Products that increase in price exponentially often have a dwindling supply accompanied by a surge in consumer demand.
A huge increase in demand that sends the price soaring is common with desirable foods, as the number of hungry consumers available will pay exorbitant rates for what they want.
Other items that used to be cheap but have skyrocketed in value are the result of an excessive increase in taxes.
Furthermore, items like gold and bullets have grown increasingly expensive throughout the last century, as a hedge against inflation and social unrest.
Here we will look at the top 11 expensive items that used to be cheap:
Lobster
Lobster was known as the poor man’s meal, as it was fed to prisoners and servants to supply them with sufficient calories on a budget.
In general, bottom feeders are considered an undesirable food choice, as their diet consists of all the trash that sinks to the bottom of oceans and rivers.
However, lobster is an anomaly, as lobster meat is extremely delicious when cooked properly and dipped in melted butter. Once the common people started eating lobster, they just couldn’t get enough of it.
Keeping up with the huge increase in demand for lobster put a strain on the overall supply and its value took off vertically. Nowadays, lobster is a luxury food item that only the well-off can afford.
Beans
While many people don’t consider beans to be expensive, they are far more costly than they used to be. Since beans are the staple of many cultures who subsist on beans and rice alone, they must be affordable.
Related: How to Dry Can Beans and Rice for 20+ Years Shelf Life
However, yields have been falling dramatically due to higher temperatures in regions like East Africa, where they are grown.
Additionally, prices are expected to continue to go up rapidly, as demand for beans increases. Many people worldwide have been storing beans and rice as a way to prepare for whatever may happen so stock up now before supplies diminish further.
Caviar
Caviar used to be so cheap it was served in bars and saloons for free in America during the 1800s. In a sense, serving caviar was the same as serving peanuts in bars and restaurants today. Places that serve caviar were able to earn more income because the high salt content in caviar made people thirsty and buy more beer.
However, the caviar craze resulted in overfishing and caused the population of Sturgeon fish to plunge.
With fewer Sturgeon laying eggs, caviar quantities diminished significantly and caused the price to spike to unimaginable levels.
Chocolate
Chocolate is one of the most delicious foods and Central American indigenous cultures considered cacao to be a gift from the gods.
Most people in Western culture seem to agree, as we are collectively eating chocolate at the fastest rate ever. In fact, we are eating more chocolate than we are able to produce.
Unfortunately, overall cacao yields around the world are decreasing, sending the price of chocolate higher and higher.
Honey
Honey supplies have been decreasing worldwide for decades now, as honeybees are dying off in record numbers.
This is due to a number of factors, but insecticides top the list.
Related: 23 Survival Uses for Honey
Albert Einstein famously said, “if the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left.”
The price of honey is no longer cheap and will continue to increase in value if there are lower supplies worldwide.
Preppers should store honey because it never goes bad. Honey has so many different use cases besides just being a food that everyone should have a bottle of honey on hand.
For instance, honey can be used on open wounds, because it has antibiotic and antifungal properties that can prevent or treat infections.
Coffee
Coffee is one of those items that most people can’t live without, myself included. Not only is it a delicious way to start the day, but caffeine makes everything a little bit better.
Unfortunately, coffee plants worldwide are decreasing in numbers, while demand increases, pushing up prices.
Since the best coffee requires shade for optimal growth, deforestation in coffee growing regions of the world is going to hamper future coffee crops.
Peanut Butter
Peanut butter and other nut butters are great items to have in long-term storage, as they are edible for years.
Related: 8 Cheap Protein Sources to Add to Your Stockpile Right Now
With a combination of protein and healthy fats, peanut butter is one staple of many Americans’ diets.
However, peanut butter is increasing in cost rapidly, although it used to be cheap, as many regions of the world that grow peanuts have switched to cotton for greater profit margins.
Ironically many of these farmers are now switching back to peanuts, as the overall demand for peanut butter has continued to increase, while prices are increasing in tangent.
Cigarettes
Entire economies are based around cigarettes as a means of trade, mainly in the penitentiary.
Since cigarettes will always have value to some people, many preppers store large quantities of cigarettes so they can use them to barter for other items.
Back in the 1950s, cigarettes used to be cheap, only $0.25 a pack. Now, the price of cigarettes is an average of $6 a pack in the United States. The reason for this huge increase in price is mainly due to taxes.
Since the government on both the federal and state level decided that taxing smokers excessively was one way to get them to quit or at least earn huge tax revenues, prices have escalated out of control.
