Herman Miller Aeron Price Increase 2022

WOW!!!!

$1590 delivered 6 months ago https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/627572

Then

$1675 plus shipping briefly, recently:

https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/674109

Now $2120 delivered from Living Edge.

Wtf these things are crazy. They used to go on sale for $990 now they just casually double in price. They must be raking in so much profit for selling the same thing.

The world really needs more competition in this space. Australia is too small of a market to even get a chunk of the selection available of chairs in USA.

Comments

  • +7

    Aussies are more cashed up than six months ago :)

    • +18

      Aussies are in more debt than 6 months ago you mean.

      • +1

        Have you seen a line up for louis vuitton?

        • I feel quite confident in saying that most people buying from LV are not using savings, and would be using various BNPL or credit cards. Which they're more than welcome to do of course, I personally feel is idiotic however.

      • +2

        I actually would expect debt levels to be down with people saving more money during COVID. Lots of people have continued to earn their regular salary this whole time whilst spending less than usual.

        https://www.ratecity.com.au/home-loans/mortgage-news/homeown…

        • Exactly plus people got money to burn on these commercial grade fully customised chairs with years of warranty and service plan which perfect for office as it's support people in different sizes.
          I got this at work and cheap chair at home and I don't see much of a comfit differences although I road test few that fits me before I got my chair.

          • +3

            @boomramada: No debt levels have soared. This is simply price inflation flowing through from all the money printing over the past 12 years in the US and the past couple here in Australia. The AUD is weaker against the USD too, so that will account for some of it.

            American producer price inflation is up 10% year on year, significantly more than consumer price inflation, but even that is 7%. There's always a lag between inflation of the money supply and that being reflected in consumer prices.

            US companies have delayed passing on price increases for years, especially after the Fed said inflation was 'transitory' which it obviously wasn't. Much of these built-up price increases have to be passed onto consumers and that means everything is getting a lot more expensive.

      • -3

        High income earners are in more debt than 2 years ago after subsidising the lifestyles of others and effectively providing jobkeeper to the masses

        A heap of lower income earners should be cashed up and have bigger TVs new phones etc.

        Fantastic system innit

      • +1

        Speak for yourself

  • +9

    There's gotta be a few on the second hand market with all the companies downsizing their office spaces.

    • Just wanted to use this space to say - dont be confused, this post was edited completely.

    • Doesn’t always work that way. Companies downsizing will:

      A) get rid of the crappy space with old furniture
      B) sublease fitted out space to other organisations, so no need to get rid of furniture
      C) trash the furniture - otherwise liability issues come into play.

      Smaller organisations might do things differently, but the larger ones (those who tend to buy the HM chairs), won’t be selling them to average punters.

      • +1

        Anecdote to support this. I bought some HM chairs from a dude who picked them up from his company’s skip bin.

        It would cost the company more to sell the chairs, cheaper to just dump them.

        • +1

          Haha!

          I work in property strategy for a large organisation, the number of calls I got from people asking “can I just take a chair home for my wfh office” over the last year!

          I get it though, companies are saving on RE costs, but a lot haven’t contributed much to wfh costs. Most companies spend on average $15k p.a per desk (in Sydney), post covid though, they’re offloading 20-50% of their footprints!!

  • +1

    I wish I just bought it at the old price but I wanted to try it first then lockdowns happened… oh well.

    • +3

      You don't need to try them. They are so adjustable and comfortable you would need to be seriously deformed not to be comfortable in one.

      • I remember there were 2 models at that time, I think it was Embody, wanted to know which one would suit me best.

        • nearly always been 2 models. The Embody is better and provides better support in my view (though more expensive, or at least was when I bought). However getting parts for Aeron in Australia is easy, getting them for the Embody is near impossible. Embody also doesn't have the different sizes so if you are particularly small or very large you may find it a poor fit. Can't go wrong with either chai really though. My Current Embody is nearly 15 years old, been using Aeron for a similar period of time as well.

