CHAT Other Shortages (non-food) Thread.

[summerthyme]

Major container shortages everywhere! I just got my pallet of 8 ounce bottles- backordered 7 weeks. A friend of my DDILs makes barbecue sauce and sells it. He has had to shut down... can't get the plastic bottles anywhere!

I've mentioned previously, but plastic caps for bottles are either unavailable, or have quadrupled in price... from around $11 for 144 to over $42 for 144!

I did a quick shopping run today. The empty spots on the shelves were shocking! No eggplant anywhere. No large packages of sliced pepperoni. No Miracid (the Miracle Gro for acid loving plants). No citronella oil! Good grief... the county where we live is Mosquito central, thanks to the proximity of several lakes and tons of muck ground. How do you not have citronella oil in May! The large bags of peppermint lifesavers have gone up $2 since Christmas ($10 rather than $7.98), and they didn't have any wintergreen. Also, no yogurt tubes at Aldis for over a month now. No, they aren't critical... but when you've got 2 and 3 year old girls who are always hungry, they're handy!

Thankful for our preps, even if they made moving an even bigger PITA than it would have been otherwise!

Summerthyme

 

[Weps]

I'm sure it's been mentioned elsewhere in the thread, but couldn't find it. I overheard a convo at the grocery store checkout yesterday...tire shortage is coming, guy was Ford rep.

Yesterday I was in Walmart getting some odds and ends, mostly car stuff and was looking at fishing supplies which is the next isle over from the sporting goods register and hear one guy asking a 300 magnum ammo and that got me thinking so I was done looking and went around and started up a conversation with the two Walmart workers there and found out they only have 12Ga and 28Ga ammo in limited supply and it's been like that for months, one of them was telling me he has been waiting for 30-06 and has not seen any center fire rifle ammo show up for more than 6 months.

Been an ammo shortage on for a bit, but WalMart isn't going to have much of anything, they've drastically downsized their firearms and ammo offering as well as what they order per store, their eventual goal is to cease selling guns and ammo entirely.

When I worked for them back in 2012, when they still carried ARs and other semi-auto center-fire rifles we didn't get an abundance of ammo then, heck, we didn't carry a major amount of guns either, maybe 200 in total in-store.

Ammo is out there and at a decent price, but you have to put foot to pavement and be around when it's around.

 

[Milkweed Host]

When shopping at Walmart, check out the Clearance aisle as they can have
some incredible off season buys.

 

[marsh]

The wild ride of pandemic consumer prices

Shutdowns, shortages, and a reconfiguration of the global economy has led to significant price disruption.

www.axios.com

May 9, 2021 - Economy & Business
The wild ride of pandemic consumer prices


Felix Salmon, author of Capital

Data: U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics; Chart: Michelle McGhee/Axios
Consumer prices have been more volatile over the past year than at any point in decades — for good reason.

Why it matters: Congress has tasked the Federal Reserve with ensuring price stability when it comes to consumer prices overall. But the price of a broad basket of goods and services can be pretty steady even if the various components inside that basket are gyrating wildly.

The big picture: It's impossible to have shutdowns, shortages, and a massive reconfiguration of the global economy without significant price disruption, which is exactly what we've seen over the past year.

The intrigue: Because of the complexity of the economy, some of the disruptions can be counterintuitive or unexpected.

• While the price of pork chops has risen by 11% since January, the price of ham has been flat. And while bananas have fallen in price by 1.3%, fresh fruit excluding bananas, apples and citrus has risen by over 11%.
• The price of car and truck rentals has had a particularly striking trajectory, falling by 23% between January and May of 2020, and then rising by 61% between May 2020 and March 2021 — for an overall rise of 24%.

The bottom line: There's no indication that price volatility is over. Many of the biggest price moves have taken place in the most recent months.

 

[Repairman-Jack]

I changed the oil/oil filter in my truck about 2 weeks ago and needed to replenish my on hand inventory, local walmart has a nice selection of oil and filters.

Plenty of oil products for about the usual price, my choice of oil is about $22 and some change for 5 quarts, and usually run either a mobil-1 or WIX filters. Wally world carries both K&N and Mobil. my filter size M1-110a was completely gone the filter next to it, don't recall the size. Figured I'll grab the K&N...same two sizes completely gone, I've been shopping filters in this store for 5 years, never seen them even low on inventory

The car filter story dovetails into...someone in one of the kubota groups I'm a member had a posting this morning about how he went to his deal to get filters to do an oil change an the dealer was also out of filters...not eta on delivery.

