Inflation Q, rethinking high end…

[ghostrdr]

Is it me or has the high end moved up? I used to think the $900 KoAloha and $1,100 Kamaka were high end. Now, I’m seeing $3-5k production instruments from K’anilea and Kamaka and such. I saw and considered a $1,500 flight!

with inflation, has the high end moved up?
what is high end? What is mid-tier? And what is low-end but still decent? Both as to price ranges and companies?

thoughts?

 

[man0a]

"High-end" depends a lot on your budget. Kamaka and Kanilea have been selling $5000 ukuleles for many years. Maybe you never looked at those because they were not interesting to your budget. It is true that the base models from the K-brands have increased in price by a few hundred dollars over the last few years. I think that has more to do with the companies trying to pay living wages to workers in Hawaii than the current inflation situation.

 

[Joyful Uke]

I've been watching ukulele prices for a number of years, since first looking into the idea of playing ukulele about 10 years ago. (That's not when I first got started playing, though. Took a while to make the leap.) Prices have gone up quite a bit in the last 10 years.

I don't think it's due to inflation, since they've been steadily increasing over the years, but someone more knowledgeable than I can address whether wood prices have increased that much, (I assume so, but don't know), and other related costs have jumped up as well, including shipping. If a seller includes free shipping, they have to bump up the price of the ukulele to cover their costs.

Some of it may be simply that there is enough of a market for higher priced ukuleles that the prices have been able to creep up. That seems to me to have slowed down a bit, though, since it appears to me that it takes longer for some of the high end ukuleles to sell these days. Just my impression.

There is a market for those who appreciate a ukulele as a work of art, (which is what I consider the Moore Bettahs - IMO people are paying for the inlay as well as a well made ukulele, vs. "just" a well made ukulele.) Fortunately for my bank account, I'm not a fan of fancy inlays.

But we're lucky enough to have well made, good sounding ukuleles at more affordable prices, too.

I think that the market has expanded, with more choices at a wide variety of prices.

 

[KohanMike]

I have custom ukes and bass ukes made by Bruce Wei in Vietnam. The ukes used to cost $500-$600, and the bass ukes $750-$850, all including express shipping. I just ordered a uke that is $850, and held off off on a bass uke that was going to cost $1250. So yes, the prices have gone up, from what I understand, because of materials and shipping increases.

---

Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
4 tenor thinline cutaway ukes, 3 thinline acoustic bass ukes, 5 solid body bass ukes
•Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
•Member Cali Rose & The CC Strummers: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers

 

[clear]

with inflation, has the high end moved up?
what is high end? What is mid-tier? And what is low-end but still decent? Both as to price ranges and companies?

thoughts?

Inflation just makes everything (well, the affected things) more expensive. So, a previous $1k uke now cost $1k + inflation. If that previous uke was considered high-end, then it's still considered high-end. So, inflation doesn't have much to do with high-end definitiion.

What is high-end? mid-tier? It's all pretty relative. But generally, I think folks think Kamaka and KoAhloa (and similar ukes) as high-end. The mid-levels goes to Rebel and solid-wood Kala (and similar).

Thoughts? I think it is a good time to buy uke because the price hasn't moved up as much as pay increases; but soon, uke prices will catch up.

 

[rainbow21]

Prices have definitely increased, but the definitions have not really. The increases have not changed the definitions. For example, if someone considered the $1000 k uke high end before, that same model is still high end, just a hundred or two more expensive.

What you mention about the $3k+ production models are really near custom ukuleles made by familiar manufacturers. They are likely built much more similar to a custom model with the best luthier(s) spending time and effort on these models. Kanile'a makes many unique models and limited models as does Kamaka. Same with KoAloha with their Red Labels. Even the Flight would not go through the production line but be made by a few of the best luthiers at their factory.

 

[Dohle]

Very much agree with the others. Prices have gone up but high-end is still the same, now maybe starting around $1200 rather than $1000. Mid-end is creeping up to a grand but you can still find plenty of options at around $500. And there have been lots of production models way beyond $2000 in the past as well so that's nothing new really.

Prices for high-end ukes have increased quite a bit even before the current inflation rate. I think there are more factors affecting instrument prices compared to lots of other industries. Price of materials and salaries in western countries come to mind at least. I do understand why prices keep going up but it's been more noticeable with certain brands than others. Kanile'a ukes specifically are way more expensive now compared to even just four years ago. Even the basic K1 models start around $1300 or beyond now, and the less expensive Oha series now start at where the K1 models used to before. It's difficult for me to find as much value as before with price hikes like these.

 

[badhabits]

I would never consider a $1,500 flight, but that's me...plenty of others at that price

 

[Voran]

I would never consider a $1,500 flight, but that's me...plenty of others at that price

Logically I don't need one, but emotionally I break for the Flight Aqua.

 

[ghostrdr]

I get it. I guess I never looked at ukes priced $2k or more before, but I’m seeing a lot more. No, I catch myself thinking ”oh, it’s on sale for less than $3k? That’s pretty good”. I’m not buying them, but I’ve noticed my attitude has slowly changed. To me, it seems the mid tier brands have jumped into the $1,300 range and the high ends start at $1,500

 

[WebParrot (s2)]

I have custom ukes and bass ukes made by Bruce Wei in Vietnam. ……..(edited section). So yes, the prices have gone up, from what I understand, because of materials and shipping increases.

---

Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center

Receiving a “living wage” should be part of the equation more than any other…

 

[bacchettadavid]

I ascribe to a four-tier taxonomy when classifying non-toy 'ukulele. I don't assign prices since there is so much cross-over.