      • +1

        Maybe it's not that OP won't like it, but how much better it is compared to the chair they're currently using and whether that's worth the premium?

      • you would need to be seriously deformed not to be comfortable in one

        I've read that tall people that are between size B and size C can have a bad time.

        • I've read that tall people that are between size B and size C

          This is me. At work they've always had these chairs and I get pretty uncomfortable in them. This is why I didn't just buy one instantly in lockdown.

  • Why did I wait, goddammit.

  • +1

    yeah thats ridiculous. it was already an expensive (but worth it) chair - now its over the top

    Think i paid 1100 for mine about 7 years ago.

    • 58% YoY ?

  • Criminal. 25% price hike. I'm sure they will blame covid for the insane increase.

    • +3

      Are you saying covid has had zero impact on prices of raw materials, parts, and shipping worldwide?

      • -4

        No, just not a 25% increase.

        • +8

          No, just not a 25% increase.

          What do you base that on?

          Shipping alone has increased tremendously since pre-covid, and even in the past year:

          For the first time, the cost of shipping a container on the world's busiest shipping routes from China to Europe surpassed $US10,000 ($13,513), a rise of more than 500 per cent since June last year.

          At the same time, the prices of major commodities like iron ore, steel and timber have jumped as economies recover from the coronavirus.

          Major retailers like the Reject Shop have already flagged price rises because they have seen the cost of importing goods double or triple.

          Ms Pearson said some customers were paying very high rates for some routes including a UK client who imported products from China.
          "Now they're seeing more than 840 per cent increase from China to the UK. That's gone from around $US1,500 to more than $US15,000."

          David Buchanan from the Australian Steel Association said the higher transport costs and higher resource costs — for example, for steel — had already seen the price of tin cans rise by 30 to 40 per cent over the past six months.

          It isn't just the cost of shipping a chair to Australia, the chair is made in the US from raw materials, the raw materials have to be shipped to the US as well. And that's just shipping costs.

          • +3

            @eug: I feel like a vast majority underestimate logistics. They just think that its simply shipping the final product from one country to another (which as you mentioned, also increased tremendously) but theres a huge amount of logistics involved in manufacturing and storage and well.

            Yes a $500 price hike is nuts when its basically 30% of the RRP.. but I wouldn't be surprised if profit margin actually stayed the same or only slightly increased.

            • @buckethat: Add in the weaker Australian dollar to that too which takes another small chunk of the price increase.

          • +2

            @eug: This is correct. These chairs are shipped fully assembled, their cubic volume is massive. I work tangential to the freight industry, the cost of a container from China to AU has tripled in 18-months with no signs of it getting better.

          • @eug: True the cost of shipping into the US out of China has exploded, but for US made goods it's the opposite. So many containers are empty they are piling up on US and Australian docks.

            As correctly mentioned, the raw materials will come from China and that's why producer prices in Europe (+24%) and the US (+10%) have gone through the roof due to all the additional QE for the past two years.

            The consumer price inflation you see at the moment still doesn't take into account most of those producer price rises. Companies withheld cost increases because the Fed insisted inflation was transitory and they wanted to believe them, rather than losing market share.

            In fact inflation is way out of control and the CPI is only just starting to reflect that.

          • @eug: The Aerons we get in Australia are all made in China

          • +1

            @eug: I've heard from my own clients shipping container costs have increased like crazy. Because we are importing but China isn't buying Aus products, so the containers are going back to China empty which means they can't make any money from the containers heading back.

        • You got no idea mate.

        • +1

          Working for a local retailer that imports from China I can confirm containers have gone form a stable $1,500US to north of $10k now.

          Factories have had reduced manufacturing capabilities due to power and raw material shortages.

          Raw material cost have increased in price and this has been passed onto us, anything from a reasonable 5% to a crazy 30%.

          I love how people that have probably never worked in retail make broad assumptions that any price increase equates to price gouging, the only ones making money are the shipping companies. Our head of logistics mentioned at the end of 2021, not an expert so it might be embellished, that the shipping companies had made more money in the 1st 6 months of 2021 than in the 3 previous years combined. At the same time most retailers prices were pretty stable, some items even cheaper due to them arriving late in the season, Winter clothes etc.

