Do you have a pre-tariffs shopping list?

[Tigerpine]

We bought a couple pairs of shoes over the weekend, on sale, no less.

[GuitarStv]

There's always the alternative of having a dedicated DAW workstation running Windows 10 offline and unnetworked tucked off into the corner specifically for recording, and kicking Windows to the curb for everything else networked, however.

That's been my approach for a while.  Windows is rock solid stable once you stop updating it and keep it off the internet.  :P

[Omy]

Just installed a new hvac system. We probably could have nursed the original one through another season, but I didn't want to deal with supply chain issues and higher prices the next time it died.

My pantry and freezer are full and I have a years' worth of toilet paper, vitamins, advil, and toiletries...

[neo von retorch]

So far the camera equipment I rushed to buy ahead of tariffs has not had the price increased (at Best Buy or Amazon.)

What increases have you seen?

[Cranky]

So far the camera equipment I rushed to buy ahead of tariffs has not had the price increased (at Best Buy or Amazon.)

What increases have you seen?

Avocados went up quite a bit here.

We did buy dh a new laptop and Apple was eager to makes sales.

[Cassie]

In January I changed my mind about keeping my 17 year old car even though it had low mileage. Because there wasn’t much difference in price between a 2-4 year old car and a new one on the lot I bought a new one. Even if I live 20 years and can still drive I won’t have a bunch of miles on it so it’s my last car. I also bought a new iPhone because mine was 4 years old. Normally I would have kept it another year or two. I also bought new shoes and a few clothing items so I’m good for the next 4 years.

[41_swish]

I think the only pending purchase that I have is my phone. I have a four-year-old Samsung S21. The battery sucks and Samsung is dropping security updates at the end of this year. I might just bite the bullet and buy a used Pixel 8A or something like that.

[Cranky]

I’ve ordered 250 canning jar lids. They were really scarce in 2020 and I feel better having a solid supply on hand.

[tygertygertyger]

Yep, I bought five more boxes of wide mouth and 5 of regular size canning lids.

[AuspiciousEight]

I bought a pixel 9a.

100 dollar off coupon, plus, 100 dollar gift card for buying it, plus 125 dollars for trading in an old pixel 4a that we no longer use, made it a $175 dollar phone.

It wasn't really a needed purchase, but I bought it more because I was worried about tariffs.

[ChpBstrd]

Here's an interesting, yet simple, analysis of when we might start seeing the first shortages.

The White House has put itself and the country in a bad situation but doesn’t realize it yet.
Around April 10th China to USA trade shut down.
It takes ~30 days for containers to go from China to LA.
45 to Houston by sea, 45 to Chicago by train.
55 to New York by sea.
That means that there are no economic effects of what was done on April 10th until about May 10th.
Around that time (it’s already started to happen) trucking work is going to dry up. Warehouses will start doing layoffs because no labor is needed to unload containers and some products will be out of stock, reducing the need for shipping labor.
All this will start in the Los Angeles area.
After about 2 weeks, it’ll start hitting Chicago and Houston.
Let’s say the White House, after 3 weeks, changes its mind, on May 31st.
“This isn’t working out like we thought it would. Tariffs back to 0.”
Let’s say China says “bygones be bygones, we’ll go back to how things were”.
Let’s say every factory in China that got screwed by their orders being cancelled says the same thing “no problem, we’ll make and ship”.
The problem is, even under the most favorable conditions of China and the factories restarting economic ties as though nothing happened, it will be at least another 30 days before economic activity is revived.
And that’s just in LA.
In Chicago/Houston, you’ll need to wait another 45 days.
New York, at that point, will still be getting containers from before April 10th, they will then have 50 days (May 31 minus April 10) of zero economic activity at the ports, in trucking of Chinese goods, in warehousing.
The whole situation is a bit like lockdowns. Once you shut down, it takes a long time to get economic activity back to where it was, if you ever can.
And again, this assumes, that China and its factories, which make things you can’t buy elsewhere, will start right back up again as though nothing happened, which is unlikely.
It’s almost like we’re speeding towards a brick wall but the driver of the car doesn’t see it yet.
By the time he does, it’ll be too late to hit the brakes.

In my opinion, there are two wildcards which will come into play between May and July (assuming the president doesn't do a reversal):

• I think it's clear consumers will panic and start hoarding something. During COVID it was toilet paper. Maybe this time it will be electronics, shoes, clothes, or pharmaceuticals?
• Does the administration impose price controls like Nixon did, or start prosecuting businesses for "price gouging" during an economic emergency? If so, we'll see little appetite for supply creation or even imports, and a huge supply-demand gap. (deadweight loss)

[Josiecat22222]

The only thing we've been "hoarding/pretariff buying" is our preferred coffee.  We don't drink alcohol, soda or juice, but you can pry my coffee from my cold dead hands.  Coffee cannot be made in the US.  Our preferred brand comes vacuum sealed in foil and is shelf stable for a very long time.