• Low: almost entirely populated by ukes constructed en masse specifically to meet a low price point.
• Lower mid: dominated by construction in contract factories supplemented by limited volume production in small family-run businesses. Steep competition has kept prices at stable levels for several years.
• Upper mid: low- to mid-volume production by skilled to highly skilled teams. Price is often tied to country of origin. Inflation has definitely affected prices in this segment.
• High: low-volume construction by small, highly skilled teams to exacting standards. Prices at this level, while subject to inflation, vary wildly with respect to the perceived value of a given uke and its manufacturer's reputation.

 

[JJohansen]

Every reason mentioned so far is absolutely a reason why prices have gone up on the higher end. I also think that increased quality is also a significant reason for increased prices. The group of folks building high end ukulele is pretty small, and the bar keeps getting set higher every year. Social media like Instagram and YouTube lets us see the high quality of work being done, and it spurs everyone on to keep increasing quality. Guys like Andrew at the Ukulele Site puts out high resolution pictures and video, and peoples idea of what a high end ukulele is adjusts to the high quality of work being shown. With increased quality comes increased time invested in the build.

 

[UkingViking]

High and moves up with:
- Inflation
- how expensive ukuleles you allready own (you always want more)
- the more you read om this forum

It makes little sense to set a objektive scale. When someone makes a $ 100.000 ukulele with diamond fretmarkers, even the 5k ukuleles seem low end in comparison.

A budget of $1000-1500 can get you and entry level Hawaiian ukulele, or a high end eastern production ukulele.
That is, compared to other Hawaiian ukes respectively other Chinese ukuleles.
I am not saying which of these will be better, only that you need to look at these from a different perspective. It is All rather subjective.
What is a nice ukulele?
Pros who perform for ukulele afficionados like to play custom ukuleles, but many pros who cater a wider audience play < $1000 ukuleles. I saw a video of Grace Vanderwaal playing a Pono. So I guess you dont need that fancy ukuleles to Play music. But I need fancy...

 

[badhabits]

High and moves up with:
- Inflation
- how expensive ukuleles you allready own (you always want more)
- the more you read om this forum

It makes little sense to set a objektive scale. When someone makes a $ 100.000 ukulele with diamond fretmarkers, even the 5k ukuleles seem low end in comparison.

A budget of $1000-1500 can get you and entry level Hawaiian ukulele, or a high end eastern production ukulele.
That is, compared to other Hawaiian ukes respectively other Chinese ukuleles.
I am not saying which of these will be better, only that you need to look at these from a different perspective. It is All rather subjective.
What is a nice ukulele?
Pros who perform for ukulele afficionados like to play custom ukuleles, but many pros who cater a wider audience play < $1000 ukuleles. I saw a video of Grace Vanderwaal playing a Pono. So I guess you dont need that fancy ukuleles to Play music. But I need fancy...

"Pros"... just the work makes me cringe these days

 

[UkingViking]

"Pros"... just the work makes me cringe these days

Work always makes me cringe as well...

Or maybe the word
I get your drift. But I was litterally referring to musicians who are paid to perform. My thought was that after some threshold, only gear freaks, in this case ukulele afficionados, will care which ukulele they are playing.

 

[badhabits]

Work always makes me cringe as well...

Or maybe the word
I get your drift. But I was litterally referring to musicians who are paid to perform. My thought was that after some threshold, only gear freaks, in this case ukulele afficionados, will care which ukulele they are playing.

both!
indeed.... many pros, in whatever, are clueless about gear

 

[Joyful Uke]

Pros who perform for ukulele afficionados like to play custom ukuleles, but many pros who cater a wider audience play < $1000 ukuleles. I saw a video of Grace Vanderwaal playing a Pono. So I guess you dont need that fancy ukuleles to Play music. But I need fancy...

IMO, there might be a difference in the choice of ukulele for someone who sings and may also strum a ukulele, (which is my impression of Grace, which might be wrong, but I don't even see a ukulele in the first video I tried that popped up on YouTube), and someone like Jake or Brittni or many others who are instrumentalists. When the focus is solely on the ukulele, a custom makes more sense, IMO.

Then again, people like Jake and many others have a tie in with a particular ukulele brand, (Grace may as well?), and that will have a major influence on what they use to perform publicly.

 

[eternal tinkerer]

While some of the price increase I attribute to the increased cost of doing business (eg cost of materials and paying a living wage in whichever country the uke is made), the rest of the price increase I attribute to both increased choice (level of appointments and overall quality) as well as increased popularity. The more folks play, the more options become available, and the higher the “high end” rises.

In some ways, I’m kind of relieved that the ukulele hasn’t become as popular as the guitar. For some examples of truly eye-watering prices, check out the guitar marketplace. Over there, “high end” takes on a new meaning!

 

[Kenn2018]

I think more than anything else, there are far more people willing to pay $1000+ for what they perceive to be a quality ukulele. Players are more informed and knowledgeable about ukuleles and their component parts. Mostly due to the Internet.

When I bought my K-Brand tenors in 2017 and 2018 I compared prices between online sellers. They were within $5 of each other. The present prices are hard to compare because some sellers no longer carry the brand or don't have them in stock.
In 2018 I bought a brand new Kanile'a Gloss Koa Tenor K-1T from HMS for $1035 USD. Today a K-1T Gloss costs $1495 at HMS.
My new 2017 Ko'Aloha Gloss Koa Tenor KTM-00 from UkeRepublic cost $1105 USD. Today a KTM-00 costs $1287 at HMS.
In 2017 my new Kamaka HF-3 Gloss Koa Tenor cost $1395 from HMS; Today a Gloss Koa HF-3 costs $1695 from Mims Ukueles.

Design changes have been made to the K-1T and KTM-00 models.
Prices do not include hard cases. All included a semi hard canvas/foam UkeKrazy case in 2017 and 2018. Today, it may or may not include a gig bag.