Gardening Prices! Why!

[gardening_gal]

Help me understand why a company feels justified in selling a painted wooden raised bed / planter for £500! It's only painted redwood for goodness sake and isn't even very big.

Do people really pay these prices?

There have been quite a number of (imo) ridiculously priced garden items I have seen lately, there must be a market for them or they wouldn't have them for sale.

Have any of you ever paid what you know is silly money for something but have done it anyway for ease or speed or whatever other reason?

[Nicos]

Not that I can recall...I doubt I could sleep at night!!!!

Our local GC in the uk had 2incredibly impressive olive trees about 10 ft high with 6" thick trunks for sale for several thousand pounds and they just sat there looking impressive for a couple of years.
Then we had a severe winter (-11C) if I recall correctly and they both died!!!
Someone somewhere might buy these expensive things but I do wonder if they are more 'window dressing' with a tax relief incentive for the GC??????

[bikermike]

someone has to make them, someone has to ship them, store them, etc.
The cost of an item has very little to do with the cost of the materials. A wooden planter is going to be awkward to store and not sell in huge volumes, so it the unit costs are higher.

One of the issues with mass-production is that it makes some things very cheap, provided you can make them in enough numbers. I get told off for raving about cheap cars - look how many bits of metal, plastic, copper, glass, rubber, etc have to be pressed/cast/welded/moulded/stuck etc etc sourced, shipped, fixed, put together etc. for so little cost. Yes a Bentley has an wood veneer and oceolot-trim interior, but you get the same technology in slightly less sharp clothes for a tenth the price.

Your planters are at the wrong end of this. Aldi's suppliers can knock out scads of plastic pots for pennies as they can sell enough of them and store them cheaply. Hand-made planters aren't made in enough numbers to be optimised for cheapness or built on a mechanised line.

Try building one yourself and see what's involved.

As for the olive trees, they've got to pay back the rent of several decades, the looking after them for that time and the cover the costs of the ones that didn't make it.

Very few things are "overpriced" when you look at what goes into then. It may be more than you want to pay for something, but that's what it costs.

[Jungle Jane]

You can tell it’s overpriced by comparing it to other similar items. I don’t mind spending money when it’s worth it. Some people don’t know the value of money,when you have so much money you buy these things without thinking about it.

[Cadalot]

OK I have to ask this question - How many people would pay £24.99 for a pot with a water reservoir at the bottom and a three tier cage for growing tomatoes in the back garden or a balcony. It is made from recycled plastic and looks good granted but would it be worth £24.99 each?

[Atta]

OK I have to ask this question - How many people would pay £24.99 for a pot with a water reservoir at the bottom and a three tier cage for growing tomatoes in the back garden or a balcony. It is made from recycled plastic and looks good granted but would it be worth £24.99 each?

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Same people who are going to complaint how gardening is expensive and is cheaper to buy from shops ready veg.Apart that having this expensive pot dosent guarantee having tasty juicy tomatoes.

[gardening_gal]

someone has to make them, someone has to ship them, store them, etc.
The cost of an item has very little to do with the cost of the materials. A wooden planter is going to be awkward to store and not sell in huge volumes, so it the unit costs are higher.



Try building one yourself and see what's involved.



Very few things are "overpriced" when you look at what goes into then. It may be more than you want to pay for something, but that's what it costs.

I get that, but I believe with gardening type things especially, companies are playing to a certain demographic and I think it has more to do with what they perceive people will pay rather than the actual costs involved in production.


Actually, I built this.........from Wickes special offer decking. Can't recall how much I spent but I know it wasn't that much.


I struggle to believe this.....https://www.gardenfurniturecentre.co...certified.html is worth £500 despite taking into account production costs etc.

There are many planters on the market that look similar but not priced at anywhere near £500.

[Thelma Sanders]

It's the 10 year guarantee that is making that an expensive bit of kit

[gardening_gal]

OK I have to ask this question - How many people would pay £24.99 for a pot with a water reservoir at the bottom and a three tier cage for growing tomatoes in the back garden or a balcony. It is made from recycled plastic and looks good granted but would it be worth £24.99 each?

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Tbh, I can see some people paying that. To some £25 isn't a lot of money and they get a product that suits their needs/wants. I wouldn't pay that but then I am quite capable of knocking something together myself, others maybe aren't.

[Nicos]

Gg...on that link you just shared is a 'chat to ya' link.
Why don't you ask them why it's so expensive?... be interesting to hear their response!

[gardening_gal]

Gg...on that link you just shared is a 'chat to ya' link.
Why don't you ask them why it's so expensive?... be interesting to hear their response!

Your wish is my command......

You

Hi there, I've been browsing your site and came across this Coloured Chunky Trough Planter (SKU:WOOD-PLTC). It's a very nice item but I'm struggling with the cost. Could you tell me why it is so expensive please? I ask in case there is something in it's production I am unaware of. Thanks in advance.

Advisor

of course, it's because it's FSC wood which means we know exactly which forest the wood has come from and we hold the chain of custody

You

Ah, thank you for the information. I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

[gardening_gal]

Still can't agree this fact allows for such cost.

[Cadalot]

But someone with more money than sense will still buy it

[veggiechicken]

You pay with your feet (or summat). If you don't like the price you buy elsewhere - or don't buy at all.
If the product doesn't sell at that price, the price will be reduced until it does or it will be manufactured in a different way to cut the cost involved.
You can say the same about seeds (to which I can relate, rather than planters which I don't buy).
How can the identical seeds be sold at a quarter the price of the same seed from another supplier? If your money-poor, you shop around and buy from the cheapest (although you may not get the pretty picture on the packet). If you're time poor and just want the seeds, you don't mind paying whatever is asked.

[bikermike]

"Made from durable Northern European Redwood
Made in UK by experts
10-year structural guarantee
FSC® Certified"

Made in the UK - means you are paying £8/hr wages (plus costs on top - call that £16/hr), and decent health and safety for the workers etc etc.
10 year guarantee - that will up your material and construction costs (and shipping and storage) as it will be much more solid and much heavier.
FSC Certified - costs money to have (you pay for the symbol), costs money to maintain paper trail, costs money by preventing you buying cheaper timber etc.
Northern European Redwood - how much of that is grown? how long does it take to mature? these will put the prices up vs cheapo undesignated pine.

We've got a pond in the back garden, we have a fence round it. The fence is held up by posts (2"x1" and 2"x4") - the only post that is failing is the new one. New cheap wood is cheaper than old cheap wood was, because it grows faster and has less woodiness as a result. In many locations it doesn't matter.

An interesting exercise would be to buy one of these cheaper planters, fill it full and put big plants in it, leave it outside and see how long it lasts for.