as the wise men said to the king "and this too shall pass".
However we don't know what that will look like. Have to get back to bartering.
I have no solution for greed.  as I am sure I've been part of the problem. Stay vigilant as opportunities will come. This will help us better understand our folks who went through the depression. 
Hang in there.

Bob

It will never really end, but it will cycle.

This was posted on another forum, it would be interesting to read the whole article to get a better idea of what was going on. The article is a couple years before I started loading. May be someone remembers ?
Quote:

It's tough to not be part of the problem if you didn't stock up when it was cheap, and easy to do so. For those caught short, and desperately needing various components to be able to shoot there are only two options. Pay the price, or don't shoot.
I am always stocking up when I see good prices, even if I didn't need the primers, powder, etc. at the time. I'd rather end up not using it all, than end up caught short someday! I still ask other gun guys if they know of any primers available, even though I have 20,000 of each type of primer I use. If somebody tells me of some available at something close to old prices, I buy it. But I wont buy at these crazy prices asking now. I bought 11,000 large rifle primers in June from a friend who wanted $350 for them. More than I'd ever paid, but with the others asking triple that amount then, I bought them.
I put my name on BACO's "notify me" list recently for Swiss BP, and they showed "out of stock". But less than 2 weeks later I got a email it was in, and I immediately ordered 10 lbs. Then a friend tried to order and was told they only had 3 lbs. I called and was told their computer had an error, and they discovered 13 lbs. of Swiss, so I got it by ordering quickly after the notice.
If companies have a "back order" or "notify me" list, be sure to put your name on it. You don't have to buy it if the prices are too high, but at least you'll get an email, and you can decide if you want to or not.

Just chiming in, but I do not think that this is just a US problem. Primers here ( all sizes ) have jumped up from € 28.00 to € 46.00 per thousand. And these are European ones. I cannot get CCI or Federal for love or money. I now cannot get Sierra 168 HBT premium either, but with foresight still have a few thousand that might last me till they are available again. US powders have nearly disappeared off the shelves but European ones are now at the € 110 - € 140 per kilo ( that is 2.2lb and a € is about 1.15 USD) that is a 30% increase. Shotshells are still around € 8 - 11 per 25, so I stocked up.

JLouis wrote on Nov 9^th, 2021 at 4:22pm:


Amen, brother. 

Curly

I wouldn't call people paying crazy prices, greedy, but they may not be able to look back on it later, as a wise purchase. The important part to me, is that they were able to make the purchase in such uncertain times.

I was also feeling smug owning a couple of flint locks, then COVID caused a flint shortage. Now there is a powder shortage. What is a guy to do? I do have a throwing knife.