Have you guys looked at the price of shipping on parts for our cars. I need a bunch of parts but the shipping is around fifty percent the price of the parts. There are a ton of places like summit and jegs that offer free shipping on orders over $99. I think the issue is our parts are not here in the usa. Zcarsource appears to have the best shipping prices.

Unfortunately, those parts we buy don't jump into the shipping boxes all by themselves.  Rising labor costs have made everything more expensive.  

The places you mentioned that offers free shipping on large orders enjoy the benefits of economy of scale. Companies like Summit and Jegs offers a vast product line that covers a variety of models and makes.  As a result, they can negotiate shipping arrangements with logistic companies without adversely impacting their bottom line.  

There is only a handful of Z car suppliers, and they have as best as possible, many parts that are vehicle specific. Summit and jegs are no better than RockAuto, however even they can't beat RockAuto prices and of course, RockAuto ships in many different ways and can dictate their carriers and to a large extent, shipping prices. But the supply of Z car parts are getting thin anymore and if one of the Z car suppliers has what you need, you just have to bite the bullet and buy from them, just like the price of a gallon of gasoline, the market dictates the price. Whether a gallon of gas costs $5 a gallon or $10 a gallon, it make no difference, you need it and they have it ? 

7 minutes ago, Killain said:

.....the market dictates the price. Whether a gallon of gas costs $5 a gallon or $10 a gallon, it make no difference, you need it and they have it ? 

That's kind of how it works.  Pay the asking price, make your own, or go without.  We're now living in a time when the best time to buy is yesterday.

I have been ordering a ton of stuff lately for my restoration, and shipping is just crazy. At first it really got to me, now its just a new normal. I have to justify it mentally by looking at a few of the recent BAT 240 sales 🙂

I have actually found some things cheaper on Ebay that have free shipping. I do a lot more price shopping and bulk ordering. 

1 hour ago, psdenno said:

That's kind of how it works.  Pay the asking price, make your own, or go without.  We're now living in a time when the best time to buy is yesterday.

There's an old saying up in coal mining country, "Buy new, wear out, make due, or do without " !

13 hours ago, Killain said:

Whether a gallon of gas costs $5 a gallon or $10 a gallon,

Overhere the fuel IS over 10 dollar a gallon.. 2,40 euro per Liter! And that's Euro 95 with that $^!# in it (ethanol...) 

Happy that i don't need a car, i drive about a 1000 km a year.. (in differend z(x) cars!)

13 hours ago, psdenno said:

the best time to buy is yesterday.

That's what I DID !!!  😉  Lots of things you can buy in bulk and i just did that too!  

The places you mentioned that offers free shipping on large orders enjoy the benefits of economy of scale. Companies like Summit and Jegs offers a vast product line that covers a variety of models and makes.  As a result, they can negotiate shipping arrangements with logistic companies without adversely impacting their bottom line.  

Spot on…I work for one of the worlds largest shipping companies. Individual customers get the worst rate while large supplies have negotiating power but right now it’s worse than I’ve ever seen. We continue to raise prices to meet labor costs (when Amazon went to $15/hr for a starting base line,unskilled worker) everyone had to compete to get or keep employees and those cost are passed on to you. We lost 100’s of people at one place when Amazon did this. Planes sat for hours because we were 600 people short at one location. Fuel cost are volatile. We spent around 9 billion in Jet Fuel a few years ago. God knows what we’ll spend this year. The company wants pilots to shutdown an engine as soon as we are safely able to on the ground. Every drop of gas that can be saved they try to save it.
This is the new normal and can confidently say we aren’t going back. Buy it now !

I work for a guy that has 86 1,000 sq. ft. apartments. He raised the the price per month 25% "none are available so I can charge what I want, they can get one somewhere else if they can". The people that didn't renew their leases after the initial 12 month agreement were on a month to month lease. Between 10 and 15 are vacant now. 

The buck is about to stop at his doorstep. Fortunately I run a paint store he owns so I'm moving a lot of product and getting PAID!

 

Edited June 17, 20222 yr by siteunseen

There are many forces at play right now and more complicated that the average Joe really understands.

1. The Pandemic - this was the catalyst not the cause of shortages, shortages lead to supply/ demand going out of balance and thus higher prices ensued . Federal free money (Covid stimulus checks) while necessary to keep some people afloat they forced out of work through the demand curve way outside the normal.  It also upset the labor market.  Some people decided not to work even when they could.
2. The Federal Reserve printing money since QE1 (circa - Nov 2008) which accelerated through QE4 expanding the Fed balance sheet has created a glut of cash in the economy and very low interest rates, this further disrupts the supply/demand balance.  Cheap money encourages poor spending decisions.   When a 5 yr loan is 1% people borrow more money and buy more crap.  
3. Energy costs have soared.  It began well before Putin attacked Ukraine.  A couple things happened here. One when the economy began to turn back on demand for fuel outpaced production.  Oil and gas companies were caught in a bullwhip effect.   In June of 2020 there was a glut of crude oil that left them scrambling to find space to store oversupply.  Crude tumbled to $9.12 a barrel in April 21.  When the world economy started to turn back on suppliers had basically turned off the spigot.  
4. New leadership - our new President enacted policies that make it challenging to explore oil and drill for oil and gas.  He stopped renewing  off shore drilling leases  and exploring or drilling on Federal lands.  Billions invested by oil companies in pipelines were scrapped and sit partially complete or dormant meaning fuel has to be trucked and brought in on rail.   He had publicly stated in his campaign he would End All Fossil Fuels.  The oil companies have decided it’s too risky to invest in further production so they aren’t producing as much and in an unfriendly environment can take consumers to the cleaners with low supply. 
5. Putin steps in and kicked over the apple cart.   With sanctions on Russian, oil and gas supply’s are further inhibited.  Russia is rich in  natural resources, fertilizer, minerals, lumber, grain.  Ukraine was also.  Now we have soaring prices on things  like Nickel, copper etc.  
6. Labor shortages -  Again the pandemic caused a major disruption in America’s labor force, some have referred it as the “Great Resignation”  in 2021 47 million Americans quit their jobs.  Labor is way more expensive now and this directly impacts a companies bottom line. 

When China stops the lock downs and comes back online, we are really going to see energy prices soar.  Hold on for a wild ride.  

Cliff, great story about the landlord.  This is how it’s supposed to work.  You raise prices too much people go somewhere else. This is how the free market is supposed to work BUT in our modern complex society we have serious  barriers to entry now. Oil companies or chip manufacturers don’t have to worry so much about competition driving prices down because you just can’t build a chip factory overnight or a oil mining company,   These companies have the market by the balls now.  This is not how the market is supposed to work.  What’s supposed to happen is competition is supposed to drive prices down but that can’t happen now in many markets.  
 

Trying not to to be political just trying to lay it all out there, because there is a complete lack of understanding out there..  

I have some rental properties and barely raised the rent over the last couple of years. Only enough to cover the increased insurance cost. If I have tenants that have been there a long time and dont give me any problems, I want them to stay! I hate getting new tenants and turning over an apartment.