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Hyperinflation starting? What's happening in your area? Post your ground reports.

heysander

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What's happening in your area with respect to prices?

Food?
Housing?
Cost of Living?
Repair services?

Let's here some ground reports.
The Netherlands
Food

For reference, a McDonalds burger costs around 7 USD, which seems high.

Housing
Consumers bid at least 10% over the asking price, depending if you're in villages or hot area cities like Amsterdam or The Hague. For example a good friend of mine bought a house with an asking price of 800k for over a million and the house needs a total renovation before he is able to live there. He's deciding if he should start renovating now, because material prices are through the roof.
Rent is also out of control. If you're looking at monthly expenses it's a better deal to take on a mortgage, so many people are aiming to buy a house. I'm curious how this plays out. I remember years ago my brothers two person apartment was worth 50k below his buying price, which for him was a lot of money. He had to live there for 8 more years with 2 kids and a wife.

Gas
The gas prices are higher then ever and keep on rising. The last time I filled up it was 1.91EUR == 2,21USD

Salaries
I pay my employees still the same starting salary as a few years ago. That's worrying no?
 
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GPM

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The 5 pack bag of avocados at Safeway has 4 in it now. They pretty clearly forgot to update the label
 

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MJ DeMarco

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Effective in November, the cost to print books is going up 6%.

Retail prices of books going up 6%? Or expectations from consumers?

Nope.

Consumers still expect to pay the same price for books the same price they've paid since the late 90s.
 

MJ DeMarco

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Effective in November, the cost to print books is going up 6%.

Retail prices of books going up 6%? Or expectations from consumers?

Nope.

Consumers still expect to pay the same price for books the same price they've paid since the late 90s.

In a follow up to this, many people have asked for a hardback of TMF , something a bit more durable.

According to my POD printer, if I printed and sold a hardback book through any of their distribution channels, I'd earn -.37 cents for each sale. Yes, with every hardback book I sell, I'd be granted a negative royalty of -.37c.

If I sold 1,000,000 hardbacks, I would not only earn nothing, I'd actually owe $370,000.
 
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Andy Black

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In a follow up to this, many people have asked for a hardback of TMF , something a bit more durable.

According to my POD printer, if I printed and sold a hardback book through any of their distribution channels, I'd earn -.37 cents for each sale. Yes, with every hardback book I sell, I'd be granted a negative royalty of -.37c.

If I sold 1,000,000 hardbacks, I would not only earn anything, I'd actually owe $370,000.
Can you increase the price of the hardback?
 

AceVentures

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We can be more creative with how we approach this inflation issue. Rather than to note instance after instance of evidence of more global inflation, let's ask some questions to the group to see if we can start finding solutions.

For those that are running a business here:

How does this growing problem impact your business?

How are your customers being affected by these inflation challenges?

What measures, if any, have you implemented into your business structure to streamline either supply chain or other issues?

Are there more creative ways of sourcing and distributing your products and services to overcome manufacturing and transportation constraints?

How can you incentivize and support your existing customers to work together around possible delays or financing challenges?
 

WJK

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We can be more creative with how we approach this inflation issue. Rather than to note instance after instance of evidence of more global inflation, let's ask some questions to the group to see if we can start finding solutions.

For those that are running a business here:

How does this growing problem impact your business?

How are your customers being affected by these inflation challenges?

What measures, if any, have you implemented into your business structure to streamline either supply chain or other issues?

Are there more creative ways of sourcing and distributing your products and services to overcome manufacturing and transportation constraints?

How can you incentivize and support your existing customers to work together around possible delays or financing challenges?
Good questions...

I bought about $20K of building materials this month when I was able to get them. And this summer we harvested trees to mill on our saw mill for our lumber needs. There's a lot of stuff we just can't get right now. It's not consumer goods -- it's parts, pieces, and building materials.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Can you increase the price of the hardback?

That was with the price increased. And priced above average for a price of a hardback.
 

DoingDeals

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Every week restaurant supplies are going up & this is the message I've just gotten from the Webstaurantstore.com website:

"Temporarily Unavailable due to Global Shortage

Due to the high demand for this during the C0VlD-19 pandemic, this item is temporarily unavailable. WebstaurantStore is dedicated to finding solutions to the global supply chain shortages and we hope to make this item available again in the future."
 

lludwig

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Kinda like how FIVERR is no longer about $5 jobs.

Hard to brand your business with a dollar amount amid rampant inflation that the government still denies.

I have dibs on the name "The $100 Dollar Tree".

At the rate we are going... even that name won't be so relevant. LOL.

This is why the Austin Powers joke is funny.

dr-evil-one-billion-dollars (1).gif
 
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Esquire

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That was with the price increased. And priced above average for a price of a hardback.

If the hardcover nets a .37 cent loss ... why not double the price ...?

Was $20 ... Now $40.

So so cheapskate somewhere balks ... who cares ...?

You could lose 80 percent of your prospective audience ... and you'd still quadruple your profits.

Seems like a no brainer to me.

After all ... people pay HOW MUCH for some shitty college course ...?

You could charge a full semester's tuition ... and I'd still call it a bargain.

