ACOT Message Board

I don't do the "cherry hunts", or packages, or Santa hats, or whatever the current target is, very often. But I was just looking for some specific and it dawned on me I didn't see any of the hats or gifts that I've seen discussed. I am signed in, so it's not that. Eventually, literally after looking at 150 items, I finally found one gift and one Santa hat. Are those of you who hunt regularly finding them to be more scarce? It used to be easy to get the daily max, I know I would have the patience to go thru thousands of items just to get my 150 or whatever are allowed daily anymore. Just wondered if I'm in a bad streak or if they truly are getting harder to find.

I haven't had a problem today.  I wonder if you had seen that product before and that is why it isn't showing up as quickly?  I will say it was harder to find the gingerbread men (3 points)

Unless I am looking at odd hours (super early or super late), I find them to be very very scarce the past few weeks.  I was bored one night and just watching TV so I was clicking through the store off and on for hours and didn't get to 150.  

1scrappymom wrote:I haven't had a problem today.  I wonder if you had seen that product before and that is why it isn't showing up as quickly?  I will say it was harder to find the gingerbread men (3 points)

I haven't hunted in probably 3 or 4 months. And this is a new product, and a category I haven't been in since summer.  

christinec68 wrote:Unless I am looking at odd hours (super early or super late), I find them to be very very scarce the past few weeks.  I was bored one night and just watching TV so I was clicking through the store off and on for hours and didn't get to 150.  

OK...so it's not just me. Now at least I know they aren't hiding from me because I haven't taken a shower yet today! lol 

I don't hunt as often as I used to mostly because I can't see the pictures anymore at work. But when I do look at home I am finding it harder and harder to find them

They seem to be pretty scarce.  I don't regularly hunt for anything.  I actually only know about them because I've been spending a lot of time in the clearance section.  I've come across several presents, only one Santa Hat and still have yet to find the Gingerbread Man.  However, I have found nearly $75 worth of stuff for my basket!!

I just looked through Websters pages Hall Pass collection and found 7 of the 1 pointers and 1 of the 3 pointers.  But I must say they are more difficult to spot than cherries which stand out.

You might want to delete your cookies. I've had to do that before!

I just started hunting again and am finding them okay.  The 3 pointer (in this case, the gingerbread man) is always hard to fine.  I go to a brand and go through the entire stock.  It doesn't take that long for me.  I enjoy the little gaming of it.

June

I just finished my 150 for the night.  I search most every night of the week.  It takes me less than an hour to find my 150.

They aren't that scarce (it actually took me about 6 months of looking to realize they appear in more than just the top next to the item) but if you routinely look at the detail pages for the same items/manufacturer, they become quite a bit fewer and farther between.  I used to go through a few companies at a time (I multi tab so I can look on other pages while the prior pages are still loading...all while watching YT videos) but then got bored of looking at companies I don't have any interest in.  So I look through companies that I like and the new, pre-order, coming soon, back in stock, etc categories.  On occasion, I also look through themes...right now I have a Christmas tab open.

I find it is a lot harder now.  

I haven't had any issues but I also look throughout the day so it may be slower but I don't notice... No help here!

So.....Nancy.......you need the numbers period and the one who has been around five years.

Ok.....numbers......and trends here.

New as of late is a much longer list of brands in section of same name.  Then Clint announces Cross Stitch before or at least close to Thanksgiving.  Then I stumble across a skein of yarn on a product page......and up popped question marks?????? In my brain.  That caused me to jump and look a little closer at some of those companies!  I found clothe and yarn and it appears our favorite paper crafting store is gearing up to be a broader crafting store.

Now the why!  That "I" word that political parties in today's world has been in near or double digits since the market crashed in 2008.  All we have to do to see "I" word in action is how much food has risen in the last six years.  Also the inflation we have experienced is lessening numbers on board.  I am notorious for seeing or searching for numbers.  Order numbers looked into from when I joined the board May of '08.  Orders off enough for them to look at other crafting opportunity.  Next I noticed a slowdown in finding Cherries after CHA Winter and again in summer as Brandon was trying to get product online.  This has been a constant since I joined the board up until Pre-order started.  I have been quite busy and haven't been searching the last four months much!  I started in first page of 'New Section.'  Odd.....I thought.....not as many cherries!  Jumped to last page of same section and quite a number of cherries.  The only thing I cannot account for from my flipping threw pages in trends is ACOT's cost increases over the last six years vs income.  All business have had them.....we sure have in both businesses (Oilfield and Ranch).  Most of it for both is through regulation......sigh!  Even with scrapping Jillibean Soup was the first to bump up the price of paper last year after CHA Winter.  After CHA Summer G45 had a price increase.  And I foresee more companies following suite when new product arrives after CHA Winter.  When I joined the message board paper was $0.79,  Honestly....there are less as their overhead has had to have gone up!  Remember photos of warehouse Clint posted!  Remember the piles of boxes....aka overhead!

