Price increases - trying to hold the line

Hey, you got what you got to do to make the business work and I am sure all of us will not only understand if you have to raise the prices, but we will also continue to support you and buy your products.

thanks for being up front and letting us know whats going on

Your prices are already very reasonable in comparison to the other products out there I suppose we could accept a slight increase!

Bill

I can just confirm this TARIFFS are not helping.

Use only US produced materials, advertise as such, adjust prices as needed, good work will always be rewarded ........

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Quote from mytoy

I can just confirm this TARIFFS are not helping.

It is going to be a painful game, but other countries have been restricting our imports into their countries and jacking up the price of them for years. Try buying american grown rice in Japan you will pay through the nose for it because they limit it and jack up the price to protect their rice industry and in the process hurt our rice industry. These same kind of practices have been in other countries and hurting us for a very long time - the Chinese government subsidizing of their solar panel industries has completely killed U.S. made panels, even the few that are still assembled here use Chinese cells. They play these games to kill the competition and then when it is gone they slowly bring their prices back up - and we get screwed

Yes these tariffs are going to hurt some industries and cause some prices to go up, but if we dont do back to them what they are doing to us how will it ever end? How will they get ever get the message that we wont put up with their crap?

I am just hoping that these other countries get the message and end the practices that have led us to this point so that we can end this as soon as possible - its a game of chicken and I want them to flinch first

I like a deal just as much as the next guy, but if in the end it helps american steel and aluminum industries to have tariffs on those products and if in the end it helps the other american producers where we put tariffs of their competitors products then I can pay a bit more

To me its kind of like bitching about illegals and then also bitching if produce prices go up - - if we dont think the illegals should be here then we have to be willing to pay the price for produce picked by legal workers who will demand a higher wage - - - you just cant have it both ways

So to all of the vendors here, if you need to raise your prices because these tariffs increase the cost of your materials then I will totally understand - go for it!

Quote from edwardaneal

I like a deal just as much as the next guy, but if in the end it helps american steel and aluminum industries to have tariffs on those products and if in the end it helps the other american producers where we put tariffs of their competitors products then I can pay a bit more

To me its kind of like bitching about illegals and then also bitching if produce prices go up - - if we dont think the illegals should be here then we have to be willing to pay the price for produce picked by legal workers who will demand a higher wage - - - you just can have it both ways

So to all of the vendors here, if you need to raise your prices because these tariffs increase the cost of your materials then I will totally understand - go for it!

.....

@SlingLow just made a comment to this effect a couple days ago as well. I fear it will get worse before it gets better.

@Ruptured Duck

We have seen prices increased on Labor / Materials both metals and plastic / Freight is up and the first round of tariffs on imports are in full effect 25% next round is coming up shortly another 25% on more products

No easy way to hold prices down

Quote from KayTwo

@SlingLow just made a comment to this effect a couple days ago as well. I fear it will get worse before it gets better.

My fear is that America does not manufacture enough nor does it have a buy local first attitude so I'm not sure we can approach tariffs as if we have the biggest swinging meat on the block. Don't get me wrong we need to fix the tariff imbalance I'm just not sure we can do it in the long term with current attitudes

Reading this is like being at work. 25% tariffs on pretty much anything coming from China in September. I’ve my whole team at work over in Asia scrambling to find other sources. It’s gonna get worse before it gets better.

So here's the deal - import tariffs are supposed to even the field. What they actually do is increase the cost to the final consumer. It compromises the whole fair trade issue and costs us all money. It's already a world marketplace. Let the marketplace decide...

Quote from SlingLow

So here's the deal - import tariffs are supposed to even the field. What they actually do is increase the cost to the final consumer. It compromises the whole fair trade issue and costs us all money. It's already a world marketplace. Let the marketplace decide...

you are wrong - we do not have a world market place - at least we dont have an equal one - the only way we will have an equal world marketplace will be if all workers making the same product get paid the same wage regardless of what country they are in

Until that time comes we actually need the prices to go up - if we care about American workers they HAVE to go up

Right now prices on things like aluminum and steel have been forced down by other countries undercutting what it cost for Americans to make those same products.

there are only two ways to fix the problem or to even the field as you say - we either:

A - use tariffs to force the price of imported goods up to the point where American companies can produce the same products for the same price - thus evening the field and keeping americans competitive

or

B - convince American workers to work for the same wage as their foreign competitors get paid so that American companies can produce products for the same price - thus evening the field and keeping american workers competitive

personally I doubt you can convince American workers to go with choice B, but either way If we allow these products to stop being produced in America then we are at the mercy of other countries to provide them and they will then have power to set the price just like OPEC had to set the price of oil before we started producing more than we needed right here at home

you do remember what it was like when OPEC had that power over the price of oil - do you really want other countries having that kind of power over the price of steel and aluminum - - do you really trust them to keep the price low and sell us all we want if America no longer makes it? God forbid if a war broke out do you trust them to keep selling it to us so we can build airplanes and tanks?