Gasoline
Gasoline, a waste product of the kerosene industry, was originally flushed into rivers in the 1800s, as it served no use.
However, Rockefeller, in conjunction with Henry Ford, modified an ethanol engine to run on gasoline instead. Then, an all out war on ethanol began in the 1920s with Prohibition.
During this time frame, gasoline was adopted as the primary fuel for automobiles.
In the 1930s, a gallon of gasoline was around $0.10 and only went up to $0.36 by the 1970s. However, gasoline currently costs around $3 a gallon in the United States.
Bullets
With a huge demand for bullets, supplies have dropped significantly and many retailers are out of stock.
The vendors who still have rounds available are selling them at a pretty penny. However, this has not slowed down consumer demand, as many people, including preppers, are stocking up as much as they can.
If social unrest accelerates, expect bullets to keep going up in price.
Gold
Gold is an excellent store of value, especially during economic downturns.
The United States dollar was originally backed by gold, but the gold standard was abruptly abolished in 1971.
In the 1920s, an ounce of gold was worth a little over $20. In 2021, an ounce of gold is worth $1,787 at the time of writing.
Supply And Demand – How Much Are You Willing To Pay?
These 11 expensive items that used to be cheap are all in high demand.
Since consumers still want these items, they are willing to pay whatever it takes to get them.
Will these items keep going up in price? Only time will tell.
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whats next 11 items that will get wet in rain …..
Fuel was cheap till Dez nuts and Commie Red’s Pres shut down the pipe line and took us from engery independent to back to there corperate love of buying oil from the terroroist supporting saudias.
Raw unpasteurized honey can also serve as skin wound care. As expensive as is, much less than prescription medications that do a worse job. So medicine – food item that has extremely long shelf life definitely sounds like an item worth having in storage and your pantry shelf.
Yes Manuka honey is rated for medicinal level. Also very effective is colloidal silver which I make and have used for 30 yr. Best I have found is Steve Barwick and silver edge.com web site. He sells a reasonably priced high quality generator and a ton of balanced and researched information
Dennis, I find him very knowledgeable.
I’m so serious, was a factor in buying a home water distiller.
We are having a distilled water shortage, so a machine for $100. solved the issue.
I got over Covid with a Zpac with the CS push. Really works.
Any honey is anti-microbial. Get a couple of hives and you will have enough to store and sell. It will tend to crystalize, but you can put it in a pot of water, at about 140 degrees, and it will re-liquify. DO NOT microwave! Do it slowly and gently. We run ours through a strainer, not a filter, and then put it in canning jars. You can store it in anything that is clean and has a lid.
The basic definition of Inflation is too many dollars (rubles, Lira etc.) chasing that loaf of bread.
Hyperinflation is when you cash your check and RUN to the store with everybody having a list to grab to buy BEFORE that days (hours) Price Increase.
Price controls the Politicians answer to THE PROBLEM they Created never works as folks will not sell below the replacement costs.
Today’s prices will most likely be Tomorow’s Sale Prices and so on.
Don’t go into debt as the Great Depression PROVED that Gov.com and Bankers WILL get their pound of flesh and you will be homeless.
Orrrr, if you are borrowed to the hilt and they take everything what will you lose?
Life and Liberty of you and your family.
Not if you hold the government and bankers, you know, all the “wankers,” accountable for their CRIMES!
How often have the elitist class criminals been held accountable?
I read your prepper emails faithfully.
Have you thought about putting old newsletters on thumb drive and offering them at a reasonable price? I can’t be the only one interested in having this item.
Frankly I don’t think there is anything that has gotten better or cheaper under Biden. Gasoline is near doubled, my heating bill is near tripled, groceries more than doubled. One a fixed income it’s pretty hard to take… So thanks Joe🤯
While I hate the idea of having a senile person nominally in charge of this country, the inflation that we are experiencing is not Ole Two-Shot’s fault but the fault of every politician who voted for the grotesquely bloated budget over the last several presidents reaching back probably as far as Roosevelt. Calvin Coolidge was the last president to actually reduce government and increase the amount of real money the government had on hand. Even Hoover who was castigated for not doing enough, attempted to spend his way out of debt. Despite the Keynesian theory that governments can spend their way out of debt, that is an opium dream. Every time you say, “They ought to . . .” what you are really saying is that you want more taxes because you mean the goobermint every time you say “they ought to . . .”
Every time the goobermint does something it costs more than if you paid for it yourself. Yes, sometimes you have to band together. Pavng the street in front of your house doesn’t help if none of your neighbors don’t pave in front of theirs but I think I can say without contradiction that your neighbors and you could get your street paved a whole lot better and a whole lot cheaper than the goobermint can.
