Is this the end of diecast...?

[LamboFan]

Read an interesting piece in Grand Prix Legends the other day

http://www.diecastlegends.com/Info/christopher-pau...

I wonder what others think...

I for one have stopped buying models for quite a while now and just wait 12 months and get them cheaper on eBay I think £50 for 1:43 and £100 for 1:18 is just far too much these days.

I wonder how model shops can survive now that China's employees are now demanding 'real' salaries. Maybe the manufacturers will think of moving to over less developed countries, maybe they should move to Greece LOL

Seriously though, it would be interesting to read other people's thoughts on this subject.

Are they just sending out a warning shot to scare off other model shops or is the outlook for models and model shops, no matter how large they are, bad...

[NismoGT]

I believe the Chinese government introduced a minimum wage some time ago.

Can't blame the Chinese workforce for wanting a better standard of living either. GPL have a bit of cheek putting this article up though. They always charge at RRP , sometimes above it.

Other online sellers have no problem giving a bit of a dsicount.

But anyway. Something has to be done about the price. I can't justify paying £100 odd for a decent AUTOart or Spark 1:18 model.

[Evangelion]

Yes, I agree that prices have gone through the roof lately.

But these are now the TRUE prices, rather than the artificially low ones we've been paying for the last few years when the models were produced by workers earning a bowl of rice a fortnight.

But who knows, maybe it's not all doom and gloom. Perhaps the manufacturers will find other untapped countries to produce the models for them, and the whole process will start again.

[thebigmacmoomin]

Some of the prices are very high.

When SunStar first released the 1/18 Escort Mk2 Rally Car, it was £29.99. Now their £52.99.

[davepoth]

Evangelion said:

But who knows, maybe it's not all doom and gloom. Perhaps the manufacturers will find other untapped countries to produce the models for them, and the whole process will start again.

Possibly. Or maybe they'll just move the factories back to the UK. That'd be nice.

[LamboFan]

...but how come Corgi seem to have kept their prices low. The Sunstar brand is a good example. They are not the best out there but to go from £30 to £50+ in a couple of years!

Corgi 1:50th trucks are still around the £60-70 mark which they have been for years.

Anyway, eBay is my source of models now, just secured another Corgi truck this week at £30 less than retail price of £69.99 and it was only released in Feb this year. Love it when people sell stuff that they do not realise the real worth. It takes patience to find them but with the millions on eBay you are always assured of finding them.

Naughty maybe, but it allows me to keep my collections up-to-date without paying today's prices

[fatboy69]

I have been at Silverstone all weekend for the Classic event - was stunned at the ridiculous prices being asked for new/almost new die-models.

So happy i stopped buying models two years ago as would not be able to afford them these days. Stupidly expensive.

I mean - £80 for a 1/18th Ferrari 458 Italia? Me thinks someone is taking the piss with the prices.

[jas xjr]

thebigmacmoomin said:

Some of the prices are very high.

When SunStar first released the 1/18 Escort Mk2 Rally Car, it was £29.99. Now their £52.99.

Think I might have One of those on the shelf

[The Hypno-Toad]

Got to say that as a proper collector I'm now officially out.

I'll still do my Can-Ams, Mclarens F1GTs but aren't that many more of those I want. My WC winning F1 collection will continue on a yearly basis (Wheres the Red Bull 2010 Minichamps?) but apart from the odd F1 car like the RAM 03 and a few others I'll not be getting much more.

I've realised that buying the odd nice looking endurance car isn't going to get me anywhere, so with cashflow short (& about to get shorter.) they're now all up on fleaBay.

When I first started collecting it was £14.99 for an F1 & £24.99 for a Le Mans/Saloon. It won't be long till its £50.00 for an F1 and £60.00 for a Le Mans. No longer viable I'm afraid, they've priced themselves out of my market.

[jas xjr]

jas xjr said:

Think I might have One of those on the shelf

Sold

[GRS40]

I stopped collecting about two years ago - mine were 1/43 Le Mans cars and now you are looking at over £50 per car - ridiculous

[Simon1397]

Having been in the trade I'd have to agree with the thrust of DCL logic, 1:43 used to retail for anything between £20 to £30, I'm quite surprised that it seems now to have reached £35 to £50. The margins on die-cast where never as great as you'd guess and they have particular problems with retail, such as being easily damaged, heavy to post/handle (vis-a-vis the value) and securing high demand models and overstocking.

I haven't seen a Spark model since 2009 so I wouldn't like to comment on how they are now but I was not impressed when they first came to market. Certainly, cheaper models that accuratly model the full size version have always been in the greatest demand and perhaps a shift to plastic resin models is overdue.

I always found the die-cast market very sensitive to price and in my recollection, collectors would often stop rather than reduce volumes which has serious consequences for the retailer/imported/factory.

[dr_gn]

I managed to get a peek at a wholesale cataloge for Revell, Hornby, Tamiya, Airfix, Minichamps etc etc and some of the retail mark-ups are amazing.

