By Nelson Rios

Since coming to live on Orcas, I have heard the admonition to buy local more times than I can remember.  Buying locally and supporting your neighbors sounded like a reasonable and appropriate practice to which I adhered, at least initially.  Then reality set in and I began to wonder why the act of supporting your neighbors was not reciprocal.

For the life of me, I have yet to understand why it costs over 80 cents to move a gallon of gas or diesel from the mainland to Orcas.  Or why it costs so much more for other products, including groceries, to be brought to and made available on Orcas. I routinely hear similar complaints made in private but rarely in public.  Oh, I understand the economic impact of ferry and barge costs and travel time, but I also recognize the large-scale nature of moving product to the island.  It certainly would cost far more than 80 cents to move just one gallon of gasoline to Orcas; but, does it really cost $3,200 to $4,000 to move a bulk load of 4,000 or 5,000 gallons onto the island?  If so, I am ready to be educated on the economics of this situation, as are other residents who routinely complain about on-island gasoline costs.

I am not just focusing on the cost of fuel.  In fact, the motivation to write this editorial was a printer cartridge, as I needed to print and sign a legal document and my printer ink was running low.  I dutifully called a likely merchant to verify that this particular cartridge was in stock and available before I burned up about six dollars of expensive gas getting into Eastsound.  As I prepared to pay for the purchase, much to my dismay, the gentleman helping me scanned the cartridge and said “this is a pricy one, it is forty-eight dollars . . .” (I quit listening when he said forty-eight dollars, so I do not know the full price, plus tax).  I was stunned at the price, so he went into the back of the store and confirmed that the scanned price was, indeed, correct.  I made some comment about island pricing, to which he appeared to take mild offense although none was intended, and left without the printer cartridge.  A quick internet search turned up the same item for just over $22, including shipping and tax.

I fully expect to pay, and have willingly paid, a reasonable premium for the convenience of purchasing products from local merchants, a reasonable premium being defined as a 10% to 25% markup over mainland costs – – not a 50% to 100% price increase.  And, I have since wondered about the cause of such unusually high mark-up?  Is it the smaller purchasing volume?  Is it the cost of moving product to the island?  Is it the lack of real market competition, whether intentional or unintentional?  Is it the “I’m on vacation, so cost is of little importance” tourist-oriented pricing?  I will venture a wild guess that each is a contributing factor, but leave readers to reach their own conclusions.

So I ask again, should the principle of supporting neighbors be reciprocal?  If so, I am willing to buy locally and support our local merchants, even if it means paying a modest premium to do so.  But, should not my neighbor merchants also try to support their neighborhood customers?  I don’t consider charging more than twice the market rate (in the printer cartridge example) to be very neighborly.  Unfortunately, it drove me, and more importantly it is driving many other island residents, to do business on the mainland where costs are more competitive.

This “mainland flight” for large or volume purchases cannot be in the best interest of anyone on the island, neither for merchant or customer.  I recognize that merchants are also burdened by higher local prices when they become consumers, so, somehow, local residents need to catch a price break, else they will continue the Costco, Walmart, Fred Meyers shuttle.  And this off-island spending will continue to hurt the island economy which, in turn, will stifle competition and encourage even higher prices.

Nelson Rios has had an extensive career in local government and in the non-profit sector, addressing societal issues. His prior political interest and involvement have included local and statewide political campaigns in Virginia.

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