However…
a senior person is not in charge of the USA, Chuck
His handlers are quite sharp – they just happen to be psychopaths
Still, Captain Senility isn’t helping matters any.
BTW, in honor of Biden’s State of the Union address tonight, I made vanilla pudding.
Let’s go Brandon!
No – thank the voters who placed him there because of their feelings instead of using their head!
If the fraudulent voting system isn’t fixed conservatives will never win another election.
careful tommy the idiot here…. can’t handle the truth your vote doesn’t matter.
actually… if you follow the math (science) lol we have 133 million registered voters (yes, some dead still on the rolls), even by the corrupt medias count, Trump received 75 (ish) million votes, that only leaves 57 million voters for Obiden!!! The numbers have never added up!!! That still leaves 57 million who followed party lines, approved of a senile old racist or just plainly have TDS!! Now those are the people I hold accountable for the desperate state our country is in!!!
Cigarettes in Massachusetts are $8 for generic and $12-13 for most name brands – all taxes. It’s a sin tax, but booze isn’t taxed as badly – I guess because alcohol doesn’t kill as many people as tobacco. (Sarcasm 🙄)
S – Self
I – Inflicted
N – Nonsense
Well gas in Canada is so expensive they sell it in
liters and not gallons.
For a gallon of gas today, it costs $5.92.
($1.60 per liter)
And we’re paying more still, about $1.80 or more. They reckon $2 per litre by the end of the month
Coffee can be purchased as green beans (unroasted) and stored the way beans are. I store in 1- 1/2 to 2 lb vacuum bags. FYI: Coffee beans do not start to lose the flavor until after they are roasted. Do not roast the beans before you plan to use them. I have used green coffee beans that have been left in storage for over 9 years. There are many ways to roast the green coffee beans. There are many videos on the internet to tell you how to do the preparation of the coffee beans for use. Check them out. I learned my way in Ethiopia many years ago.
Not only do they have to be roasted, but then they have to be ground. Not much of a chore now with electricity on most hours of the day and most days of the week, but as we have juice fewer and fewer day of the week or not at all, that will become a bigger chore.
As a second best but providing long shelf life and ease of preparation may I suggest instant coffee. While it doesn’t come close to matching the sensory satisfaction of a freshly ground and brewed cup of your favorite blend, its shelf life means unopened a jar will most likely outlast you. Secondly, it can’t be beat for ease of preparation. Ione can mix a teaspoonful of instant coffee with a teaspoonful of sugar and consume it dry if the only satisfaction one is seeking is the caffeine boost.
Troops have been known to follow that expedient in the field when a heavy duty shot of energy booster is really needed. If one can stand the bitter taste the sugar can be omitted. The taste alone will fire one up.
While I agree with you I haven’t been able to buy green beans. The other thing is, will we be that fussy about how fresh our coffee beans are when no one has any and we are down to the last packet of out-of-date roasted beans. Oh to have some growing in the back yard lol
We will all have to be a lot less picky about so many things in the times to come I think.
Where do you purchase green coffee beans?
a popcorn popper works GREAT for roasting green beans
Despite claims of gouging on the part of powder manufacturers and hand and shoulder firearms ammunition manufacturers, it is essentially the green policies that have driven up the price of ammunition.
There hasn’t been a gunpowder manufacturing facility built in over 50 years. All the gunpowder equipment is creaking along as if the printing industry was using printing equipment from the 1960s. If that were the case, photographs would be reproduced with a 65 line screen. If you are old enough to have been reading newspapers in the 60s you might remember if you looked closely at the photographs you could actually see the dots making up the photograph. 4-color printing on newsprint was disastrous. Color printing except for really expensive art books was 120 line screen. state of the art then. When I exited the printing business 23 years ago quality printers were experimenting with 350 line screens for 4-color process printing. So we have the gunpowder business experiencing exponential demand for their product from the government arming its ninja forces for such high risk agencies as the social security admin — yes, they have swat teams and special weapons teams to handle all those disgruntled geriatrics in case they storm the local SSA office.
There is tremendous demand by the military with all of our foreign adventures.
And finally at the end of the line are the ammo manufacturers and the civilian reloaders.
All trying to be handled by a manufacturer trying to make deliveries in s 1963 pickup truck.