In fact ... I'd wager a guess that the person who pays $40 for the book is more likely to get an INSIDERS's subscription than the guy who pays $20. That all gets added into the margin too.

And if (in fact) the book is driven by word of mouth ... you could probably charge $100 (or more) and no one would blink.

By a show of hands ... who would recommend a copy of MJ's book for $100 if that were the going price ...?

Exactly.

My two cents ...
 

Walter Hay

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If the hardcover nets a .37 cent loss ... why not double the price ...?

Was $20 ... Now $40.

So so cheapskate somewhere balks ... who cares ...?

You could lose 80 percent of your prospective audience ... and you'd still quadruple your profits.

Seems like a no brainer to me.

After all ... people pay HOW MUCH for some shitty college course ...?

You could charge a full semester's tuition ... and I'd still call it a bargain.

In fact ... I'd wager a guess that the person who pays $40 for the book is more likely to get an INSIDERS's subscription than the guy who pays $20. That all gets added into the margin too.

And if (in fact) the book is driven by word of mouth ... you could probably charge $100 (or more) and no one would blink.

By a show of hands ... who would recommend a copy of MJ's book for $100 if that were the going price ...?

Exactly.

My two cents ...
I agree wholeheatedly. Just look at the prices of my books and I have sold thousands of copies.

TMF should not be the lowest priced life-changing book on the market.

Walter
 

GPM

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Some numbskull from the US federal government just said that the supply shortages will be over once everyone is vaxxed. I guess that is the answer everyone
 
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MJ DeMarco

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So so cheapskate somewhere balks ... who cares ...?

MJ's a sell out!
MJ's selling $50 books!
MJ's a hypocrite guru!


Oh boy, I can just hear it now. And I hear shit already because my books still cost ten or twenty bucks. No, according to a lot of folks, my books should be FREE. My time, my life experience, my advice, everything should be free.

TMF should not be the lowest priced life-changing book on the market.

It's not. It's on the top tier... paperbacks usually cost $18.95 ... all my work starts at $22.95 which is a good 20% premium.

Hardbacks usually retail for $24.95 to $26.96 .... priced at $28.95 I'd lose the .37 cents. I'd have to price at $30.95 to just breakeven, while pissing off a lot of people.

So basically my calculation is the ratio of people who want to buy hardbacks but also would be pissed off at the extraordinarily high price. I'm guessing that ratio is too high. In other words, this is a lose lose.
 

heysander

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MJ's a sell out!
MJ's selling $50 books!
MJ's a hypocrite guru!


Oh boy, I can just hear it now. And I hear shit already because my books still cost ten or twenty bucks. No, according to a lot of folks, my books should be FREE. My time, my life experience, my advice, everything should be free.



It's not. It's on the top tier... paperbacks usually cost $18.95 ... all my work starts at $22.95 which is a good 20% premium.

Hardbacks usually retail for $24.95 to $26.96 .... priced at $28.95 I'd lose the .37 cents. I'd have to price at $30.95 to just breakeven, while pissing off a lot of people.

So basically my calculation is the ratio of people who want to buy hardbacks but also would be pissed off at the extraordinarily high price. I'm guessing that ratio is too high. In other words, this is a lose lose.
I would buy the hardcover as a collectors item, like vinyl.
Then a 39.95 or higher price would be very okay. I don’t know if there is a market for this, but TMF is a classic that changed many lifes.

Maybe you could do something special with the cover design and marketing? And maybe make it extra special with a goodie? In those dvd collectors boxes they added making-of material and special interviews. Then you can really higher the price.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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I would buy the hardcover as a collectors item, like vinyl.
Then a 39.95 or higher price would be very okay. I don’t know if there is a market for this, but TMF is a classic that changed many lifes.

Maybe you could do something special with the cover design and marketing? And maybe make it extra special with a goodie? In those dvd collectors boxes they added making-of material and special interviews. Then you can really higher the price.

Yes, I might have all hardbacks in black cloth with gold lettering, all copies signed. Very minimalistic, perhaps limited edition.
 
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theag

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Yes, I might have all hardbacks in black cloth with gold lettering, all copies signed. Very minimalistic, perhaps limited edition.
takemymoney.jpg
 

GPM

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Yes, I might have all hardbacks in black cloth with gold lettering, all copies signed. Very minimalistic, perhaps limited edition.
Yes x100!!!!!

That sounds amazing.

TMF has literally changed my entire life trajectory! I would buy a bad a$$ version and frame it, or do something special with it.
 

RicardoGrande

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When I drove into work this morning, gas at one of the stations was 2.96/gallon.
When I drove back from work, the same station was advertising the same grade unleaded at 3.14/gallon, just 9 hours later.

Between this and propane/oil futures going sky high, I'm not too sure what to think asides the fact I should've invested in a small backyard volcano for winter heating, it probably would've been cheaper.
 
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GIlman

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Trading in our airstream, last year the one we are after was selling for $176k, this years models in July were listed at $182k, they just updated prices to $196k. That’s a $20k increase in one year or 11.4%.
 

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Some of the upward price pressure may come from increases on ad spend.

