Port Strike & Chinese New Year Creating The Perfect Storm In Consumer Electronics.

Have you noticed the prices of tablets, laptops and HDTV's going up instead of down for the first time in years? There is a reason. Have you noticed smaller sites being sold out of anything that would come out of China? DKOldies sells Retro Video Games and Consoles. New Products like FC Twins, Retron 5's and new controllers and accessories come from China and have been in short supply since November. DK bought heavy when they first heard about this, but many did not, because not many knew about it.

California & Chinese Shipping Port Strike Delays Everything You Buy.

In a recent email from a large west coast distributor, DKOldies found there is a strike on going at a Los Angles shipping dock. Holding up containers of just arrived consoles and gaming accessories. The distributor representative stated it could take up to 4 weeks for the container to be released and an unspecified time it would take for the products to be ready for shipment. these items are now subject to being out of stock as soon as the Chinese New Year coming up this month. All the factories in China will be closed early February for the holidays. 

"LA port strike still on as both sides cannot reach an agreement after their meeting last time. As many containers piled up and so congested in the port, it will take 2-3 weeks in order to take the containers out of the port. As for now, we tell the customers to order more than usual as some items might be out of stock soon. If the items cannot get out to the vessel before Chinese New Year (2-19-15), these items will take about 2 month to be here."

-Large West Coast Distributor

We reached out to other distributors for comments on the strike and shipment delays with no reply. We will update this article when we hear their sides of this story.

Chinese New Year Shuts Everything Down.

Celebrations typically run from the day before the new year to the fifteenth day into the month of the Chinese New Year. Making this the longest holiday on the Chinese calendar. Like Most holidays, employers give the work force time off to recuperate from the long year. Preparing for the even longer year to come. Not only China celebrates these momentous festivities. Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines all join in the affair. If you didn't know, These are some of the top manufacturing countries in the world.  

How DKOldies Fends Off Strike Shortage.

Thanks to distributor communication and capital, DKOldies was able to avoid disastrous shortages on Retro Consoles and new gaming accessories. 

"We bought as much as we could as soon as we heard. DKOldies spent $45,000 in October (2014) on Retron 5 consoles alone. If you didn't, you were raising prices or out of everything over the holiday and into the new year. It's crazy that a strike impacts small businesses everywhere and no one hears about it. We have gotten through this alright, but a lot of smaller stores have been hurt by this and some will go out of business." 

-Drew Steimel, Owner of DKOldies.com

Take the worlds largest manufacturing countries, put them on holiday. Now take the worlds largest consumer, the US and put both of their shipping ports on strike. Sounds like a recipe for spiking prices in consumer electronics. For small business this could be the 1, 2 punch that puts them out of business. DK has already been contacted by smaller stores and sites about closing their doors. It doesn't take much for these small businesses to go under. Simply not having the New Consoles or new  NES Controllers and accessories in stock and ready to ship would do it. 

Clearly, If you were looking to get a new console like the Retron 5 or the FC Twin, there is no time like the present, while it's here!

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