Posted on 01/20/2022 6:44:39 AM PST by blam
Because we live in the sticks, we buy a LOT of stuff off amazon. We’ve seen zero change.
That could change at any time, of course, but so far all of this is just noise, at least where the rubber meets the road for us.
About a decade ago....Amazon went to contracting their ships/planes for ‘goods’. They can arrange their port selection (avoiding Long Beach). So I don’t think you can find much on delays within their system.
Third quarter 2021....Wal-Mart started doing the same thing...contracting their vessels.
I think the ‘big boys’ saw this coming already in the summer of 2021.
And the tell that Buttigieg will be the anointed one for 2024 is revealed yet again.
My daughter got her bicycle from Germany seven months after she was supposed to have gotten it. She was lucky to get it at all given all the boxcars being broken into.
I recently took a hike along the California coast where we could see all the ships waiting to enter the harbor - as far as the eye could see.
What disturbed me was the very thick layer of smog over the ships. Nothing from environmentalists about that, of course.
We buy most of our groceries from Whole Foods (yes, I know it’s “Whole Paycheck”).
Since they brag about their products being mostly locally grown or made, there have been very few supply disruptions or empty shelves as far as I can tell.
At the local supermarket, it is a different story. I have to go there to get the food my cats like and it has been difficult to get for about six months now.
Our dog now gets a mixture of dry dog food and the meat from those Costco rotisserie chickens. He loves it.
I heard that one of the more serious shortages right now is cat food.
We should wean ourselves off of Chines goods…..as of years ago.
Aftermarket auto parts and electronics are the only imports I buy because there is no other choice.
When does the cheaper cost of making something overseas, and specifically China, be overcome by shipping costs?
For example, say a widget costs 5 cents to make in China versus 10 cents in the US? So, make it in China and save 50%.
But what happens when it costs 5—or more—cents to ship that widget to the USA from China?
Move the widget factory back to the USA?
Good for us!
Third quarter 2021....Wal-Mart started doing the same thing...contracting their vessels.
I think the ‘big boys’ saw this coming already in the summer of 2021.
But there will also be unintended consequences and opportunities for small business..;
We’re doomed. We have conservative freepers frequenting amazon who is the enemy of conservatives. I live rural too but haven’t bought anything from amazon in a few years other than a couple of ebooks for $2.99 each.
I avoid walmart too. I was buying soda for the wife and kids but have been catching it on sale at the local grocery instead. I buy dog food at the MFA feed store. Costs a few bucks more than walmart but not really because what I buy has the first/main ingredient of chicken by product, not corn. If I bought dog food with some sort of meat protein as the first/main ingredient at walmart, it would be just as much as the feed store. It would have to be IAMS, Purina One etc aka premium.
I do use amazon for research via the extensive reviews but then I find the product somewhere else, often direct from the manufacturer’s website. Sometimes from ebay and when I get something from ebay, I make sure the seller is in a red state if possible. Never NY, RI, CT, MA, VT, CA, etc.
If we all can’t fight in every single way possible, even the tiniest ways, we will lose.
What’s interesting is that neither of our dogs would eat CostCo rotisserie chicken - we figured if they won’t eat it, neither would we. Could never figure out why b/c both dogs LOVE rotisserie chicken from Ralph’s or Sprouts - but would turn their noses up at the CostCo chicken - including the big dog who ate anything and everything.
We stopped eating them from CostCo after that.
One thing we noticed was the costco chickens are significantly larger than the ones at Kroger and Walmart. The one I like the flavor of the most is Walmart.
However, Costco’s are $5 and walmart’s is $6. We don’t get the costco one often because where we live now, costco is 90 minutes away. It’s a bi-monthly trip.
BTW, costco loses money on those things. They are a “loss leader”.
A parcel I had shipped from Mumbai India took two days to leave after I ordered it. It spent two months sitting in the U.S. Post Office Customs before arriving. Apparently nobody reports to work anymore due to covid. Stuff just piled up and going nowhere.
I get the 10 pound bags of chicken leg quarters for my dogs at Walmart for a little over six dollars a bag.
Thanks! That is VERY useful information!
The shortages I can see are in speciality items, special pet food, certain grocery items, special materials and metals.
Not sure why, but saltine crackers are in short supply, but snack crackers are no problem. Friends in the fabrication business say high-end aluminum is scarce. After a little bad weather over the weekend, the grocery store produce section was empty - not a fresh potato or tomato in sight on Tuesday.
Make everything here and we no longer need sea ports or importing 3rd world labor and/or standard of living. There’s a thought.
All those things should have heavy import duties on them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.