Price Increase Coming?

[CanadianSpaTech]

What's the general thought here. Fuel cost going through the roof I can see increased prices due to rising manufacturing and shipping (fuel) cost and the uncertainty that is the world today. How bad do you think it will be this time... 5% 10% 30% ????

Are retailers going to keep 2021 prices for remaining stock?

Increasing price now on whatever they have at this time?

Do you think retailers will hold back on ordering for a bit to see where things end up? 

Thoughts  

@ratchett @cranbiz @castletonia

@RDspaguy

@waterbear @Ahhsomeguy

[castletonia]

Fuel surcharges are pretty much expected at this point.  I increased prices in my store back in January and review them monthly at this point.  Kind of numb to it at this point.  Don't know what the ceiling is and don't want to think about it.

[CanadianSpaTech]

Hot tubs are a funny deal. I find when time get tough folks will buy and instead of travelling they will spend their money at home. Not so sure this time. I have not increased my service fee since I started years ago. Almost an extra $60 to fill the tank yesterday and that is going up daily with no end in sight so sadly I am going to have to increase my rate starting today by $30 CDN and see how it works out. Going to be a make or break year for a lot of businesses. Think my Harley is going to get a lot of miles on it this summer... so not all bad just gotta figure out how to strap a pump on it...lol

[cranbiz]

Shipping surcharges are going to happen. Fuel prices have gotten stupid and are not going to get any better any time soon.

I suspect most retailers are going to be stocking less major items in any quantity and only committing to high dollar inventory on an as needed basis.

@CanadianSpaTech When I had a small computer repair business (many. many years ago) I had to also increase rates after a while due to cost of living, parts, etc. I didn't have many complaints when I did it but I also may have been too low to start with.  Your customer will pay it, mine did. On site service has always been a premium service and people expect it to be. The ones that don't are usually not the customers that you want.

Ratchet straps, bungie cords and a small platform are your friends on a bike. At one point I was using my Harley daily and that's how I moved my tool kit and desktop computers. My Harley has a small rear seat with a back bar. My platform sat there and was secured to the bar. Worked well once I got it all sorted out. Go for it!

[RDspaguy]

Costs go up, so do prices. And they are already over-inflating existing stocks. It's only going to get worse.

I knew a guy who ran a pool route on a bicycle with a trailer. I'm sure you can figure something out if it comes to that. 

"Rebuilt" is the new "new". I am having trouble getting tubs to rebuild. With meat prices soaring along with everything else, I have some concerns about my future as a bbq vendor. All my careers are looking bleak. I'm thinking about getting into real estate. Land is selling like crazy where I'm at and prices are going up daily. And there is only one certified drone pilot in my area, and he's very hard to get hold of and makes more than me and Canadaguy put together for flying a camera around properties for sale. I think it's time to put spas out of the picture for a bit, and figure bbq to be a hobby until things level off. $2500 gets me a badass drone, pilots certification, and real estate class and exam. Might as well jump in on the mass exodus from the cities currently happening and make a few $. I'm going to need it, I have a feeling. 

[CanadianSpaTech]

44 minutes ago, RDspaguy said:

I am having trouble getting tubs to rebuild

I am lucky to have a fairly steady supply of used spas to rebuild...just hard to do without heated indoor space...in Winter...in Canada...lol. Think I have 6 or 7 that are decent enough just have to wait it out a couple more weeks. 

Have a friend that races drones in a league and the things he can do with it are amazing.. Have another friend that bought one and first time out it went up up and away never to be seen again 🤣. 

 

[RDspaguy]

Spend enough on a drone and it won't be an issue. The good professional drones practically fly themselves, and can in fact do just that by gps, and return where it came from by itself if it loses signal. They even have auto obstacle avoidance so you can't fly into anything. Until something breaks, of course, but we know all about that. 

[ratchett]

Most of my raw material suppliers increased their prices over the past year - so far I haven't been seeing any increase in raw material prices this year, however transportation/shipping costs are continuing to climb like crazy - even a small parcel shipping around the world via USPS FirstClass postage which used to cost $14 a few years ago is now $29 USD for a 3 ounce box.

On the retail side of things -  I'm certainly seeing a slow down as gas prices surged.  I think everyone is taking a step back and watching/waiting to see what happens next. 

Sadly as usual, the price will raise, but never come back down.   I know many small businesses have been trying to avoid raising prices and eating some of the additional costs these days to keep business coming in, but it sure is getting rough lol.

 

On 3/10/2022 at 10:08 AM, RDspaguy said:

Spend enough on a drone and it won't be an issue. The good professional drones practically fly themselves, and can in fact do just that by gps, and return where it came from by itself if it loses signal. They even have auto obstacle avoidance so you can't fly into anything. Until something breaks, of course, but we know all about that. 

Depends on the type of drone you want to get.  For racing drones you want to build them from scratch so you can rebuild after a nasty crash and keep flying.   They come in many sizes (my favorite are the 2.5 inch and smaller FPV racing drones which can fit into the palm of your hand and turn a small park into a 3-dimensional obstacle course) I love the thrill of wearing that fpv headset and sitting in the cockpit of a drone zipping around at speeds over 60mph with extreme agility in ACRO mode

If you want a camera drone, you can pick up a nice used DJI for under $600 which flies like it's on rails - up/down, pan/tilt, fully stabilized gyro for the camera (to keep camera focused in rough wind), 4 mile range, return to home on low battery with obstacle avoidance systems to prevent crashing into anything.     Even more fun is grabbing an DJI FPV headset with the active head-tracking system engaged so you can throw a drone up in the air and park it for 20 minutes while you get the best view around.

I loved my racing drones but it's impossible to stay still long enough to get a good "look" around at 300 feet up with all the wind jostling you around, so I picked up a cheap DJI drone for fun.  They are a completely different beast, but so easy to fly - less than 10 minutes and even a child can be safely flying it around the back yard (although I wouldn't risk it! lol)

[RDspaguy]

Yeah, DJI is a top manufacturer from the reviews I've seen. The Mavic 2 is on my list of potentials. With the extended flight kit (3 batteries), high res camera, and all the bells and whistles it comes in around $1700 new. But it's not waterproof, and a little drizzle can bring it down. The Evo 2 pro is waterproof, but otherwise inferior and more expensive.

And yes, they are fun. But I'm in it for the money, and have no interest in racing. I've watched those drone races on tv, that's some crazy sh*t right there. But slow, smooth, and easy are what I need for real estate photos and video. 

Those industrial inspection drones are really something. They cost as much as a car, but they are impressive.