          I would expect most imported items prices to increase by 10-20% purely so retailers aren't losing money, they should increase more but there is no way that the general public would accept those sort of increases straight away, maybe another increase in 6 or 12 months if the logistical issues continue though, so if you see something reasonably priced I would grab it now.

    • +2

      Supply chain disruption is just one factor. WFH = more demand for home office gear (and tax claims), so no incentive to discount

  • +1

    It’s the way of most things at the moment. The RRP on a Sony xr75x90j was $2995 a couple weeks ago and now it is near $3700. Run a business involving imports etc and you will see just how much everything has gone from logistics to raw materials.

  • Am guessing some office will be offloading these given many offices are downsizing with so many people WFH these days

    • +2

      In saying that, the office will let employees take these home. Company I've worked for was closing the office and said to employees to take whatever is not nailed down or to the wall.

    • +1

      What sort of company has $1000 chairs for everyone? Every office Ive ever worked in, even for very large companies, simply had pretty bog standard run of the mill chairs from Officeworks or whatever office supply company they use.

      • Mine must be an exception then as they bought one for every employee at a new office, then downsized a few years later and sold off the excess to remaining staff

  • +1

    Change your zip code to usa and you can get aeron free delivery for $1029 usd. https://www.amazon.com/Herman-Miller-Aeron-Chair-Graphite/dp…

    Australia has a large discrepancy in price.

    • +2

      Mmm, you need to compare apples to apples.

      Change your zip code to usa and you can get aeron free delivery for $1029 usd

      Don't forget tax, which makes it $1,102 to Nevada. That makes it AUD$1,513.

      You were talking about how we used to be able to get it for $990. That was 8 years ago in 2014 when the exchange rate was 0.89. A lot of things have changed in the past 8 years, let alone the past 2. As you've shown, it's $1,513 in the US today when it was $990 here 8 years ago. So even in the US the price has jumped.

      In 2017 the no-arm version was $995. The no-arm versions have always been a few hundred dollars cheaper.

      The chair was also redesigned "from the castors up" in 2016, so it's not the same as the $990 chair.

      • The product was released in 1994? And didn't change for 20 years. Then they did a little BS release to change materials from metal to plastic to save money and minor other things then they re-release it.

        So for the most part, the product hasn't changed in 28 years (one minor adjustment in a single new release of which they made the chair arguably worse to save money on materials, arguably a very minor release with minor improvements).

        Clearly it's just a money-making machine and they take advantage of the lack of competition in the market by jacking prices whenever they can. It is what it is.

        • +2

          You're moving the goalposts.

          The price has gone up in the US, so naturally it would go up here too. That was the topic of your post.

          And didn't change for 20 years.

          What do you base that on? Hopefully not just looking at photos on the internet. Have you sat in them all?

          I have the original 1996 model at home, a mid-late 2000s model at work, and have tested out the Remastered model. They all feel different. The latest Remastered has the nicest back support which follows your back.

          No it isn't wear, I bought a brand-new replacement seat pan for my 1996 model (try getting spare parts for any other 25-year-old chair) and even that feels different to the one at work.

          So for the most part, the product hasn't changed in 28 years

          You really should take a closer look, although if you're already biased against a product you will only see everything in a negative light. You might simply not be the target market for these chairs, just like how a Peloton isn't for everyone.

          • -5

            @eug: Ok sorry sir, please don't target me any more, internet detective.

            • +1

              @watwatwat: Glad you agree with my points. Hope it's clearer for you now.

              • -7

                @eug: Sorry internet detective, I still disagree with you.

                $2120 is a lot of money for a chair.

                • +2

                  @watwatwat:

                  Sorry internet detective, I still disagree with you.
                  $2120 is a lot of money for a chair.

                  I never said it wasn't a lot of money for a chair.

                  I too think it's a lot of money for a chair. But it's worth it to some people, especially since mine is over 25 years old and still going.