We did elect to purchase a new washer dryer which we'd planned to do over the summer, but with the looming threat of tariffs we decided to do it in February. 

[dcheesi]

We went ahead ordered the dishwasher we'd had our eye on for the beach house. It was a little touch & go there for a moment; at one point they credited back the original charge, even though the order still showed in process. They finally re-charged it a few days before our scheduled delivery, presumably when they it stock in hand.

[HPstache]

The only thing we've been "hoarding/pretariff buying" is our preferred coffee.  We don't drink alcohol, soda or juice, but you can pry my coffee from my cold dead hands.  Coffee cannot be made in the US.  Our preferred brand comes vacuum sealed in foil and is shelf stable for a very long time.

We did elect to purchase a new washer dryer which we'd planned to do over the summer, but with the looming threat of tariffs we decided to do it in February.

Check out Kauai coffee or Kona coffee, grown and processed in the USA... and it's good stuff.

[dcheesi]

We went ahead ordered the dishwasher we'd had our eye on for the beach house. It was a little touch & go there for a moment; at one point they credited back the original charge, even though the order still showed in process. They finally re-charged it a few days before our scheduled delivery, presumably when they it stock in hand.

Update: I happened to go looking for some unrelated small parts, and noticed that the same dishwasher is now $200 more expensive (after hovering around the same price for the past several months at least). Same at another retailer as well.

[GuitarStv]

We went ahead ordered the dishwasher we'd had our eye on for the beach house. It was a little touch & go there for a moment; at one point they credited back the original charge, even though the order still showed in process. They finally re-charged it a few days before our scheduled delivery, presumably when they it stock in hand.

Update: I happened to go looking for some unrelated small parts, and noticed that the same dishwasher is now $200 more expensive (after hovering around the same price for the past several months at least). Same at another retailer as well.

Sounds like the cost of becoming great again.

[classicrando]

We went ahead ordered the dishwasher we'd had our eye on for the beach house. It was a little touch & go there for a moment; at one point they credited back the original charge, even though the order still showed in process. They finally re-charged it a few days before our scheduled delivery, presumably when they it stock in hand.

Update: I happened to go looking for some unrelated small parts, and noticed that the same dishwasher is now $200 more expensive (after hovering around the same price for the past several months at least). Same at another retailer as well.

Sounds like the cost of becoming great again.

That's Patriotic Pricing^TM here in the land of freedom.

/s

[ChpBstrd]

We went ahead ordered the dishwasher we'd had our eye on for the beach house. It was a little touch & go there for a moment; at one point they credited back the original charge, even though the order still showed in process. They finally re-charged it a few days before our scheduled delivery, presumably when they it stock in hand.

Update: I happened to go looking for some unrelated small parts, and noticed that the same dishwasher is now $200 more expensive (after hovering around the same price for the past several months at least). Same at another retailer as well.

Sounds like the cost of becoming great again.

That's Patriotic Pricing^TM here in the land of freedom.
/s

Make A price Great Again!

[Sibley]

I ordered 12 cases of cat food last night. Previously had ordered in December or so. I checked - prices have gone up a bit from the last time I ordered food. And there were out of stock items on Chewy. Nothing that impacted me luckily, but they definitely didn't have every flavor/size.

[Raenia]

I ordered 12 cases of cat food last night. Previously had ordered in December or so. I checked - prices have gone up a bit from the last time I ordered food. And there were out of stock items on Chewy. Nothing that impacted me luckily, but they definitely didn't have every flavor/size.

Chewy has been out of stock of our cat's prescription dry food... definitely going to order some extra when it comes back in stock, just in case.

[SpaceCow]

I, too, ordered a dishwasher.  I needed it anyway, but I pulled the purchase ahead by a few weeks, hoping to nab one before any shortages might happen.  It hasn't shipped yet, though, so I may have been too late.

[AuspiciousEight]

Well - I just ordered air filters for my hepa purifiers, water filters for my reverse osmosis purification system, headphones, usb c cables, oil filters, electrolytes, and various other things that I will need in the next 1-3 years.

I'm not actually worried about the price increases - I'm more worried about shortages and simply not having access to the things I normally use. I knew there would be price increases, but it didn't dawn on me before that this might be similar to the pandemic where some things simply won't be available at all, regardless of price.

