We hate price increases, but we’re doing one anyway. Costs are way up due to COVID-related supply chain issues, and we can’t absorb the higher costs without a corresponding price increase. It’s not a decision we’ve made lightly, and as soon as costs go back down, we’ll be waiting in the wings with a reduction.

As you’ve no doubt seen in the news, the supply chain situation is crazier than ever. Governments are implementing strict quarantines, factories are closed, ports are clogged, shipping rates have skyrocketed, and several Asian countries are navigating their biggest COVID waves yet. Ikea, Home Depot, and Walmart are chartering their own private ships. China closed the world’s third largest shipping port (Ningbo) over a single COVID case. Factories in Bangladesh and Vietnam were shuttered for weeks this summer while those countries scrambled for vaccines. We’ve never seen anything like it.

After two months with no revenue and dwindling cash while we waited for shipments to arrive by sea this summer, we’re now doing everything we can to avoid a repeat. We’re importing unfinished bags and doing final assembly in the US and Europe. That’s how we did things when we were first starting out, so it feels like ‘back to the future.’ Two weeks ago, one of our factory owners even snuck into his own facility – past the government guards enforcing the closure – to retrieve the parts we needed. Yes that actually happened. Unlike Walmart and Home Depot, we can’t charter ships, so instead we’re loading everything on airplanes – at 10x the normal cost of sea freight – to bypass the quagmire at the ports and keep inventory moving.

Strange times, strange measures.

We believe this is all temporary. Vaccines will soon be widely distributed, factories will reopen, port traffic will settle, and inventory will flow again. When that happens, we’ll return to sea freight and overseas assembly, and reduce prices accordingly. We estimate it’ll be another 6+ months at least. In the meantime, we’ll be hustling.

Sorry about the sudden increase and thanks for understanding!

The Mosko Team