Here It Comes: Shrinkflation

[Longwalkhome]

Most all big box stores get the majority of their products from the CCP made with slave labor wages. Prices go up because our dollar is worth less due to $30 trillion dollars in debt.

When we run out of money the prices will go down.

 

[ma96782]

Rrrrright.....by decreasing package size/portion size.

Well.....
Rosie would NOT/might NOT agree.
But I suspect that the food manufacturers/packagers and sellers are probably seeing it as doing YOU a big favor.

Aloha, Mark

 

[Local Loader]

Sportsmans is trying to make up money they lost out on, selling all those cheap primers.

No I think they made up for it with the crazy high prices for powder, brass and bullets, i.e. Retumbo and H1000 are almost $70 there; I can order for cheaper than that and with including shipping.

 

[Local Loader]

If they reduced size but cost remained the same than fine, but that's not what they are doing, they are raising cost and lowering qualities and quality.

 

[arakboss]

No I think they made up for it with the crazy high prices for powder, brass and bullets, i.e. Retumbo and H1000 are almost $70 there; I can order for cheaper than that and with including shipping.

They had an 8 pounder of 50BMG powder at Hillsboro store and it was priced around $380. If the 50 BMG guys didn't have enough cost to deal with...

 

[Local Loader]

They had an 8 pounder of 50BMG powder at Hillsboro store and it was priced around $380. If the 50 BMG guys didn't have enough cost to deal with...

Yeah I've been trying to help those guys out, I've found/had powders for them that were cheaper.

 

[brucekr]

It ain't just the gun industry either. Go try to buy a half gallon of Tillamook ice cream or even their butter.... And once one of the companies does it, they all tend to. Wish I'd gotten into reloading much sooner....

 

[Diamondback]

It ain't just the gun industry either. Go try to buy a half gallon of Tillamook ice cream or even their butter.... And once one of the companies does it, they all tend to. Wish I'd gotten into reloading much sooner....

Goes back further than that... the "Purser's Pound" of anything in the British Royal Navy in the age of sail was 14oz; the ship's supply jerk was allowed to skim 2oz off every pound of food he bought for the ship as part of his pay.

 

[DonkHumpington]

Remember like Bass Pro, Sportsman's was bought out by Cabela's.

Fake news.

Sportsman's Warehouse, Bass Pro merger cancelled

Many area outdoorsmen and women were shocked when the news broke a year ago of a potential merger between Bass Pro and Sportsman's Warehouse. However that deal has now been cancelled. Sportsman’s Warehouse and Great Outdoors Group LLC (Bass Pro owners) opted to terminate the deal after the...

newschannel9.com

 

[po18guy]

Manufacturers are caught between a rock and a hard place. If they simply raise prices according with inflation, consumers buy less and the company usually lays workers off. So, what to do? Re-package and sell smaller amounts. A few are holding out, but one example is Florida orange juice which was always the half-gallon 64 oz. size. It went to jenny Craig and dropped to 56, then to 52, now to 48 oz. I lived through the 70s, so this is nothing new. But, neither is it very pleasing.

 

[Knobgoblin]

THE DOLLAR IS IN THE TOILET.

Perishables and other consumables that are experiencing rapid turnover are going to show this before other, more durable goods.

The fact that labor costs have been blown out like the Chehalis river for 2 years straight is affecting food costs more than any natural disaster ever could.

Food costs are up to stay. Unless they discover rich veins of cheezWiz and large deposits of spam on Mars soon.

 

[joken]

We've all seen this before. Companies want to squeeze ever more profit out of their existing product lines, so they will maintain the same price point but sell a smaller quantity. That is what economists call "shrinkflation" when consumers are effectively paying inflated prices by getting less for the same price. Groceries are infamous for this. Dannon yogurt went from 8 ounces to 6 ounces. Ragu spaghetti sauce from 28 ounces to 23.9 ounces. A "pint" of Haagen Dazs ice cream is now only 14 ounces. The list goes on and on and on...

As I just saw at Sportsman's Warehouse, ammunition appears subject to shrinkflation as well. I was fairly amazed at the number of 45 ACP boxes being sold at yesterday's prices, but with shrinkflation quantities. Federal selling 45 ACP in 50 and even 20-round boxes. Same with Hornady and Remington. And others. I've never seen so many small-quantity boxes of 45 ACP on the shelves before. Ever. Same thing is happening with 9mm ammo.

There are three basic ways for a company to respond to inflation. They can raise prices, they can cut their margins, or they can engage in shrinkflation. Of those three options, shrinkflation represents the worst way for a company to treat its customers because it is an act of deception. It is an attempt to "hoodwink" the consumer into thinking they aren't paying inflated prices, when in fact they are. Fortunately, most gun folk are used to thinking in terms of price per round, so hopefully this deceptive practice won't be as successful with ammunition, but I'm still very disappointed to see it taking place.

We got a full half-gallon of icecream recently and it seemed huge compared to the quart and a half, half gallons.

 

[ORhutner]

It pays to be a savvy consumer. If you don't support the manufactures who are conducting business in a manner you disagree with, vote with your dollars by purchasing elsewhere/competitors products. The issue we face in the gun industry is that consolidation has limited our choices and it is hard for a new manufacturer to get started making ammo, primers, competitive firearms, etc.... It has however opened the door for overseas manufacturers like S&B, PPU and others to get a foothold in the US market. I personally have switched to S&B as my preferred manufacturer for most of the bulk ammunition I purchase.

 

[cigars]

Hopefully they have someone watching this forum...

Don't worry, they do. But they don't care.

 

[Certaindeaf]

It ain't just the gun industry either. Go try to buy a half gallon of Tillamook ice cream or even their butter.... And once one of the companies does it, they all tend to. Wish I'd gotten into reloading much sooner....

This is why I bought a cow with seating dies on its feets years ago.
pretty simple really

 

[powersbj]

This is why I bought a cow with seating dies on its feets years ago.
pretty simple really

There's a mad cow disease pun in there somewhere....

 

[quneur]

Its the whole industry. Manufacturers are scrambling to get raw materials and are bidding against other industries (who are also hurting). What the manufacturers do make goes to large contracts first like government agencies, police departments, etc. They have to fulfill those contracts and satisfy those clients or lose contracts in the future.

What the public gets are overruns and whatever materials are left overs (NATO calibers). But inoder to keep the company's public image, they will try to supply as many units as they can including using 'shrink inflation.' If they didn't use shrink inflation, the price/unit would show the actual inflation figures.

 

[Camelfilter]

...If they didn't use shrink inflation, the price/unit would show the actual inflation figures.

Most folks use price per round as the unit price.

 

[quneur]

Most folks use price per round as the unit price.

Not for the new or occasional shooter. At least they can buy some ammo and not have sticker shock.

Personally, I look at it as 'how many rounds will $$ buy' vs the cost of xx rounds. With the former, at least I get to buy some on my budget. The latter becomes more as an investment.

 

[VanceInWA]

Wow. Saw a couple NWFA ads this morning. 100 cases of Hornady 6.5 PRC for $150. Retumbo for $90 per pound. Is that really what the market will sustain?
I don't know whether I should feel uber rich with my supply in hand, or feel that shrinkflation is smacking my wallet even worse than I thought...