|
Post by brucew268 on Dec 6, 2021 9:11:16 GMT
I was ready to place an order for more Cardas Quad Eutectic solder and found that the offered volumes were down and the prices up. I don't use enough to want a full reel like at HFC so asked the Ebay seller about changes in his 3M offering. His response was:
"Prices have risen on many of the products that we buy, we are currently running at a loss, it is a difficult time for many small companies. Some of our suppliers and no longer trading meaning that some products are no longer manufactured."
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,075
Member is Online
|
Post by Bigman80 on Dec 6, 2021 9:32:33 GMT
I was ready to place an order for more Cardas Quad Eutectic solder and found that the offered volumes were down and the prices up. I don't use enough to want a full reel like at HFC so asked the Ebay seller about changes in his 3M offering. His response was:
"Prices have risen on many of the products that we buy, we are currently running at a loss, it is a difficult time for many small companies. Some of our suppliers and no longer trading meaning that some products are no longer manufactured."
Seems to be a common theme at the minute. I was buying 100 resistors for £4 a few months back, now they're £7/8 It's the same with solder, which is why I switched to this stuff for general duties: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-3m-of-0-9mm-63-37-Lead-Tin-Solder-1-Rosin-Flux-Electronics-Soldering-Wire-/265377833113?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0For the good stuff, I just get the WBT
|
|
|
Post by brucew268 on Dec 6, 2021 9:44:18 GMT
There is a limit to how long one can run at a loss before closing up shop. Since HiFi (not general electronics) is a luxury market, I would imagine purchases are not as depressed though as some markets.
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,075
Member is Online
|
Post by Bigman80 on Dec 6, 2021 9:47:14 GMT
There is a limit to how long one can run at a loss before closing up shop. Since HiFi (not general electronics) is a luxury market, I would imagine purchases are not as depressed though as some markets. Yeah, you're probably right.
|
|
optical
Moderator
BIG STAR
Be Excellent To Eachother
Posts: 1,559
Member is Online
|
Post by optical on Dec 6, 2021 9:49:52 GMT
It's a shame but a sad fact that the smaller ventures will suffer first as they can't take the prolonged hits in cash flow. As a silver lining (for us anyway) I've noticed a slight trend in a few bits and pieces going up for sale at very reasonable prices (another likely result of financially harder times). Some McIntosh stuff about and that Pontus II antonio linked to yesterday to name a couple . . . .
|
|
|
Post by macca on Dec 6, 2021 10:58:49 GMT
Global supply chain is fucked right now, I see it every day. It's not going to get better soon either.
Availability goes down prices go up. Not just for the item but for the ability to ship the item, it's all cost which multiplies as it moves to the purchase price.
Seems likely that interest rates will have to rise and that will trigger recession until everything evens out again. Probably not a good time to be spending like a drunken sailor.
|
|
|
Post by antonio on Dec 6, 2021 12:14:36 GMT
Smaller business' have had it bad for much longer than the last two years. I was self employed, had contracts with quite a number of large concerns, whose Head Offices decided it was best to get two or three larger firms to cover areas of the country, ie North, Midlands and South. Someone sitting in a plush office in London has absolutely no idea what goes on in the provinces, no thought was given to how someone was going to travel all the way across the country in bad weather to get the job done, so more times than not jobs were not getting done, and my guess is the banks would still be paying those contractors invoice, having no idea what was going on. I was fairly lucky in that my customers paid me on time, but I know others who had to wait 3 months for money to come through, so smaller firms are then subsidising larger ones.
|
|
|
Post by macca on Dec 6, 2021 12:54:12 GMT
Always been the way since accountants started running businesses instead of sticking to doing the accounts.
large companies get these Big Four people in, smart blokes but they know nothing about business other than what their spread sheets tell them. Like you say there's' a hundred variables that you only know are there from experience - and they don't have the experience and they don't bother to get feedback from anyone who does.
So on the spread sheet it looks like the change will save millions. In reality it will cost millions. Seen that so many times it's not funny.
|
|
|
Post by macca on Dec 6, 2021 12:59:41 GMT
Oh and when they eventually realise it's cost them millions it turns out no-one at the company is culpable as their defence is 'That's what Big Four advised us to do.'
But they can't sack the Big Four bloke as he doesn't work for them. But they won't stop using him as he's the excuse for all the screw ups. If Mr high paid exec makes a change without his approval, and it goes bad, then bye bye high paid executive job. No good exec is daft enough to make a change based on his own advice.
|
|
|
Post by sq225917 on Dec 7, 2021 20:57:11 GMT
Prices on contrainers are falling again, 3rd month in a row. It'll never go back to normal are hedge funds operate in the market now buying up capacity to sell at a profit, whereas previously it would just have been unused capacity.
