There was a sort of artificial ceiling on primers of $30 a thousand. Nobody wanted to bust that and you could get them for less than $20 a thousand everywhere you looked. I was buying Wolf for $18 a thousand delivered to my door, including Hazmat and S&H&Ins.
Now that there was a shortage, they busted the ceiling of $30 and looked for the new high- which IMHO is now at $50- nobody wants to be over that. I can get all the primers I want in stock at my local gunstore in all types (have to not be picky about brand) for under $40 a thousand and heading to $35 a thousand.
I do not forsee regular prices under $30 a thousand for primers again, unless we're talking bought in bulk. Wolf raised their price to $26 a k and that basically killed any reason for the other vendors to keep their prices low. CCI is now the cheapest, believe that.
In terms of powder, we will NEVER AGAIN see surplus powder for cheap cheap cheap. It will NEVER BE SEEN AGAIN. The US Government is now destroying old powder and surplus instead of selling it, and the only surplus we will see is stuff that was never us.gov property.. and the foreign surplus, the sellers have realized that what they thought was garbage ten years ago actually does have value, and they want real money for it now, so surplus is now costing 90% of new cannister powder.
Just like gasoline....or college educations. Once it became affordable, the sellers boosted the price to find where the ceiling could be. Price it just high enough to be affordable, and keep raising it. The strategy is, as long as their is demand, keep raising the price until enough people stop wanting the product that you can get caught up on production.
Right now, Wal*Mart sells the cheapest ammo around. Problem is they are always out of it. The days of $5 9mm and 500-bricks of .22 LR for $6 are over forever.
Who's getting primers for $29.99/1,000? The cheapest I've seen in the last 18 months is $33.99/1,000 for Winchester small pistol primers.
