The tl;dr:
Prices are going to go up significantly and I'm way far behind on
everything and trying to catch up.
For the time-being, all prices on the site will be honored for
anything that's in stock.
Right now that is the Small, Small/Medium and Medium Fixture sets
as well as most accessories.
About prices:
I've been holding the same prices for several years now even as
my costs have risen on everything in my fixture sets from the costs
of raw
materials and hardware to shipping and everything else. Not to
mention that my cost of living has also risen dramatically.
Making matters much worse, MY cost on magnets (wholesale)
from my supplier is now MORE per magnet to buy 5,000 of them than
you can buy them by the 100 on Amazon for the exact same magnet.
My cost on magnets is approximately four times what it was just two
years ago.
Obviously there is a mark-up between me and you for the magnets I
supply in my sets. Culling out damaged magnets, repackaging,
etc... all adds to the cost for you.
So I've been wrestling with this and trying to figure out a good
answer and frankly I don't have one.
What I'm strongly considering is only supplying my fixture sets
without magnets and the customer will have to supply their own which
is more of a hassle for the customer but they will pay a lot less
for the overall set.
I can also supply magnets but as a special order as I do not plan
to stock them like I have in the past So if you want to order
a set with magnets from me then there may be a 2-3 week lead-time
for me to buy magnets from Amazon to put in your set.
It's stupid, I know. Please buy my magnetic fixture system
that doesn't come with magnets. :(
Also, the wood I use is very hard to find. I don't even
know what I'm going to do about that but I have a good supply for
now.
So that's the costs part of all of this.
About Manufacturing:
This isn't my main gig. I actually work in a hospital to
pay the bills.
The other part is just having more orders than I can handle.
I'm always out of something and can't seem to stay caught up.
I've been out of the 5-1/2" Fixture Extensions for months and am
nowhere close to even starting on them because I'm also almost out
of 1-1/2" Fixtures and Vertical Presses.
The Vertical Presses are another issue. My jig to route
them isn't getting the job done any more so I have to build a new
one.
And the Tap Guide for the Vertical Presses broke. I have a
lathe. I have no idea how to use it. The man who made my
guide isn't around any more to make me another one. It's a
simple part and probably a good beginner's lathe project for me if
and when I get time to get to it.
About Ghosting My Customers:
I very strongly apologize to all the customers I ghosted.
I don't have an excuse. I mean I do but I don't think it's
good enough. If you care, then the past couple of years of
taken a lot out of me and I don't have the energy or motivation I
used to have. I've had covid at least three times and I think
four. That's changed everything about my life. Other
stuff as well but it doesn't matter.
Anyway.... all of this has been very depressing.
The point is I'm going to do what I can to improve and respond to
customers in a timely manner.
Again, if you're one of the people who contacted me and I never
got back to you I'm really sorry.
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