Vista (Federal, CCI and Remington) price increase in 4/2022 and NO new primer orders accepted

[Marshal Fire, SASS 10064]

 

1. Dear Customer:
   
   Thank you for your business and for your continued support of American jobs and manufacturing. As we continue to see supply chain constraints and increases in our raw materials, we are increasing our pricing to help offset those rising costs.
   
   Effective 4/1/2022, CCI, Federal, Hevi–Shot, Remington, and SPEER ammunition will take the following price increases:
    

   • Primers – 5%
   • Powder – 5%
   • Handgun – 2-8%
   • Rifle – 3-8%
   • Shotgun – 3-12%

   Additionally, due to continued demand, NO new Primer orders will be accepted until further notice.
   
   Unless you notify us to cancel an order, we will reprice all existing and future orders shipped on or after 4/1/2022 to the new prices.
   
   You will receive your finalized price list no later than March 15th, 2022.
   
   Thank you for your continued support of our brands and our American workforce.
   
   Jason R. Vanderbrink
   
   President, Ammunition

    

    

   #1

    

[T-Square]

Time to buy your Vista Outdoors stock - if you haven't already !

NYSE: VSTO

Vista Outdoor now has 39 brands, 10 of which have more than $100 million in annual revenue, including Federal, Remington, CCI, Spear, and Estate.

https://vistaoutdoor.com/brands/

 

[Badlands Bob #61228]

The problem is, Vista Outdoors is not producing enough product to meet the demand.  Unfulfilled demand doesn't bring in any money.  It also irritates your customers because they are jacking up the prices on a product that they won't even take orders for.  

[Tex Jones, SASS 2263]

That came out in August or September, if I remember correctly.  The LGSs here have had it posted for a while.

[Texas Jack Black]

 This will be the year of the ANT and the GRASSHOPPER

[Texas Jack Black]

1 hour ago, john brown said:

 This will be the year of the ANT and the GRASSHOPPER

 

 AESOP'S FABLES

[Dusty Devil Dale]

2 hours ago, Badlands Bob #61228 said:

The problem is, Vista Outdoors is not producing enough product to meet the demand.  Unfulfilled demand doesn't bring in any money.  It also irritates your customers because they are jacking up the prices on a product that they won't even take orders for.  

We consumers have demonstrated willingness to pay much more, rather than do without their products.  So the message we sent Vista was to create conditions to test more price increases and find the maximum price that enough of us are still willing to pay,  Then hold the price there permanently as they increase supply on the store shelves.   With no competition from imported products,  we are literally at the mercy of their economics modeling and profit gaming. 

 

Receiving a higher price by releasing less product is not a new game, and it is actually quite efficient.  Increased efficiency is much more profitable than paying out to produce more product and selling it too cheaply. 

[T-Square]

And for the young folks, who didn't know our friend Cowboy friend Aesop;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antz

 

[T-Square]

...and as to Vista Outdoors, their published data show that they have been increasing production and thus revenue (ammo sales up 67%).

As with the free market, they pay more for raw materials, labor, taxes, and Governmental intrusions, and those costs get passed on to the consumer.

I cant speak to availability of competition for Ammo Mfgrs, and it seems the Government has worked diligently to quash all forms of competition, in all industries, while They chose the Winners and Losers, and re-distribute wealth. IMHO

[Texas Jack Black]

1 hour ago, T-Square said:

And for the young folks, who didn't know our friend Cowboy friend Aesop;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antz

 

  Not the  ANTZ  movie.    The Ant prepares as the Grasshopper plays his fiddle and never learns to prepare for hard times. When supply shortages of shooting components occur  SASS loses shooters and price increases also hurt the game. Those who are prepared will do fine but the overall number of members will suffer.

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

3 hours ago, john brown said:

 This will be the year of the ANT and the GRASSHOPPER

2020 and 2021 were, for sure.

 

Trusting "Just In Time" manufacturing and shipping systems to predict upcoming extreme changes in demand (either very much higher or very much lower) is burning up supply AND trust.   Especially if most of the goods are produced by off-shore suppliers.  Ammunition, primers, automotive computer chips, toilet paper and household cleaners - all have shown us that Just In Time is more like "Nobody Gets Anything" for months after unusual economic and political events occur.

 

We can't fix most inventory control systems, unless our first name is Jason.  We can attempt to reduce turbulence caused by economic and civil unrest.   We certainly can encourage (and should) more on-shore, Made in USA production of key materials for modern civilization.