 

[nomifyle]

As I've said several times in the prep thread I've had a lot of trouble getting heavy duty storage shelves. If the gas shortage doesn't stop progress I may have one by Friday, May 14. And its not just at walmart, other stores have a shortage on them. I need heavy duty to hold cases of canned food. They have doubled in price since last fall. other people are probably buying them for the same reason I am.

God is good all the time

Judy

 

[mecoastie]

As I've said several times in the prep thread I've had a lot of trouble getting heavy duty storage shelves. If the gas shortage doesn't stop progress I may have one by Friday, May 14. And its not just at walmart, other stores have a shortage on them. I need heavy duty to hold cases of canned food. They have doubled in price since last fall. other people are probably buying them for the same reason I am.

God is good all the time

Judy

Build them.

 

[nomifyle]

Build them.

yes and the will happen if the two I have on order do not show up. DH built some shelves that are in a corner against a wall this is next to the clothes dryer. The shelf surface is fairly small but the go to the ceiling and really hold quite a lot. However, the floor in the large pantry room (that DH added on several years ago) is made of particle board. He was going to cover it with something more substantial but never got around to it. We'd at least have to put some peel and stick tile under where the legs would go, but we have some extra and that is doable. But I fear having them free standing down the middle of the room they might not be so stable. My idea of shelves and DH's idea of shelves are not the same and since he'd be the one building them I'd have to go with his idea. In the long run his shelves would be better than nothing, which is what I have now.

Robot or human?

www.walmart.com

These the shelves I have on order, I also have two others, one in the pantry room and one in the she shed. The two day shipping that's advertized is now a joke, it's more like two weeks or not at all.

God is good all the time

Judy

 

[Millwright]

Look at the 4' x 72" wire shelves at wallyworld.

With the price of lumber, they are about the same or cheeper.

 

[mecoastie]

yes and the will happen if the two I have on order do not show up. DH built some shelves that are in a corner against a wall this is next to the clothes dryer. The shelf surface is fairly small but the go to the ceiling and really hold quite a lot. However, the floor in the large pantry room (that DH added on several years ago) is made of particle board. He was going to cover it with something more substantial but never got around to it. We'd at least have to put some peel and stick tile under where the legs would go, but we have some extra and that is doable. But I fear having them free standing down the middle of the room they might not be so stable. My idea of shelves and DH's idea of shelves are not the same and since he'd be the one building them I'd have to go with his idea. In the long run his shelves would be better than nothing, which is what I have now.

Robot or human?

www.walmart.com

These the shelves I have on order, I also have two others, one in the pantry room and one in the she shed. The two day shipping that's advertized is now a joke, it's more like two weeks or not at all.

God is good all the time

Judy

Get some regular lumber or plywood down on that floor before oyu put anything heavy on it. If it gets wet it is done. Particle board is terrible stuff. Hate to lose a ton of preps because the floor fails.

 

[nomifyle]

Get some regular lumber or plywood down on that floor before oyu put anything heavy on it. If it gets wet it is done. Particle board is terrible stuff. Hate to lose a ton of preps because the floor fails.

Exactly, he bought this because it was an odd size and was on sale for $12 a sheet, this was several years ago. I could probably get him to over lay some lumber under the shelves, since he cuts the lumber himself. However, I doubt he'd spend the money on plywood, the prices are unbelievable.

God is good all the time

Judy

 

[nomifyle]

Look at the 4' x 72" wire shelves at wallyworld.

With the price of lumber, they are about the same or cheeper.

I do have those, but for this particular situation I wanted the rubber ones. I have a bunch of the wire shelves in several other places, including my pantry room.

Judy

 

[Dennis Olson]

Went to Wally’s the other day looking for bits & pieces to install my new security cam. Also need a couple of pillows. Was going past the bedding section. No pillows, no blankets, no sheets. Just empty shelves.

 

[rob0126]

Went to Wally’s the other day looking for bits & pieces to install my new security cam. Also need a couple of pillows. Was going past the bedding section. No pillows, no blankets, no sheets. Just empty shelves.

I dont know if you have an Ollies over in Texas, but locally, they have a good deal on bedsheet sets.
Maybe they have a pillow or two.

 

[Texican]

Was at a real lumber yard on Friday, 5/4/21, to buy cement board lap siding 280 pieces to reside our home. Got a good price from the lumber yard. The owner said that he was holding prices for two weeks and adjusting every second Sunday which was Sunday, 5/16/21.

Construction materials are up across the board. If you need to ake repairs or will be building anything, buy why you can afford too.

Texican....

 

[Repairman-Jack]

I use the Husky brand contractor bags for big garbage can that goes to the "curb", needed another box and with my shed reside project I realized I had miscounted, I needed six but had bought five a few weeks ago. In my AO T1-11 is now $53.08 for the 4x8 sheet of 5/8's. A 2x4x10 is now $12.27.

