Axminster stock levels

[marcros]

Mental out there.
Example, Timbmet, run out of 18mm MR MDF. Till sometime in Jan
Panic buying of materials.
I'm guilty. Just bought about 10 x more sheet material than usual, 2000 mag catches, 1000 hinges, 200 runners.

I am a big believer in planning. Not to the point where I would fill my car with bog roll, but carrying a few extra meals for the family in the cupboard is prudent during the winter (particularly this one). A tin of soup, tin of toms, some part baked bread, bag of risotto rice. A fivers worth of stuff, but still considered by some as panic buying. If a neighbour needs it, they are welcome to it.

if you dont have materials, it isnt only you that will suffer. the guys that work for you will have no work, the subcontractors that you call in for fitting, transport etc will be affected. I dont see what you are doing as panic buying. There is obviously a cost to it which the business has to carry but it has no shelf life and presumably when everything settles down you will eventually spend less than normal on materials as you use it up. Businesses need to think more about contingency planning. There will be no point waiting a couple of weeks and trying to urgently get your usual order, or scrabbling round getting 2 sheets here and 3 sheets there. Well done for making a decision

 

[doctor Bob]

Yes my nightmare is having plenty of work booked in, the chaps to do it, but everyone sitting on their buttocks due no materials.

 

[topchippyles]

They also seem to be holding smaller stock levels of certain items, I have noticed that for longer than this year.

I find it very difficult to order bandsaw blades (the only thing I buy from them regularly), I want to order enough to get free shipping but rarely do they hold enough stock for me to do so.

Ordered a batch in (startrite 352) monday from woodford tooling which is where i get most of my blades for my planers and delivered by wednesday

 

[PJM]

Just had a look at the axminster site for a couple of items - pretty much everything across many categories is out of stock.

Is this covid, Brexit or really bad demand forecasting?

simon

Apparently it is due to a Brexit/Xmas clash
Some container ships are having to wait 3 weeks to have their containers unloaded and the ships are waiting offshore for their slot. Now with so many containers waiting offshore it has created a shortage of containers to pack at the other end.
Consequently shipping a container rates have gone from $2000 to $8.to $10000
And it all started when to many UK firms ordered massively more to cover the uncertainty of the first quarter of 2021 due to Brexit which clashed with Xmas Toy.etc orders. Peter

 

[billw]

January is going to be a horrible mess by the looks of it. Has anyone looked up WTO rates for tools and timber?

 

[PeteHB]

Living in France and using Axminster amongst other UK suppliers this Brexshit fiasco is going to present some problems in the future, reclaiming UK tax, paying import duty and tax delays etc. I can see that when things at least settle down hopefully by summer I will be visiting friends but using my own car and coming back with a boot full of smuggled goods.

 

[Junah]

January is going to be a horrible mess by the looks of it. Has anyone looked up WTO rates for tools and timber?

Veritas should be ok?
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/...tart-negotiating-more-advanced-deal-next-year

 

[Trainee neophyte]

Apparently it is due to a Brexit/Xmas clash
Some container ships are having to wait 3 weeks to have their containers unloaded and the ships are waiting offshore for their slot. Now with so many containers waiting offshore it has created a shortage of containers to pack at the other end.
Consequently shipping a container rates have gone from $2000 to $8.to $10000
And it all started when to many UK firms ordered massively more to cover the uncertainty of the first quarter of 2021 due to Brexit which clashed with Xmas Toy.etc orders. Peter

I don't think tiny UK with its hugely overblown Brexit crisis is to blame for the worldwide container shortage and shipping nightmare. The world had both a supply and demand shock in the spring, and it turns out that Just In Time has a huge lead time from order of raw materials to delivery of finished goods to the consumer. Containers aren't where they should be, which is causing all sorts of problems. International air freight has almost stopped, so things normally shipped by air now go by boat.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-shipping-container-idUSKBN27Y0BT
But don't worry - the inflationary lack of goods will be tempered by the deflationary lack of economic activity. We will all be back to normal in in a jiffy.

