Amazing prices on 3-ply masks | Out of Practice / Shape | Supply & Demand
Happy Monday!
I hope you had a great weekend. We went back to church for the first time since all this COVID stuff first started (months). We could have went back weeks ago but at first it seemed that masks may be required so it was easy to just stay home another week. One week turns into two, then three. Then I got the ‘Rona so that put me out a couple weeks.
To keep everyone socially distanced they went from one service with a normal chair arrangement to three shorter services with small groups of chairs spaced apart. God bless the pastor and staff/volunteers! It was great to just be back in the building, a highlight was seeing friends we haven’t seen in a while.
In fact, we invited some of those friends who also have small kids over to the house Sunday afternoon / evening to swim and partake of those ribs I spoke of on Friday. He makes his own BBQ sauce and I experiment with different rib rubs and prep methods so it was definitely a “coming together” sort of moment. It was fantastic!
Back to “getting back to church” – scripture has a lot to say about believers gathering, learning, and worshiping together (which doesn’t HAVE to mean “church” as we know it today but that’s another conversation). If you compared it to “practice” or “training” of something you want to get good at you can see why for matters of the faith it’s an important thing to do. When you get “out of practice” you get “out of shape”. What we focus on and spend time on will be who we become.
Are you consistently doing things that take you in the direction you want to go? (Whatever that may be)
Throughout this pandemic we have had people complain about pricing, or even accuse us of price gouging. It caused me to write this as a reply of sorts to an email from a customer. Check it out and let me know what you think ….
How do products in short supply and high demand become so expensive? Here is how:
Scene one: Someone somewhere weeks or months ago bought a product for $1-2 each. They were a distributor that regularly bought from the manufacturer and sold to their customers. That person suddenly had two customers standing at their door. One of them was a customer that was accustomed to paying $3 (I am just making numbers up). The other guy was standing there saying “Hey man … I will give you $5 each for those”. What did the guy do? He sold them to the $5 guy. Why wouldn’t he? Then, the $5 guy does that 10 times and gathers together a few hundred or a few thousand of them. It’s a free country, he can buy whatever someone is willing to sell him.
Scene two: For weeks at CablesAndKits we have people emailing and calling saying “I see that you have X, but I need Y. Can you get it?”. We say “no, unfortunately all we can get is what we can have manufactured. The manufacturer is back logged till the end of time, and medical facilities get first dibs anyway so that’s a dead end.”
Scene three: Check email. Johnny on the Spot (“the $5 guy”) has sent me an email saying “I have 200 of these for sale for $8 each”. I think “hmmm … you know, no one can find these anywhere. Even though the price is high, I suppose it is better for me to have them than not have them. Reply to email – “I’ll take them all”. We list them for sale with a small profit (less than other items) and those that want and need them now have a place to buy them, if they didn’t already.
And they all lived happily ever after. (Except those that were used to paying less and hadn’t seen this play before)
The end.
If we had a direct relationship with the manufacturer, and if the manufacturer was producing more than the market was consuming, and we could actually get them at a “normal cost”, we would be selling them at a “normal price”. But, none of that is the case so as I say “it is what it is”. We have gotten accused of “price gouging” more than once, but believe me when I say that we are making less on these types of products than anything else we normally sell and are truly just trying to be of service to our customers by offering them what is available to us. We DO make things overseas as alternatives that ARE priced more normally. That is our way of also trying to serve our customers – by giving options.
One of the most powerful forces in the universe (other than compounding interest), is the effects DEMAND has on PRICE of available SUPPLY. The more people want to buy houses, the higher the price of houses go. More demand than supply = higher prices. If demand goes down, so do prices. (If you have something for sale that is not selling, and you want to sell it, you lower the price).
Two examples:
Disinfectant Wipes – There are not very many available. The scenario above happens, the price goes up.
Old tech products no one wants – We just had a huge blow out sale. We lowered pricing DAILY, in many cases to a PENNY, to get people to buy things that there was no longer significant demand for.
In order for the price of a product to come down, the end customers need to stop being willing to pay the prices people sell them for. When our sales volume decreases we will be forced to lower prices to increase volume. We may have to lower prices to cost, or below. Then, when the items sell, we know that we will ONLY replenish if we can buy them at a lower cost. When Johnny on the Spot emails offering a product for $8 we would reply and say “you’re crazy – the market has dropped and I can only pay $5 now so that I can sell for $7”. He gets rid of his inventory (perhaps breaking even or losing money), and the next time he tries to buy them he is only willing to pay $3 instead of $5. And round and round this goes. As demand increases, so do prices. As demand decreases, so do prices. This will sound ridiculous but the best way to cause the price of something to go down is to stop needing it.
