Reeves Rip-Off Prices - a short analysis

[Deleted]

I've been doing some research on the 3.5 Britannia. Who are these Reeves people?

			               GLR	 Reeves
Drawings 11 sheets			64	76.33
Frames			           18.5      14.1
Buffer Beams			4.68	9.8
Main Axle Boxes			18	25.38
MAIN Wheels			132	107.77
Bogie Axle Boxes			6	27
Bogie Wheels			28	46.33
Bogie Equalisers			16	19.13
Bogie Bolster			6.8	16.49
Trailing Truck			32	70.71
Truck Axle box set			10	6.9
Trailing Wheels			16	17.82
Cylinder Set Gunmetal		          110	234.79
	                     Totals	461.98	672.55

Reeves are £210.57 dearer for just a few items! GLR is 68.75% of Reeves Prices. Is there a good reason for this? Is GLR stuff inferior? Someone enlighten me please?

[ron]

It was about the same percentage when I ordered Simplex parts, Blackgates were considerably cheaper and their castings were excellent quality, I don't know how Reeves survive, I was intending building an Allchin after the Simplex but unless I can pick up the castings off Ebay I'm beginning to reconsider because it looks like Brunell are even dearer.
Ron

[Deleted]

Thanks for the feedback Ron, I will avoid Reeves at all costs! (No pun intended!)
Is that your car in the avatar? My eyesight is not so good but it looks like a TR....

[Laurie_B]

The steep prices Reeves charge are difficult to comprehend.Another example:

'Dart' driving and coupled wheels sets

Reeves:£298.79 exc VAT

Blackgates:£94.00 exc VAT

Bit of a difference.

[mutley]

Has anyone else noticed how at the shows you cant get near Blackgates or Polly's stand yet with Reeves you could walk straight up and get served. Out of intrest is Geoff still at Reeves as I havn't seen him around recently?

Andy

[ravensworth2674]

We know a lot of things. The first is that in the Good Old Days, two out of every three businesses failed in the second year of trading. Since then, prices have risen by say 25% or worse since last Christmas. we know that wages have hung around 3% and we know that house prices except in the highest bracket dropped by say 10% . We know that the fuel gloom is not only in UK plc but is in Palavas. We know that credit terms have risen. I cannot tell you by how much because I haven't any.

Nothing has come down -except the rain. Or has it? Well, those who are amongst the Wise Virgins are able to buy far more cheaply than say 6 months ago. I went into M&S Money for £1000 of Euros. I simply thought that the pound might get worse. To my surprise, there were 4 vouchers for £10 each if one bought 4 lots of M&S clothes over £20 a set. OK, my wife hardly dare come home.
But, there has been considerable fracas about DIY loco building. I suspect that all the old Victorian house will be stripped of window sash weights. We know that if we read ME from when stuff was fabricated post war- that firm after firm supplying our needs has failed to advertise. we know that one has marginally changed its name, We know that ME itself went A over T and was bought out for three Leeds houses.
Scrolling down, a biggy has left or possibly left part finished kits.

Come on. From the price quoted for one, it wasn't worth a pinch of chinese shit.

And speaking of chinese shit, the chinese are actually importing rice!

Talk amongst yourselves! It is going to get much worse. Not me, the voice of gloom.
Top industry.

Cheers-if any are due

Norm

[mutley]

Norman, with the greatest respect if you cant make a sensible contribution then please dont.

Andy

[alanstepney]

As most probably know, Reeves were one of the older companies, established soon after the war. They became one of the largest suppliers to model engineers, and built up a reasonable reputation.
Then, for reasons that I wont get into here, they went into liquidation.

Anker towbars bought the remains of the company, and have since built it up once again.
Expensive? Perhaps but hopefully profitable, so that they will survive.

Looking at the original prices posted by simplyloco, Reeves are cheaper on a few items.

Perhaps SOME of the price difference is due to time of supply. Obviously anyone who has, for example copper stock that they bought months ago will be able to charge less than someone who only bought it recently.

The obvious answer is to shop around, but at the end of the day, I would rather see an expensive supplier than none at all.

[ravensworth2674]

Andy,
I was merely re-iterating what anyone in business should know. However, people like Alan Sugar has said that this economic situation which is going to affect the price or availibility of bits in model engineering.

