I decided to buy some more packing supplies today and was shocked by the increase in prices of toploaders. My last purchase was in the summer, £10.99 for 100 and 100 card sleeves. Just clicked to buy again and the price is now £29.99!!!

Is there a global shortage or something for the price to increase threefold?? And £30 was cheap as found similar listings for £40-50!!

I was at my local sports card shop looking for sleeves a couple of months ago and one of the clerks told me some items are a bit scarce because of the shutdown with some products not being replaceable for the time being. I haven't seen any crazy price increases like that, though.

Lucky for me, I keep finding extra top loaders mixed in stacks of files and paperwork on my desk and in boxes at home.

Jess

quote:

Originally posted by Jason Wright:
I decided to buy some more packing supplies today and was shocked by the increase in prices of toploaders. My last purchase was in the summer, £10.99 for 100 and 100 card sleeves. Just clicked to buy again and the price is now £29.99!!!

Is there a global shortage or something for the price to increase threefold?? And £30 was cheap as found similar listings for £40-50!!

Many factors...

Most sleeves and toploads are made in China. West Coast ports are behind and most of China was shut down for part of last year.

Many plastics are going toward PPE, not toploads and sleeves.

And a general increase in demand as collectors organize their collections at home during lockdown.

Right now, my supplier (GTS) has almost zero stock on most supply items. So what I have on hand is irreplaceable right now.

I know one local shop has been paying retail for sleeves online, just to have them for their customers. Losing a few cents on every sale.

Crazy times we live in.

Ed

I ordered top loaders and boxes a while back from my supplier and they were on a 2 month back order. Just checked and now it is almost 4 months. Couldn't wait so had to purchase top loaders and sleeves elsewhere and they were about 2.5 times the normal price.

Most of those hobby supplies are made in China so there is a shortage right there. But companies that manufacture anything plastic, or especially formed plastic, have made a fortune in these times and can't even keep up with the orders. All those standing barriers and desk partitions that are now found in every office, Bank and grocery store are formed and cut out plastic, not glass. A lot of the PPE is made of plastic too.

Not saying its the same makers as top loaders, but that's where all the plastic is going and its a pandemic all its own. After years of trying to curb plastic production for the good of the environment, it's all gone out the window and no one cares right now. Later on when all this stuff is left over, it will be a big disposal problem.

9mm and .45 ammunition has more than doubled since March as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Mullins:
9mm and .45 ammunition has more than doubled since March as well.

But worth every penny!

On the card side, I tried to buy some 100 and 150 count slip cases, they are between 3 and 4 dollars each at best!

Card collectors guarding their top loader supply no doubt.

Typically for me I tossed out about 1000 old top loaders that were taking up space a year ago .

quote:

Originally posted by Triple-Frog:
Typically for me I tossed out about 1000 old top loaders that were taking up space a year ago .

I thought about this when i saw this thread, i think i did the same.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:

quote:

Originally posted by Triple-Frog:
Typically for me I tossed out about 1000 old top loaders that were taking up space a year ago .

I thought about this when i saw this thread, i think i did the same.

These days I usually toss any empty top loaders that arrive at my house, however somewhere I still have a couple of boxes of top loaders I don't need which probably number about 400 or so. My shortage is penny sleeves but I have some of those on the way.

regards

John

can't call them "penny sleeves" anymore. More like "nickel sleeves".

quote:

Originally posted by pcetodd:
can't call them "penny sleeves" anymore. More like "nickel sleeves".

Well the dealer that I have ordered from also calls them penny sleeves. I found this strange as a penny is part of the currency in the UK but not part of US currency but following his explanation I now understand.

regards

John

The U.S. has pennies. they are worth 1/100th of a dollar.

Supply & demand. There are empty spots on the shelves in the local hobby shops where I would normally find a variety of sizes of top loaders.

quote:

Originally posted by pcetodd:
The U.S. has pennies. they are worth 1/100th of a dollar.

Originally I thought they were cents not pennies until I was informed otherwise hence my comment. Why is there two names for the same value coin which I presume states that it has a 1 cent value?

regards

John

quote:

Originally posted by JOHN LEVITT:
Why is there two names for the same value coin which I presume states that it has a 1 cent value?

regards

John

There isn't two names really, its just that when you say one cent people understand that its a penny. Cent may have derived as being short for percentage.

The coin names are penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half-dollar and dollar. Only the dollar has a paper currency equivalent.

But if you want to convert that to the "cent" value, it would be one cent, five cents, ten cents, twenty-five cents, fifty cents and no one ever says a hundred cents, but that would be the dollar. If someone says I need twenty-five cents, we all know that's a quarter.

Now let's have the rundown on English money. I know the pound, but what the heck is a pence?

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
Now let's have the rundown on English money. I know the pound, but what the heck is a pence?

So a pound and a quid are the same thing? When I watch a UK show they always interchange those two terms and even in the same sentence.

quote:

Why is there two names for the same value coin which I presume states that it has a 1 cent value?

regards

John

Because we still had British blood in us I guess.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:

Now let's have the rundown on English money. I know the pound, but what the heck is a pence?

It's a vice president.