I think there might be price gouging going on.

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  • twistsol
    Veteran Member
    • Dec 2002
    • 2893
    • Cottage Grove, MN, USA.
    • Ridgid R4512, 2x ShopSmith Mark V 520, 1951 Shopsmith 10ER

    I think there might be price gouging going on.

    In March I ordered 3 sets of Blum drawer slides and 3 left and 3 right sided locking devices. I opened them up this morning and have 6 lefts and 0 rights. At $0.97 it would cost more to return them than to just order new ones but they seem to be out of stock everywhere.

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    The site below had the pairs for 1.60 in March, but the slides and shipping would have made it more expensive. I've noticed in the past that they raise prices as items get scarce, but I wonder if they ever sold any at the price shown.

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    In the meantime, I'll be able to get 11 of the 14 drawers installed with the leftovers I had from the kitchen build a few years ago.
    Chr's
    __________
    An ethical man knows the right thing to do.
    A moral man does it.
  • leehljp
    Just me
    • Dec 2002
    • 8429
    • Tunica, MS
    • BT3000/3100

    #2
    The $0.97 ones -Turn them over and put them in upside down and backwards! Should work!
    Hank Lee

    Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!

    Comment

    • Black walnut
      Administrator
      • Aug 2015
      • 5438
      • BT3K

      #3
      Outrageous!
      just another brick in the wall...

      Boycott McAfee. They placed an unresponsive popup on my pc.

      Comment

      • Jim Frye
        Veteran Member
        • Dec 2002
        • 1051
        • Maumee, OH, USA.
        • Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100

        #4
        My experience is that the pandemic has totally screwed the supply chain. Anything produced outside the U.S. is either priced higher or unavailable. Even domestic produced stuff is iffy. My son works in product development for a tier one automotive supplier and getting parts is a major challenge. My neighbor ordered a F-N-R switch for his Ryobi electric riding mower and it took a month to get it. I went to order a part from the local Ryobi service center and they had seven leaf blowers in the shop waiting for parts. I bought some full extension drawer slides from Home Depot last year and they have been out of stock several times and come back at higher prices and different suppliers. Fortunately, I bought enough for what I needed for future projects. I have a new hobby with the Ryobi electric riding mower I bought three years ago and the price for it has gone up three times since I bought it. Once because of tariffs and twice since the pandemic started. It goes out of stock regularly. Ego brought out an electric zero turn mower in February this year and it has been in limited availability three times, but mostly out f stock. Even the batteries for it have been almost impossible to get. Cub Cadet brought an electric zero turn this year and the price has gone up on it already. In some cases, folks are gouging. In others, demand is driving prices up.
        Speaking of screwed up; the software company maintaining HD's website has been screwing up the Q&A portion for several weeks now. Appears to be some outside U.S. based company.
        Last edited by Jim Frye; 08-10-2021, 08:03 PM.
        Jim Frye
        The Nut in the Cellar.
        ”Sawdust Is Man Glitter”

        Comment

        • LCHIEN
          Internet Fact Checker
          • Dec 2002
          • 20914
          • Katy, TX, USA.
          • BT3000 vintage 1999

          #5
          My upstairs central Airconditioning is out. Diagnosed with a leaking evaporator coil in the air handler.
          Good thing we are empty nesters and don't need to be upstairs. Because I've been waiting 6 weeks and the repair guys says he checks every other day and they don't have any in stock to repair my unit.
          Loring in Katy, TX USA
          If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
          BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

          Comment

          • cwsmith
            Veteran Member
            • Dec 2005
            • 2737
            • NY Southern Tier, USA.
            • BT3100-1

            #6
            Such is a world where we have "off-shored" almost everything, and then pick fights with those we have given our manufacturing away to.

            Here it is a growing challenge to find canned fruit, and a host of other foods. I read a couple days ago that it isn't just a harvesting problem, but also because many large canneries simple don't have the steel to make the cans, because that now comes from China. Similarly I've noted that the car and truck shortages are also being blamed on electronic components needed from China.

            This morning on NPR they were talking about the shortage of 'containers', those large shipping containers that most of our imported products are shipped in. There's a shortage of those too!

