@CAPPilot posted:The prices in the catalog have increased. Maybe Lionel did well to keep the prices as low as they did, as inflation as a whole has made making toys more expensive. The Producer Price Index (PPI) for construction for the 12 months ending October 2021 showed increases in price of:
Fabricated metal products: 38.8%
Iron and steel: 101.5%
Steel mill products: 141.6%
Nonferrous wire and cable: 31.3%
Crude petroleum: 116.9%
Natural gas: 231.3%
These increases might be lower overseas, but then you would need to add in the increased transportation cost.
If the price increases in this catalog do keep folks from buying, then Lionel will go bankrupt like 1,000s of other businesses.
Thanks for pointing this out @CAPPilot. We have been hit with tremendous increases in shipping costs in our business to the point where the ocean freight costs can be almost as high as the value of the merchandise in the container being shipped. Lionel is facing this expense the same as all other industries and companies can not afford to absorb these increases in shipping costs.