Why not just build more capability? Seems like a sensible question. Okay, you prepare the environmental impact study and report for a significant plant expansion for the manufacture of gunpowder. Acquire all the governmental permits and licenses for such a project. Don’t have the cash reserves for all the goobermental hoop jumping? Try getting a loan for such a project. With various goobermental offices pressuring financial institutes to rescind financial services to firearms related business, what do you think your chances are of obtaining. 7 or 8 figure loan from some major bank that can handle such a loan?
And I haven’t even touched on the availability of lead and copper two major components in the manufacture of ammunition. We no longer mine lead in this country thanks to Barry Obummer. Our lead now must be imported from Mexico or from our BFFs CHINA!!!
I read a recent article comparing how much copper wiring there is in a 2022 automobile as compared to even a 2000 automobile. There is a significant difference in the amount of copper wiring. All those handy services like lane control, cruise control, back up cameras, electric windows sunroof, etc etc all demand at least current from the battery/alternator.
So when you think you are getting ripped, think how much higher the free spenders in DC have increased the price of diesel since before the first ammo crisis. Ammo is heavy to move and the cost of diesel fuel directly impacts how much it costs to get that brick of .22 on Big 5’s store shelves.
I have tried to find the amount of Russian made ammo we still consume in spite of the 2021 ban on it. Some say it’s 40% of the total and comes in through foreign countries reselling it to the American market. Thought you might have some facts sInce you are LCC.
Russian ammo is still in a state of flux. Of course, as soon as Ole Two-Shot announced the ban on Russki imports everybody, their brothers and cousins rushed down to buy all the Ruski ammo on the shelves. There is still some quantities in the pipeline that were contracted for before the ban and they will still come in and be available, but look for panic buying andvif you ate’t there when the truck pulls up, you will be out of luck.
I think the days of really cheap 7.62×39 are long gone. I think you will find that ammo will be priced up there with .308. No more playing Red Dawn and blasting away with your semi-auto AK.
Right now, even with the ban there are a couple of heavy consumers overseas using all the Russki ammo they can get their hands on — 18,000 new users just in the city of Kiev alone. That would have put a crimp in Russki shipments with out Two-Shot sticking his foot into the mess.
All that said, there are other former and perhaps present ComBloc countries loading Russki sized ammo. They just haven’t been able to compete price wise with Putin Inc.
I don’t think you will see any ComBloc ammo reaching these shores until the problems in Ukraine have been settled. I think all the countries around that area will be keeping their stocks of ammo close at hand for the duration. I know if I were Poland’s export minister, I would certainly pass the word to Polish Small Arms Ammo Inc that the Polish government would look with strong disfavor on out of country sales for at least the foreseeable future.
If you have a favorite gun store where you regularly shop try buying the ammo in advance. Put down the whole amount of how much you want to buy in advance based on the last known price. If the shop owner knows how much his next shipment is going to cost put down the whole amount. He or she may refuse to do that or if you have been a good customer, he just may do it for you. I would slip him perhaps ten percent of the purchase price less sales tax in cash if and when the shipment arrives and he lets you know it is there. I would make the trip there to pick it up an A priority. Good luck. What you see in the next few weeks will be all there is except for the small amount U.S. loaders are producing. Do not look for a surge in U.S. production. Changing over a line isnt Qi ite like setting up your single stage press to crank out 100 rounds of .45 for the match Sunday. The U.S. suppliers are as busy as they can be running 24/7/365 cranking out 9mm, .223 and .308. Have you tried to buy .38sp. 148 grain hollow base wadcutters in the last decade? I think I could find King Soloman’s mines easier.
The Biden Admin has blocked the import of russia goods like ammo….. about a year or so ago. Whenever they posioned that guy…..
What you seen the last year or so is the importers remaining supply and once that’s gone its over.
Russian isn’t going to be using very much x 39 its been a dead and over Caliber from the 70s. the 5.45 is superior in most ways and lethal.
shopping ammo online is the only way to get it in bulk and cheap but eventually its going to be over. Russians also made like 40 to 50 percent of the ammo we used. They did a llot o the exotic calibers too.
i am going to miss the lost of poly wolf 223… one of the best practice and training rounds they had.
The pawn shops in our area have signs out that say “ammo in stock”. I haven’t stopped to see what they have on hand but I did buy some .45 ammo a few weeks ago. I do remember seeing .223/556 & 7.62 ammo on the shelves, in bulk…1000 round boxes. I didn’t check the brand, manufacturers or the price as I’m all stocked up on beer & bullets.
I really like the ammo coming in from South Korea, good quality NATO rounds, brass casing, primers are lacquered.
i reload my own but my only odd caliber is 50 bewolf