 

good luck, and plan ahead for your own wants and needs, GJ

 

 

[T-Square]

Jason Vanderbrink ? Yes he has more impact than you or I, but I doubt he can get the mines in Australia to produce any more copper nor get it here any faster.

Totally Agree on the inventory "trust" issues.  All those Preppers aren't a conspiracy theory anymore.

[John Barleycorn, SASS #76982]

1 minute ago, T-Square said:

What is the "Jason" reference?

Jason Bourne - awesome assassin

Jason Aldean - great Country singer

Jason's Deli - a wonderful place for a sandwich

Jason the machete wielding slasher. He will slash prices.

[Cypress Sun]

Truth is that they are milking the retailers, shooters and reloaders for everything that they can wring out of them. Vista Outdoors, with the ban of foreign components, has basically become an ammo/reloading component monopoly that can charge whatever they want to, for as long as they want to, until the consumer puts their foot down and refuses to pay stupid prices. There are extenuating circumstances for the continued shortages in all commodities but the real reason for it is corporate greed.

 

YMMV

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

2 hours ago, Cypress Sun said:

with the ban of foreign components,

 

The only major ban or embargo that I know of currently which affects sporting arms industry is on Russian firearms and ammunition.   And that has been in place for a long time.  It's time we recognize that world wide production and shipping of firearms related material is being deeply impacted by the virus pandemic.   Remington going out of business for several months due to financial ineptitude didn't help either.  Ramped up demand caused by projected but thankfully not realized civil unrest has chewed through what production output Vista owned companies and Winchester (not Vista owned) can provide.  We do have major supply problems, no doubt.  But trying to influence Russian expansion in the Ukraine and a couple of other eastern European areas through embargoes rather than active countermeasures is not what has gotten us into our current kettle of fish, as far as I can tell.  

 

good luck, GJ

 

 

[Dusty Devil Dale]

7 hours ago, Cypress Sun said:

Truth is that they are milking the retailers, shooters and reloaders for everything that they can wring out of them. Vista Outdoors, with the ban of foreign components, has basically become an ammo/reloading component monopoly that can charge whatever they want to, for as long as they want to, until the consumer puts their foot down and refuses to pay stupid prices. There are extenuating circumstances for the continued shortages in all commodities but the real reason for it is corporate greed.

 

YMMV

Regardless of which excuses they give the consumers from month to month, the principal job of a corporate board is to turn profits for stockholders.  So far they've used at least 4 semi plausible  reasons over the past 3-4 years to keep us engaged --

1) Expanded Military purchases,

2) COVID staffing problems, 

3) Materials cost issues, and now,

4) supply-transport issues. 

 

To predict the next catastrophic reason for price increases and product shortages, just look at the headlines.  Meanwhile, we keep searching for scarce products and paying the higher prices, somehow expecting that they'll soon elect to reduce stockholder dividens in order to deliver abundant, cheaper products to us.  Don't fool yourself.  

There will be plenty of raw materials and labor available when the price point reaches their goal.  

[Nostrum Damus SASS #110702]

20 hours ago, Dusty Devil Dale said:

We consumers have demonstrated willingness to pay much more, rather than do without their products.  So the message we sent Vista was to create conditions to test more price increases and find the maximum price that enough of us are still willing to pay,  Then hold the price there permanently as they increase supply on the store shelves.   With no competition from imported products,  we are literally at the mercy of their economics modeling and profit gaming. 

 

Receiving a higher price by releasing less product is not a new game, and it is actually quite efficient.  Increased efficiency is much more profitable than paying out to produce more product and selling it too cheaply. 

That sounds a lot like the Laws of Supply and Demand, Price Elasticity of Demand, etc etc etc.  Scottish economist Adam Smith figured all of this out in 1776 ( a big year for lots of reasons), when he wrote in An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations that the basics of capitalism were supply and demand, division of labor, and the pursuit of self-interest.

Let's not forget that Smith's biggest critic (some years later) was ... you guessed it, didn't you? ... Karl Marx.  I wonder what economic system all of the complainers here would prefer we have here in America.  Perhaps the the centrally planned price controls of Communism as proposed by Marxist theory?  Americans have fought wars and died to preserve Vista's right to charge whatever the market will bear, in its pursuit of its own self-interest.  I don't think the Vista shareholders are complaining too much.

[Deuce Stevens SASS#55996]

Long story short they are dumping ammo on the market cheaper than components, and punking every small, medium and large ammo manufacturer all the way to the bank.