cheryl
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Why it’s so hard to find dumbbells in the US - Vox
No supply chain, no gains. The United States dumbbell shortage, explained.
On lucky days, my friend Andrew drops a dumbbell alert in my Slack group chat. He tells us which sites — Rogue, SPRI, NordicTrack, Bowflex — have them in stock, which are shipping, and what kinds of weights are available. If you get to his messages five minutes late, the weights are almost always sold out.
“Finding dumbbells that deliver within a reasonable time (less than a month) is like trying to acquire concert tickets for a pop legend without ever knowing when the tickets go on sale,” Andrew told me. “I checked in up to five times a day on my most reliable sites, hoping that I would get lucky that two dumbbells in the weight I want will be available.”
Dumbbells, like Nintendo Switches, yeast, and bidets, are one of those things that have become extremely popular during the pandemic and extremely hard to find. People are spending more and more time at home, and they’re buying things they never needed or possibly wanted before. The sudden surge in demand has created shortages of the most seemingly disparate things.
No supply chain, no gains. The United States dumbbell shortage, explained.
On lucky days, my friend Andrew drops a dumbbell alert in my Slack group chat. He tells us which sites — Rogue, SPRI, NordicTrack, Bowflex — have them in stock, which are shipping, and what kinds of weights are available. If you get to his messages five minutes late, the weights are almost always sold out.
“Finding dumbbells that deliver within a reasonable time (less than a month) is like trying to acquire concert tickets for a pop legend without ever knowing when the tickets go on sale,” Andrew told me. “I checked in up to five times a day on my most reliable sites, hoping that I would get lucky that two dumbbells in the weight I want will be available.”
Dumbbells, like Nintendo Switches, yeast, and bidets, are one of those things that have become extremely popular during the pandemic and extremely hard to find. People are spending more and more time at home, and they’re buying things they never needed or possibly wanted before. The sudden surge in demand has created shortages of the most seemingly disparate things.