By: Chris+W+Pfeiffer

Chris+W+Pfeiffer — Fri, 22 Apr 2022 14:26:25 +0000

Well, the warehouses may be full, but because of the high cost of containers, shipping even domestically, materials, it is leaving the products we do have to sell at a much higher price than normal clients are willing to pay. It doesn’t matter if Asia has full warehouses to ship if there production costs are 20-30% than two years ago.. If shipping costs are off the chart. If domestic shipping has doubled or tripled the past few years..
We are selling sofas at twice the price from several years ago. Even then clients thought that was too expensive. Now homes cost more, food costs more, gas cost more, everything costs more. What hasn’t changed is their paycheck. This goes for low to even high end retailers. Furniture is not a food item.. People can forgo furniture, buy down the price point temporally, buy used or keep what they have.
We are seeing this month a lower count of traffic. And those that come in, have their hands in their pockets or folded, just staring at the prices.
Now with the Russia deal, if you bought their wood, and many did, now they have to switch to domestic or semi-domestic sources along with everyone else. I expect as we have already seen, our vendors add 8-10% this month in surcharges following a 10% price increase in February. That’s 18-20% in just two months (and that’s NOT including the price increases for the past two years…). You add in domestic shipping costs and some companies add 50% fuel surcharge to a higher handling fee, we have RUNAWAY PRICING.
Chris Pfeiffer
Homestead House, LLC
Conroe Texas

Comments on: As capacity improves, demand slows

By: Chris+W+Pfeiffer