I hope that is a helpful way to look at and understand the dynamics of the imbalance of supply and demand.
From Joe, our friendly Safety Supplies Product Marketer:
Joe went MIA. I think he must have been abducted by aliens. That is the only reasonable explanation.
Until we find him (if we find him), here are a few things to check out …
My favorite Sanitizer dispenser stand! We have 166 in stock at this writing but they have picked up steam. I even did two videos for this – one for the function and one for the assembly. Check them on in the description area of the product page.
You can buy our liquid hand sanitizer in half gallon liquid here. We should have gallons back in stock soon. Also, you can use Gel sanitizer as well. We have 16oz and will (at some point, hopefully before too long) have gallons of Gel as well.
Don’t forget we now have 3-ply masks in big supply at amazing prices. I bet they are about the best on the internet. We are buying large quantities factory direct and the costs finally came down to a point where we can really provide great pricing on these. In fact, we have an entire container on the way we are selling so many at a time.
I hope you are enjoying these emails. If you are, I appreciate it when you let me know! If not, or if you have ideas for how to improve, by all means please let me know! Sometimes I “can’t see the forest for the trees”.
As always, please let me know how I can be of service to you. If you need assistance with something, advice, or even if you just need someone to pray for you, I am here and listening.
Blessings,
Craig Haynie – CEO
CablesAndKits
P.S. Don’t forget to go follow us on Facebook here: CK Facebook Page.
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Main Safety Supplies Landing Page: https://www.cablesandkits.com/c/safety-supplies
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Face Protection:
3-Ply Masks:
Quick Ship 3-Ply Disposable Mask – Buy in 10, 50, 2000
Standard Ship 3-Ply Disposable Mask – Buy in 10, 50, 2000
N95 Masks:
N95 Mask – Both Kimberly Clark and 3M Models available
KN95 Masks:
Quick Ship KN95 Mask – Buy in qtys from 1 to 1200
Standard Ship KN95 Mask – Buy in qtys from 5 to 1200
Face Shields:
Re-usable / Disposable Face Shields – Quantity discounts available. Can be custom printed.
Goggles:
Vented
Non-Vented
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Sanitizers, Dispensers, & Wipes
Hand Sanitizer:
3.3oz Gel | 10oz Gel | 16oz Gel | 1 Liter Gel
4 oz Liquid | 1 Gallon Liquid | 1/2 Gallon Liquid
Disinfectant Wipes:
Single Serve Alcohol Wipes – Back in stock!
Lysol Disinfectant Wipes – – 80 count pouch
Sanitizer Dispensers:
Motion Activated Desktop Dispenser – Use for Liquid or Gel Hand Sanitizer
Motion Activated Floor Dispenser – Available in liquid/Gel and Spray models – Pre-order now!
Wall models coming soon.
Bottles and Pumps:
Bottle Dispenser Pumps – Pump tops for Gallon and Half Gallon Jugs
Empty Fillable Bottles – 8 oz bottles for dispensing liquid or Gel
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Temperature Detection:
Thermometers:
Touchless Infrared Thermometers – Basic and Premium options available
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Body Protection:
Shoe Covers:
Non-Skid protective shoe covers – FDA Approved. Non-FDA version available cheaper soon.
Isolation Gowns:
Disposable arm length Isolation Gowns – FDA Approved
Gloves:
Nitrile and Vinyl Gloves – Back in Stock!
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COVID-19 / Business News for Today:
- Over 11,462,000 people worldwide have recovered and over 2,380,000 people in the US have recovered! The death toll in the US stands at 158,300.
- Montgomery County, Md., has ordered private schools to go online-only in the fall — making it one of the first jurisdictions in the United States to do so.
- Approximately 260 employees at Georgia’s largest school district are not able to come into work because they have tested positive for the coronavirus or are in quarantine due to potential exposure, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
- Philadelphia Eagles Coach Doug Pederson has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the team said Sunday night. The Eagles confirmed Pederson’s positive test in a written announcement and said he is asymptomatic and “doing well.” Pederson is in quarantine and is in touch with members of the team’s medical staff, according to the Eagles.
- Florida reports fewest daily coronavirus deaths in nearly 3 weeks, lowest daily cases in a month. Positive signs out of the state include a continued decrease in new patients being hospitalized for COVID-19.
- Alaska, Hawaii, Missouri, Montana and Oklahoma are among the states witnessing the largest surge of infections over the past week.
