> 
> 
> Robert Young wrote:
> [snip]
> > I have personally observed the price shift.  Got some 
> low-ball bids on 
> > the part price but when I asked for a total to prepare the purchase 
> > order they started to fuss and wouldn't be exact.  Needed 
> the parts so 
> > just went ahead and ordered.  Bill came in such that I 
> could have paid 
> > easily 30% more for the parts alone and still been under 
> their total 
> > with fees and shipping.  In other cases I've had exorbitant 
> shipping 
> > charges, much more than 5 times actual cost.  I can understand 2x 
> > shipping cost to cover time and materials but 5x is a bit much.
> 
> That's pretty bad (although it does happen a lot). However, 
> this has nothing 
> to do with companies trying to work together to try and keep 
> the prices up.

Vitaliy, I don't believe they are working "together" but rather seeing
that there is a sudden "demand" for a particular part.  The brokers I
have dealt with that are quoting the same price I don't believe are
talking amongst themselves.  They are simply quoting their price based
on the same pool of available parts from Company X.   It would be
Company X that begins to raise the price.  Company X receives an RFQ
from a broker and quotes the first low price.  Then sometime later a
series of brokers begin RFQ-ing the same part.  Company X perceives
increased demand and could raise the price on the parts.

> 
> Makes sense. But this doesn't mean they're working together, I would 
> actually think they were working against each other. They 
> weren't offering 
> the same price on the part, were they?

I didn't say the brokers were necessarily working together.  They are
bidding price based on the pool of parts from a limited number of
suppliers.  If several happen to use the same supplier, the supplier
(Company X in the above paragraph) may perceive increased demand (real
or imagined) and could decide to increase the price.

But from what Matt said in his posts, it sounds like this particular
part cannot be had for love or money anyway.  At least not
new-old-stock.
> 
> Well, the thing is, you said originally:
> 
> > many of these companies
> > talk amongst themselves and there are a few "master" 
> databases (over 

And I do know that some salesmen do know each other from working at
other companies and moving between companies.  I have received calls in
the past from "Mr. Smith" announcing to me that he has left "Broker 1"
and now works for "Broker 2".  They take (legally or otherwise) their
call sheets when they leave.

> 
> You're saying there's a conspiracy among the surplus parts 
> companies. I 

I am not saying there is a conspiracy.  There is no conspiracy.  Just
market-churn which has a strong potential for driving up the cost on
surplus parts.

The "master database" concept was a bit too broad and a literal
interpretation does make it sound like a conspiracy.  But there is no
conspiracy, just a bad analogy on my part.

> companies were in a cartel agreement). And sometimes I'm able 
> to get a 
> better deal by pitting the suppliers against each other 
> ("Bill said that 
> he'll sell X units for Y$/each ").
> 
I've done the same thing.  And again, some of these guys know each other
for what ever reason and definitely recognize their competitors names if
not also the names of salespersons at the companies.


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