Will the garden furniture shortage affect garden furniture prices this summer? The best garden furniture is harder to come by this year, and reports are growing that prices are rising. What is causing the price hikes, and what can you expect in the coming months if you're planning on updating your garden decor?
Will garden furniture cost more this summer?
The short answer is, unfortunately, a 'yes'. Depending on what type of garden furniture you're after, you may find that many models are sold out and now cost more.
Shannon Taylor, from Lakeland Furniture, says the main problems the company is facing this year are: 'Materials shortage in china for steel, rattan and fabric; increased shipping prices increasing RRP price of garden sets by 50-100%; and huge delays in Chinese ports, particularly Ningbo port which services the vast majority of garden furniture and garden umbrella suppliers.'
Shannon explains that 'all these combined are creating huge delays in both the production and shipping of rattan, along with increasing the prices of rattan furniture at the moment.'
So, if you are after the best rattan garden furniture, you may find that it's harder to get what you want, or that the furniture costs more than it used to.
The increased shipping costs and shipping delays are hitting furniture makers hard. However, those that aim to make sustainable furniture are hit even harder, faced with tough choices between raising prices and lowering quality.
Patrick Hoestgaard, from sustainable garden furniture manufacturer LifestyleGarden, said that 'we have seen a rise in material costs but, more significantly, it actually costs us four times as much to send a shipping container from our production facilities in Vietnam. The price increase and the shortages are as a direct consequence of this. It’s hard to get the [shipping] containers and, due to the increase in freight, some of our retailers have had to raise their prices a little bit. This is not because we want more money from you; it is simply to reflect the current situation of the world.'
Specifically referencing price increases, Mr Hoestgaard explains that the company is not willing to compromise on quality or its commitment to sustainability in order to maintain a pricepoint and he doesn’t believe his customers would want that either. 'We could have done something to alleviate this – we could have made cheaper products,' he says. 'But we strongly believe that it’s not a question for us to go lower in quality or on sustainability.'
In other words, unfortunately, cheaper versions of the garden furniture pieces you've had your eye on will have had corners cut somewhere and may be a false economy in terms of quality. Having said that, there's still plenty of choice out there – find out where to buy garden furniture in stock now.
