Stripping Baskets - Fly Lines & the Price of Oil

As a lot of you know I build custom stripping baskets. I've been doing this for a long time. Being retired it gives me something to do as a hobby and keeps me occupied. Today I was finishing an order and had to call my material suppiler for more pipe. 15" PVC to be specific. I usually have to buy it in 20' lengths and then cut it to get a good price.

https://i.imgur.com/5JUK5b6.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/vipdWR9.jpg?1

Today my supplier tells me that the price has gone up considerably and I ask "Why?" He jokingly asks if I have noticed the price of gas lately. Of course, I have, who hasn't? He politely tells me that all that pipe I've been buying over the years is made primarily of oil. Hmmmm? Can't argue about that. So, I bite the bullet and give him my order. Wow! Geez! and all of the expletives when I see the bill. How can I make any money when these kind of prices jump like this?

The easy answer is to simply raise my prices too. But this is supposed to be a fun hobby not an all out business.

So I go on with my sanding and glueing and finish another (still at the older prices) but it got me to thinking, "What about these new $100.00 fly lines everybody seems to be selling lately?" RIO, and ORVIS, and S/A all seem to have something new that is pushing the $100 dollar mark. Is it really a new design or taper? Or is it the Vinyl coating that they use which is oil based and hence the price increase for them too?

Fortunately I still have a few pieces of pipe left that I can sell at my old prices. But, I don't want to just pass the cost increases on to my friends. That's when a hobby isn't fun any longer.
Tony

Tony,

Welcome to the plumbing business, The prizes go up weekly :)

Carl Blackledge

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Carl Blackledge

Tony,

Welcome to the plumbing business, The prizes go up weekly :)

Carl Blackledge

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Exactly! A stick of 2” ABS has practically tripled in price. It’s not just plumbing supplies, it’s everything.

Some of us on this thread were born in the 1940s.

Until now we had no idea how really lucky we have been.


When I was a teenager gas at the Gemco gas station at Riverside and Broadway was 25 cents per gallon.

You could buy a new rifle or shotgun for $100.

New cars were $2,000 to $3,000.


It is projected that, on average, this will be the first generations to make less than their parents.

There is no middle class now. Either upper middle class or minimum wage folks.


In my 76 years I have never seen so many signs that say "Help Wanted"........nobody wants to work?

tony I could use a new bucket or two if you have any still. Thanks! Hogan

A little over a year ago oil was $55 a barrel, and we were exporting oil. Today oil is pushing $100 a barrel, and Joe Biden is on his hands and knees begging OPEC to increase production. We have bad policies and ourselves to blame for this debacle!

The first thing the Biden administration did was shut down fracking and stop the Keystone Pipeline.

This is 100% fact so there is no reason denning it.


Another truth is that fracking is not good for the environment.


Not sure the reasoning for stopping the Keystone Pipeline though?


I guess the price of everything made from fossil fuel / oil will go up and it is the price to pay for having a cleaner earth?


Anyone who thinks they know all the right answers is just fooling themselves.