New boat prices rising due to increased costs

[ditchcrawler]

15 minutes ago, Ray T said:

Rising costs also affect the model boat world.

I am renovating the butty I won on Auntie Wainrights auction.

 

Went to the model shop yesterday, bought:

two planks of basswood, 400mm long

a length of 3mm square basswood

5 tins of paint - Humbrol size ones.

Reel of modelers masking tape.

 

The bill £28.33. 

 

They must have seen me coming.

Did you mention it was for a boat by any chance?  🙂

[Mike Hurley]

18 hours ago, IanD said:

I just had a not-entirely-unsurprising conversation with Ricky at Finesse about my boat build, he's been trying very hard to break the bad news gently... 😞

 

What he's seeing is costs for pretty much everything increasing hugely, especially recently -- steel is the worst (just don't ask!), but also things like generators and other fitout gear (Victron, Vetus) and even portholes and windows have all gone up. And guess where Baltic birch ply comes from -- yep, mainly Russia. Not just cost but availability is also a problem for many things, with very long leadtimes -- again no surprise, we've seen this at work too, and the builder next door has been complaining about the same problems.

 

Not blaming Ricky in any way, this is all out of his control, but net result is he expects a big price increase -- maybe up to £50k or so in my case... 😞 -- by the time the boat is delivered late this year compared to the estimate when I placed the initial order early last year. I'm sure all boatbuilders will be seeing the same increased costs, so anyone else having (or thinking of having) a boat built should be aware of this -- AFAIK most (all?) build contracts state that unexpected material price increases during construction will result in a higher final price for the boat than that quoted when the order was placed.

 

Time to raid the piggybank... 😞

If that was my boat i would change my choice of wood out of principal.

18 hours ago, IanD said:

 

 

Edited March 15, 2022 by Mike Hurley

[IanD]

2 minutes ago, Mike Hurley said:

If that was my boat i would change my choice of wood out of principal.

If that was my boat i would change my choice of wood out of principal.

So good you said it twice... 😉

 

Out of curiosity -- to what?

[Mike Hurley]

Just now, IanD said:

So good you said it twice... 😉

 

Out of curiosity -- to what?

No idea, i expect your tastes are different to mine, i just would not under any circumstance buy anything from Russia.

[IanD]

6 minutes ago, Mike Hurley said:

No idea, i expect your tastes are different to mine, i just would not under any circumstance buy anything from Russia.

That's not the point, it's nothing to do with taste -- Baltic birch ply is often used where good quality is needed, it's either no longer available (or won't be for long) or the price has gone up by a ludicrous amount (3x since last year?), so regardless of the Russia situation an alternative has to be found by boatbuilders who use it. Of course they (and/or their customers, me included) might very well also want to not use it for conscience reasons... 😉

Edited March 15, 2022 by IanD

[PCSB]

Well if it makes you happy @IanD ...

 

somebody mad (and rich) enough to be getting a new series hybrid boat built by a top-end boatbuilder deserves to pay an extra £50k... 

 

We had to pay a "premium" for the steel for our boat, hopefully (and is expected) that will be it.

[IanD]

17 minutes ago, PCSB said:

Well if it makes you happy @IanD ...

 

somebody mad (and rich) enough to be getting a new series hybrid boat built by a top-end boatbuilder deserves to pay an extra £50k... 

 

We had to pay a "premium" for the steel for our boat, hopefully (and is expected) that will be it.

 

Thank you for your kind confirmation of my expectation 🙂

 

I think you might be hoping for too much there, unless your boat doesn't include things like wood, windows, electrical gear, toilets, lighting... 😉

 

(or unless it's almost finished using materials and equipment purchased before the prices went up)

Edited March 15, 2022 by IanD

[PCSB]

3 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

Thank you for your kind confirmation of my expectation 🙂

 

I think you might be hoping for too much there, unless your boat doesn't include things like wood, windows, electrical gear, toilets, lighting... 😉

 

(or unless it's almost finished using materials and equipment purchased before the prices went up)

Its literally on the final bits and pieces so I'm not expecting any major surprises, fortunately.

[Athy]

When, I wonder, was the last time that new boat prices did NOT go up?

I remember that, about 20 years ago, Hallmark held their prices for a couple of years, but then they went bankrupt so it didn't do them much good.

[PCSB]

20 minutes ago, Athy said:

When, I wonder, was the last time that new boat prices did NOT go up?