That said Dale resistors from mouser are more than 2x what they were a year ago.
|
|
|
Post by macca on Dec 8, 2021 8:50:08 GMT
Air freight hasn't improved much though and it won't until air travel returns to normal levels. If it ever does.
|
|
optical
Moderator
BIG STAR
Be Excellent To Eachother
Posts: 1,559
Member is Online
|
Post by optical on Dec 8, 2021 9:04:34 GMT
Air freight hasn't improved much though and it won't until air travel returns to normal levels. If it ever does. My recent experience of this. Generally things are taking longer (for example twice as long from Asia and the far East) however, a small parcel was also delivered to me from Taiwan in 3 days on the same 'standard' service. Strange.
|
|
|
Post by antonio on Dec 8, 2021 9:26:08 GMT
Prices are now starting to come down, have been looking recently how much to return to the uk.
|
|
|
Post by mikeyb on Dec 8, 2021 9:41:30 GMT
Yeah but how much of the 'shortages ' are actually genuine?
Lost a packet 2019/2020, how do they get that back? Artificially create a supply/demand price rise 😉
Yeah they weren't making anything during lock down but nobody was buying either. A waiting list of a year to buy a new car, bullshit, what about the 10s of thousands you saw on the news every so often just lying waiting to be sold.
More millionaires and billionaires created this last year than ever before, and who's paying for that..... The working man 😔
|
|
|
Post by antonio on Dec 8, 2021 11:36:00 GMT
The working man always pays pays Mikey, doesn't matter what government is in power. When I left the uk 17mths ago, there were thousands of new cars in Grimsby and Immingham, I know because I used to do a bit of part time work, driving them off the ships and taking them to a holding compound. I worked at two terminals, that changed to one since I was never over keen on doing 12 hour shifts which would often be the case at the one I left, that was for Kia. I used to drive past the BMW compound, it was huge and as far as the eye could see, and it was as near as damn it full. I didn't do BMW's, just the odd one or two, mainly Mercs, Volvo, Vauxhall, Mazda, Tesla, Land Rover and Jags. It was a minimum wage job, but I enjoyed doing 2 or 3 days a week, got me out of the house and talking to others, many of whom were retired the same as me.
|
|
|
Post by macca on Dec 8, 2021 12:58:43 GMT
Yeah but how much of the 'shortages ' are actually genuine? Lost a packet 2019/2020, how do they get that back? Artificially create a supply/demand price rise 😉 Yeah they weren't making anything during lock down but nobody was buying either. A waiting list of a year to buy a new car, bullshit, what about the 10s of thousands you saw on the news every so often just lying waiting to be sold. More millionaires and billionaires created this last year than ever before, and who's paying for that..... The working man 😔 No doubt some of the shortages are 'manufactured'. But you need a specific set of circumstances for that to work, otherwise someone will undercut you and take all the business. So there won't be many cases where it isn't genuine.
|
|
|
Post by misterc on Dec 8, 2021 13:48:53 GMT
Well I have just been informed that my order for the mains smoothing caps we use in the Mil spec PSU and bear in mind the order is 4K pieces has been sheduled for August 2022
Its not just the little guys that are finding it increasingly frustrating
|
|
|
Post by mikeyb on Dec 8, 2021 17:11:30 GMT
I'm surprised Oli hasn't made the Ultime Stage limited edition 😂
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,075
Member is Online
|
Post by Bigman80 on Dec 8, 2021 17:22:20 GMT
I'm surprised Oli hasn't made the Ultime Stage limited edition 😂 Give me a mail minute 🤣
|
|
|
Post by mikeyb on Dec 8, 2021 17:39:32 GMT
😂
|
|
|
Post by sq225917 on Dec 8, 2021 17:47:40 GMT
We made and sold more power tools during lock down than in the previous year, 30% more. The myth of production is just that, a myth. The issue is increased demand largely driven by automotive demand and a lack of willingness to scale to accommodate this, now we're suffering from the catch up and gap caused by fab switching to new and expanding markets.
|
|
|
Post by misterc on Dec 8, 2021 18:18:32 GMT
The vast amjority is due to two factors COVID and respiriator manufacturer and comendearing of the various parts for SMPS for those along with the reserve stocks of compnents that were sold from the factoies that were shut for 6-8 months, with orders still coming in they had to prioritise orders.
One of the biggest electronics suppiles in the world quoted me Decemeber 2022 this after for a Dac chip and 8 months a for a new 24 bit adc we use for voltage comparitor circuitry.
Some areas which use a lot of generic parts or manufacturer their own tended to not be affected to anywhere near the degree many others have.
The biggest issue at the moment is Inductors imho its a nightmare
|
|
|
Post by macca on Dec 8, 2021 19:58:10 GMT
We made and sold more power tools during lock down than in the previous year, 30% more. The myth of production is just that, a myth. The issue is increased demand largely driven by automotive demand and a lack of willingness to scale to accommodate this, now we're suffering from the catch up and gap caused by fab switching to new and expanding markets. That's an optimistic pov but I like it. Thing is covid has screwed so much up now that even if it goes away nothing will ever be the same as it was. Uncharted territory for a few years at least. Glad I'm getting out of it at least for a while.
|
|