Say thank you to President Trump
Bringing production back to the USA and having a trade war with China was only going to do one thing to prices
All my wholesalers have increased prices this year
RGS went up 15% and Stens went up 4% .
Discharge shoots are mower parts and just about every deck uses a different chute and they are a bulky item so a lot of warehouse space needs to be devoted to them
Warehouses cost money and a single pallet space can run over a grand a year so you need to be making over a grand in profit a year on what was on that pallet just cover the cost of it sitting there getting old.
Then it has the be ordered, picks, packed, despatched & delivered to the shop before finally being in your hot hands so in reality at $ 45 they are most likely loosing money on it .
FWIW a 42" craftsman ( Husqvarna style ) deck chute down here is $ 175 ( Aus ) around $ 120 US and they would be the most common & fasted moving chutes down here .