Topo Maps

Boyd

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Another place to get topo maps is the Franklin Map store on Rt 73 in Marlton. They are in the shopping center at Greentree Road, behind TGI Fridays. They have a very complete collection of all the NJ quads, plus lots of other interesting stuff. I'm sure there are other places as well, but I always enjoy browsing there.
 

Ben Ruset

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Boyd said:
Another place to get topo maps is the Franklin Map store on Rt 73 in Marlton. They are in the shopping center at Greentree Road, behind TGI Fridays. They have a very complete collection of all the NJ quads, plus lots of other interesting stuff. I'm sure there are other places as well, but I always enjoy browsing there.

I didn't even know about them. I'll have to pop in over there one day.
 

Teegate

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bruset said:
I didn't even know about them. I'll have to pop in over there one day.

I found them to be slightly high priced, but I did buy a map there once.

They also sell the quads at the Batsto Visitors Center.

Since I am doing the Jenkins Quad now, I have been looking it over and noticed a few things that should be fixed. Route 679 and 563 are not numbered on the Quad. Also, Bulltown Road is not shown as fully paved.

Guy
 

Ben Ruset

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Well, in a retail store, there is always markup on things. Given what they cost, the Rangers make very little money on them.

I was going to become a USGS Partner and sell them on my website but there was no interest. I had all of the Pine Barrens Quads and I tried to sell them for $300 with no bites. That's a LOT of maps.
 

bobpbx

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And,

You can also get them at the Lebanon State Forest office. I got em for a dollar in the early 80's. They were $4 three years ago.....
 

Boyd

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Yeah, the Franklin Maps store is probably the wrong place to look for bargains. But it's still a cool place that's worth a visit if you've never been there. The topo maps as just one little area. They have a lot of "regional interest" type books on NJ and the rest of the US. They also have other types of maps for the whole US and most of the world. Plus globes and other toys...
 
bruset said:
Well, in a retail store, there is always markup on things. Given what they cost, the Rangers make very little money on them.

Yeah but a 150% markup is out of line and that is assuming that $4.00 is the wholesale cost. I'm guessing that the cost is probably $3.00 and the rangers are marking up 33% which is reasonable. If the wholesale cost is $3.00 then Franklin is marking up 233% YIKES!!!

Steve
 

Boyd

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Hmm, I just looked at the USGS online store (https://store.usgs.gov) and the topo maps are $6.00 plus shipping when bought directly from them. Granted they are probably less when ordered wholesale in quantity, but a store needs to make the investement to keep a reasonable inventory on hand, and of course they have to pay the rent, utilities and staff. Like Ben says, I'll bet they don't sell all that many either so I doubt that this is much of a profit center for the store.

But of course, if you want the best price then buy from the ranger station. Sounds like they just offer the maps as a public service and don't make anything on them. Maybe some of you buy a lot of maps? For myself, I doubt that I've purchased more than 6 during the past 10 years, so cost isn't gonna be much of a factor. A few years ago I was at Batsto and they were selling off a whole pile of extra maps really cheap, I think they were only $1 or $2, so I got a couple. I wouldn't be surprised if this is what happens to a bunch of their inventory - they end up selling at under cost just to clear it out.
 
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