[Radagast]

LED light bulbs and may also grab an LED flash light and head lights which I was thinking about getting for summer camping.

I "need" a new car windshield, or anyway mine has a bunch of cracks and chips, and I should replace that while the replacing is good.

[roomtempmayo]

The only thing we've been "hoarding/pretariff buying" is our preferred coffee.  We don't drink alcohol, soda or juice, but you can pry my coffee from my cold dead hands.  Coffee cannot be made in the US.  Our preferred brand comes vacuum sealed in foil and is shelf stable for a very long time.

We did elect to purchase a new washer dryer which we'd planned to do over the summer, but with the looming threat of tariffs we decided to do it in February.

Check out Kauai coffee or Kona coffee, grown and processed in the USA... and it's good stuff.

Coffee at Costco was way up last Sunday.  What used to be 3 pounds for $22 is now 2 pounds for $19.

I imagine we'll see the price increases come through at Costco pretty quickly as they don't have the margin to hold their breath to see if things change in the coming months like retailers with higher margins.

[Wolfpack Mustachian]

LED light bulbs and may also grab an LED flash light and head lights which I was thinking about getting for summer camping.

I "need" a new car windshield, or anyway mine has a bunch of cracks and chips, and I should replace that while the replacing is good.

I didn't think of a windshield! Mine has a decent size crack in it that I'm worrying about expanding. I need to get it replaced.

I bought a mower. Our old one has died, but I'm glad we got it before prices shoot up.

[EscapeVelocity2020]

Looks like many of the 'made in China' crap will soon be 'made in India'.  I have a feeling that this overall 'tax' won't hit us as hard as we fear, but the  quality of these inexpensive goods will decline...  As par for the course, it is the environment that will take the brunt of our poor decisions (increased trash, substitution to lower quality/questionable plastics, introducing inefficiency).

[reeshau]

Looks like many of the 'made in China' crap will soon be 'made in India'.  I have a feeling that this overall 'tax' won't hit us as hard as we fear, but the  quality of these inexpensive goods will decline...  As par for the course, it is the environment that will take the brunt of our poor decisions (increased trash, substitution to lower quality/questionable plastics, introducing inefficiency).

That works as far as it goes, but historically very protectionist.  This move would just be a whack-a-mole, with Trump ramping up pressure on India.  Modhi has said he is ready to make a deal, but if movement from China ups the stakes, he may have other thoughts.  Or, maybe better to make a deal now, and then try to hold the line as their exports increase.

The proposed reciprocal tariff on India was 26%.

[Villanelle]

Looks like many of the 'made in China' crap will soon be 'made in India'.  I have a feeling that this overall 'tax' won't hit us as hard as we fear, but the  quality of these inexpensive goods will decline...  As par for the course, it is the environment that will take the brunt of our poor decisions (increased trash, substitution to lower quality/questionable plastics, introducing inefficiency).

That works as far as it goes, but historically very protectionist.  This move would just be a whack-a-mole, with Trump ramping up pressure on India.  Modhi has said he is ready to make a deal, but if movement from China ups the stakes, he may have other thoughts.  Or, maybe better to make a deal now, and then try to hold the line as their exports increase.

The proposed reciprocal tariff on India was 26%.

One of the many problems with Trump's chaotic approach to everything is that deals mean nothing, which makes people/groups/nations less likely to make them.  When broker a deal and give up something when you know there's every chance that in days or weeks or months, the other party will just decide they don't like it anymore and change the terms? 

[ChpBstrd]

Looks like many of the 'made in China' crap will soon be 'made in India'.  I have a feeling that this overall 'tax' won't hit us as hard as we fear, but the  quality of these inexpensive goods will decline...  As par for the course, it is the environment that will take the brunt of our poor decisions (increased trash, substitution to lower quality/questionable plastics, introducing inefficiency).

And India is even further away in shipping terms than China.
Thus shipping becomes an even bigger part of the product's price. This is why "Made in China" items were often made so cheaply to begin with. Plastic is cheaper to ship than steel because it's lighter. From India, there would be even more pressure to plasticize things and make them more miniature or user-assembly-required.

[hooplady]

Ugh. I guess I should get a new printer/scanner. At five years my current one is probably at the end of its life but isn't dead yet. It galls me to have to replace something that's still working, but who knows how much the next one will cost or if I'll be able to get it.

[Wolfpack Mustachian]

We also bought a year's worth of supplies of a lot of things like vitamins, basic meds, light bulbs, etc. I'm thankful we have the space to store things. I'm thinking of buying bulk on dried beans and the like - not sure how agriculture will be affected. I probably should just do it.