I thought (or was told) that the retailler "hardly make anything on these". I'm in the wrong business!

[jas xjr]

dr_gn said:

I managed to get a peek at a wholesale cataloge for Revell, Hornby, Tamiya, Airfix, Minichamps etc etc and some of the retail mark-ups are amazing.

I thought (or was told) that the retailler "hardly make anything on these". I'm in the wrong business!

The Mark up can be good but some of us have outrageous overheads. Rent and rates alone for my shop are £1000 per week. That has to come from somewhere and we are having to compete with Internet sellers working out of bedrooms. Blame the manufacturers and importers who are willing to supply anybody

[dr_gn]

jas xjr said:

dr_gn said:

I managed to get a peek at a wholesale cataloge for Revell, Hornby, Tamiya, Airfix, Minichamps etc etc and some of the retail mark-ups are amazing.

I thought (or was told) that the retailler "hardly make anything on these". I'm in the wrong business!

The Mark up can be good but some of us have outrageous overheads. Rent and rates alone for my shop are £1000 per week. That has to come from somewhere and we are having to compete with Internet sellers working out of bedrooms. Blame the manufacturers and importers who are willing to supply anybody

I understand that - my family used to run the local Pharmacy and they did sell a few toys/kits back then (late '70's early '80's).

A pal of mine (who got the catalogue in question) reckons he can register as a sole trader, and for a minimum order of £250 buy anything he wants at trade prices. If this is right, then any serious collector of, say, Minichamps might as well just do the same and keep the models rather than sell them. Same with anything: plastic kits, die cast kits, model railways.

I can't believe that it's as simple as that, or even legal, but from what I've been told so far, apparently it would all be legit.

Surely a wholesaler should sell items only for resale, or at least the majority for resale??

[Simon1397]

A wholesaler would usually expect to see a business bank account and trading address but there is nothing to stop individuals from buying from a wholesaler (subject to minimum orders). Howerever, it is not as simple as that, the popular in demand models (the ones that on resale make money and sell quickly) will usually be in over-demand; as a trader who did tens of thousands of pounds (GBP) of trade with a wholesaler I would expect and demand preferential treatment when it came to the allocation of models and trade discounts. So your mate won't be able to pick up the latest, in demand, limited edition model because it will already be sold out.

[dr_gn]

Simon1397 said:

A wholesaler would usually expect to see a business bank account and trading address but there is nothing to stop individuals from buying from a wholesaler (subject to minimum orders). Howerever, it is not as simple as that, the popular in demand models (the ones that on resale make money and sell quickly) will usually be in over-demand; as a trader who did tens of thousands of pounds (GBP) of trade with a wholesaler I would expect and demand preferential treatment when it came to the allocation of models and trade discounts. So your mate won't be able to pick up the latest, in demand, limited edition model because it will already be sold out.

Right. How may wholesalers are there for these models? I can't remember the name now, but the catalogue I saw had Airfix, Tamiya, Revell, Hornby and Minichamps as well as quite a few more.

Is there anything to stop people re-sselling at significant discounts? I know in other areas the rules are quite strict on discounts.

[Simon1397]

There are about 4 big wholesalers who stock a broad selection of die cast, resin & plastic models plus you can buy direct from the manufacturers; there are no rules with regard to discounting and this has in the past led to strong price competition where there has been over-supply but this has not usually applied to the premium model car ranges.

Trade prices may look tempting but they are always ex-VAT so you have to pay the tax and reclaim as a VAT registered business (or not as as an individual).

[dr_gn]

Simon1397 said:

There are about 4 big wholesalers who stock a broad selection of die cast, resin & plastic models plus you can buy direct from the manufacturers; there are no rules with regard to discounting and this has in the past led to strong price competition where there has been over-supply but this has not usually applied to the premium model car ranges.

Trade prices may look tempting but they are always ex-VAT so you have to pay the tax and reclaim as a VAT registered business (or not as as an individual).

Thanks for the info - I'll pass it on.

TBH I forgot about adding the VAT.

[LamboFan]

Simon1397 said:

There are about 4 big wholesalers who stock a broad selection of die cast, resin & plastic models plus you can buy direct from the manufacturers; there are no rules with regard to discounting and this has in the past led to strong price competition where there has been over-supply but this has not usually applied to the premium model car ranges.

Trade prices may look tempting but they are always ex-VAT so you have to pay the tax and reclaim as a VAT registered business (or not as as an individual).

A friend of mine ran a model business a few years back now and he told me that 'swapmeet' model collectors, along with the wholesalers have ruined the industry. Swapmeeter's would go to a wholesaler and buy 3 of each model he wanted in his collection, keep one and then sell the other 2 off cheap to just cover his costs - often not even doing that (either at swapmeets or more often now on eBay).

No wholesaler is going to stop that practice otherwise the business will go elsewhere...

He said that the margins were so small in diecast and once he'd paid off wages and rent etc it gave no profit, so I'm not surprised model shops keep closing