There was a point at the start of the COVID lockdowns where it was impossible to buy hobby related items like musical instruments, bicycles, video game consoles/pc parts, etc. Prices are still high on these things, and I think that’s just the new normal, unfortunately.
i feel like that’s how it is for every damn thing. Every thing is so expensive now and i just have such an incredibly hard time believing it will ever change. This is all the new normal. It sucks. Corporations are just like “holy hell they’re actually still buying this crap? wellllll let’s just keep the prices right there and blame covid/supply lines/labor shortage/my ass for the price hike!” it’s really depressing to see how much more i’m spending on literally everything.
I’ve heard this referred to as price memory. There was a moment in time where market forces, legitimate or not, pushed instrument values through the damn roof. Retailers are loathe to let prices return to normal, and people that bought these instruments want to recover as much of their cash as possible. This happens in a lot of hobbies.
Look for a series of price corrections in late december/January. I’m in the industry and that’s what all our indicators are telling us. Lots of inventory will be available, container rates are back to normal, and manufacturers will be trying to keep margins up until Jan 1 when everyone’s budgets and goals reset. After that everyone will be trying to undercut their competitors.