[dividendman]

We also bought a year's worth of supplies of a lot of things like vitamins, basic meds, light bulbs, etc. I'm thankful we have the space to store things. I'm thinking of buying bulk on dried beans and the like - not sure how agriculture will be affected. I probably should just do it.

Don't you think things we're net exporters of (like a lot of foods) should get cheaper since fewer people want our exports?

[JLee]

Ugh. I guess I should get a new printer/scanner. At five years my current one is probably at the end of its life but isn't dead yet. It galls me to have to replace something that's still working, but who knows how much the next one will cost or if I'll be able to get it.

I am still running a Brother laser printer from 2012 - it was a refurb then, too. It's rock solid.

[reeshau]

Ugh. I guess I should get a new printer/scanner. At five years my current one is probably at the end of its life but isn't dead yet. It galls me to have to replace something that's still working, but who knows how much the next one will cost or if I'll be able to get it.

I am still running a Brother laser printer from 2012 - it was a refurb then, too. It's rock solid.

Brother for the win!  We gave away our B&W Brother when we upgraded to color.  It was about the same age, and working perfectly.

[hooplady]

Ugh. I guess I should get a new printer/scanner. At five years my current one is probably at the end of its life but isn't dead yet. It galls me to have to replace something that's still working, but who knows how much the next one will cost or if I'll be able to get it.

I am still running a Brother laser printer from 2012 - it was a refurb then, too. It's rock solid.

Brother for the win!  We gave away our B&W Brother when we upgraded to color.  It was about the same age, and working perfectly.

Gosh that didn't even occur to me; I loved my old Brother laser, that thing was a tank. I was also lured by the siren song of color but I do so little of that anymore.

[San Diego Girl]

I bought a new computer a few months earlier than originally planned.

[Wolfpack Mustachian]

We also bought a year's worth of supplies of a lot of things like vitamins, basic meds, light bulbs, etc. I'm thankful we have the space to store things. I'm thinking of buying bulk on dried beans and the like - not sure how agriculture will be affected. I probably should just do it.

Don't you think things we're net exporters of (like a lot of foods) should get cheaper since fewer people want our exports?

Fair point. I honestly don't know where dry beans mostly come from. I need to do some research on it. Thanks for the thought.

[Cranky]

I notice that the very not fancy tea bags I like have jumped $1 in price. And the allergy medicine was pretty picked over.

I bought my dh some shoelaces and was interested to see that they were Made In America - I never would have guessed.

[reeshau]

We also bought a year's worth of supplies of a lot of things like vitamins, basic meds, light bulbs, etc. I'm thankful we have the space to store things. I'm thinking of buying bulk on dried beans and the like - not sure how agriculture will be affected. I probably should just do it.

Don't you think things we're net exporters of (like a lot of foods) should get cheaper since fewer people want our exports?

Fair point. I honestly don't know where dry beans mostly come from. I need to do some research on it. Thanks for the thought.

What may really happen for fresh produce is seasonal outages--times when tomatoes, apples, lettuce, etc. are out of season domestically.

[crocheted_stache]

We also bought a year's worth of supplies of a lot of things like vitamins, basic meds, light bulbs, etc. I'm thankful we have the space to store things. I'm thinking of buying bulk on dried beans and the like - not sure how agriculture will be affected. I probably should just do it.

Don't you think things we're net exporters of (like a lot of foods) should get cheaper since fewer people want our exports?

Fair point. I honestly don't know where dry beans mostly come from. I need to do some research on it. Thanks for the thought.

What may really happen for fresh produce is seasonal outages--times when tomatoes, apples, lettuce, etc. are out of season domestically.

For a while, I tried a produce box subscription, partly to support local agriculture, and partly to try it out. DH and I have a veggie garden, which meant that the produce box required editing every single time to remove stuff we don't use anyway (I've never figured out what to do with chard or fennel that I actually like) and especially to prevent getting a bunch more zucchini delivered when our yard was already brimming with zucchini.

I suspect being in inland-coastal California will help with a lot of the availability for us, and honestly, we know better than to demand fresh tomatoes in January. That is, if the labor to harvest stuff remains available.

[Wolfpack Mustachian]

We also bought a year's worth of supplies of a lot of things like vitamins, basic meds, light bulbs, etc. I'm thankful we have the space to store things. I'm thinking of buying bulk on dried beans and the like - not sure how agriculture will be affected. I probably should just do it.

Don't you think things we're net exporters of (like a lot of foods) should get cheaper since fewer people want our exports?

Fair point. I honestly don't know where dry beans mostly come from. I need to do some research on it. Thanks for the thought.

What may really happen for fresh produce is seasonal outages--times when tomatoes, apples, lettuce, etc. are out of season domestically.

