I have an extensive stock of T-50-6 powdered iron Toroids, but thought I ought to have a few T-50-2's. So, I navigated to Kits and Parts and a bag of 25 is $6, or less than 25 cents apiece. That sounded pretty good!
Next, I started to complete the order only to find that the weight was 5 grams and that turned into an additional cost of $11.01. The shipping and handling are almost 2X the product cost. I decided to pass on the 25-piece order and instead scour my junk box to find two T-50-2's. [Found one in about 5 seconds.]
Amidon which is about 70 Miles from my QTH wants $14 for the shipping with a similar actual product cost.
It is funny how one event triggers many others. Recently I stole an octal socket from a power supply for the Hybrid rig and then replaced it which prompted my digging out an old CW transmitter to test the repaired supply which caused me to wind a toroid and that all worked. But I only had one crystal on 7030 which prompted me to look for more crystals.
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Virtually all of the custom frequency crystal companies of old (ICM, Texas Crystals) have gone out of business and what remains is costly do overs. This is where an entrepreneur takes a computer crystal and embeds it in a FT-243 case and puts a Dymo tape label over the case marking the new frequency and charges a hefty fee. The most commonly used types of crystals in ham rigs of old were the FT-243 or HC-6/U.
AF4K Crystals has now filled the gap for many of the crystals needed for ham rigs and whether FT-243 or HC-6/U style the price is about $26 a pop. Likely that cost is real and a far cry from the $3 I paid in the 1970's. But at $26 pick your frequencies wisely.
The same for vacuum tubes that only 5 years ago were cheap but now have moved up in price. Small economic theory here as there is hardly any vacuum tube manufacturing on going in the world, so the supply is dwindling and that raises the prices at the marketplace even for used "toobs".
This is not all driven by the Trump Tariffs, but a realization that many of these products like Crystals and Vacuum Tubes are products of old times and as the supply dwindles, the price goes up. Ham Fests are not the answer either as most of the under the table stuff are computer parts like FDD Drives or Zip Drives and / or 486 processors with a small fan.
BUT our toroid shipping/handling cost is a result of changes in how small part packages are handled by the USPS or FedEx. Have you bought any stamps lately?
The thrust of this post is the cost of our hobby. While homebrewing provides satisfaction and the opportunity to learn as well as do things inexpensively, the shipping cost cast a pall over that effort. So, future project planning involves a significant evaluation of the shipping and handling cost along with the tariff impacts.
I saw a steal of a Johnson Adventurer on eBay. This was a rig I owned, and it is a superb transmitter with a 6AG7 driving an 807. Gulp the price was buy it now for $30 (typically $200). But the shipping was over $100. Darn!
Them that know, usually do!
73's
Pete N6QW