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Author Topic: Is There Much Market for Assembled MTL 1015 couplers?  (Read 2736 times)

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Kisatchie

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Is There Much Market for Assembled MTL 1015 couplers?
« on: July 25, 2014, 12:41:43 PM »
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I was wondering if there is much of a market here for Micro-Trains 1015 couplers (assembled).
If so, I'll start selling them here through the Trading Post. The discount price at M B Klein is $7.69 for 2 pairs. I can offer them at $6.50 for 2 pairs. Your choice of black or brown couplers.


Hmm... a disaster in the
making...?

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Kisatchie

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Re: Is There Much Market for Assembled MTL 1015 couplers?
« Reply #1 on: July 25, 2014, 02:41:03 PM »
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Okay, 52 views so far, and no replies. Guess there's no interest. Glad I asked before ordering a ton of unassembled couplers.  :)


Hmm... I could use half a
pair...

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victor miranda

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Re: Is There Much Market for Assembled MTL 1015 couplers?
« Reply #2 on: July 25, 2014, 03:14:53 PM »
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you may want to offer it as a service.

that is don't buy a ton. whip up a couple dozen and see what you get as an order.

my off hand bet is that if you get an order it will be for a few hundred or more pairs.
... enough to save and cover the cost of the shipping.

victor
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John

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Re: Is There Much Market for Assembled MTL 1015 couplers?
« Reply #3 on: July 25, 2014, 03:15:45 PM »
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I build my own
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Rich_S

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Re: Is There Much Market for Assembled MTL 1015 couplers?
« Reply #4 on: July 25, 2014, 03:18:27 PM »
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Quote from: Kisatchie on July 25, 2014, 02:41:03 PM
Okay, 52 views so far, and no replies. Guess there's no interest. Glad I asked before ordering a ton of unassembled couplers.  :)


Hmm... I could use half a
pair...


Kisatchie,   For the small amount of 1015's I use, I just purchase them already assembled. Since I have a small HCD layout, I generally purchase truck mounted couplers for cars that do not come equipped with Micro-Trains or Micro-Trains compatible couplers. Truck mounted couplers work better for me because of the tight radius curves on one end of my layout. I have used a few 1015's for older Atlas locomotives and a few of the older Life-Like Northeastern cabooses. It seems here lately most of my Micro-Trains purchases are for their low profile wheel sets.  I don't know about the rest of the group, but poor Ms. Dee Rayle would run out of bananas waiting on my once a year 1015 1 pair purchase  :facepalm: 
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Catt

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Re: Is There Much Market for Assembled MTL 1015 couplers?
« Reply #5 on: July 25, 2014, 03:36:57 PM »
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Might I suggest that you offer 1025s assembled and see what that gets you?
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mmagliaro

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Re: Is There Much Market for Assembled MTL 1015 couplers?
« Reply #6 on: July 25, 2014, 03:43:52 PM »
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I think your strategy of pricing your assembled couplers lower than MTL sells them is obviously the right way to go.
But shaving $1 or $2 off probably isn't enough to stir up interest.

I would suggest:

- as Victor suggests, offer it as a service, but extending that idea, you could offer 1015's for sale, assembled,
at a price, and ALSO offer to take customer's existing 1015 packages and assemble them for a fee (say, $1 per coupler).
People may be sitting on piles of unassembled couplers that they now realize they really don't want to put together.

- offer to put any MTL coupler together, not just 1015's

Finally, I think offering a bulk price would help.   How much would you sell, say, 20 or 50 assembled 1015's for?
If people can get a break on a larger order, they might be more enticed.  That is, if I only need 2 or 5 couplers,
I may be very content to pay the higher price at a local store and just be done with it.

If I need 50, I might be looking for a "deal".  And people who don't want to assemble their own and need lots of
them are going to be your biggest customers.
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davefoxx

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Re: Is There Much Market for Assembled MTL 1015 couplers?
« Reply #7 on: July 25, 2014, 03:48:49 PM »
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Kiz,

I think what you're offering is reasonable, but, don't forget, TRW is a small community.  Plus, there's a good number of us that have just about stopped buying couplers while we await the release of DKS' Protomate couplers.  I've even got truck mounted couplers on my layout now, which would have been taboo at one time, because I don't want to waste any effort or money on something that I would require changing again when DKS' couplers become available.