This is anecdotal (and it benefits me), but still:

September 2020 ad rates earned for my website: $17.43 per 1K pageviews
September 2021 ad rates earned for my website: $40.17 per 1K pageviews

So this year's rates were 2.3x as high as last year's (a 130% increase YoY). I'm pretty sure that my website is not that much more desirable to advertisers this year compared to last year.

Just remember folks: it's all transitory. It's all in your imagination. Ignore the man behind the curtain.
 
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Lyinx

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boots on the ground report: Expect prices to double in the next year (I hope I'm wrong)

Background: we do small time manufacturing for horse people (equestrian world, for the driving community) and we buy a lot of metal parts (buckles,snaps, etc..) from local suppliers who buy from their Chinese/tiawanese/timbukto counterparts and charge us accordingly. They've done a good job, but all-of-a-sudden its hard to get parts and they are running out. Our main supplier is very out-dated in their ways, still does everything via hard copy (no computer) and they are struggling to communicate fast enough with their companies.
Right now, we just ran out of one piece of hardware that we thought we could easily swap out with a substitute item, but found out that the substitute item won't work in that application (our fault, not enough fore-sight) everyone is out of the original item for a few months yet, so we'll end up with air-frighting 1000 pcs from China.
Also, until we get the air-fright, we're grinding down (with a sander, mind you) and buffing to a nice finish, a few hundred pieces of the substitute item, just to get by.

You would think that it's our companies fault, our problem, and you are correct, but here's the interesting part: if we have to do it, and we have our stuff decently organized (IMO, obviously) , then what will the mom & pop stores do? how will they handle it when they run out of the most basic items that they thought they would never run out of? if they make mice traps, and they run out of raw PVC granules?

How to avoid this? there is no way to avoid it, you can try to stock up, but that will only hold you over for so long. Best to be willing to pay what it takes, move fast when you find a supply stash, and raise prices accordingly.
 

Thoelt53

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boots on the ground report: Expect prices to double in the next year (I hope I'm wrong)

Background: we do small time manufacturing for horse people (equestrian world, for the driving community) and we buy a lot of metal parts (buckles,snaps, etc..) from local suppliers who buy from their Chinese/tiawanese/timbukto counterparts and charge us accordingly. They've done a good job, but all-of-a-sudden its hard to get parts and they are running out. Our main supplier is very out-dated in their ways, still does everything via hard copy (no computer) and they are struggling to communicate fast enough with their companies.
Right now, we just ran out of one piece of hardware that we thought we could easily swap out with a substitute item, but found out that the substitute item won't work in that application (our fault, not enough fore-sight) everyone is out of the original item for a few months yet, so we'll end up with air-frighting 1000 pcs from China.
Also, until we get the air-fright, we're grinding down (with a sander, mind you) and buffing to a nice finish, a few hundred pieces of the substitute item, just to get by.

You would think that it's our companies fault, our problem, and you are correct, but here's the interesting part: if we have to do it, and we have our stuff decently organized (IMO, obviously) , then what will the mom & pop stores do? how will they handle it when they run out of the most basic items that they thought they would never run out of? if they make mice traps, and they run out of raw PVC granules?

How to avoid this? there is no way to avoid it, you can try to stock up, but that will only hold you over for so long. Best to be willing to pay what it takes, move fast when you find a supply stash, and raise prices accordingly.
We’ve seen our steel prices rise 85% since February 2021. Part of that is gouging by our supplier, I know this because other suppliers are at a 25-40% surcharge. We have a meeting Thursday to figure this out, otherwise our ties are severed.

Regardless, price increases are real and you’re right, it’s been time to weather the storm.
 

MitchC

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We went to test drive a new car for the missus today and the salesman asked if we were aware of the extensive wait time, I said yes we’ve been shopping around and everywhere was around 6-8months.

He said yes that’s for other cars, but this car has a 2 year wait time!

Order now and the estimated delivery time is August 2023
 
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GPM

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We went to test drive a new car for the missus today and the salesman asked if we were aware of the extensive wait time, I said yes we’ve been shopping around and everywhere was around 6-8months.

He said yes that’s for other cars, but this car has a 2 year wait time!

Order now and the estimated delivery time is August 2023
Imagine how sweet the 2024 model will be when you take delivery of your 2022!!!
 

TinyOldLady

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According to my POD printer, if I printed and sold a hardback book through any of their distribution channels, I'd earn -.37 cents for each sale. Yes, with every hardback book I sell, I'd be granted a negative royalty of -.37c.
Amazon offers selfpublished hardbacks too now. Maybe there is a better margin (or did you mean Amazon?)
 

MJ DeMarco

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Amazon offers selfpublished hardbacks too now. Maybe there is a better margin (or did you mean Amazon?)

It was thru Ingram Spark, Ill check and see if Amazon has any better options, Thx!
 
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lludwig

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We went to test drive a new car for the missus today and the salesman asked if we were aware of the extensive wait time, I said yes we’ve been shopping around and everywhere was around 6-8months.

He said yes that’s for other cars, but this car has a 2 year wait time!

Order now and the estimated delivery time is August 2023

What was the make/model?
 

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