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Did I missed something? Custom bowyers just jump up 20% overnight????

HuumanCreed

HuumanCreed

Well-Known Member
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Joined
Aug 21, 2020
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Location
Westminster Maryland
Average price for all the well known bowyers and smaller bowyers just jump up a lot. Big Jim was $800 when I check before Christmas and its now $995. A smaller bowyer I had my eye on just change his pricing from $600 to $800.

I know Maddog just recently 'retired', but the bowyer made it clear he just couldn't keep the price low with how much material cost these days (and he grudgingly admit that the mass produced Black Hunter bows are great shooting bows).

Is it really that bad these days?
 
For me, real or imagined, there is a tipping point where I will start looking to the used market regardless of how much money I have to spend. The price will be what the market will bear. If the price goes up 20% and people still buy them then that is the new normal. If the bowyers' orders drop 20 to 30 percent over the next year, they will adjust accordingly.

That's the reason you can't buy a new truck for less than the gross national product of Peru. Guys keep signing on the dotted line for credit. If no one bought a new vehicle for one calendar year things would start getting reasonable.
 
NMSbowhunter said:
For me, real or imagined, there is a tipping point where I will start looking to the used market regardless of how much money I have to spend. The price will be what the market will bear. If the price goes up 20% and people still buy them then that is the new normal. If the bowyers' orders drop 20 to 30 percent over the next year, they will adjust accordingly.

That's the reason you can't buy a new truck for less than the gross national product of Peru. Guys keep signing on the dotted line for credit. If no one bought a new vehicle for one calendar year things would start getting reasonable.
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I can see this in other industry but I'm not sure about custom bows. Car companies has so much capitals that they can stay in business for years at a lot.

But I have come to understand that there are BIG bowyers and small bowyers. So some might survive this hypothetical 'market correction', others might not, which is a shame.

Either way, one of my bucket list item is another custom bow, but I'm worries that the price are going up faster then the money I'm slowly saving for one is. At some point it will be at that tipping point you mention. There is nothing wrong with buying a used custom bow, but there is something special about getting one that you selected every details.
 
I understand. Heck, car companies and other's deemed sacred are bailed out by taxpayers, lol. Those bowyers are doing one of two things. They are increasing the price to get more money because they believe people will perceive overall cost increases as normal, or (more likely) they are getting the squeeze from their raw material suppliers. If it is the latter, and the bowyers buy less from the suppliers due to getting fewer orders then the effect will trickle down to that level and correct the market. Some bowyers will fall by the wayside. In a free market system of competition that will happen and is normal.

The point being, if we accept ever increasing costs as normal and inevitable and just cut corners elsewhere to buy one item over another, then we will be stuck with it. With a luxury item like a custom bow, they are going to have a hard time getting folks to pick a bow over food and shelter. The only other option is to go ask for a 20% raise and tell your company bow prices went up, lol.
 
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HuumanCreed said:
Average price for all the well known bowyers and smaller bowyers just jump up a lot. Big Jim was $800 when I check before Christmas and its now $995. A smaller bowyer I had my eye on just change his pricing from $600 to $800.

I know Maddog just recently 'retired', but the bowyer made it clear he just couldn't keep the price low with how much material cost these days (and he grudgingly admit that the mass produced Black Hunter bows are great shooting bows).

Is it really that bad these days?
Click to expand...

Materials are going up. The last bow that I built with my Dad I had well over $400 in raw materials alone and that was May of 2022. Price increases haven't slowed down. Then when you factor in the man hours required build, shape and finish a custom bow, the prices start to make a little more sense.

And to everyone, per forum rules please keep politics out of the conversation.
 
It’s not just materials that have gone up, it’s all of the costs of running a business. Rent is up, heating costs, fuel for transportation, shipping, insurance, interest rates on loans etc etc etc infinitely. If boutique builders don’t increase their product costs proportionally to the increase in their expenses then they are basically running a charity.

And, all those supply chain issues we heard a lot about over the past few years have not gone away. Materials have been harder to find, take longer to arrive and in many cases their quality isn’t as good as it used to be. The lower quality / quality control issues means that a builder needs to either buy “higher quality” to get similar quality, or to purchase excess materials so that they can high grade and weed out the sub quality materials.
 
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HuumanCreed said:
I can see this in other industry but I'm not sure about custom bows. Car companies has so much capitals that they can stay in business for years at a lot.

But I have come to understand that there are BIG bowyers and small bowyers. So some might survive this hypothetical 'market correction', others might not, which is a shame.

Either way, one of my bucket list item is another custom bow, but I'm worries that the price are going up faster then the money I'm slowly saving for one is. At some point it will be at that tipping point you mention. There is nothing wrong with buying a used custom bow, but there is something special about getting one that you selected every details.
Click to expand...
If you have enough for a deposit and the build time is say six months or a year out for payment in full, then you might call and tell the bowyer you will order one and put down the deposit if he will give you last week's price. this close to a change over they might go for it. That assumes you know just what you want. All they can say is no, and you can tell them they just priced themselves out of your market.
 
Slippery slope here so I’m going to tread as lightly as I can to stay within both the rules of the forum and try to keep the discussion on track and say rising costs are normal and expected. We’re in a difficult period for both suppliers and consumers and there are spikes that aren’t ideal for either side.

Ebb and flow, a difficult balance for all involved right now. I offer no advice no blame for either side but hope for the best for the custom build and small shops.
 
HuumanCreed said:
I can see this in other industry but I'm not sure about custom bows. Car companies has so much capitals that they can stay in business for years at a lot.

But I have come to understand that there are BIG bowyers and small bowyers. So some might survive this hypothetical 'market correction', others might not, which is a shame.

Either way, one of my bucket list item is another custom bow, but I'm worries that the price are going up faster then the money I'm slowly saving for one is. At some point it will be at that tipping point you mention. There is nothing wrong with buying a used custom bow, but there is something special about getting one that you selected every details.
Click to expand...
I agree about used bows but my draw is 25 and a used now is 28. I'm to the point where I want my draw length on the bow. That and being a leftie really narrows the choices.
 
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