Hope this helps,
DFF
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ryan_wilkerson

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Re: Is There Much Market for Assembled MTL 1015 couplers?
« Reply #8 on: July 25, 2014, 03:55:53 PM »
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I always thought there was a good sized gap between the 10-pack unassembled price and the pair of assembled couplers. Personally, I like roughing up the couplers, adding some paint/rust and then assembling them.
You could post your service on the Buy/Sell/Trade forum here.
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Denver Road Doug

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Re: Is There Much Market for Assembled MTL 1015 couplers?
« Reply #9 on: July 25, 2014, 04:57:20 PM »
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There used to be a guy on eBay that sold them "split-the-difference" between the un-assembled price and the assembled price.   I bought a bunch from him early in the 2000's but I don't think he does it anymore.   So if assembled were $4/pair and unassembled were $2/pair he was selling them for $$3/pair. (just made up numbers, to illustrate his strategy....not sure if it was successful.)   I would think if you had the process down it would be a pretty good way to make $10+/hr for some extra cash.  But, now that everything comes with *some* type of knuckle coupler, and with at least two new manufacturers on the horizon....well I wouldn't buy ten thousand of them...  :P
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Kisatchie

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Re: Is There Much Market for Assembled MTL 1015 couplers?
« Reply #10 on: July 25, 2014, 05:04:57 PM »
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After reading all the replies, I've decided that the new couplers coming out will attract the lion's share of attention in the future, so scratch my idea.


Hmm... Kiz, could you
scratch my back? It itches...

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LV LOU

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Re: Is There Much Market for Assembled MTL 1015 couplers?
« Reply #11 on: July 25, 2014, 05:05:39 PM »
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 Kiz,I think you'd do good on Ebay,ETC,but here,you're just talking to the wrong guys..Of any group,TRW is probably the worst bunch of guys you could ask that question of..Mostly everyone here is an actual modeler/do it yourselfer,we all pretty much do this stuff ourselves because that's what we do.If I were you,I'd try something like a fully assembled 20 pack on Ebay for 25-30 bucks with free shipping..Try a few,see how it goes,take it from there..Me? I actually like putting them together..
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chicken45

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Re: Is There Much Market for Assembled MTL 1015 couplers?
« Reply #12 on: July 25, 2014, 05:07:45 PM »
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Quote from: davefoxx on July 25, 2014, 03:48:49 PM
Kiz,

I think what you're offering is reasonable, but, don't forget, TRW is a small community.  Plus, there's a good number of us that have just about stopped buying couplers while we await the release of DKS' Protomate couplers.  I've even got truck mounted couplers on my layout now, which would have been taboo at one time, because I don't want to waste any effort or money on something that I would require changing again when DKS' couplers become available.

Hope this helps,
DFF

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mmagliaro

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Re: Is There Much Market for Assembled MTL 1015 couplers?
« Reply #13 on: July 25, 2014, 06:06:55 PM »
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Quote from: LV LOU on July 25, 2014, 05:05:39 PM
Kiz,I think you'd do good on Ebay,ETC,but here,you're just talking to the wrong guys..Of any group,TRW is probably the worst bunch of guys you could ask that question of..Mostly everyone here is an actual modeler/do it yourselfer,we all pretty much do this stuff ourselves because that's what we do.If I were you,I'd try something like a fully assembled 20 pack on Ebay for 25-30 bucks with free shipping..Try a few,see how it goes,take it from there..Me? I actually like putting them together..

+1
I agree, Lou.    I think you could make some money at it, Kiz, but not on TRW.   I like Lou's eBay idea.
You have almost nothing to lose if you will use the couplers yourself in the event that they don't sell.
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Nick Lorusso

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Re: Is There Much Market for Assembled MTL 1015 couplers?
« Reply #14 on: July 25, 2014, 06:17:36 PM »
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I use 903's  :D
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