I know I sound like doom and gloom.....do not mean to but governmental entities need to quit pursuing constant increase in regulation.  As of January 1 the cost of selling a cow, bull, calf or steer is once again going to rise.  My paperwork will rise, too.  Thank you consumer and USDA!  The new regulation is consumer driven.  And if the much farmer hated regulation by EPA on redefining "navigable waters" will cost you more in food and clothing.  Especially cotton!  I wear Men's jeans anyway because finding Women's in 36 length is easier then other jeans from Wrangler is better then other brands.  Cotton needs more herbicide, pesticide, and fungicide then any other crop.  Under the new regulation the farmer will need to apply for a permit and pay a fee to spray 1 or more of the three chemicals 24 hours before onset of spraying.  Really.....farmers prefer not to spray.......costs too darn much.  Farmer finds evidence of fungicide on his cotton plant......he needs to spray right then.  Now EPA loves to create havoc and waits six days before issuing permit for whatever reason the employee has decided it is on that day.  Ooooo blankety blank said farmer each day the fungus spread across his crop.  Crop done for as plants are beyond saving.  Now farmer applies for crop insurance......which is only through Federal Government or Lioyd's.  Guess which is cheaper....government.....and you paid for it.  I literally see that next year's cotton crop will be 1/3 to 1/2 the amount harvested if this regulation goes through.  It is less than 2% of the cotton harvested stays stateside.  It heads overseas to be spun and made into your jeans and shipped back to US.  Are you ready to see my $24.99 Men's Wranglers go to $100 a pair?  Wear designer jeans......double or triple the cost.  And do you know what their favorite penalty is from EPA is for farmers per day, $35,000.

Let's come closer to our world of scrapping.  Go back and see what food cost in 2008, look at cost now and I will wager your fresh vegetables do not look as good prior to 2010 in the store.  Welcome to what is known in trucking as CHA 2010 Regulations.  All those regulations did is the first wave of truckers said was, 'I quit, not putting up with this crap.'  Subsequent drivers have either been booted out for a long list of reasons.now there is a driver shortage.....  This for starters  has caused companies to reduce number of trucks to meet driver base.  And freight is delayed!  2nd enter again EPA insisting on less emissions by trucks.  Good thing.....not hardly.....trucks cost a heck of a lot more, can't pull as heavy a load.  Cost you more dollars for your food, goods and services!  And there is not a statistical difference in the safety on the roads which was what the regulation was intended to do.

and why do we put up with it.....
 

I have had a very difficult time which has been progressively worse over the past month...  And I delete my cookies daily!  In fact it took me two minutes, no fibbing!  To load the page for me to post thing, and I had to manually refresh or it would time out.  Yes some of it is my so-called high speed internet (avoiding the long tiresome call to my ISP) but when I hunt my computer often times out before the next item loads and therefore I have not been hunting much lately, there is much more  that I can do with all these hours a day!  BUT it also means I am not on the board as much.  A majority of my purchases come from the items I hunt! 

Just found my cherry limit in 30 minutes.

I found 3 point Holly and 3 Presents:  2 Point Bells and Candy Canes: and 1 Point Elf Hat, Santa Hat, Present, Gingerbread Man, Gingerbread House

WHAT!  No Christmas Stockings?????

karensay wrote:Just found my cherry limit in 30 minutes.

I found 3 point Holly and 3 Presents:  2 Point Bells and Candy Canes: and 1 Point Elf Hat, Santa Hat, Present, Gingerbread Man, Gingerbread House

WHAT!  No Christmas Stockings?????

I don't know how you do it...I searched for a little over 30 minutes last night and found about 55 cherries,  Haha!!!  

I loved the variety of images!

I have been finding more by scrolling down to the review sections. They don't just appear at the top. I just spent 15 minutes and found 33 points.