Time to order from RMR!

Rec'd word that material prices are increasing, forcing an upcoming price increase on in-house products.
Wait times are as long as ever, but if you're contemplating a purchase, it's time to order.

 

Holy cow are they going to get bombarded.

 

I appreciated the detailed email they sent out.

It sucks being in their position of trying to control pricing with the ever changing markets in regards to raw materials.

Years ago when the metal markets first went crazy, I worked for a company that machined high voltage transfer components.
We're talking large chunks of copper that were machined to make transfer mechanisms etc.
It got to the point that our quotes from the distributors were only good till the close of business that day.

Thank you, RMR!
I can honestly say I know what you are up against.

 

The more I do business with that company the more impressed I am with the way they operate.

 

RMR is good people. The material increase sucks, but they'll still be the best option; with great customer service!

 

I got the same email and my first impulse was to put in an order to save some $$.

My second thought was that I have plenty of their bullets and that breaking their backs for bullets I will not need now or the immediate future was not right.

Plus too many guys here and elsewhere might need them.

So I put my credit card away.

 

I’ll still keep buying from them, price increase and all. They’re a top notch company that’s always filled my orders fast. Times are tough for all.

 

In for another 2K of 124 RN before the price increase. Love me some RMR boolits for sure.

Bill

 

I trust that Jake knows how hard to push things, so I'm not too worried about 'breaking any backs,,,' I'm in no hurry, and like others, I'm flush with projectiles right now.
But, by the time they arrive, the 2k additional Matchwinners that I ordered will help replenish my reserves.

 

It’s winter weather here in Ohio so it’s my time to roll and replenish my reserves that were expended over the summer. That includes buying more projectiles so the delays in shipping aren’t that big of a deal for me right now.

 

I picked up another 2K of the 55 grain bt for the ar. Quanties available at RMR are dropping FAST.

 

Am I the only one not buying this hook line and sinker?

RMR makes a great product, but my last 2 orders took 14 weeks. They already raised their prices once this year, when they dropped bulk pricing. The costs of copper did go up slightly in the last month, HOWEVER, it is dropping a bit and it is still sitting well below multiyear historical averages. It's only slightly (like 20c per pound) more than it was in 2018. You can't compare the spike up in December to the spike down in March as those were temporary deviations from the annual average. One could argue that by dropping bulk discount prices, sitting on order money for 12 weeks, they were well ahead of the game. Lead is in the same boat as copper, however, I'd argue it's now well below historical averages and well below the costs in 2018 and 2019. Again, you can't compare the December spike up to the spike down in March. It's already started to correct down.

 

Demand is driving prices at the moment. I got similar emails from loaded ammo suppliers that I had bought 1000 of rounds from in the past. I'll wait it out as I have my stash and good for quite awhile.

 

Copper prices are higher than they’ve been since 2012 (see above pricing). And if one looks at the trendline there is upward mobility to go higher. Given the situation with a change of administration, huge demand, and the Kung flu; it’s not surprising.

One thing I would like to mention is that RMR at least in my experience has been VERY competitive on their pricing in recent years past, so if a vendor is running lean, they are going to have to be proactive on changes of COGS not reactive.

But it’s your prerogative on whether you buy Jake’s forecasting.

As for me Jake’s been good to me, and it’s not hard for one to price shop with the internet; so why would he risk looking greedy for the sake of some quick sales in an already overworked time in their business?

Good luck to you finding a better bullet supplier than RMR, they’ve got to the point they are at because of treating their customers well. And you will find it’s not just me that thinks so on this site.

Now I didn’t need any more projectiles outside of what I’ve already got on order but if I did need some more; you bet I would be listening to Jake. His current prices (that he is offering to customers before he raises prices) are great on his projectiles and the qualify is hard to beat.

So based on your assessment the only advantage that RMR stands to benefit from is holding customers money on back orders, or you feel the copper prices are going to go down and not up. Why then, other than the aforementioned two reasons above would Jake offer current pricing for one more last gasp of orders to his current customers?

 

I already have a better bullet supplier than RMR. I would have been happy to stick with them, but the removal of bulk pricing and the 14 week wait pretty much forced me to find other sources.

If you look at my copper chart, and from your table, you can also see that the 2020 year low was lower than any year other than in 2015. In his email he mentions "losing" 60K due to the increased costs, but that is simply not true. What about how much he gained during the spike down earlier in the year. The spike up is rather recent, and it's already starting to go back down.



Now as far as why he decided to give advance notice? I don't have any inside knowledge to his motives, but the truth is anyone ordering over the last 4 months has essentially floated him an interest free loan for 4 months. Try to find a bank that will do that. So threaten a price increase, drive your backlog up to 6 months and boom, now you essentially have a 6 month interest free loan. Not trying to knock the guy, the entire industry is foobar right now.

I suspect the price increase is more due to increased demand, rather than commodity price fluctuations. Can't knock him for raising prices due to increased demand as his backlog keeps growing. 14 weeks is quite a long time, so if he can't increase output further, increasing prices could help him normalize production. With that being said, call it for what it is, rather than claim it's due to losing money from commodity price changes.

 

It's called dollar cost averaging. They have continual orders in and are constantly buying at the current rate. Just like with stocks, that is the preferred way to buy so that you aren't timing the market. And to quote Warren Buffet, when other people are getting greedy, that is when you get fearful. When other people get fearful, that is when you should get greedy. That strategy works quite well. So yes things will cost more when the price goes up, but they also cost less when the price comes down. If the price was only going up and continuously that is when you start to see inflation. Your more than welcome to keep ordering from them, I'm certainly not trying to persuade anyone not too. I don't have anything against them, this is all par for the industry. The entire firearms and ammo industry is completely foobar and mismanaged. These constant ebbs and flows in pricing and availability is absurd. It's one thing if some rare once in a lifetime event that no one could ever predict caused a temporary shortfall (or surplus) but these are continual repeated patterns and the industry should have a better way of dealing with it other than a 1Y+ backlog. Personally, I'm well supplied for around 2 years. It's still frustrating and annoying to see this pattern repeat time and time again.

 

I think I’ll hold off buying any more bullets until copper and lead prices cycle back down and bullet prices drop back down accordingly. They will, won’t they?

 

I guess one needs to think back a remember when one could get 1,000 124gr 9mm for cheaper than $80 to begin to answer whether they have enough stock in their possession to wait for those prices again. And understand that you have the risk of prices going up further and having to pay more.

 

No-o-o-o! They wouldn't go up more, would they?