# Things where prices have skyrocketed during the pandemic **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 21, 2021, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-where-prices-have-skyrocketed-during-the-pandemic/938356 "2021-03-21T17:42:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2021, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-where-prices-have-skyrocketed-during-the-pandemic/938356/61 "2021-04-22T23:08:18Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > where looking to buy a house in California’s antelope valley area and there hasn’t been a boom like this since 2004/5 houses that go for 200k or so are getting bid up to 350/400 k … That’s actually not all that great a return. $200k over 15 years at 5% per annum is $387K. Median home rate return is usually around 5.5% across the US (this will depend where you live, of course, but that’s the historic numbers over the entirety of the US I could find. 6% is the number I remember as a good ballpark estimate.) Granted, though 2004-2005 was getting close to the peak before the bottom fell out of the market. ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2021, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-where-prices-have-skyrocketed-during-the-pandemic/938356/62 "2021-04-22T23:25:09Z")
Weights for lifting. I’m not sure what previous prices were but with so many people not able to go to gyms anymore they’ve been buying up used weights to exercise at home. Lots of ads out with people selling off small rusty plates for big money these days. The price increase has gotten so bad that some people are now making and selling concrete plate forms where you can mix cement and make your own weights for cheaper than you can buy steel plates. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2021, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-where-prices-have-skyrocketed-during-the-pandemic/938356/63 "2021-04-22T23:26:03Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Congratulations here is your MBA! Thanks! I knew years of listening to Planet Money would eventually pay off! ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2021, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-where-prices-have-skyrocketed-during-the-pandemic/938356/64 "2021-04-23T00:54:21Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > a 24 pack is over 9 dollars > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I still see four twelve packs go on sale for $12 there sometimes. Kroger seems like a rip off if they are charging 266% of where nightshadea shops at. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2021, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-where-prices-have-skyrocketed-during-the-pandemic/938356/65 "2021-04-23T04:07:21Z")
if you buy four packs of 12, it’s $12 total. that works out to $3 per twelve pack, $0.25 a can. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2021, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-where-prices-have-skyrocketed-during-the-pandemic/938356/66 "2021-04-23T13:08:35Z")
Ahh, I’m retarded. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2021, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-where-prices-have-skyrocketed-during-the-pandemic/938356/67 "2021-04-23T16:26:18Z")
Huh. Just last week I bought 3 12-packs of Coke for $10 at my local grocery. Not unusual to see sales like that. $5.something a 12-pack unless you buy 3. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2021, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-where-prices-have-skyrocketed-during-the-pandemic/938356/68 "2021-04-24T09:39:35Z")
> [@mmmiiikkkeee](#): > > Lots of ads out with people selling off small rusty plates for big money these days. Guess I could cash in, then. I have some 430 kg of non-rusty weight plates from 0.5 kg to 20 kg in my work(out) room. ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-where-prices-have-skyrocketed-during-the-pandemic/938356/69 "2021-04-26T16:20:10Z")
The starting price seems to be about $2/lb, and goes higher. So your stash would bring you at least $2,000, likely more. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-where-prices-have-skyrocketed-during-the-pandemic/938356/70 "2021-04-26T16:28:00Z")
Yeah, went by Home Depot a few days back and wanted a couple of small 2x4s, and they were upwards of $5 for non-special 6’ ones! IIRC, they used to be in the $2-3 ballpark for the same ones, if not cheaper. I’m talking just plain old pine studs, not any special finished or treated ones either. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-where-prices-have-skyrocketed-during-the-pandemic/938356/71 "2021-04-26T17:45:31Z")
While getting my hair cut a week ago, I overheard the guy in the next chair chatting with the barber. They knew each other ‘How’s your brother?’ and in the context of their conversation, it became clear he worked at Home Depot in the garden dept. He said something about he’d never seen potting soil so expensive and they couldn’t keep it in stock anyway. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-where-prices-have-skyrocketed-during-the-pandemic/938356/72 "2021-04-26T22:00:51Z")
Here’s a strange example: about five weeks ago I bought a 1 gallon screw top jar for $6 at Target, to put flour in. I’d wanted two, but the only other one in the store was cracked. The next time I was there, a couple weeks later there were more in stock, now $7 which isn’t so bad so I got the second I wanted. And I wandered through that aisle on Friday looking for a replacement for a wooden paper towel holder that cracked, the same jars are currently up to $8. I know that there was a run on canning supplies last spring and summer but these jars aren’t suitable for that so I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-where-prices-have-skyrocketed-during-the-pandemic/938356/73 "2021-05-01T18:28:51Z")
> [@mmmiiikkkeee](#): > > So your stash would bring you at least $2,000, likely more. Pretty good investment, then, since I paid something around 400 euros for the weight room gear, back in 2007ish. ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-where-prices-have-skyrocketed-during-the-pandemic/938356/74 "2021-05-01T22:08:04Z")
I saw an local add yesterday asking $3.95/pound for dumb bell weights; not even the large plates. Covid timing sucked for me because I wanted to start lifting again last year and was waiting a few months for all the sales of guys getting rid of their un-used Xmas gym gear. Only then the whole planet went on lockdown and everyone started hoarding home exercise equipment. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-where-prices-have-skyrocketed-during-the-pandemic/938356/75 "2021-05-02T01:37:42Z")
Wait another 3 months and the fad will be over. In 6 months production will have caught up to demand and retail prices will normalize. And in 9 months all the folks who had been working out at home will be selling the stuff they no longer use and now don’t need for extra cash. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-where-prices-have-skyrocketed-during-the-pandemic/938356/76 "2021-05-02T04:09:41Z")
Yeah, that’s a given. I, personally, intend to keep using my stash of iron until I can’t tie my own shoelaces or so. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-where-prices-have-skyrocketed-during-the-pandemic/938356/77 "2021-05-05T02:03:55Z")
I just read that the increased price of lumber is adding an average of $36,000 to the price of a new home. Steel is going up like crazy in part because of the increased price of energy, and there may be shortages and subsequent price hikes in gas and oil this summer because pupeline capacity had shrunk and there aren’t enough truck drivers to meet demand. New cars are in short supply due to chip shortages from Taiwan, driving up the price of used cars. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-where-prices-have-skyrocketed-during-the-pandemic/938356/78 "2021-05-06T23:20:03Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > do you have Kroger? I still see four twelve packs go on sale for $12 there sometimes. Out west, Kroger is selling 3 12pks of soda for $8 ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2021, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-where-prices-have-skyrocketed-during-the-pandemic/938356/79 "2021-05-24T15:39:27Z")
Back in August I bought a Dell Aurora R10 for ~$1300. When I looked recently a similar model was just over $2k. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2021, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-where-prices-have-skyrocketed-during-the-pandemic/938356/80 "2021-05-24T16:43:47Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Steel is going up like crazy in part because of the increased price of energy, and there may be shortages and subsequent price hikes in gas and oil this summer because pupeline capacity had shrunk and there aren’t enough truck drivers to meet demand. My future son-in-law works in a factory making galvanized steel bins. During the height of the pandemic, he was working 20+ hours per week overtime. They were informed a few weeks ago each line will be facing 6 week furloughs due to the cost and overall inability to obtain material. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-where-prices-have-skyrocketed-during-the-pandemic/938356.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-where-prices-have-skyrocketed-during-the-pandemic/938356.md?page=5)