            I"ve noticed lots of empty shelves in our two local Walmarts, and the two other grocery chains in our area are showing shortages too, except they simply expand other products into the shelving areas, rather than show 'empty' shelves. All three of our local Aldi stores are also showing shortages. They haven't had Talapia (fish) in over a month. Frozen fruit is down to just pineapple and bananas and some products have just been "discontinued".

            My wife can no longer buy her favorite shampoo as it isn't available locally and now even Amazon is out of stock. To often you can't get your favorite toothpaste, aspiren, or even razor blades. Are they all going to larger metropolitan areas or are we now down to just being on the far end of the supply chain as a third-world country?

            CWS
            Last edited by cwsmith; 08-11-2021, 11:08 AM.
            Think it Through Before You Do!

            Comment


            • woodturner
              woodturner commented
              Editing a comment
              Interesting, no shortages of anything here, but we are in a mid-size urban area. Interesting comments about Aldi's, shelves are fully stocked and the items you mentioned are readily available. It does sound like it could be something unique to your area.

            • cwsmith
              cwsmith commented
              Editing a comment
              Wooddturner,

              Thanks, I'll have to make some calls and see if I can find out what's going on here. The Binghamton area used to be really a fantastic place to live. But in the last twenty years it has really gone down hill. We lost IBM, GE, Singer-Link, and dozens of other industrial companies as well as grocery stores, theaters, and more sub-contractors and printers than I can count. I've asked the local Aldi's managers what gives and they simply say it's a supply problem. Maybe it really a distribution problem!

              Thanks.
          • atgcpaul
            Veteran Member
            • Aug 2003
            • 4055
            • Maryland
            • Grizzly 1023SLX

            #7
            We were in the US for 3 weeks on R&R (drove from Dallas to San Diego). I was amazed at how many loaded freight trains we saw especially through Flagstaff where a train seemed to go through every 10min. Most we're heading East.

            I skipped out on visiting Home Depot or Rockler, but the stores we did visit--grocery stores and department stores--seemed well stocked. We aren't experiencing any shortages down here in Central America either.

            Where I am seeing severe shortages is in the life sciences sector especially with anything requiring polypropylene. PP is used in all the plastic plates, pipette tips, and sample tubes we use to perform experiments. As far as I'm aware, we only use virgin PP, and all the suppliers are still experiencing raw material shortages, huge demands, and manufacturing delays. Luckily I'm a hoarder, but consumables that were normally delivered in a month can't even be promised 6 months out. Some scientists in our lab our trying out cleaning technologies that use plasma to clean used consumables for re-use.

            Comment

            • greencat
              Established Member
              • Dec 2005
              • 261
              • Grand Haven Mi
              • 3100

              #8
              I don't think manufacturing offshore is the only issue. I think all of major supply chains have been tightened so when there is a hick up it takes a long time to recover
              Thanks again,
              Mike

              Comment

              • aaronramsdale
                Handtools only
                • Jul 2022
                • 1

                #9
                I am surprised about this post. It has a nice presentation, and clear layout and the information is meaningful to me. wordle unlimited fall guys

                Comment

                • lauryfriese
                  Handtools only
                  • Aug 2023
                  • 1
                  • https://candy-crush.io

                  #10
                  I read a couple days ago that it isn't just a harvesting problem, but also because many large canneries simple don't have the steel to make the cans, because that now comes from China. Similarly I've noted that the car and truck shortages are also being blamed on electronic components needed from China. me. candy-crush.io
                  Last edited by lauryfriese; 02-28-2024, 04:22 AM.

                  Comment

                  • jabe
                    Senior Member
                    • Apr 2006
                    • 566
                    • Hilo, Hawaii
                    • Ryobi BT3000 & Delta Milwaukee 10" tilting Table circular saw

                    #11
                    Few years ago, I ordered all my Blum hardware from ebay. That was during the pandemic so there was a lot on hand. Post pandemic is a different story with supply chain issues. I would try ebay and order the side you need, pay with paypal as they resolve issues quickly.

                    Comment

                    • marvisunderwood
                      Handtools only
                      • Aug 2023
                      • 1

                      #12
                      That must be disappointing. I will be disappointed if I face this situation when I buy Blum drawer slides, especially when they are out of stock.

                      Comment

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