 

[mikej460]

I've just had a small eBay order from China cancelled because of the delays, so given their usual long delivery times it must be bad. I re-ordered from another Chinese seller and so far it's on its way

 

[Nick Laguna UK]

Apparently it is due to a Brexit/Xmas clash

Hi PJM, Not in our experience - this has been an issue for some time due to Covid / supply chains stopping etc & huge increased demand for DIY goods.
As Mr Neophyte said, it's a global issue.
Cheers, Nick

 

[SteveH2]

As is now the case for just about everything we dance to the tune of China.
If they cant make enough or can't ship it thousands of mile fast enough we will just have to wait because apparently the UK is pretty much incapable of manufacturing anything for itself these days.

 

[doctor Bob]

As is now the case for just about everything we dance to the tune of China.
If they cant make enough or can't ship it thousands of mile fast enough we will just have to wait because apparently the UK is pretty much incapable of manufacturing anything for itself these days.

Not really true, costs dictate market, the UK doesn't make cheap tut that UK consumers crave because on the whole we pay decent wages.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

Perhaps it's a bit like the toilet paper panic - plenty to go round but as everyone thinks there may be a shortage, most of the stock is sitting in peoples homes rather than in the store.

Or there may really be a toilet paper, MDF and ironmongery shortage rapidly approaching. Trailer loads stalled in Calais awaiting customs clearance to get the lorry on to a ferry.

 

[Peter Sefton]

The toilet paper shortage was brought about by panic buying and overstocking, I would say the tool and material shortage was driven by people being at home doing DIY, home improvements and hobbies. Now the problem is lack of stock compounded by the shutdown of factories from covid working conditions, the lack of planes and the world logistics being out of kilter. I think it will be quite some time until it settles down and Brexit may bring a few more issues to contend with.

 

[R1chard]

Just had a look at the axminster site for a couple of items - pretty much everything across many categories is out of stock.

Is this covid, Brexit or really bad demand forecasting?

simon

Part of me imagines this just might result in sourcing stock locally resulting in stuff being made properly and providing jobs. “Made in the United Kingdom” not only means it’s made with the right materials but also provides work.

 

[Droogs]

Small things seem to be no problem. I ordered a new actuator motor for the rear door on the Kia in mid November, cos I couldn't remembr where I put the on I bought in August. It arrived last Wednesday, Aliexpress had stated 8 - 10 days and it took 17, so about as accurate as usual.

 

[user22161]

Living in France and using Axminster amongst other UK suppliers this Brexshit fiasco is going to present some problems in the future, reclaiming UK tax, paying import duty and tax delays etc. I can see that when things at least settle down hopefully by summer I will be visiting friends but using my own car and coming back with a boot full of smuggled goods.

Last I heard, the retail scheme which allows VAT to be reclaimed on personal export, is being scrapped so supplier will have to send the goods direct to avoid UK VAT. This will be a real pain as some retailer's postage charges are exorbitant.

 

[billw]

Last I heard, the retail scheme which allows VAT to be reclaimed on personal export, is being scrapped so supplier will have to send the goods direct to avoid UK VAT. This will be a real pain as some retailer's postage charges are exorbitant.

That scheme was for outside the EU anyway, surely that will continue?

 

[user22161]

Duty Free extended to the EU from January 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

VAT Retail Export Scheme
As part of these changes, VAT refunds for overseas visitors in British shops will be removed. Overseas visitors will still be able to buy items VAT-free in store and have them sent direct to their overseas addresses, while the costly system of claiming VAT refunds on items they take home in their luggage will be ended.

 

[CornishWoodworker]

I think you will also find that a lot of raw material and components come from the far East. A few things are still manufactured wholly in the UK but many by far are only assembled in the UK from mix of UK and foreign sourced material and parts, unfortunately too many are wholly sourced from Asia.
We all crave vfm so the companies have very little option but to source from Asia.
Eg. Take a humble grinder
In the UK, a single company would find it hard to manufacture all the parts from UK industry, that is manufactured not sourced.
Casings, bearings,shafts, nuts, bolts, washers, motors, switches, control boards, metal fittings, perspex,grinding wheels, rubber pads, worklights, cabling, connectors, electronic components, plugs, fuses, labels.etc
Yes some of the items and parts could / are truly manufactured in the the UK but sadly the majority are not.
Ps My personal gripe, I couldn't even source a Totally UK manufactured Toaster, assembled in UK , Yes, but not manufactured. The main " Made in UK " advertised toaster( you know the one) contains parts sourced from China and France, this after a request for info from them. Their newer models, as informed by them are totally sourced from China.