Barefaced Price Increase - Are They Still Worth It?

[Ultima2876]

Thread title! What does everyone think now that they've had a (pretty dramatic - £180 so 20% on the Big Baby 2) price increase? As their email says:

 

Quote

Hello Barefaced newsletter subscribers,

 

Firstly sorry that it’s been such a long time since the last email - it’s been a very busy year. As you may have noticed the world is still in turmoil and running a small manufacturing business in this environment is quite a challenge!

 

The elephant in the room called inflation can sadly no longer be overlooked - everything has become more expensive, from raw materials and components, through the freight bringing the goods in and out, to the electricity powering our machines. We’ve done everything we can to make our manufacturing processes as quick, lean and efficient as possible and to get the best deals from our suppliers but if we don’t increase our prices the business will not survive.

 

This is not a blanket x% increase. Instead I’ve spent many many weeks analysing the component and material costs of every detail of the cabs and also the man-hours spent on every manufacturing process. The new prices more accurately reflect what it costs to build each model.

 

I appreciate that if you were about to buy a cab this is incredibly annoying and you may be angry that we didn’t let you know before the prices changed - however we simply can’t handle a sudden influx of pre-price-rise orders. We’re doing this because we have to, not because we want to - this is a tiny business of six people in Brighton who actually design and build everything you’re buying and no-one is getting rich doing this.

 

Apologies again - I do hope that you can still see the value in what we're making.

 

Alex

 

Not something that can be helped really, but regardless it'd be interesting to hear what people think generally and whether the consensus is that they are still a good value proposition?

[Merton]

They weren’t the first and won’t be the last to do this. It’s sadly the current state of the world. They are still (imo) fantastic cabs and worth the money if you can afford them. If you can’t afford them or don’t think they’re fantastic, the price rise doesn’t matter 

[Stofferson]

Quick look on the site, not increased that much, but as Merton says, just the way of the world at the moment, still amazing cabs.

[Lozz196]

A very good, fairly niche product made by a small company, I doubt they had any other option. I hope for them it doesn’t signify a slow down on orders.

[Daz39]

It's tough isn't it - running a business and seeing the costs of EVERYTHING getting out of control.

 

Despite what the government or the people who compile the inflation stats say when they tell commentators that price rises are moderate or not as large as reported - this is very real inflation on materials, utilities, etc. and it increases everything such that businesses have to put prices up significantly to stay where they are. 

I've no doubt the 5 other people who work for Alex need to be paid more now, and who knows what their rent/rates is like now the 'extra measures' from the pandemic have wound down.

 

As it happens: he's managed to do some proper analysis to re-align pricing on each product to better reflect their cost. I guess new orders will then show him which products are the most sought after.

Edited June 8, 2022 by Daz39

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

It's all Biden's fault.  😫

 

 

Oh, right, you're in the UK. It's all Johnson's fault. 🙄

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

[Passinwind]

3 hours ago, Ultima2876 said:

Thread title! What does everyone think now that they've had a (pretty dramatic - £180 so 20% on the Big Baby 2) price increase? As their email says:

 

 

Not something that can be helped really, but regardless it'd be interesting to hear what people think generally and whether the consensus is that they are still a good value proposition?

Not a problem, as gig pay historically always tracks inflation anyway.

 

Oh, wait...

[fleabag]

I dont see the problem.  He wants to survive and he isn't  Mesa Boogie or Ampeg.  Good for him.

Everybody will be putting everything up,  not just cabs.  Everyone will have to suck it up.

 

Anyway, they're a luxury. It isnt important in the great scheme of things.

[pbasspecial]

This will undoubtedly mean the cost of their s/h cabs will rise too. 

[3below]

I went to buy bulk Guinea pig nuts today (the ba***r*s (10) keep eating), 25% price increase in 6 weeks.  My car insurance has risen by  15%, no claims and the camera did not clock the 155mph I was doing at the time(in my dreams).  We won't mention fuel price rises.   The 20% on BF cab is not untoward and unexpected, although unwanted.   Luckily I have owned a BF cab since 2011 and have no thoughts of moving it on.

Edited June 8, 2022 by 3below

[2elliot]

 In the current climate, It's totally acceptable for what is possibly the first increase for Barefaced in many years. Nearly everything Barefaced 'buy in' will have been effected many times in the last couple of years. I honestly don't see the point of this thread, move on, you're getting off lightly. 

[jezzaboy]

2 hours ago, Passinwind said:

Not a problem, as gig pay historically always tracks inflation anyway.

 

Oh, wait...

Pay???

 

What is this gig pay madness of which you speak?? 

