Pandemic Lift Prices, wait?

[captivablueteg]

Hi Everyone,

Had a question to see what others thoughts were that are planning to buy a lift soon. Are you waiting to buy a lift until steel prices go down?

I've been saving up for a couple years to get a storage lift in my garage. With winter coming and a need for a new snow blower (upgrading from an old 80's single stage that died last year to a new 2 stage) I really need that extra room. Last year when I priced out lifts, and due to steel prices spiking in 2021, the same units are going for 1-1.5k more. In some cases even higher than that.

Are you deciding to hold off and hope once steel prices go down the lifts will come down at least part way? I don't expect they would go back to the price they were, but it's really hard to stomach paying that much extra when rebrand unit is going for what Bendpak was last year.

 

[finn]

The price increases, based on my observations on how these things have gone in the past, are more or less permanent.

The only thing that could alter that is if some new technology or a new competitor with a lower labor and transportation cost entered the market...think India or the African continent. None of these scenarios are likely.

Remember, China is under a lot of pressure to raise the standard of living of their huge population, and that means wage increases for the masses. That translates to price increases.

 

[haveissues]

They will likely go down at some point unless people keep buying them anyway but I bet that it will take a good long while for prices to lower significantly. I'm guessing the prices rise in the near term (6 months - 1 year) though. Steel is still expensive, labor is in short supply and shipping docks are backed up.

 

[speedracerfx]

I doubt pricing will come down significantly, and certainly not enough to offset waiting to buy one, at least for me. I have a Wildfire XLT on order.

 

[FMB4]

Welcome to the G forums cap! That said, I agree that prices are very unlikely to drop.

 

[Justintime2]

Inflation is real and these prices aren't likely to go back to whatever normal was. If you need it buy it, this will only get worse...

 

[rburke65]

I’d buy it now.

 

[Toomanytools?]

Prices are unlikely to drop, manufactures may have a sale to get some buyers when things calm down and offset the price increase. If you really need a lift and it will make things better don't wait, life is short.

 

[Jwallace1]

i bought my wildfire XLT in may and its gone up $900 since then

 

[nickstar]

I do not think you will see a noticeable price reduction, at best I think they will level off, but to see a large reduction would be surprising. I know my Atlas PVL10 has went up from $3,400.00 in 2019 when I got it, to over $4,500.00 now. Good luck and enjoy, once you have a lift you'll wonder how you did without for so long.

 

[captivablueteg]

Great discussion! and thank you for the warm welcome. I've been reading posts from here for years but never signed up.

I do agree, I don't think they will go down much if they even do, but thankful to get other thoughts from the community as well. I'm going to take this month to figure out which unit I want and maybe a BF sale might show to save a couple of $. I guess for me it's now a decision on which to go with.

universalift 8000fp, bendpak hd-9 or 7w.
- Universalift is a local business selling a rebrand unit. Have heard great things about his customer service and he also delivers on a trailer and unloads if you are within 160 miles of his shop.
- Bendpak is a chunk more and has a few options I like (really wish they included the casters though for the price like the other unit). I would also need to rent a trailer and pick it up at the shipping terminal.
So, price and convenience debate for me to mull over.

Thanks to all for the discussion

 

[marak]

I say it depends on your age and how much time there is, but overall, I'd say buy it now. Three years ago I purchased a knee mill for about $9k ($1500 was shipping to Alaska). I purchased it in anticipation of steel prices going up (non-Covid related). The exact same mill has increased $1,200, for whatever reason. Next summer I will be ready to purchase a metal lathe, similar cost. I have been dumping money in mutual funds , so that duck is in the row, but the workshop is not quite ready yet, but will be in a few months. Regardless of the price tag, I will make the purchase when the shop is ready. Reason: I am not getting any younger and my hobbies are important to my sanity (no wife, no kids...hobbies are why I go to work). If money was tight, I'd simply save for a few more months, then pull the trigger.

 

[smackey05]

Why do you think prices will go down after steel prices will go down?

I'd expect them to think through offering new products at lower pricepoints, but usually when a company takes price because of supply chain, they don't go the other way after. (I work in consumer goods)

 

[pcmeiners]

A bit off topic but in the NY/NJ harbor area the container ships are flying in one after another, seems there are no ships using either the NYC harbor or NJ channels as a parking lot, and the ships are packed with containers... a good sign.

 

[bwringer]

I doubt pricing will come down significantly, and certainly not enough to offset waiting to buy one, at least for me. I have a Wildfire XLT on order.

Yep, pricing is unlikely to ever drop much, if at all, and in the meantime, well, you don't have a lift.

Get it ASAP and enjoy, you know, having a lift, and making things go up and down.

Maybe count each up or down as a dollar of value. It won't take long for you to feel better about it.


I often see much the same over in the motorcycle world; people miss years of good riding on good motorcycles because they're so focused on chiseling every dollar out of the seller or dealer that they let several good (but not great) deals slip away.

