I've spent all day sourcing items I need for a table saw fence I am making, checking prices too.
I had intended to make the rail and rail support from steel but changed to wood when the shipping was much more than the steel. I still needed a 15" piece of 1.25 x 2 angle iron, reasonable enough at $7.06. Add a $2.00 cut charge and the shipping and it was $22+, can't be helped.
Then there was the UHMW facing for the fence. I needed 3/4" x 3" x 48". One place wanted $28.29 for it. Plus a $20 "processing fee" Plus $37.52 for UPS ground. A total of $85.81. No, thank you. I ordered a piece from Peachtree that was an inch wider - I'll cut it off - for $32.97. Adding it to a smaller order I had placed just previously added just $1.00 to the $7.99 shipping for the previous order.
I don't know where the first place is located but I find it insane and hard to believe that ir would cost $37.52 to ship that smallish and light package from anywhere in the US to central Florida.
I would prefer to buy from local merchants but many of the things I need simply aren't available locally. And if they are - and if I can find them - they often charge many times whatt the local stores do. Case in point: I needed some hex drive flat head screws. Local borgs don't have them and their prices for slot or philips drive are 4X what I paid.
Anyway, shipping prices seem to have gone up a lot.
This post serves no purpose, I just felt like venting.