Lumber prices affecting wood shops

[sharkin]

Lumber prices and building materials have seen a significant spike over the last year. Lots of factors at play causing this from short labor supply, higher fuel costs for transport, and regulations/restrictions outright shutting down some mills. Looking to discuss how it affects the prices downstream. If it costs 20% more to pull the wood and there’s 20% less wood being pulled, its no surprise we’d see the supply price increase. Factoring in the backups in international shipping ports and the cost of moving wood around the world in general, even the cheaper foreign options are seeing pretty big increases.

I’ve seen deck prices creep up during covid and they seem to be staying. Lots of $69.95 decks out there that were $55 but 18 months ago. Long time coming, and I think it’s a fair price but wondering who’s getting the extra $10-$20?
Anyone got some stories to share on the supply side with how these shops, distributors, or wood shops are handling this?

[moonordie]

Not that anybody here care about the chilean reality but still.
We have chilean peso (clp) and for you to have an idea 1 US dollar = 710 clp.
Local brands were @ 25.000 with generic griptape for ages, let's say from 2005 until 2019, now they go from 32.000 until 42.000 being 35.000 the happy medium.
Foreign boards use to be 45.000 (let's say a DLX board) and now they go for 60.000...
Sucky thing is that ahora are also affected. Vans went from 45.000 to 55.000 but at least they have the excuse of the "skate upgrade" and I can understand that but fucking Nike didn't did shit to blazers mid which used to be 65.000 and now they go for 80.000 + 13.000 for shipping giving us a total of 93.000 clp for a damn blazer. Bare in mind that minimum wage is 326.000 clp

[switchfrontshuv]

was talking to a homie who works at a shop and he told me board prices are gonna jump from 90$ CAD (during covid, used to be ~80$ max for most American brand decks pre-covid) to like...

120$!!!

already polar decks are 100$ along with FA and Hockey when I just bought a hockey deck 5 months ago for 85$.

help is on the way!

[TwisT]

Yeah, the 50$ usd deck is officially dead unless some skate shops are stubborn (please let me know). The industry has been trying to kill that for years anyway.

Overall though despite record profits is most industries that don’t require you to be inside a building with a bunch of people. The prices of everything has gone up and it’ll stay that way.

[bigdave]

It's kind of insane to think how slowly inflation has hit the skateboard market.

Snowboard prices are going to jump too, wood cores and all that. Both industries have been trying to find a way to raise prices for years. Here's their chance.

[Madam, I'm Adam]

was talking to a homie who works at a shop and he told me board prices are gonna jump from 90$ CAD (during covid, used to be ~80$ max for most American brand decks pre-covid) to like...

120$!!!

already polar decks are 100$ along with FA and Hockey when I just bought a hockey deck 5 months ago for 85$.

help is on the way!

Yeah I’ve been seeing Canadian shops post pics of the price hike. I guess it’s a way of explaining why prices have gone up. Shops here are already selling FA boards for like $110.

I have to wonder if this is going to boost sales of shop decks, since they’re usually less expensive.

Also feel a bit better now about buying lots of decks over the winter.

[IUTSM]

Fuck Donald trump and the fucking tariffs. The administration has thrashed so damn much. I wonder if this is what it was like during the height of Regan and thatcher. Jesus h Christ.

[Mbrimson88]

It is a global thing, so not just one factor in particular, but the biggest gripe I have is that shops will for the most part still mark everything up 100% when and where they can - at least in Australia, but I know margins are less in US and other places round the world.

As far as deck prices, it has gone up $1 or $2 in costs to produce a deck, so depending on how many hands it has to go through, everyone is also making enough margin, if that is through three sets of hands to get to the consumer (more likely four or sometimes more) then the end price is going to be at least $10 to more likely $20 increase in prices at the retail end, regardless of RRP.

So as far as the path, the manufacturer to the wholesaler, then to the distributor, then to the shop, then to the customer.  Sometimes another distributor in between too, if it is going to a different country or through other channels than the big distros.

I know everyone has to make money, but if a shop in AU here has been making $50 from a board sale for the last how ever many years, (wholesale at $50 and retail at $100) how is it now they go to making $70+ (wholesale $60 - $70 and retail for $140 - $150) from the same deck since covid?


And that all comes from a $1 production increase from the manufacturer.


* Yes I have worked in retail for almost 30 years, so I know how it all goes.

[flintstagram]

I just hope that the board companies themselves, as well as the shops, are getting a cut of that increase. I've got no issue paying a bit more for boards if it helps keep the shop's doors open. I'm afraid that may not really be the case though.

Price increase was long overdue. I get that it's a bummer to have to pay more for something you might almost instantly snap, but that's the shit we all signed up for, right?

[manysnakes]

On the other hand, there are still a ton of ~$40 shop decks and blanks out there.

[Mbrimson88]

I just hope that the board companies themselves, as well as the shops, are getting a cut of that increase. I've got no issue paying a bit more for boards if it helps keep the shop's doors open. I'm afraid that may not really be the case though.

Price increase was long overdue. I get that it's a bummer to have to pay more for something you might almost instantly snap, but that's the shit we all signed up for, right?

Board companies are getting maybe a single $ or two increase (if that) only too, the real mark up is at the distributor and shop end, if I recall correctly, something like this:

US Manufacturer was about $16 to make a BBS deck
US Wholesaler cost was about $25
US Distributor cost was about $40
US Retail shop was about $60 - $70


AU first two or three steps
AU Distributor is about $60 - $70 to the shop, then shop sells for $120 - $140


This is why direct to consumer marketing with the brand having their own online store is so much more cost effective for the brand itself, but then leaves local shops out of the loop, causing all the other issues that we have come to know.

Shops are the ones making the most, but also have the most to lose, with rent, wages, shipping, all the other associated costs and then also discounting product for the homies, which eats into their margins more than anything else.

[mbam003]

This is not helping my recent gear hoarding tendencies.