 

[Digger]

We went to Ace Hardware yesterday. A month earlier there was a sign taped to the canning section shelves that said canning lids and lids with rings would be in on May 8th. Yesterday there was an updated sign dated May 6th. Wide and regular mouth lids and regular mouth lids with rings will arrive June 8th. Wide mouth lids and rings will not arrive till August 30th. Lids periodically appear in Walmart and I bought some at Dollar General too. But it looks to be an ongoing problem for this canning year.

 

[psychgirl]

A few posts back there was talk about socks and underwear items.
On local Indianapolis radio a commercial has been playing asking for help with those items for the shelters and those places (I think that’s it )

Like a drive or fund raiser, only for undergarment donations as well as needing shoes. Either they’re just running low in general or it’s the overall shortage we have been discussing. It’s playing several times daily now.

 

[blackguard]

Just returned home from a trip to the local Ace Hardware and the grocery store next to it. As I mentioned in another post a good friend of mine is the assistant manager at that Ace. He was working today and it was slow so had a chance to do some walking around the store with him. While doing so it became readily apparent that the store had a number of empty pegs and shelf spots. In numerous places there was only one of an item per peg or on a shelf spot. I mentioned this to him and he told me that they just had a supply truck in yesterday (wednesday and saturday) and so I asked him about the overall store levels. He was going to check on a number of items and get back to me.

Finished up at Ace then went next door to the regular grocery store in town (the other being WalMart). Hadn't been in there in awhile. At first it appeared to be well stocked but going down several of the aisles it was easy to see that many products were only one box or can deep on the shelf. A decent amount of open spots scattered throughout the grocery section. One thing that was also noticed was that many of the items that were out or in low quantity were those that could be used for WIC.

For sake of reference we're in a small (10K pop) town little over an hour west of Oklahoma City.

 

[223shootersc]

Thanks for the information, even if it states the sad state we find ourselves due to our unpatriotic demoncrap government!

 

[20Gauge]

I am afraid we are seeing the same thing everywhere.

We are told all is fine and there are containers waiting to be unloaded and once done, we are back to normal. That is BS

Pure and 110% BS

We have had a system shock world wide it appears. With JIT systems crashing everywhere and too many dollars / yen / etc floating around, we are going to have these problems for years.

If you can find it, buy it and don't wait. This is another sign of inflation. An inability to wait to buy something as it may not be there later.

 

[Blacknarwhal]

Have just returned from Meijer. The staff is masked, yet the signs demanding masks have departed the front door. Masks are present for about half of patrons. Probably still quite a bit of confusion yet. No one at the door demanding proof or anything.

 

[twobarkingdogs]

Went to walmart today in n.ga. Qt sized regular canning jars were in stock, about 15 cases, but still no lids. Everything else including gas at the murphy gas station looked normal

tbd

 

[Shooter]

went to walmart 192 and center st omaha, will not be going back, store has been changed all around, its now smaller inside, ??? isles are closer together, out of stock on a lot of things, and its almost all self check out, only 6 registers left, they cut the deli in half, and only one person there, no more potato salad or stuff like that , only fried chicken is in prepared boxes, deli meat is already sliced and in plastic bags,

 

[tencup]

Doing most grocery (except milk and meat)....Walmart.com.....It’s been an excellent service....Once I ordered Walmart bread and it was out of stock....They upgraded to Wonder Bread....no extra charge.....forgotten how tasty that bread is

 

[SSTemplar]

Thanks for the information, even if it states the sad state we find ourselves due to our unpatriotic demoncrap government!

Let’s call it what it is. Unconstitutional government.

 

[Tarryn]

We decided to replace our bed after a mishap that broke the bedframe and box springs. Our old one was really old anyway, and I wanted to take care of it before there was nothing to be had. We had to order two levels up from what we wanted to get something in stock.

When it was delivered today, there was a mishap with the inventory ticket. The store took care of it quickly, but when they came back out today the delivery guy mentioned that they were hit with ransomware.
I wonder how many other companies have been attacked.

 

[Dafodil]

Steel. I have clients who a struggling big time getting steel from the steel mills. Mostly coiled stock.

My brother in law was talking about the price of steel just a few days ago!

 

[Bones]

I'm still well connected in the lead acid battery industry. In talking with a wholesale manager yesterday, that industry is in the same shape as everyone else.

