Retail prices, are they going up or down?

[Bernard]

With the situation of the economy, are you finding that prices are going up, down or remaining the same?

I noticed recently on ebay, that a lot of sellers are now offering free shipping on their items. Have you noticed a change or not?

[lbriand_fr]

I found some products at the same price after 6 months, and some are going up (like the C62-18, 20$ up in 3 months).

But, I  have not seen any prices down.

Maybe some products are harder to find...

[Guest ___]

With the situation of the economy, are you finding that prices are going up, down or remaining the same?

I noticed recently on ebay, that a lot of sellers are now offering free shipping on their items. Have you noticed a change or not?

 

I'm finding them the same for ebay that is dealing business in USD, as for Yen, man, I feel like I'm getting pinched.

[bill937ca]

With the situation of the economy, are you finding that prices are going up, down or remaining the same?

I noticed recently on ebay, that a lot of sellers are now offering free shipping on their items. Have you noticed a change or not?

 

Prices "outside Japan" have been going up since last August.  I've bought a train from Plaza Japan and seen the price go up $20 when it's re-listed. As Plaza Japan lists in US dollars I would categorize that as "outside Japan"  Much of this is foreign exchange not prices.  Many investors held cheap loans in Yen (aka Yen carry trade) and when everything tanked the Yen went sky high. This has killed Japan's export markets.

 

Within Japan prices seem to be stable.  It was never a strong economy.  Retail sales were weak and all gains were from the export of cars.  Kato has been following Tomix and marketing new releases as in smaller sets,  four cars instead of eight cars, sometimes with two motor cars in a train.  This is probably to be keep retail prices down or at least in line.

 

One difference almost everything you could dream of wanting seems to be available.

[Bernard]

Bill - It will be interesting to see if reserve lists at Hobby Search fill up as quickly as they usually do. 

[alpineaustralia]

In Australia, the Yen Carry Trade was also known as the Yen Train.

Its reversal has meant a sharp decline (40%) in the AUD against the Yen.

About 8 months ago, an Australian dollar fetched 106 yen. Now it fetches between 58 and 63 yen !

[bill937ca]

Bill - It will be interesting to see if reserve lists at Hobby Search fill up as quickly as they usually do. 

 

Some items are being delayed and re-scheduled several times. This has happened to me with a couple of Micro-Ace trains.  Are they not getting enough reservations?  Are there other reasons? It's hard to say. But some of the more recent items have been sold out as soon as the pre-orders are filled.  Dealers are probably cutting stock levels to keep overhead down.

[Bernard]

I took a look again at some of the online retailers and PlazaJapan did go up about 20 USD on most of their train sets. It would be interesting if there has been a decline in their sales.

 

On the other hand, when Hobby Search re-listed the Kato Orient Express for reserve, they were sold out on the first day. Other modelers I know have been telling me there are great deals to be had it, maybe it's not with Jaoanese prototypes.

 

I have noticed on ebay that bidding seems to be down and I see a lot of re-listing of items from online sellers. 

[alpineaustralia]

My observations from what it is worth:

 

prices of US prototypes on Ebay in US dollars have definititely come down (especially from sellers in the US) - makes me wonder how bad you guys over there are really feeling the recession;

 

prices of Japanese protoypes on Ebay in US dollars have definititely risen (especially from sellers in Japan) - most probably as a result of currency exchange movements

 

prices of Japanese protoypes on other sites (eg Hoobysearch, Popendatta etc) in yen and have not changed - of course as a result of currency movements this means it is more more expensive for most of us.