Dual mode decoder?

The cost of the PCB for the LED lights is not expensive at all. When we sell is as a replacement part the vast majority of the price we charge is to recoup cost for design, administration, shipping and distribution - not the actual hard product itself.

Exactly: we are still paying off the original design cost. And as for packaging, it doesn't have to be specific or special to still cost something.

My point is that even a product that cost one cent to be made cannot be sold for two cents and make a profit, or even cover the cost. There is overhead, distribution, fixed costs, all sorts of things that will drive you bankrupt if you don't account and charge for them.

So when somebody says that a product "cost 25 cents to make and they charged me five dollars!" It may sound outrageous, and common sense would make it sound like a rip off, but if you have ever been in business, then you know it is not. It just reflects the actual full costs.

You must be buying decoders from that Z dealer that charges $25 shipping for everything.  

Hey, I'll be happy if you just make locomotive frames that don't crumble when you try to *install* a decoder.   Let's get past the 1970's first before we start talking decoder-equipped. 

Seriously though, I'm on the fence about the issue.  $40 of course is a ludicrous number if that's street price...if it adds $40 to MSRP then you're looking at $30 street and I'm probably closer to being ok with it if the decoders were decent.   When I was in N, I would always buy decoder-equipped Atlas locos....the delta at street price was only about $20 and it was worth it to me to be able to run it out of the box even though I knew there was a good chance I would replace it with a better decoder later on.

IMHO, any "modern" (post-2000-ish) decoder I've ever ran on a (non-pulse) DC layout has run just as good as it does without a decoder. (to the point that twice I had to pull a shell and prove to the layout owner that it had a decoder in it) This includes the standard Atlas N Lenz decoders (now they use NCE I think) and the ones Bachmann used in their N GE 44Ton switchers. (not sure who made those)

Now, those were NOT on pulse throttles, which seemed to have fallen out of favor in my area of the planet for whatever reason. Just your standard MRC DC throttles. Dual mode decoders DO NOT LIKE pulse DC. My old club layout had a pulse system and I could not run my decoder equipped locos there.

I suppose if you exclude "Zinc Pest" then yeah installing a decoder is a piece of cake. :-) But that's sort of like saying Juarez is a fine place to vacation except for all the murderous drug cartels. And even at that, there's the need to build up the contact pads with solder...it's not super easy for sure. And if you've ever had one of them Zinc-plode in your hands it does make for a more stressful install going forward the next time...sort of a cross between cranking a Jack-in-the-box and playing the game "Operation". You never know when that door is gonna fly open, or that big nose lights up and it's game over.