Rapido newsletter #165, a survey for N scalers

[DirtyD79]

Just wanted to thank lock4244 and cv_acr for the great information. I also liked the videos about loading and unloading boxcars and containers.

[peteski]

In a typical TRW fashion this thread has been totally derailed, but the off-topic info presented has been quite interesting.

[mmagliaro]

In a typical TRW fashion this thread has been totally derailed, but the off-topic info presented has been quite interesting.

Okay, so can I have my NP Radial Roof boxcars now?   

[Mark5]

They lost me here when they tried to pigeon hole me into one of these categories ...

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[John]

They lost me here when they tried to pigeon hole me into one of these categories ...

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why does it matter?  .. it's like asking do you still beat your ....

[thomasjmdavis]

They lost me here when they tried to pigeon hole me into one of these categories ...

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One of the things that struck me was that I found myself answering most of the "check all that apply" with one answer, but I wanted to answer some of the 'one answer only' questions with multiple answers. The particular question about train types I found annoying, but I gave 2 answers- mixed freight and passenger.  Of course, they left out my 2 favorite freights of the 1950s- the expedited produce trains (which are like a unit train in that they are all reefers, but of mixed roads and body styles) and the coal drag (again, similar to a unit train). And they completely ignored switching layouts, where operation, prototype and detail all come together.

One important thing to consider about surveys. If you survey the 1000 customers you already have about what your product release should be next year, and 60% say they want product A, you will end up selling 600 product A, and have 600 customers next year. If you survey the 10,000 people who are in the market but NOT your customers, and 25% of them want product B, and you make that, you will sell 2500 units of product B, and have 2500 customers next year.

Of course, that is over-simplified, but you get the point.

[Scottl]

This is a pretty clear marketing question IMO. 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

And NOW I understand why 4x8 is the standard sheet good material size.

[Point353]

One important thing to consider about surveys. If you survey the 1000 customers you already have about what your product release should be next year, and 60% say they want product A, you will end up selling 600 product A, and have 600 customers next year. If you survey the 10,000 people who are in the market but NOT your customers, and 25% of them want product B, and you make that, you will sell 2500 units of product B, and have 2500 customers next year.

If, like Rapido, a company tends to closely match the size of its production runs to the number of pre-orders, then the likelihood of converting any of those "10,000 people who are in the market but NOT your customers" into customers largely depends upon their willingness to place a pre-order for a product made by a company with whom they have never yet done business.

[bigdawgks]

Eh, brand loyalty is not a luxury a lot of N scalers have. I would buy from a manufacturer I've never bought from without second thought if it seemed on par with others quality-wise and especially so if they're the only one making it. I don't think that makes me a bad consumer though. I know that if it is truly a terrible product it would be pretty obvious, or if it was defective beyond repair then I should be able to return it or have it covered by warranty. The risk isn't that high and it's better to find out for oneself than to just be skeptical.

Then again I do think I'm a bit of an outlier in that regard. I've seen plenty of folks refuse to buy anything they aren't already familiar with. It just seems narrow-minded to me.

[oakcreekco]

Could be narrow minded, or, they've had enough with certain manufacturers producing below average products at premium prices.

?????????

[lock4244]

I think reluctance to pre-order generally stems from a lack of need of the product in question for personal modeling preferences. Not needed, no order. I know there are those with a will strong enough to ignore something they need because it's an mfg they're not familiar with or one that has a hit and miss track record, but they're going to be in the minority. Getting burned in the past would certainly factor in here. However we've been conditioned over the past decade and a half to jump like trained seals at pre-order announcements, and most will risk getting a turd for fear of missing out.

At least that's how I am.

If a mfg announces pre-orders for something I need but their offerings are hit and miss, I'd probably hold my nose, cross my fingers, and pre-order. I have a fleet of Intermountain SD40-2W's that are for the most part poor runners. I had a few of their Tunnel Motors found their mechanisms to be quite disappointing, so I knew what I was getting into and pre-ordered. They didn't fail to disappoint (though I think two are acceptable - my stuff is in boxes so going from memory). I bought a like number of Kato SD40-2's for their chassis to grind and transplant. Stupid maybe, but there's likely never to be another mfg to do them in N and the body shells are acceptable (though certainly not at Atlas's level), so I pre-ordered.

[bigdawgks]

Could be narrow minded, or, they've had enough with certain manufacturers producing below average products at premium prices.

?????????

I don't believe such behavior to be constructive to the industry as a whole. In all honesty there are few manufacturers I can think of who consistently put out subpar products. Yes once in a while there will be dumb decisions made, but if they try to improve on past mistakes and you still refuse to buy from them then you're not encouraging said change. If it's simply the price that you find unreasonable then you probably shouldn't be ordering direct, and should be looking for bargains. If the rest of the consumers agree with you then they won't sell and eventually they will be discounted. There definitely are more budget brands out there but your choices are more limited. If you want to model on a budget then that's your choice, but then you are not the target audience for companies like Rapido.

[ogre427]

why does it matter?  .. it's like asking do you still beat your ....

On surveys like this, traditionally answers with square boxes next to them indicate that you can select more than one response.

[oakcreekco]

I don't believe such behavior to be constructive to the industry as a whole. In all honesty there are few manufacturers I can think of who consistently put out subpar products. Yes once in a while there will be dumb decisions made, but if they try to improve on past mistakes and you still refuse to buy from them then you're not encouraging said change. If it's simply the price that you find unreasonable then you probably shouldn't be ordering direct, and should be looking for bargains. If the rest of the consumers agree with you then they won't sell and eventually they will be discounted. There definitely are more budget brands out there but your choices are more limited. If you want to model on a budget then that's your choice, but then you are not the target audience for companies like Rapido.

"I don't believe such behavior to be constructive to the industry as a whole."

That sounds like a statement from a manufacturer. 😂