there isn't a law against gouging but that doesn't make it the okay with the consumers.

2 LQS have gone from here now and the next is on their way - all the guilds i am in have a boygott on them.

the only voice a consumer has against sky high prices is to refuse to shop with the stores.

i buy all my fabric online and will never shop in the LQS. if i have spare funds to blow i'll give it to a charity not to a LQS and their gouging.

Now that is just plain greed on the Oil Companies part!

No, repectfully, you are wrong. Small business' work on a small profit margin. If they want to buy the newer, higher priced items, they have to be able to pay for them, hence, having to raise their prices in order to buy them, whether they work off credit or not. Believe me, they hate raising them as much as you do. Their livelihood depends on the customer being able to pay the higher prices, yet still being able to be competitive. If you've ever lived on a strict budget, you know that when stores go up on their prices, and your income stays the same, you have to buy less. The money just doesn't go as far.

Some places get gas delivered every day or every other day. Each load costs more so we are forced to raise the price. Do you realize that your local gas station/convenience store only makes a few cents on each gallon sold? That is before expenses. How many gallons of gas do you think a station has to sell to pay cashiers, maintenance people, utilities, building loans, equipment repair, etc? You can't make money selling gas. Any money they make comes from inside store sales - food, snacks, pop and beer. And the last statistics I saw said that major oil companies had a net profit of less than 5%.

I am the bookkeeper at a convenience store/gas station and I have to figure out every day how to pay the bills. I get a little tired of people thinking we are getting rich and gouging the public.

The same principle applies to gas or any product a store is selling as applies to the cost of fabric explained in the OP.

ETA: And we have to pay for a load of gas when we get it. If we sold the last tank for $10,000 and the next load is $12,000, where do you get the other $2,000? It is the same for the fabric stores.

I'm not sure it's price gouging so much as small stores can't afford to offer the bigger discounts that on line stores can. That don't have the volume of sales that's required to get the better prices for products.

LQS prices have always been higher then other stores, but it serves a nitch. Some people like the higher quality fabrics that they can go to the store, feel and fondle. Other people prefer to trust a manufacturer and just go with the best price.

I personally rarely shop my LQS because of price also. I hit JoAnn's with my coupons.

I work for a "mom and pop" type business. Our sales are right up where they were last year at this time. However, their costs for supplies have increased tremendously. small business owners are between a rock and a hard place. raising prices will lose some customers and yet if they don't, they can't afford to restock.

I don't believe that. It is a rip off when they raise the price on every bolt in the store. And I know a LQS that does that. I call it gouging the customers. Therefore, I no longer shop there.

Agree with you 100%, Barb.

I'm really tired of people accusing business of gouging or somehow being underhanded in their business practices when they're only trying to make a fair profit and stay in business.

Organized boycotting of a LQS for charging normal retail prices is misguided at best and unjust at worst. LQS's aren't trying to chase off customers. They're trying to pay their rent and keep people employed.

Actually the price of gas is going down around here.

Also.. I don't mind paying the increase in fabric cost... however.. I do think there (used to at least) be a "rule or law" about changing the price obviously on a product.. if something is marked one price, you can't just draw a line through it and put a higher one on it.. I could be wrong.. heaven knows I have been before.. but it does rather irk me. Or the shelf is marked up but the bolts aren't and the clerk says.. Oh.. it will be marked up at the register... that is just SOOOOO wrong. then why not just say.. oh we'll decide what we want to charge you at the checkout.. you don't need to know the cost .. just pay it. I have had this happen at a retail shop. and rather than price gouging I think it falls under "bait and switch".

That is a really great analogy!