This is the busy season for many sectors of lead acid batteries. Spring brings back to life, many engines which were stores over winter and need new batteries. Like farm machinery, lawn tractors, motorcycles, boats, RVs,

His advice is if you even think you might need a new battery for something, get it now and don't delay. That company's 6 volt, deep cycle golf car battery ordered is now back ordered with estimate to arrive in February of next year. What get have is all they will have this year. When gone...no more.

 

[John Deere Girl]

I'm still well connected in the lead acid battery industry. In talking with a wholesale manager yesterday, that industry is in the same shape as everyone else.

This is the busy season for many sectors of lead acid batteries. Spring brings back to life, many engines which were stores over winter and need new batteries. Like farm machinery, lawn tractors, motorcycles, boats, RVs,

His advice is if you even think you might need a new battery for something, get it now and don't delay. That company's 6 volt, deep cycle golf car battery ordered is now back ordered with estimate to arrive in February of next year. What get have is all they will have this year. When gone...no more.

Thank you! I will check ours.

 

[Masterchief117]

Other than some tp that comes from canada, none is imported so I'm calling bull shat on that one.

Think again. I'm in Oklahoma and my nearby Atwoods Farm and Ranch store has 32 packs of toilet paper that has "made in China" on the packaging.

 

[Blacknarwhal]

Doing most grocery (except milk and meat)....Walmart.com.....It’s been an excellent service....Once I ordered Walmart bread and it was out of stock....They upgraded to Wonder Bread....no extra charge.....forgotten how tasty that bread is

That's how I've been doing Meijer for the last few weeks. I really like it! All of my groceries packed up and ready, they even bring them to my car. I load the trunk and I'm gone. A lot better than wandering the store for most of an hour and fighting off the crazy.

 

[ainitfunny]

Boxes of 50 packs of the paper, book matches USED to be sold everywhere for $1 to $2 a box.
They have disappeared from most stores and when you DO find them, like at party stores, they are EXPENSIVE.

 

[rob0126]

I'm still well connected in the lead acid battery industry. In talking with a wholesale manager yesterday, that industry is in the same shape as everyone else.

This is the busy season for many sectors of lead acid batteries. Spring brings back to life, many engines which were stores over winter and need new batteries. Like farm machinery, lawn tractors, motorcycles, boats, RVs,

His advice is if you even think you might need a new battery for something, get it now and don't delay. That company's 6 volt, deep cycle golf car battery ordered is now back ordered with estimate to arrive in February of next year. What get have is all they will have this year. When gone...no more.

I can confirm that where I work, we are getting short on lead acid batteries (forget the agm's).

The Farm/Tractor HD batteries are still coming in but the automotives are getting skimp. Time will tell.

 

[Walrus Whisperer]

I went to a local feed store yesterday to get several items for my dogs. The store was 2/3 empty ! I've been going there for 25 years and NEVER saw it this low. I asked the cashier what was wrong. " Barges are having problems of course, but producers just are not keeping up with filling orders. "

My Tractor supply seems stocked up extremely well. I've haven't seen where they are short on anything except horse paste Ivermection. Can't be found anywhere here. I may not find the brand/kind of chicken feed I usually want, but another will generally do.....

 

[rafter]

My Tractor supply seems stocked up extremely well. I've haven't seen where they are short on anything except horse paste Ivermection. Can't be found anywhere here. I may not find the brand/kind of chicken feed I usually want, but another will generally do.....

I feed a particular Purina horse feed. They have been having a terrible time keeping it in stock. When it comes in I buy 4 and after I have used 2 of them, I buy 2 more just to make sure I have it.

 

[Blacknarwhal]

Boxes of 50 packs of the paper, book matches USED to be sold everywhere for $1 to $2 a box.
They have disappeared from most stores and when you DO find them, like at party stores, they are EXPENSIVE.

Like they said in "Escape from LA", you never know when you might need plain, old-fashioned stick matches.

Good barter item too, I'd say, especially after most people's cigarette lighters give out.

 

[Digger]

Stopped at the tractor dealer ship for bush hog blades. The parts girl told hubby they are having a hard time getting parts for Mahindra and Cub Cadet tractors and mowers. No bush hog blades in yet either

 

[Capt. Eddie]

Stopped at the tractor dealer ship for bush hog blades. The parts girl told hubby they are having a hard time getting parts for Mahindra and Cub Cadet tractors and mowers. No bush hog blades in yet either

Third function kit for my loader is still on back order, talked to the dealer yesterday (Bobcat).

 

[Tex88]

Ah, that's the thread I was looking for earlier this week and couldn't find.
If you're in the medical field, you may have noticed a shortage of "blue tops", sampling tubes that were often used to draw samples from everybody coming into an ER as a matter of routine, but are now hard to come by and are only being used when absolutely necessary.
Also, catheter needles and similar stuff.