Damn, is that just profiteering or what from your distribution chain or what
I guess demand -> goes up price
The free market system shouldn't be this hard to understand...
The govt has just destroyed the distributor's business, who knows their financial commitments (long term lease, financed expansion, employee severance, etc), so its pretty hard to see why they wouldn't maximize their revenue while they can.
Or more simply, if they can charge more for their limited supply of goods, and people will pay that, then power to them. A plumber doesn't still charge you $70/hr when the rates are now $105, just because he installed a toilet in your house ten years ago, nor does Toyota sell you a pick-up for $16,000 just because thats what you paid for the new one you bought in 1993.
Every industry prices their product at what the market will support, if its too high the money goes elsewhere. If its too low, then the product sells out too fast and the industry has lost potential income.
Some of the other retailers have been getting smack talked about their post Aug 5 price increases, maybe some of that is true profit taking (but again, is that wrong on their part?), but maybe they were also paying increased wholesale costs (and shipping and wages aren't exactly going down either), and looking at their business models going forwards and seeing they needed a higher profit margin to be viable with the upcoming reduced volume.
PR has done an awesome job on holding prices, but its going to be at the cost of lower profit margins. Hopefully its been mostly PR having all their poop in one tidy pile (they were organized enough to pull the trigger on some big orders the minute the regs were announced (prior to price increases), but I suspect its more likely to be 16hr days of tracking down every hint of a rusted up old woodsman sitting in someone's shed... To be more simple, if theres 100 people that are hungry, and the farmer had 100 tomatoes, he will get a certain price. But if 100 people are hungry, and he only had 20 tomatoes (and the choice is between tomatoes and mud pies) is he an awful person for asking for more money for his tomatoes? Or if he charges the same price, how does he decide who gets them? Going by price is just as legit as any other determination.
If everyone goes to work tomorrow and tells their boss (or customers) that they will work for 2014 wages from now on, you will likely be very, very busy. But most will end up financially ruined.
Although PR has built up lots of goodwill here. Hopefully people remember that the next time they are shopping and PR has reloading dies at $78 and some eastern store has them at $74...