Thoughts on ExactRail Models?

[peteski]

You don't really know that.  Sometimes margins are so low, it's not even worth it to try and go though hobby shops.  I believe EXR was one of those companies when they came out where the dealer margin was super low, and I'm pretty positive I asked my pusher about the Prairie Shadows gondolas and he told me to just buy direct because there wasn't anything in it for him.


Jason

Oh, I guess then that it is all relative. Selling direct is a better option than ExactRail totally getting out of the N scale market.

[SkipGear]

I have mixed feelings about the company. I hate their direct to customer marketing scheme, not because it is direct to customer but because they went to direct to customer after pulling out of the shops the promoted and helped them make a name for themselves. They used the LHS's and them left the shops that helped them get their start hanging in the breeze when they decided to go customer direct only.

The cars range all over the place. The Vertapaks look like 70's tooling and won't stay on the track. The gondola's I have from them are excellent, although an un-needed product as they are a duplicate of an Atlas product. The grain hoppers aren't much better than the Vertapaks and were another model duplication that really didn't need to be produced. The cars that I own were bought before the move to direct to customer. I would love to get some of the waffles but won't support their direct to customer sales model.

[mecgp7]

I like the ER models and own a few, but I have to say that since they went to direct marketing they might as well have fallen off the face of the earth for me. Most of my purchases are based off of seeing the product out an about and on the internet. I never seem to see much of the product.

[sp org div]

They have done some really cool SP rolling stock, and I was a strong supporter through each production.  I would have paid list price either way just to get those models, regardless of direct sales or discounted retailer.
I am on their mailing list and check my junk folder every week or so to see if they announce something new in N scale... kinda like browsing the online newsletters for other announcements.
Now if they would only produce their HO version of the SP Gunderson 7466 Woodchip gons in N already!   
Jeff

[Dave V]

I got a good deal on their shorty gon...  Not proto for Conrail but it's a nice little car.

[sundowner]

But ExactRail now only sells direct - no more discount retail.  How in your view is that a good thing?

ER put cars on sale on there site every month, and they are comparable to what you pay at other places

[sundowner]

I don't get the ER hate, Kader the parent of the Bachman almost destroy the industry when they stop producing for other players and they get a pass. ER goes direct and its the end of the world.

[SkipGear]

I don't get the ER hate, Kader the parent of the Bachman almost destroy the industry when they stop producing for other players and they get a pass. ER goes direct and its the end of the world.

If they sold direct from the outset, I wouldn't care. It's how they completely abandoned the dealers that initially supported them after using the those dealers to get their name out there. I have nothing against dealer direct as a business model. I do have a problem with companies who promise great dealer support, advertise a "We support the LHS" business plan, and then throw those same dealers aside when once they have gotten a foot hold in the market.

[nkalanaga]

My "problem" with their direct-only plan is very simple: I usually only need one of a new item, and buying one of anything online is very expensive, because of the shipping costs.  Buying from a dealer, I can usually find one item from several companies, spreading the shipping costs around.  My usual dealer simply holds items until the box is full, since I'm seldom in a hurry, so the shipping per item is quite low.

[cjm413]

I have mixed feelings about the company. I hate their direct to customer marketing scheme, not because it is direct to customer but because they went to direct to customer after pulling out of the shops the promoted and helped them make a name for themselves. They used the LHS's and them left the shops that helped them get their start hanging in the breeze when they decided to go customer direct only.

The cars range all over the place. The Vertapaks look like 70's tooling and won't stay on the track. The gondola's I have from them are excellent, although an un-needed product as they are a duplicate of an Atlas product. The grain hoppers aren't much better than the Vertapaks and were another model duplication that really didn't need to be produced. The cars that I own were bought before the move to direct to customer. I would love to get some of the waffles but won't support their direct to customer sales model.

One nice thing about the Exactrail Thrall 2743 is the frame-mounted couplers vs the truck-mounted couplers on the Atlas model.  However, the Atlas model has the correct 5 rung ladder on the right side of the car (vs 4 on the Exactrail model) and could be purchased from a brick and mortar store.

[sirenwerks]

I like the ER models and own a few, but I have to say that since they went to direct marketing they might as well have fallen off the face of the earth for me. Most of my purchases are based off of seeing the product out an about and on the internet. I never seem to see much of the product.

This. And for a direct marketing outfit, the only info they seem to have on me is that I'm a model railroader, and I get an email from them no matter what scale,era, etc... That's not direct marketing, that's mass marketing and annoying as hell.  I pulled the plug on it a while ago by unsubscribing to ER's emails.

[nkalanaga]

I also unsubscibed, not so much because they were annoying, but because there was nothing in the ads I needed.  HO is useless to me, as are most of the N items, and the few I could use I already have.  If they ever have anything of interest to me I'll probably hear about it here anyway.