Didn't anyone teach you the Trade Cycle? Somewhat scathingly, you are supposed to ride it.

I am watching people going out of not only business but theit homes.

There is a market for such things. The market is shrinking, it's true but if you have the nerve and the cash, it is there for the taking.

Read down the page for the fact that cash received doesn't match costs after bank charges and production costs.

Dear me. Andy. before the year is out, there will be more and more liquidations and unemployments. Will it affect your little peccadillo? You betcha!

Norm

[michael]

Norm, how about just answering the question which I belive was: Are Reeves products worth the higher price? The biggest price difference seems to be in the castings so perhaps those from Reeves are of superior quality and have been x-ray'ed?

Michael

[ravensworth2674]

Castings are only worth what you people put into them.
They are only chunks of metal which are in the box neither use nor ornament.
Market forces will apply and one or both will go to the wall.

People are already making 'market choices' in this very forum.

I simply don't see the question because it could be electricity or gas or cabbages. It's the same theory

[gilesengineer]

Unhelpful and ill-informed.

Agreed Michael, castings DO differ in quality, and some foundries consistantly make a better job than others. Similarly, small castings are going to be more expensive (pound weight for pound weight...) than large ones. I know in the business I work in, that I don't necessarily buy from the cheapest, but from the company that over-all give me the best value for money!
As I'm sure Ravensworth does really know, quality of castings can be marred by blow-holes, hardspots, machining allowance etc. etc.

I'm not a customer of Reeves, but I do find Geoff very pleasant and very helpful nontheless

[ron]

Hi Simplyloco
It's my TR6 in front of a 2-6-4 tank they were firing up at the Haverthwaite railway, the wife took the photo when we were there on holiday in May.

Norm, I'm not really sure what you're on about, but if someone is charging considerably more for virtually the same article either they're rip off merchants, grossly inefficient or the other company is running at a loss, take your pick, I know which one I think applies!
Ron
PS I'd rather not see an expensive supplier or none at all, I'd rather find another hobby.

[ravensworth2674]

Ron,
the Sale of Goods Act1893 covers the difference between a bad casting and an acceptable one. X-Rays merely avoid additional problems to the vendor who then takes it up with the foundry.

As I know some suppliers and for more than 25 years, discretion is the better part of valour.

The Latin is Caveat Emptor and I also think that John Ruskin summed it up about price.

As I am not involved, I suggest that you all read it all up.

You must make your own decisions. Model Engineering is 'small coal' in this day and age.

Luke2.23 refers

[spamcanman]

I not picking sides as they all need to make a profit but GLR are the most expensive for Steam gauges and Maidstone Engineering the cheapest yet ALL gauges are from the one same British supplier.
Maybe you will find Reeves have nearly everything in stock (which is money sitting on shelfs) and GLR have little, also I know that GLR has a large stock pile of materials from a supplier that went bust some years ago maybe that's why they can keep costs down (who knows).

I just compare prices with all the shops before buying

[dscott]

Dear Norm,

If you ever come back and look on this wonderful site again, I can get you any ammount of the proverbial, and in our part of China, there is plenty of rice, 6 varieties in the supermarket this morning.

Doing 3 of Reeves designs, but bought the castings 20 years ago.
Love everyone.

David. in China.

[ravensworth2674]

Thanks, David!

information came from the Chinese community in Newcastle of which I am an honoured guest.
I was in HK in November and the Red Cross collection for the flood victims was a series of support from Chinese and friends.
I would 'lose face' to mention names.

HK was a place of great industry and great courtesy. I would get lambasted again but I was at a Masonic installation in University Lodge

Best wishes to you and your project

Norm -Oriental RA Chapter no9371.

[3405jimmy]

Just picked up on this post and have read it from the start. I admit I got a bit bored with the rice stuff but I am not clear how it got into the post or what relevance it has. Do Reeves sell expensive rice?

[drumkilbo]

Coincidently, I was doing a price comparison for Reeves castings 2 days ago. In 1981 I bought a set of Rob Roy castings from Reeves for £57, at that time I was earning about £100 a week as a landscape gardener, the same set now costs about £680 and so my equivalent weekly wage should be about £1200. As it is less than a third of that [if the weather is good] then where did I go wrong

Ian

[Steve M. W]

you are using real plants instead of cast ones ;D