Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

In a recent conversation with a friend, they expressed their dissatisfaction with having to wait to get certain goods.  We are at the tail end of a 6 month long panic buying run on many types of firearms, and many firearm parts have been generally unavailable as well.  It's been hard to find certain parts which has led to either having to pay a premium or order something (often at full msrp) and wait a month or 3 for it to be delivered.

I'm perfectly comfortable operating like this.  Perhaps I'm an old soul, but ordering something from a catalog and waiting for it to be delivered days, weeks or months later is fun.  And quite honestly, if anyone get get a thing any time they want, it can't be all that great.

I mean, if I want a silver Camry with popular equipment pack 1A I can go to any Toyota dealer in the nation and get one.  But if I want a Ferrari (or even a Miata) with specific options in a particular color I'm going to likely have to order one and wait.  And if it's a special model or a limited run I may have to wait a long time.  For many people waiting to get something that meets their specific needs or desires is worth the wait.  Sure, a Camry is a great car, but that Miata or Ferrari with the optional brake or suspension upgrade will allow me to do things I can't in that Camry, like track days.

I don't mind waiting to get quality goods that meet my needs.  In fact, that's mostly how I buy things.  My purchases tend to either be something that's high quality and American made or (sometimes and) blow-out deals.  It's how I ended up with a pack in the terrible ACU color- top quality, American made and 50% off.  But many of the best things I've purchased involved a wait.  My two Kifaru packs, my 350Z, my Colt CRP rifle, the Softail I bought in 2001, my SWFA SS scope and holsters from Simply Rugged and Crossbreed.

In fact, companies that make things to order and have a backlog can afford to keep quality high.  If they ramp up production quality can suffer, and if business slows down they have to lay off employees.  I'd rather wait 2 weeks or 8 weeks or 3 months if it guarantees quality will remain high.  How disappointing would it be to order something from a company that's known to be high quality only to have it not be?  I'm happy to wait.

What brought this to mind is an order I put in yesterday.  The company advertised a 8 week minimum backlog, stating they were shipping orders this week that were placed the last week of March.  I'm happy to wait, sometimes the anticipation is the best part.