We are stupid busy, like most of you. We are 4-5 months out for delivery of new orders. The PROBLEM is all my goods have gone up 20% in the past 2 months. If minimum wage goes up, my employees will want a commensurate increase in their wages as well. My lumber suppliers will only hold a quote until FRIDAY, even if it's Thursday - they say prices are changing too fast.
So, how the heck can you quote a price for products, not knowing if you'll take a bath by the time the customer's production slot comes around? I've struggled to figure a solution before posting here, but I'm flummoxed! Any solutions?

Similar issues here for us as well as our contractors. Only solutions Ive been using is to include a clause that material cost fluctuations will be reflected in a revised number at the time of deposit. After that asking vendors if they will sit on paid-in-full material and let you draw from it. Locking things down on heavy deposit, and purchasing all the materials ahead is about the only option for me as my vendors will not sit on paid material which means Ive had to deal with the cost of off-site storage and the headache of receiving/moving material around for jobs that are locked down. A few good customers I trust on contract but with the way things are 99.9% I will not bring in any material unless its paid on deposit.

I was of the notion that this would peter out relatively quickly but as of last week talking to a panel vendor they were cautious about quoting some laid up panels because they are having trouble getting core material and they said their melamine supplier prided themselves on shipping any order complete in something like 10-14 days for years their orders being placed right now have a projected ship date of December! Given we are still not seeing a drop in gas prices or any other hiked material its not surprising. Lumber futures have been sinking like a stone but we will get gouged clear through the fall I'd imagine.

Im seeing piles of old OSB and plywood, framing material thats been sitting in shed's, listed on craigslist here every day. There recently was a pile of what looked to be pretty ripe OSB that someone likely had piled in an outbuilding probably all swelled and fuzzy listed for $30 a sheet and I'd bet it sold same day.

Lumber I can buy and store pretty well. My situation is that hardware, glass, tooling, etc. is unknown until the deposit comes in, and even then changes frequently (gotta love architects and designers!). So buy and store is not an option for most of this. Giving a quote and holding off for the deposit until we get closer has some merit - but also leaves open the possibility of cancellations leaving a hole in the schedule (which would be just fine with me at this point) OR lead times for goods extending out even further when I place the order. Then I have an unhappy customer and a hole in the schedule....

Yep, all the same as we are dealing with. If youve got money set back and can deal with some time off the cancellations dont matter much. Holes in the schedule can seem to quickly turn into a snowball nightmare if people start dropping like flies but for some strange reason that doesnt seem to be happening on mass. I have no idea where the cash is coming from to absorb all of this. A couple stimulus checks arent funding a new kitchen, addition, or new home. I dont personally know anyone in my circles that are swimming in expendable cash right now but it is what it is.

We've seen a major pull back here on commercial work in the past 3 months and in this area the residential market for anything other than multi-millions is home center and a market we have no desire to be in.

Crazy times.

Posted this elsewhere but it is relevant.
Can't get Blum Tandems so I tried to order Grass Dynapro as a substitute.
Hafele says back ordered until September 14. Bad times ahead for sure.

When glass was so volatile a few years ago, I left the glass price open in quotes.

There was an article in the New York Times a few days ago that said that lumber futures are down 30%.

Unfortunately the futures are far worse an indicator than the price of a barrel of oil as it pertains to gasoline. 4th quarter into 1st and 2nd quarter of 22' is what everyone Ive spoken with and read have said. From vendors to the mill we pull from on through to the media. Sounds like its going to be a long slog.

We don't give prices. We give budget ranges based on today's material costs. Orders are out 10+ months. We will lock in a price 3 months prior to fabrication when we order in all materials. It has been working.

I can only imagine how frustrating this situation must be. I'm Häfele America Co's trainer and for the most part get to watch all this playing out from the side lines.
That said, I know that our reps are working hard to connect their customers with alternatives, so don't take "no" as the final answer if you are open to other options but do reach out to your Häfele rep, assuming you have one. Inquire about similar products from other brands, and let them know if you are flexible on features.

Also, and this is the trainer in me talking, since Woodweb is an international forum it's important to know that in addition to our business in the USA there are 36 other Häfele subsidiaries as well as our headquarters in Germany. When someone says that "Hafele says they are backordered until September" that may not be the case at the Häfele subsidiary in the country where the reader is located. Häfele America is dealing with shortages with Dynapro because Grass America is experiencing shortages, but this may not be the case at Häfele UK, for example.

Oh, and to make things even more interesting, not every Häfele subsidiary has the same suppliers! Many of our subsidiaries sell Blum, for example, while we at Häfele America Co sell Grass, Salice, Accuride and our own house brands, such as Matrix.

In one of our departments, we made this decision. Our suppliers were constantly raising prices on certain items, so we added a little more on top, about the percentage by which they were likely to go up. If a person ordered that product, we would bring it to them at the price they ordered, but if the price didn't go up during that time, we would give the customer some kind of bonus. That way, the customer seemed to overpay, but was satisfied because of the trinket.