It sucks when prices go up - god forbid the price of a top for my slingshot goes up, but if it keeps American workers employed making steel and aluminum I think its worth it

dont you?

This is totally understandable... as I look at my products - ALL are maid with Aluminum or Steel. I hated to raise my prices but the raw producers of the materials certainly do not want to give you a break. BUT that said I understand why and why the tariffs are in place. For us small business folks - it’s just tough Especially when we try to keep the prices reasonable. @Ruptured Duck you put out some great products - keep given it hell!

Quote from edwardaneal

So to all of the vendors here, if you need to raise your prices because these tariffs increase the cost of your materials then I will totally understand - go for it

This is not good for you or any other consumer no matter what spin you put on it. This is true whether you are buying or selling. If you are doing neither, then it doesn't matter to you.

Quote from edwardaneal

you are wrong - we do not have a world market place - at least we dont have an equal one - the only way we will have an equal world marketplace will be if all workers making the same product get paid the same wage regardless of what country they are in

Until that time comes we actually need the prices to go up - if we care about American workers they HAVE to go up

Again, you are way off base. Who said we should have an equal marketplace? If other countries can make a product for less based on their labor and/or material costs, they should be able to benefit from that. Please don't tell me that everyone in the WORLD should make the same wage. All countries do not have the same cost of living. You cannot, and will not equalize this in yours, or any of our lifetimes. A free market benefits all. A regulated market benefits only those who can't compete in an unregulated (free) marketplace. Sorry, no participation awards from me. American manufacturers need to take care of American workers by being competitive in a WORLD marketplace without President So-And-So making their market.

Quote from edwardaneal

you do remember what it was like when OPEC had that power over the price of oil - do you really want other countries having that kind of power over the price of steel and aluminum - - do you really trust them to keep the price low and sell us all we want if America no longer makes it?

Had? Yes I do. I remember that before OPEC gas at the pump was 34 cents a gallon. What, exactly is your point? Free market or something else?

Quote from Ruptured Duck

Again not wanting this to go on the political side of things. Just know there are a lot of variables that tie into price increase. Not only vendors here but even to the suppliers and how thier products are made. It's never as easy as where it originated from.

that is all I was trying to say before we got political!

Sorry folks, I'll check out of this conversation. I will say that aluminum increased by 73% between November 2017 and last month due to multiple factors, some of which are political. So far, that has just cut into my margins as I have been willing and able to absorb it. So far. Luckily, I don't rely on this business for my living and no one NEEDS Slingshot mods. There are many other much greater impacts on our standard of living.

Quote from edwardaneal

you are wrong - we do not have a world market place - at least we dont have an equal one - the only way we will have an equal world marketplace will be if all workers making the same product get paid the same wage regardless of what country they are in
Until that time comes we actually need the prices to go up - if we care about American workers they HAVE to go up

Right now prices on things like aluminum and steel have been forced down by other countries undercutting what it cost for Americans to make those same products.

there are only two ways to fix the problem or to even the field as you say - we either:

A - use tariffs to force the price of imported goods up to the point where American companies can produce the same products for the same price - thus evening the field and keeping americans competitive

or

B - convince American workers to work for the same wage as their foreign competitors get paid so that American companies can produce products for the same price - thus evening the field and keeping american workers competitive

personally I doubt you can convince American workers to go with choice B, but either way If we allow these products to stop being produced in America then we are at the mercy of other countries to provide them and they will then have power to set the price just like OPEC had to set the price of oil before we started producing more than we needed right here at home

you do remember what it was like when OPEC had that power over the price of oil - do you really want other countries having that kind of power over the price of steel and aluminum - - do you really trust them to keep the price low and sell us all we want if America no longer makes it? God forbid if a war broke out do you trust them to keep selling it to us so we can build airplanes and tanks?

It sucks when prices go up - god forbid the price of a top for my slingshot goes up, but if it keeps American workers employed making steel and aluminum I think its worth it

dont you?

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It's not about Americans keeping their jobs, it's about corporations increasing their profits without having to get off their dead asses and working for those profits. It's also about congressmen and senators getting free lunches, dinners and champagne money from the wealthy company's. Tariffs are mostly about greed and we the the people are merely the ones who have to pay for it all.