I remember that, about 20 years ago, Hallmark held their prices for a couple of years, but then they went bankrupt so it didn't do them much good.

Its not that they haven't always gone up, it is the rate they are going up that is the issue I think. Talking with the boat builder, he has already had to charge significantly more now than inflation (currently inflation is around 5% ish) - he is talking 20-30% increase due to materials. Availability of essential kit is also a major issue (e.g. engines!! amongst other things.

 

 

[Ex Brummie]

6 hours ago, Ray T said:

Rising costs also affect the model boat world.

I am renovating the butty I won on Auntie Wainrights auction.

 

Went to the model shop yesterday, bought:

two planks of basswood, 400mm long

a length of 3mm square basswood

5 tins of paint - Humbrol size ones.

Reel of modelers masking tape.

 

The bill £28.33. 

 

They must have seen me coming.

who? The model shop or Auntie Wainwright?😏

[IanD]

1 hour ago, PCSB said:

Its not that they haven't always gone up, it is the rate they are going up that is the issue I think. Talking with the boat builder, he has already had to charge significantly more now than inflation (currently inflation is around 5% ish) - he is talking 20-30% increase due to materials. Availability of essential kit is also a major issue (e.g. engines!! amongst other things.

 

 

 

Similar for me -- absolute percentage may be a bit smaller for me because the biggest cost increase is steel, and this is a smaller fraction of the total cost in my case.

 

Actually I just looked at the numbers again and they're horribly similar, though difficult to be sure since the estimate from last year had a big range (20%) because the design wasn't fixed... 😞

Edited March 15, 2022 by IanD

[Ray T]

1 hour ago, Ex Brummie said:

who? The model shop or Auntie Wainwright?😏

The model shop of course.
If you look back to the auction you will see what my bid for the boat was.

[Iain_S]

14 hours ago, Mike Tee said:

If the war spreads steel requisitioning won’t happen in the 20 minutes from start to (total) finish!🤢

 

 

[The Welsh Cruiser]

On 15/03/2022 at 08:25, Alan de Enfield said:

 

It seems strange that Brexit would be affecting the whole world from the USA to Australia & Asia. With pretty much every country experiencing inflationary prices and supply issues.

Do you think that the German inflation rate of 5.1% is because of Brexit ?
Is Germany tetering on the edge of a recession and being called 'the sick man of Europe' because of Brexit ?

 

I was ridiculed last year when I questioned the U.S Federal Reserve and Bank of England's suggestions that signs of inflation were 'transitory'. 

 

Doesn't look so ridiculous now eh.   

[Idle Days]

On 14/03/2022 at 16:40, Arthur Marshall said:

Time to reinvent the Springer...

Sadly I think that we have run out of gasometers to flatten into Springers.

[Idle Days]

On 15/03/2022 at 07:37, Tim Lewis said:

British steel put their prices up by £250/ton this week!

 

British Steel!  Is there any such thing?

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, Idle Days said:

Sadly I think that we have run out of gasometers to flatten into Springers.

They are taking one down in Gt Yarmouth soon.

[Idle Days]

Will it float? 😃

[Arthur Marshall]

1 hour ago, Idle Days said:

British Steel!  Is there any such thing?

Of course there is. It's a well known Indian company.

[Captain Pegg]

2 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Of course there is. It's a well known Indian company.

 

Chinese. They bought the Scunthorpe operation when Tata were going to close it and trade under the name British Steel. A bit tricky for those who claim British made steel is best and Chinese is rubbish.

[TheBiscuits]

2 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Of course there is. It's a well known Indian company.

 

Chinese, Arthur.  They said tata to Tata in 2016 and were "rescued" by Jingye Group a couple of years ago.

 

Add: Crossposted with @Captain Pegg

[ditchcrawler]

Is it the price of steel or the pound / dollar as world steel prices are the same now as 2011

 

[Captain Pegg]

6 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Is it the price of steel or the pound / dollar as world steel prices are the same now as 2011

 

 

I think if you went back further you'd find that the prices a decade ago were also at an inflated high point. During the boom in the Chinese economy there was a global shortage and steel was being re-sold while in transit at sea.

[cuthound]

30 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

 

Chinese. They bought the Scunthorpe operation when Tata were going to close it and trade under the name British Steel. A bit tricky for those who claim British made steel is best and Chinese is rubbish.

 

Perhaps they need to rebrand as "Chinglish Steel"... 🤔🤣😂