 

[40hz]

Having just acquired a new BB3 (just before the price rise), It's so far beyond any other cab I've used, in every conceivable way, and yet, there are plenty of cabs, from other brands, that are more expensive (new), that are half as effective.

 

Even with a price rise, it's a bargain for the performance on offer.

Edited June 8, 2022 by 40hz

[Ultima2876]

9 hours ago, 3below said:

I went to buy bulk Guinea pig nuts today (the ba***r*s (10) keep eating), 25% price increase in 6 weeks.  My car insurance has risen by  15%, no claims and the camera did not clock the 155mph I was doing at the time(in my dreams).  We won't mention fuel price rises.   The 20% on BF cab is not untoward and unexpected, although unwanted.   Luckily I have owned a BF cab since 2011 and have no thoughts of moving it on.

10 Guinea Pigs?!?! That sounds amazing. They make the best sounds.

 

Agree with every take in this thread. It’s a shame that it has to be that way, but also Barefaced are a great company and hopefully this won’t impact their sales. I personally am the proud owner of one Big Baby already and have another in the works.

[yorks5stringer]

Can't not see price increases across the whole music equipment supply sector.....

[la bam]

I suppose with barefaced theyll benefit from always being, and always going down the path of, being a higher end, more expensive cab, that people buy because of what it is, not its price. So I think people will still buy at the same rate.

[grandad]

I paid about £250 each for my 2 x 2nd hand One10s about 3 years ago. If I had to pay todays new price of £449 or £489 I'd probably stretch to just 1. 

 

As for guitars,  I've seen the 2nd hand value of mine rise between 50% to 100% over the last 3 or 4 years. And these are not high end models, just middle of the range. 

 

My amps, new, are now about 20 to 30% more over the last couple of years. 

 

The price rise forecast for TEA of up to 50% is really serious though. 

Edited June 9, 2022 by grandad

[fretmeister]

I needed to order a load of paper for work - just A4 printer / copier paper.

I usually just buy the cheapest 80g stuff I can find, and yesterday even that had doubled in price!

 

Astonishing increase. I'm slightly insulated as it's a business expense to set off and I can get the vat back but even so that's just mental.

 

How long do printer cartridges last for? I'm thinking about stocking up before those go even more silly than they are already.

[Kev]

Thing is, why is it never an option for a business to make a bit less profit due to cost of living, and always that the consumer should be worse off?

 

I naively perhaps think this about everything that's going on right now.  Supermarkets announcing record profits, exactly why is it they can just not raise the price of rice and instead make slightly less money, given the proportional difference in impact on consumers?

[Merton]

16 minutes ago, Kev said:

Thing is, why is it never an option for a business to make a bit less profit due to cost of living, and always that the consumer should be worse off?

 

I naively perhaps think this about everything that's going on right now.  Supermarkets announcing record profits, exactly why is it they can just not raise the price of rice and instead make slightly less money, given the proportional difference in impact on consumers?

Absolutely agree in terms of the massive supermarkets, oil companies etc. The petrol prices beggar belief for example.

I suspect Barefaced just wouldn’t have been able to survive without these price increases though; more a labour of love than a way to a quick million.

[Kev]

16 minutes ago, Merton said:

Absolutely agree in terms of the massive supermarkets, oil companies etc. The petrol prices beggar belief for example.

I suspect Barefaced just wouldn’t have been able to survive without these price increases though; more a labour of love than a way to a quick million.

The bigger companies are worse, for sure!  But in the Barefaced example, have they risen prices to make the same profit as pre-covid/cost of living crisis, or are they taking less profit?

[JPJ]

I'm surprised its not more to be honest. I was talking to a builder pal the other night and he was telling me most materials are on 3 month lead times now. Good quality plywood is extremely hard to come by (I know one expedition camper van builder who is three months behind waiting for plywood deliveries) house bricks are now close to £1 per brick, and there is a shortage of roof trusses! As a small business trying to balance the books I can fully understand why Alex has had to increase his prices and I would expect order lead times to increase too.

[Downunderwonder]

3 minutes ago, Kev said:

profit?

From the sound of the email forwarded, Alex makes wages for all the hours he puts in. I wouldn't mind betting all the previous 'profits' were ploughed right back into the business as more CNC gear and product development and the new pricing will only cover wages and materials with a small allowance for depreciation if he's as smart as he should be.

[Merton]

16 minutes ago, Kev said:

The bigger companies are worse, for sure!  But in the Barefaced example, have they risen prices to make the same profit as pre-covid/cost of living crisis, or are they taking less profit?

Who knows