Christmas shortages

[BassApprentice]

I'm sure others may know more than I do, but when I was in a guitar shop yesterday I was chatting away and the guy told me that suppliers were starting to feel the pinch in their stock levels due to factory closures earlier in the year so shipments might be fewer and smaller heading towards Christmas time - not ideal when it's been a tough year and guitar shops generally do well out of Christmas 😔

[taunton-hobbit]

All shops currently have supply difficulties - wholesalers sold their buffer stocks

rather than trying to continually restock and now are faced with supply problems,

a lot of stuff just ain't there, in some sectors Christmas is going to be bad news.......

(random example, lady customer today said that Sainsburys had no trainer socks for

the last seven weeks - it's going to get worse before it gets better)

😎

[yorks5stringer]

I hear The Vaccines have canned their Christmas Album too....

[TheGreek]

So who's going to bulk buy basses??

[paul_5]

1 minute ago, TheGreek said:

So who's going to bulk buy basses??

Round here? Throw a stick!

[Drax]

Friend is senior at Amazon, said there's just not enough stock in Europe for Christmas, get your present shopping done in Oct. 

Or do what I'm planning, wait for stock everywhere to run out, and get everyone vouchers. 

[Cato]

There's also probably a bit of a double whammy.

Production stopped at many  factories  earlier in the year  but there was apparently also a global boom in guitar sales during lockdown, depleting existing stocks

https://routenote.com/blog/fenders-best-year-yet-shows-people-picking-up-instruments-more-than-ever-in-2020/

I've been window shopping the big online music stores a fair bit recently and it's noticeable just how many instruments listed on their websites are currently out of stock.

Edited September 18, 2020 by Cato

[El Capo]

We are seeing it in the PC industry...you try buying 'stock' of laptops at the moment, frigging impossible...

[pete.young]

I spoke to a gent in a music shop in August, who told me that Fender weren't taking any orders from him until 2021.

[dave moffat]

Really doesn't surprise me the JIT model of supply chain management was always just a clusterflip away.

Printers are like hobby horse sh#t.

[TwoTimesBass]

It works out quite well really as by Christmas I'll have a shortage of cash to match the shortage of basses 😫

[miles'tone]

5 hours ago, yorks5stringer said:

I hear The Vaccines have canned their Christmas Album too....

Hopefully The Cure will save the day.

[yorks5stringer]

17 minutes ago, miles'tone said:

Hopefully The Cure will save the day.

or maybe Dr Hook and the Medicine Show?

[Rich]

7 hours ago, taunton-hobbit said:

lady customer today said that Sainsburys had no trainer socks for the last seven weeks - 

 

Oh, the humanity. #jesuistrainersocklady

Edited September 18, 2020 by Rich

[Mudpup]

It's the same in the bicycle trade too. I work for an importer/distributor and products that are usually about a 3 month lead time are being quoted at 9/10 months now. One of our popular bikes that now retails between £5500 and £8500 is totally sold out until next August. And we ordered 30% more than we sold last year... madness! We did 8 months worth of business in a 3 week period earlier this year. The warehouse is the size of 8 football pitches and it was almost empty at one point.

With everyone being stuck at home for the summer musical instruments, home recording gear, home office equipment and bikes went mad. Limited factory capacity due to shutdowns and more recent problems getting things shipped gives you the perfect storm.

[Rich]

5 minutes ago, Mudpup said:

We did 8 months worth of business in a 3 week period earlier this year. The warehouse is the size of 8 football pitches and it was almost empty at one point.

 

Someone I know works at a BMW dealership in Bristol. I was chatting with her last evening, she was saying they've sold 30 cars in the last 5 days. They've never known anything like it.

[drTStingray]

I'm surprised no one has noticed the you tube stuff showing Guitar Centres with virtually no guitars (except high end unsold Gibsons and Fenders).

Covid has probably debunked the whole guitar market scam and myth whereby certain major manufacturers store their over production in large stores by insisting they carry certain (vast) levels of stock. 

It appears if you try and order most popular makes from a shop, depending on the model etc, if it's not in stock or at the distributor you're likely to be in for the lbw!! (Long bloody wait). 

[Thunderbird]

4 minutes ago, Rich said:

Someone I know works at a BMW dealership in Bristol. I was chatting with her last evening, she was saying they've sold 30 cars in the last 5 days. They've never known anything like it.

At least the AA and RAC will be busy then lol

[drTStingray]

7 minutes ago, Rich said:

Someone I know works at a BMW dealership in Bristol. I was chatting with her last evening, she was saying they've sold 30 cars in the last 5 days. They've never known anything like it.

That will possibly be with the new registrations and really good deals -  there have been vast airfields full of unsold and stored ones as well - still are (I have had two emails in as many days from my VW dealer saying they have a large stock of pre registered 70 reg vehicles with good deals - presumably they're trying to clear the backlogs of vehicles before the next lock down season...)

This is because not only were people not buying, those who did months before lockdown were unable to take delivery until May/June - most dealers storage areas are full of unsold cars. 

Presumably people are taking advantage of deals and it looks increasingly likely the UK will have a second crisis interspersed with the Brexit one....... interesting times ahead 😐

Edited September 18, 2020 by drTStingray
Autocorrect algorithm produced drivel

[lurksalot]

12 hours ago, Cato said:

 

I've been window shopping .........

It’s the same in the window industry, shortages in supply but a massive demand. I should put a smiley here, but it’s a proper PITA . Rescheduling installations every  week because product is delayed is very frustrating for us and the customers !

[taunton-hobbit]

10 hours ago, Rich said:

Oh, the humanity. #jesuistrainersocklady

Yeah, ok, it's a first world problem .....................

[Rich]

53 minutes ago, taunton-hobbit said:

Yeah, ok, it's a first world problem .....................

Joking aside, it's certainly indicative of a broader problem. At some point, 'trainer socks' will become 'apples'.

[Rich]

10 hours ago, drTStingray said:

That will possibly be with the new registrations and really good deals -  there have been vast airfields full of unsold and stored ones as well - still are (I have had two emails in as many days from my VW dealer saying they have a large stock of pre registered 70 reg vehicles with good deals - presumably they're trying to clear the backlogs of vehicles before the next lock down season...)

Oh yes, she did mention that. But what she said was along the lines of "yes we're always a bit busier at new registration time and good deals, but I've been doing this for 10+ years and it's never been like this". She looked quite shell shocked.

[leftybassman392]

11 hours ago, Rich said:

Someone I know works at a BMW dealership in Bristol. I was chatting with her last evening, she was saying they've sold 30 cars in the last 5 days. They've never known anything like it.

I was in my local Porsche dealership the other day getting the MOT done that should have happened at the end of March. Got chatting to the rep who sold me the CTMNBN, and he was telling me much the same kind of thing. For a maker whose price list picks up where most others leave off, I found this extremely surprising to say the least.

Something else he said that surprised me was that as against the general picture of shortage and hardship, some people had done 'very well' (his words) out of the pandemic. He cited DeLoitte as an example. Then again, given what they do for a living I guess we shouldn't be surprised at a hike in the number of companies seeking their services.

 

Edited September 19, 2020 by leftybassman392

[Drax]

20 minutes ago, leftybassman392 said:

Something else he said that surprised me was that as against the general picture of shortage and hardship, some people had done 'very well' (his words) out of the pandemic. He cited DeLoitte as an example. Then again, given what they do for a living I guess we shouldn't be surprised at a hike in the number of companies seeking their services.

 

Ah lovely Deloitte - record fines for their Autonomy scandal , the same week they continue for fk up UK covid testing. Amazing how these firms just keep on getting work.