That's what I'm afraid of because I really enjoy fresh fruit. We especially eat apples all the time. In the grand scheme of things it's a minor thing, but it's sad

[reeshau]

I suspect being in inland-coastal California will help with a lot of the availability for us, and honestly, we know better than to demand fresh tomatoes in January. That is, if the labor to harvest stuff remains available.

Yeah, ou might as well be in the Garden of Eden, as far as that goes.  Kind of like I felt about living in Michigan, in times of water scarcity.  While the Great Lakes have had concerns about water levels, being literally surrounded by 20% of the World's fresh water made me think it could be the Saudi Arabia of the changed climate.  About the most noticeable change in the climate there so far is a lot better wine.

[LaineyAZ]

At the big box discount store the aisle for linens like sheets and pillowcases was looking pretty scarce. 

I imagine we'll have more of these "running low" reports going into summer.

[geekette]

Don't you think things we're net exporters of (like a lot of foods) should get cheaper since fewer people want our
What may really happen for fresh produce is seasonal outages--times when tomatoes, apples, lettuce, etc. are out of season domestically.

That's what I'm afraid of because I really enjoy fresh fruit. We especially eat apples all the time. In the grand scheme of things it's a minor thing, but it's sad

Most of the apples I see are domestic - they're just stored using controlled atmosphere to slow ripening.
The bougie lettuce I buy is greenhouse grown in the US.
Tomatoes...well, most of the tasty fresh ones are greenhouse grown in Canada or Mexico.  Most of US ones from Florida are the big slicers that I don't tend to use. I've stocked up on canned for cooking.

[Cranky]

I think we won’t be buying grapes in the winter, or asparagus. And a lot of citrus comes in from Brazil these days.

[AccidentialMustache]

Ugh. I guess I should get a new printer/scanner. At five years my current one is probably at the end of its life but isn't dead yet. It galls me to have to replace something that's still working, but who knows how much the next one will cost or if I'll be able to get it.

I am still running a Brother laser printer from 2012 - it was a refurb then, too. It's rock solid.

We're on our second brother color laser. The first is with the in-laws. The wifi on it eventually got sketchy, but they have it hardwired to their imac so that doesn't bother them.
Brother for the win!  We gave away our B&W Brother when we upgraded to color.  It was about the same age, and working perfectly.

Gosh that didn't even occur to me; I loved my old Brother laser, that thing was a tank. I was also lured by the siren song of color but I do so little of that anymore.

[reeshau]

Don't you think things we're net exporters of (like a lot of foods) should get cheaper since fewer people want our
What may really happen for fresh produce is seasonal outages--times when tomatoes, apples, lettuce, etc. are out of season domestically.

That's what I'm afraid of because I really enjoy fresh fruit. We especially eat apples all the time. In the grand scheme of things it's a minor thing, but it's sad

Most of the apples I see are domestic - they're just stored using controlled atmosphere to slow ripening.
The bougie lettuce I buy is greenhouse grown in the US.
Tomatoes...well, most of the tasty fresh ones are greenhouse grown in Canada or Mexico.  Most of US ones from Florida are the big slicers that I don't tend to use. I've stocked up on canned for cooking.

The US imported about w0% as many apples as it exported in the year through Jan 2025.

https://oec.world/en/profile/bilateral-product/apples-and-pears/reporter/usa

Even in Michigan, I would see apples from Chile in the off-season.

I don't think i's the raw amount which will be eye-opening.  Simply the lack of availability at certain times.

Bananas?  Fuhgeddaboudit.  Maybe hat one is so lopsided that there will simply be a price increase, rather than seasonal outages.

https://oec.world/en/profile/bilateral-product/bananas/reporter/usa

[Dicey]

DH bought and installed solar panels on our rig a couple of weeks ago. Prices since then have risen about 30%.

We're out of state right now. We plan on hitting up the nearest Winco on the way home so I can load up on bulk items. Otherwise, I think we're okay.

[41_swish]

One of my coworkers just compared solar quotes from the same company from 6 months ago and now, and prices seem to be going up ~20 % for them.

[glacio09]

My husband got a new computer yesterday for $900 (or enough individual parts to make up a new computer). His gaming computer was starting to not handle the new games and the living room computer that we treat as the TV couldn't handle Amazon, when we still used it. He's going to move his old gaming computer downstairs, so it all works out before prices truly explode.

We also bought up rice, dried beans, and flour. It's probably not needed, but it's a nice stop gap in case things get really wonky.

As a very small silver lining, if anyone is a fan of bourbon there's a whole bunch of normally out of stock bottles just sitting on shelved.