Ever since the bank debacle, and the advent of recession/depression, I have noticed that new pipes orders has fallen through the floor; and more pipes are starting to appear on Ebay. I haven’t had an order in months. This is a first for me. My machines are starting to rust and wood and supply prices have tripled. Oh well! nothing lasts forever. I’m thinking of using my equipment to make rosewood baseball bats.
All the best,
Pat Sky
I suspect you’re not alone.
Pipes are a luxury item and when money is tight, the luxuries must go. In addition, the unbridled optisims of previous years has probably resulted in an oversupply of pipes, so the 2nd hand market will be busy for a while.
However, the latest news from the IMF is that the US economy will grow by a small amount in 2010. At least this will put an end to the US recession*. Whether consumer confidence returns in 2010 or later is anyone’s guess.
Until then, put me down for a wide-bore slugger! 
*A recession is defined as negative economic growth in 2 consecutive quaters.
Someone needs to make another movie featuring a well-muscled, handsome man playing the pipes. I am free for the gig if any directors need me.
Hey, what was the first movie? I need to go rent it! 
KAD
I’m in a very different part of the piping market to you Pat having set up an online store specializing in piping CDs and DVDs. People are still buying discs but not so many and there have been a couple of definite changing trends since the end of last year. Firstly the proportion of single CD orders has gone up. In the past I suspect people came on the site for something specific and the browsed around and put a second (or third…) disc in the cart. Now it seems people come for that specific CD and that’s it. Also there are definite bumps in orders at the middle and the end of the month whereas before it was more even. It seems people are getting their paycheck, working out what they have left over, and then treating themselves to something rather than putting it on plastic and paying it off whenever.
I do wonder how this whole debacle will effect the CD business in the long run. The specialist labels that have produced many of the discs in the past expect a slow turn around on their investment - we ain’t dealing in the top ten get rich quick end of music. If they are being squeezed for credit to get CDs pressed I can see more of them going straight to downloads instead of physical product. Beyond the actual labels the specialist distributors are finding things harder - the Woolworth’s collapse in the UK last year with its CD distribution arm cut heavily into the sales of one of the big Irish labels/distributors and if they were to go down a lot of Irish music would be harder to get hold of. Another specialist distributor here in the US told me they are trying to keep inventory low because of the economy. As a result they only ordered two copies of a new Northumnbrian piping CD by Andy May for the whole US (they are the UK labels sole US distributor). They ordered more for me when they knew that they had a definite buyer.
It would also be interesting to know how the economy is affecting peoples gigs.The number of wedding inquiries I have been getting for piping is also down - I have always viewed the piper at a wedding as being one of the easiest things for the couple to drop and it looks like it is proving to be the case. What about those who have bar gigs etc - are the jobs holding up?
Ian
After leading a rather in-depth “survey” (from many points of view) on attitude of young people to illegal download, I do believe that CDs are to become something of LPs of todays - some people do have it, but more because of sentiment, than real need (putting quality a bit aside, I know 
). The thing is, they consider it absolutely normal (everybody does), and since laws are evolving only very slowly, they don’t respond to such stealing. Illegal? Yes? Can you be punished for it? Hardly.
Paid downloads can work, probably (we shall see), but if it’s easy enough to use (not like that b.#&^*@ paypal), it could work.
If the economy gets much worse, you’ll have more funeral inquiries at least
[Ian Lawther wrote:
Another specialist distributor here in the US told me they are trying to keep inventory low because of the economy. As a result they only ordered two copies of a new Northumnbrian piping CD by Andy May for the whole US (they are the UK labels sole US distributor). They ordered more for me when they knew that they had a definite buyer.
2 copies? Damn!!! The whole market is obviously going to the dogs!! 2 copies!!!
A
(joking…)
You could always keep yourself busy by building a couple sets ahead of time for placement on eBay. Sometimes, having the chance to buy a ready-made set can entice the person that doesn’t have the patience to wait 2 months to 2 years for a set to be made.
I am going with David Daye and his self-assembly kit because it fit my limited budget the best.
Why not ask for a Government bail out??? Then Nancy Palosi will be appointed to tell you how much you can charge for Pipes. Of Coarse Harry Reed would absolutely be appointed to regulate and standardize all ..>>>>..Welll yeah…you guessed it HAIRY REEDMAKING!!! 
Sorry Pat Couldnt resist I do feel your pain 
Well, I am on the other hand waiting for a practice set that is almost 7 months behind schedule
As far as I can tell, most makers still have waits of several years or have closed their books. I’m still waiting for something that was supposed to be done six months ago.
Remember that the tide eventually turns and flows the other way…
As was mentioned, ‘Busy-work’ such as making new sets is probably a good idea. the short/no wait time will likely encourage prospective clients when their individual threshold of security is regained.
It’s the recession, Pat. The ‘R’ word. Bet you’ll hear the ‘D’ word down the line, so best to spend your time working on those baseball bats. Or truncheons. Matt Kiernan in reverse, if you follow.
One of the best economic blogs: The Automatic Earth. Chock full of the latest in grinding to a halt. The proprietors don’t think there’ll be an uptick soon, if ever.
FYI. They and people like them are infinitely more erudite than the yammering stooges on CNBC, who were loudly dismissing the notion that housing prices would ever drop 5 years ago.