Will Costco Limits On Toilet Paper Cause Hoarding Again?

Remember at the beginning of the pandemic when everyone started inexplicably hoarding toilet paper? I still don't understand that whole thing but for some reason, that household staple was flying off shelves and requiring stores to put severe limits on how much you could buy. Even online orders were taking a lot longer to fill. During the height of the pandemic and stay at home orders we saw grocery stores and other big box stores with empty shelves. Everything was hard to buy but we got through that and it looked like things were settling down until the announcement that Costco is putting limits on things you can buy.

I read through the transcript of their sales earning report phone call with investors and it was pretty interesting. From what I read there are supply chain issues throughout the entire process on things that Costco sells. It ranges from manufacturers being able to get things like chips for computers to having enough drivers and containers to ship products for sale. And that's not just Costco having trouble finding drivers and containers, it's all the manufacturers who make things having the same issues. It just piles up to create more and more delays.

With the holidays coming up you might see issues with your Christmas shopping. From the Costco transcript:

"...we’re selling out merchandise once it’s received within two weeks on most items and we’ve ordered more and earlier. Same thing with toys and seasonal, we’re bringing in some of the items early."

To me that sounds like they are putting products on the floor when they get them but with supply chain issues there might be issues with getting more products later toward the holidays. That's just how I'm reading it, it may not be that. Whatever the case may be, it looks like supply chain issues are here to stay for the time being. Shop accordingly.