Mom, who is a prepper, has noticed the price of freeze-dried foods and other prepping supplies have gone down because people are not prepping as much as before.

Mom believes the reason for this is political.

Has anyone noticed a low price due to a low demand?

Edit: Mark, thanks for pointing out my mistake. Corrected.

Jeanette Isabelle

Low supply due to low demand? Yes. Niche market items are always hard to find because there is such a such a small market to begin with.

Low cost due to low demand? Generally, no. Only when attempting to clear out stock. The economics of scale pretty much dictate that niche market items are going to cost more than mass market items.

As an example, the current hardback edition of Mirriam-Webster's "Collegiate Dictionary" has 1667 pages and retails for less then $30. Most households have at least one copy of a dictionary.

Comparatively, the current hardback edition of Kreyzig's "Advanced Engineering Mathematics" has 1280 pages and costs $197. Most households do not have a book on post-calculus mathematics.

So, needless to say, Mirriam-Webster's has a much larger demand. Subsequently, a much larger supply, and lower prices due to the economics of scale.

Politics really doesn't figure into it with the exception of heavily regulated items (i.e. guns) and items purchased on futures (gasoline). With those, politics can really throw a market up or down.

The reason is open for discussion. The fact remains, in recent months, Mom is seeing the prices of freeze-dried food are lower than before.

Jeanette Isabelle

A low price due to low demand sometimes happens when the supply cannot be regulated easily. Last year that happened to milk prices due to full storages and collapse of a market segment in russia. A cow cannot easily be shut off temporarily and the demand on beef wasn´t that high either.
In the case of freeze dries goods there could be an extension from niche products to main stream items. Freeze dried goods can be used in convience items like instant soup. If a manufacturer decides to enter a new market segment that may have an effect on per unit costs for other products.
There is also optimizing profit by lowering the price in order to sell more units for a better total profit. That could reach people who would have bought the product for a slightly lower price. That´s why cosmetic products for men are frequently slightly cheaper than compareable products for women .

I suspect that its both seasonal (camping time in America) and that prepping is going more mainstream... Lots more kits are available...

I see more people prepping than before. But I'm biased -- I do community outreach where I live on prepping issues, and I tend to hang out with other preppers, so it may be confirmation bias.

I've noticed some lower prices on things too but I've also noticed what seems to be a larger selection. Not only has the selection improved from a particular manufacturer but I've seen more companies getting into the market. At least it seems that way where we are.

There are cosmetic products for men? Perhaps I should update my appearance from "Basic Neanderthal" to something more modern then.

Yes there are. Probably you already use some of them (e. g.: a bar of soap, shampoo, shaving creme, tooth paste, basic hand lotion or creme).
Makeup for men also has a long history. We used to call it "war paint".
You definitely need to try some of the more sophiscated products like moustash wax, hair gel and the propper selection of moisturizes. Otherwise you might ruin the cosmestics industry and be responsible for the pink tax .

Deleted.


chaosmagnet

Okay, No more tongue in cheek comments.

Mark_R