N Scale Supply Denver Colorado

[Ed Kapuscinski]

https://www.nscalesupply.com/Newsletter/CurrentNewsletter.html

Jason

That's still a mess. For example, it's impossible to know which JTC 40' containers are new or which Faller details have shown up.

Is it possible, I guess, but does it make for a good experience? Absolutely not.

[wcfn100]

That's still a mess. For example, it's impossible to know which JTC 40' containers are new or which Faller details have shown up.

I get what you're saying, but would knowing change what you buy? 

I guess 99% of my buying is either pre-order or looking for something in particular.  I don't do much impulse or unplanned buying.


Jason

[ednadolski]

That's still a mess. For example, it's impossible to know which JTC 40' containers are new or which Faller details have shown up.

I wouldn't call it a "mess".  It is chronologically ordered and kept up to date, and there are labels such as "Product Announcement", "Product Restock", and "Product Arrival".

You're right that it pre-dates phone-aware designs, otoh there is no shortage of newer designs that are plenty annoying to navigate (and could certainly qualify as a 'mess').

As long as I can find the products that interest me at a good price, then I am not really that concerned about having some kind of online shopping 'experience'.

Ed

[James Costello]

As long as I can find the products that interest me at a good price, then I am not really that concerned about having some kind of online shopping 'experience'.

Ed

I could with some "convenience" though. NSS is my go-to online shop and where I do 90% of my reservations. I'm pretty satisfied with the overall process.

Having said that, reserving or preordering JTC containers isn't an option for some reason and having to have the JTC (or Lombard or MTS) website open at the same time to grab the new month's release is a PITA and I'm not sure how much longer I'll continue with that carry-on. Not having a stock counter available is also frustrating.

[Mark5]

Criticisms aside, I have found them to be good people in my dealings with them.

Remember that something listed on the website may or may not actually be in stock. Check first if it is a worry.

Mark

[ednadolski]

NSS is my go-to online shop and where I do 90% of my reservations. I'm pretty satisfied with the overall process.

Likewise, hope I didn't give any impression that I wasn't satisfied in any way.  Just that for myself, online shopping is not something that needs a lot of bells and whistles.  (I can do without slick 'features' like infographics, tap-friendly, or site search results that come back with "Showing 5340 items" on 56 pages to scroll thru.)

Ed

[squirrelhunter]

Lombard's website is unusable on the phone since they updated it.

Midwest Model Railroad is good and they seem to keep basic staples (track, supplies, etc) in stock.

I buy from NSS because they actually have stuff in stock for more than 5 hot minutes. I rarely use Model Train Stuff anymore because if you don't camp on their website you can easily miss out. And I've skipped using them for impulse purchases because I like to add on basic stuff like track and they have not had what I needed in stock.

[Chris333]

About 90% of everything I do on a phone is in desktop mode. I have no idea why there is no setting to keep it in desktop. Mobile internet sucks.

[pedro]

Disclosure: I used to work there In the late ‘90s, at both old locations.
Agree with the defense of NSS’s web site. It’s rock solid, and a great resource for easily finding past releases. Modern web sites are generally terrible. No offense to our resident web developers. I know Scott has worked on and off in the past developing his own shopping cart system. He has the computer skills to pull it off, it just hasn’t happened yet.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Disclosure: I used to work there In the late ‘90s, at both old locations.
Agree with the defense of NSS’s web site. It’s rock solid, and a great resource for easily finding past releases. Modern web sites are generally terrible. No offense to our resident web developers. I know Scott has worked on and off in the past developing his own shopping cart system. He has the computer skills to pull it off, it just hasn’t happened yet.

That's insane though!

In 2020 there's no reason a small retail business should be developing their own software like that. The internet is too complex and too dangerous. I guarantee that any home grown system would fail GDPR and PCI-DSS compliance checks HARD, and anyone who values their credit card data should take that type of thing very seriously.

What he really should be doing is looking into something like Big Commerce or one of the platforms MBK has used in the past.  They're turnkey solutions that require minimal setup to get up and running, especially if you already have or can get your inventory in some sort of standardized format (like an Excel sheet). If I were at a different place in my career I would definitely look at that as a perfect market for quick and easy consulting work.

[amato1969]

In 2020 there's no reason a small retail business should be developing their own software like that. The internet is too complex and too dangerous. I guarantee that any home grown system would fail GDPR and PCI-DSS compliance checks HARD, and anyone who values their credit card data should take that type of thing very seriously.

Huge +1 here, this should be a slam-dunk "build-versus-buy" decision, allowing the LHS owner to focus on us customers and not the software 

  Frank

[VonRyan]

That's insane though!

In 2020 there's no reason a small retail business should be developing their own software like that. The internet is too complex and too dangerous. I guarantee that any home grown system would fail GDPR and PCI-DSS compliance checks HARD, and anyone who values their credit card data should take that type of thing very seriously.

What he really should be doing is looking into something like Big Commerce or one of the platforms MBK has used in the past.  They're turnkey solutions that require minimal setup to get up and running, especially if you already have or can get your inventory in some sort of standardized format (like an Excel sheet). If I were at a different place in my career I would definitely look at that as a perfect market for quick and easy consulting work.

Just be happy that NSS isn’t set up like some of the old school militaria dealers websites.

Best example: https://www.hayesotoupalik.com/

There’s also this guy: http://www.angelfire.com/nc/stug/

[John]

It could be worse -- http://www.trainweb.org/dansrailpix/wigwag_anim3.gif

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Just be happy that NSS isn’t set up like some of the old school militaria dealers websites.

Best example: https://www.hayesotoupalik.com/

There’s also this guy: http://www.angelfire.com/nc/stug/

You're not wrong.

[Rossford Yard]

They say the prototype roads lost box cars all the time with their tracking systems.  I bet most LHS do the same!  That is why I am impressed with the few that have the real time websites, like Model Train Stuff.  I actually placed an order once, went back to shopping and found the item had gone from 1 in stock to zero......