Supply and Demand

[Mark Page]

Last year I bought 2 new Husky chain saws as upgrades from my Poulans. I put the pair of Poulans, along with a dozen chains, hard cases, 2 new bars and a pint of fuel oil on Craig's List and ebay for $75 total, no takers. Last week we had a very severe thunderstorms come through the area putting 300,00 people out of power and taking down thousands of trees. So I catch this story on the news about the shortage of chain saws and generators. Real quick like I put an ad for the saws on CL for $150 for the pair. Three hours later this guy shows up cash in hand and took the pair.
Classic supply and demand scenario.
Fortunately the storm went to the south of us and we lost not so much as a limb.
They were showing Home Depot stores devoid of anything that even looked like a chain saw. Even the Stihl dealers sold out.

 

[amigauser]

Same thing happened last October here in Connecticut. Both chain saws and generators were sold out everywhere within a reasonable driving distance.

 

[Baby Grand]

Same thing happened last October here in Connecticut. Both chain saws and generators were sold out everywhere within a reasonable driving distance.

Yup. I remember buying the stores last 50 amp plug in the Enfield Home Depot so I could hook my genny up to the house.

 

[jenkinsph]

Last month we lost about 250 homes in the local Little Bear fire sure changed the rental market here. I expect a rejuvination of the home building market for later this year. Lots of new skidsteer graple operators in town.

 

[creekbend]

When Hurricane Andrew went through Florida, the entire shelves of major grocery store chains were nearly bare. This happened most times that Hurricanes were forcast to hit. Some people were even buying up all the available batteries at Home Depot, and then proceed to sell them in the farthest part of the Home Depot parking lot at escalated prices. The same thing happened in regards to generators;etc. People would purchase them in areas that weren't affected by the storms and sell them at exorbitant prices - sometimes at 3 to 5 times the purchase price. Some sellers were even prosecuted. I agree with making a profit. I see nothing wrong with this. Part of the Free Enterprise System. But these individuals were taking advantage of people in dire need of supplies. In my viewpoint, your business transaction was appropriate. I posted this in regards to people taking advantage of other people in dire need. When excessive greed enters the arena, that is entirely different. Just my thoughts. None of us know when we will find the need to rely on a helping hand from others. In some cases, organizations such as the Red Cross and Salvation Army take time to respond. This is when Neighbor helping Neighbor truly is a recognizable attribute. Once again, I wish to reiterate that I saw no fault in regards to your business transaction. BTW, I lived and worked in Florida for 25 years.

 

[schoolsout]

When Hurricane Andrew went through Florida, the entire shelves of major grocery store chains were nearly bare. This happened most times that Hurricanes were forcast to hit. Some people were even buying up all the available batteries at Home Depot, and then proceed to sell them in the farthest part of the Home Depot parking lot at escalated prices. The same thing happened in regards to generators;etc. People would purchase them in areas that weren't affected by the storms and sell them at exorbitant prices - sometimes at 3 to 5 times the purchase price. Some sellers were even prosecuted. I agree with making a profit. I see nothing wrong with this. Part of the Free Enterprise System. But these individuals were taking advantage of people in dire need of supplies. In my viewpoint, your business transaction was appropriate. I posted this in regards to people taking advantage of other people in dire need. When excessive greed enters the arena, that is entirely different. Just my thoughts. None of us know when we will find the need to rely on a helping hand from others. In some cases, organizations such as the Red Cross and Salvation Army take time to respond. This is when Neighbor helping Neighbor truly is a recognizable attribute. Once again, I wish to reiterate that I saw no fault in regards to your business transaction. BTW, I lived and worked in Florida for 25 years.

Had family in Miami and we went down after Andrew with our stuff we bought when Hugo came through SC. Helped out and sold the chainsaw to one of the neighbors since none were to be found in stores.

 

[s219]

Saw the same thing when Hurricane Irene came through VA last fall. One of my old saws was in need of a rebuild so I was planning on buying a new one, and the timing was bad -- I had to wait about a week after the storm to get the saw I wanted. The stores and dealers were sold out even before the storm got here. People were even buying display models. The local Stihl dealer got in a whole truckload of MS-250 and 290 saws and sold them all.

Then about 2-3 weeks later, there was a glut of returned saws at Home Depot, which I found to be annoying. Looks like a lot of people bought a new saw, used it (hard -- in most cases the saws were filthy) and then returned it. Free rental in other words. That seemed real slimey to me.

 

[Mark Page]

Were it not for the liability I would have gone toward the city and helped out, but in our litigious society being a good samaritan can be risky business. Years ago I used to travel the country pulling people out of snow banks. In these parts it dosen't take much snow for people to get stuck. I mentioned this to my insurance agent one day and he hit the roof, saying I was just setting myself up for a suit. So now I just shuttle personnel to the local hospitals and home. One day I went through 2 tanks of fuel in my F-150 and not one of my passengers offered a penny towards gas.
I miss pulling people out of the snow because there's not much they can do to help themslves and it was one **** of a lot fun.

 

[kebo]

I remember many years ago in the 80's, we were visiting my dad's sisters family in Kissimmee, Florida just before hurricane David was coming in from the ocean and getting close to the Florida coastline. My uncle, who was an Allstate agent, actually had a guy call him wanting to see if he could get hurricane insurance just before it hit!! If they sold policies like that, they would all go broke!!!!

 

[creekbend]

Had family in Miami and we went down after Andrew with our stuff we bought when Hugo came through SC. Helped out and sold the chainsaw to one of the neighbors since none were to be found in stores.

A friend of mine that worked for FPL went to the Miami area after Andrew. The heavy equipment operators had to put sheet metal around their equipment because people were actually firing pop shots at them while they were working to clear the areas. We were expecting Andrew to hit the Tampa Bay area, but the Hurricane took an unpredictable turn and headed straight down and across toward the Miami region. On a business trip two years later after Andrew, I drove across Alligator Alley, and there were still areas that were still not clear of devastation in the Red Clay area. The same friend of mine that worked for FPL that I mentioned earlier, showed me pictures that he took. Among the pictures were a commercial I-beam that was twisted like a metal coat hanger. Another picture clearly showed a pine needle that was embedded in a creosote utility pole. If I hadn't seen the pictures, and if he hadn't been a good friend of mine, it would had been difficult to believe that wind could send a pine needle into a creosote light pole. We all know how fragile pine needles are. BYW, I respect you for helping out.