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Finding LGB Locomotive Spare Parts


LGB333
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Here I'm sharing with you my sources for finding new or used LGB parts, particularly locomotive parts. First, you can check eBay.com searching for "LGB Parts". There's an eBay seller that disassembles mostly new LGB locomotives and then sells the parts. His prices are pretty high and you can sometimes find the same item other places much cheaper, but sometimes his item may be the only current source, so if you really need it, you pay the piper.

Another excellent source is eBay.de in Germany. Germany now has the largest segment of the LGB large scale hobbyists in the world. In fact, Ron Gibson, the former LGB Manager in the USA, told me a few months ago that the USA comprises only about 15% of Marklin/LGB business base for LGB products, Europe the rest. So, eBay.de has lots of new and used LGB locomotives and parts for sale. Search "LGB ersatzteile" for LGB parts, currently over 1,700 postings there. For locomotives, you'd search " LGB lokomotiven". You can do a Google search to find a German to English translator to read the postings, just copy and paste into the translator. And do the converse if you need to contact the seller: When I do it, I send the seller an eBay message in both English and German.

For you naysayers about high shipping costs from Germany to the USA, if you're buying small LGB parts, the seller can use their equivalent to USPS First Class Package rates which are very cheap. For example, several months ago I bought four parts from a seller on eBay.de, which included an LGB loco smoke box, an LGB loco cab, etc. The euros shipping costs were only $13 equivalent. Now shipping a 15 lbs locomotive to the USA is fairly expensive, just like shipping one from the USA to Germany. I had to ship a locomotive I bought from a Germany LGB shop for warranty repair this year, and using USPS Priority Mail International cost me $75, which they reimbursed back to me, and they also paid for the return shipment to me. So, you have to do a cost-benefit analysis of the total cost of buying a larger item like a locomotive from Germany, to include the shipping costs. Also keep in mind, if you buy an LGB locomotive from a Germany LGB dealer, ask for the export price, which is their shop's price minus the Germany 19% VAT tax. For example, last month I bought an LGB 20274 Heidi Steam locomotive from a Germany shop, their selling price was 808 euros and my export price was 680 euros ($775) and their flat rate shipping was 27.50 euros ($31). So, this was $100 - $200 cheaper than any USA dealer I checked. Just don't exceed the German and USA export/import limits to avoid the tariffs, generally about $2000 goods value per shipment box.

Some USA LGB online shops are also carrying spare parts for LGB: Trainli.com; OnlyTrains.com, are two I've used with success. And they can order parts for you from LGB Germany that they don't stock, if LGB/Marklin still has them available.

Good luck on your parts search quests!

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