It's not only China as CB90 points out, the EU presents problems too. Take one individual German supplier. Aeronaut boat kits. Normally readily available from a number of suppliers in the UK.Look at their lists, and what do you see against many of their more popular kits, "unavailable" "unavailable" "unavailable". And what can be responsible for this, well I have heard Brexit mentioned and the difficulty of importing anything from our former partners.

Cheers, Nerys

Bikes to the rescue indeed! Went for a good run yesterday, which will be one of the last ones of the year apart from having it serviced next week.

Bikes are one of my summer hobbies which means that I don't do much model boat modelling throughout the summer. Though now the weather is on the turn I've started the long delayed painting so progress will increase again.

As far as prices go, they are only going one way I'm afraid, and due to the increasingly cost of living, especially like ours in the UK, then folks won't have the money to buy things for hobbies with the potential knock on effect for suppliers.

Quite true I think Michel Claude, the Chinese might price themselves out of the market eventually. People here are starting to buy local, even if the price is a bit more. I am actively buying goods made in NZ, or foods made in Australia, Europe, South Africa, Taiwan, S Korea, Indonesia etc, (even India) as the Chinese stuff is total rubbish. Locally made plastic goods (containers etc) are 100% better than the Chinese stuff, which falls to bits and is probably recycled plastic. Electronic goods seem ok, but a lot of other products are not worth the money.

JB

Bikes to the Rescue👍👍
Trev

I think they are all using it as an excuse to hike prices Nerys, happening here big time as well, (eg some items have gone up 20-30% or more in some cases. The material price of building a house here has gone up as much as 50% and builders are having to stop work due to lack of supplies. They will no longer give a firm price on a build, as material prices go up every time a ship comes in.

JB

Hello everyone!
It's like that everywhere! Here in Switzerland, a customs surcharge is added to the purchase price, which is really cheeky!
That's why I usually combine shopping in Germany / France or Italy with a motorcycle trip lasting several days. Most of the time the weather is right too. . .that's how it is done! All facts, your posts are correct!
Wait and see, at some point the tables will turn and national specialists will be in demand again, even if the price is a little higher.
Look positively ahead, hobbyist greetings your Michel-Claude
👍😎👍😊
PS: 3D printers are already cheap. But please buy middle class here as well and if someone can teach me what these devices are about, report it! Personal experiences are wanted here and really welcome!

I rarely buy from Ebay/direct from China (and only if I can't get anywhere else) and in the main use established UK based suppliers but where do you think they get a lot of their stock from!

As has been said many times you can't buy stuff made in the UK even if you wanted to which is a real pity.

It is like that in the US also.
Trev

I'm not trying to alter the direction of this thread, but have you noticed how supermarket prices have risen, it seems that every time we go shopping, prices have risen . Just a few coppers, but practically weekly. I'm beginning to think that greed has taken over from increased production , shipping or raw material costs.

cheers, Nerys

Not sure what parts are not available as I have not found any shortages for my requirements. True, costs have increased mainly due to the COVID restrictions disrupting commerce. Then there was that large container ship accident in the Suez Canal. It was reported to be carrying lots of Chinese goods destined for Europe, and that certainly did disrupt the supply chain adding to shortages and increased costs.
UK suppliers have stocks of most model supplies so perhaps we need to look closer to home when sourcing our model bits.
It is also good to see that Model shows are beginning to reappear and will hopefully provide a good source for our modelling requirements.
dave976