When you're buying something that adds enjoyment and value to your life, even if it's a "want" and not a "need", then it's often worthwhile to buy it and start enjoying it sooner.

 

[FMB4]

Live for today.

 

[Walkers]

Everybody that has a rusty old lift laying in the weeds has it for sale for what new ones used to cost. Until the market gets flooded with equipment again I’d say the prices will remain the same.

 

[vwpieces]

Bought one new in June 2020 for $1740 shipped and the same lift now costs $1K more, $2700
That's a 58% increase.
Buy it Now.

 

[metlmunchr]

Companies building lifts buy large enough quantities of steel to buy directly from the mills. In mid 2020 mill prices for mild steel were at about 25¢/lb. Now, that same steel is about 85-90 cents/lb. Typical 7000# 2 post weighs roughly 1500#, so an additional 60 cents on 1500# of steel accounts for an additional $900 in bare cost.

Any fabrication business will base markup on their cost if they want to stay in business over the long term. Say they're paying 25¢ and marking the material up 20%. That's 5¢/lb markup. Steel goes to 85¢ and you still need to maintain that 20% as markup as it reflects the additional cost of capital ******* for manufacturing the product. At 85¢, the markup is 17¢, or an additional 12¢/lb. This adds another $180 to the lift, so now you're at +$1080 on the price due to increase in steel prices alone.

Once you add in additional costs due to wage increases, shipping costs, etc, combined with the necessity to remain competitive in the market, it's likely that the overall profit margin for the manufacturer is less now than it was a couple years ago even though the selling price to the end user has increased substantially due to the fact that the majority of their cost increases are beyond their control.

All that said, I don't buy into the opinion that these current prices represent a new normal. Several months ago, lots of people were claiming that $10 for a 2x4 stud was the new normal for lumber prices, but that didn't prove to be the case. Yeah, every lift manufacturer would like to be making an additional thousand bucks on each lift once the supply chain issues are resolved, but competition in the market will prevent that happening.

Say for example actual costs have increased by $200 once things in the economy return to somewhat historical norms. One or more mfgrs will look around and think hmmm, we can drop back to a selling price $300 above where we were a couple years ago and beat the pants off the competition's price while still clearing an extra hundred bucks on every unit we sell. Raising prices to reflect costs is just smart business, but holding those prices high once costs recede under the greed driven assumption that the public is made up of fools who'll continue to pay your price because you're "special" is the type of thinking that'll put you out of business faster than you can imagine.

 

[aggie113]

Getting a second lift (have a 2 post Bendpak) installed today. Bought it used for $2500. Not bad for a 4 post almost Challenger (sub-brand). Happy to pay that little for a lift, just wish it wasn't the longer model as I don't really need it taking up the extra space. But I will take the nicer aluminum ramps and pneumatic center jack it comes with.

 

[tunerwithkids]

I was eyeing the MaxJax since I got my new house in May. Was around $2,600 at the time and most of the summer. Checked two weeks ago and it went up to $3,777!!! I wasn't sure if it was market cost of steel plus delays and shipping or did BendPak finally added their premium since they aquired Danmar in April 2020.

Needless to say, I took the MaxJax off my list due to cost...then was browsing FB market for cheap no name lifts and a 6-month old M6K MaxJax showed up for less than half the current price. Jumped on that and even with the cost of hardware, still a better deal than new.

If people keep buying at the the higher costs, they won't go down. But if the market goes down and their sales suffer, they will right size it.

 

[UglyViking]

I'm with @metlmunchr on this, but also agree with what others have said. I don't know what your personal situation is like. If you have the cash, and the desire, just pull the trigger. If you look back 20 years from now, would you rather have the extra $800 in your pocket or the lift for 2 additional years? Maybe it's the difference between finishing a project or not, etc. Life is short, try and do your best to save where you can but if you really gotta have it, then do it up.

That said, there is absolutely no way that these prices stay this high forever. They will likely never go back down to what they were pre pandemic, and consider the impending inflation concerns and all, but prices won't stay at 2-3x what they were before, it's just nonsensical.

People are saying the same in the truck market. Diesel trucks are basically impossible to get right now, and every dealer is beyond thrilled that people are buying for MSRP or above, they can't get them to the lot fast enough. The manufactures are hoping they can remove all the future discounting, and talking about order only options, none of which will happen, especially with the modern truck market. When trucks routinely sell for above 70k, you're not buying a need, you're buying a want, and for most people want's are very emotional, which means non-sensical, so driving and falling in love. If you have 3 months from order to delivery, it's gonna be less instant gratification and thus it's not gonna happen.

Also, keep in mind that those people who didn't lose work during the pandemic may find themselves with a non-zero amount of forced savings. Because of that people are buying things they wouldn't/couldn't before the pandemic.