Buying Has Sure Changed

In July, I could see what was coming as there were already rumblings in the news about things being in short supply, back-ordered or deliveries being affected by shipping delays with no end in sight. I thought I'd better get busy with my Christmas shopping early so I did... and I'm done already. I really only buy for my grandson so shopping isn't too difficult. Most of what I got for him I ordered online but I did it so early that I didn't experience any problems. One of the gifts was shipped from Germany, though, and it's THE gift so I was really nervous about that one arriving in good shape and on time. When I ordered it in September, there were only 7 in stock and when I look for it now that item is unavailable. You can't get it anywhere now. I'm glad I ordered it when I did.

I ordered a new robe for myself online from L.L. Bean on 9-23-21. It was back-ordered and just shipped yesterday so that took a little over a month. I ordered this same robe about 5 years ago and I think it shipped 3-4 days after I ordered it.

My heating & air conditioning guy told me my hot water heater is "living on borrowed time". I know he's right because it's the original hot water heater that was installed when the house was built in 1994. I haven't had any trouble with it but it's pretty rusted and looks worn out. Rather than wait for it to die, I decided to go ahead and replace it. The plumber I'm working with told me the hot water heater I'm buying is back-ordered and they don't know when it will be available. He only installs a specific commercial brand of hot water heater in residences because he said the ones made for residences are pretty much junk. So all I can do is wait and keep my fingers crossed that my old one will keep chugging along until the new one arrives.

Thank goodness we haven't needed any new major appliances or furniture. I've heard it can take several months now to get. What do people do if they have a major appliance go out that's not worth fixing and they NEED a new one? Are they forced then to buy a used one? Some things you just got to have... like, a refrigerator! How are people coping when there's stuff like this they can't get?

I no longer wait for sales or even look for sales. If I want or need something and I see it somewhere, I usually just go ahead and get it because it may not be there later. I've noticed lots of ads now say "Out of Stock", or "Currently Unavailable" and "we don't know if/when this item will be available again". It can be frustrating.

Have you guys experienced problems in trying to get certain things these days? Not necessarily for Christmas... just things in general. If so, what sorts of things?

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Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/27/2021 05:44AM by MamaRAMa.