusional if they think that Tomix tram track looks anywhere comparable to Kato Unitram.  Its pretty good (but realistically cumbersome if you want to have vehicles on the same Tomix road surface as the trams) versus Museum.

 

OK, you won't sell Unitram set to everybody but hardly any vendor will have them in stock. If you slap a viaduct on this layout and have a few of your other products they will get noticed...

 

Maybe a small Tomix train track set layout would be good as well..

 

Also, run a Kato Portram... I mean really.. any more to be said.......

 

Good luck with your decision....

Rick

[Mudkip Orange]

I don't see any reason to carry Unitrack.

 

You're not just competing with internet guys, you're also competing with the LHS, since almost everyone's has it in stock.

[rankodd]

I don't see any reason to carry Unitrack.

 

You're not just competing with internet guys, you're also competing with the LHS, since almost everyone's has it in stock.

 

Must be nice to live in a city where LHS stock Kato track.

[Krackel Hopper]

Must be nice to live in a city where LHS stock Kato track.

 

Even in my "city", the LHS (which is mainly HO) stocks Atlas Code 80 & Kato for N Scale.

 

I think every hobby shop I've been to in Topeka, Lawrence & Kansas City carries Kato track for N Scale.

 

All three hobby shops I went to in Florida (Englewood, Sarasota & Tampa) all stocked Kato track.

 

I think Unitrack is becoming the standard for shops to carry.  Unitrack & Atlas Code 80 seem to be in every hobby shop I go.  Only a couple I've been in have carried something different like Atlas Code 55 or Peco track..

[rankodd]

Well, we're up in the Hinterlands of Alberta. Edmonton used to have a Golden Spike Kato dealer, but, AFAIK, they're gone now. The major place I go to stocks Kato N.A. prototype engines, but no Unitrack, and are largely focused on HO. There's a hole in the wall that ordered a box of Kato track years ago and hasn't sold out of it. I bought some single viaduct from there when it looked like my project order wouldn't come in, and it's the old style track with the different coloured ballast and dark grey unijoiners.

 

N just isn't that big here...

[KenS]

I have three LHSs within a (long) drive that stock N-scale Unitrack.  One of them also stocks HO Unitrack (does ANYONE actually use it?). There's a fourth that doesn't stock it (or much of any N-scale). But as much as I like to give the LHSs business, MB Klein is generally priced better and gets most of my track purchases.  Still, it's nice to have somewhere to pick up a packet of insulated unijoiners or a couple of extra lengths of track when I need one *right now*.