                  I bought mine used; I'm not sure if I would spend $2k on a chair. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

                  • -2

                    @eug: Maybe they will be $3000 soon.

                    Will need to track Aeron appreciation vs S&P500 performance.

                    • @watwatwat: LOL OP resorting to name calling after his piss poor effort of an argument/rebuttal gets taken to the cleaners. Why don’t you ask your work if you can have one? They probably won’t keep track and you end up with one for free…

                      • -4

                        @dtxau:

                        his piss poor effort

                        That's not very nice of you to say. But it is a lot like your contributions to ozbargain.

                        rebuttal gets taken to the cleaners

                        So this person sat in a few chairs and they "feel different"? That is so little information that for all I know, it feels different because chairs age in different ways depending on the duration and environment they are in, how frequently they are used, the ambient temperature etc.

                        In 28 years the chair is still fundamentally the same thing, is it not? They tweaked a few little things here and there but not much difference.

                        You can see some changes during the remastered here (of which they waited 20 years before they even made these changes):

                        https://www.btod.com/blog/aeron-classic-vs-remastered/

                        An example of a change that is likely a bad change:

                        ". The Classic version has more aluminum than the Remastered. The base and frame on the Remastered has swapped some aluminum for plastic components. This helped to reduce the weight of the chair by three pounds, but you could argue that the aluminum components have a better build quality than the plastic."

        • +2

          Then they did a little BS release to change materials from metal to plastic to save money and minor other things then they re-release it.

          They did far more than just change some materials, it's pretty much a complete redesign. While they look very similar, if you have both side by side like I do it's very obvious that almost everything has changed.

          • -3

            @apsilon: You look at this photo and conclude that it's very obvious that "almost everything has changed"?

            https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQUspHq…

            People who buy the chairs don't even have a big preference for the new over the old. So the one re-release in 28 years certainly wasn't that great. Didn't change the chair dramatically.

            • +1

              @watwatwat:

              You look at this photo and conclude that it's very obvious that "almost everything has changed"?

              OK so I was right, your assumptions are only based on photos you saw on the internet, rather than actually using them.

              Can you explain how you know more about the chair than people who have used them for years?

              People who buy the chairs don't even have a big preference for the new over the old.

              How many people have you asked? I for one would certainly go for the new model over the old, having bought the two previous models.

              So the one re-release in 28 years

              No. There have been at least three different designs. A chair is not a phone, they're not under pressure to release a new model every year.

            • +2

              @watwatwat: If you can't see obvious differences in that photo then I can't help you. Regardless, what difference does it make how long there is between changes? It just shows how far ahead of the curve the design was.

              • -4

                @apsilon:

                Regardless, what difference does it make how long there is between changes?

                Economies of scale in manufacturing, lesser need for capex, reduced R&D, costs could have even come down over time.

                People thought it was expensive at $1000. Now it is over $2000. Maybe it will be $4000 soon.

  • +1

    Wow, glad i snagged one last year :)

  • Shortage of semiconductors

    • +1

      More likely due to the urea price skyrocketing recently

      • +2

        Are you taking the piss?

  • +1

    Wtf these things are crazy. They used to go on sale for $990 now they just casually double in price. They must be raking in so much profit for selling the same thing.

    Welcome to inflation….

    • Yeah, 23% inflation in the last 19 days.

      • +3

        Yep certainly is……… RAT kits have gone up more than that in the last 14 days! inflation is alive and kicking!

      • When were these ever $990 retail?

        • +3

          Maybe when they first came out. For some reason people here always compare the lowest ever sale price to the current retail price and complain about the % increase. FWIW I paid $1080 in 2006 and that was special pricing, not retail.

      • Get used to it. EU producer prices rose 24% in 2021 alone and none of those costs have been passed on yet.

      • Not a fair comparison, just like '$990 on sale' remark, because you're comparing RRP to discounted price. I got a new remastered from Living Edge about 3 years ago for $1100 and count myself lucky, but it's not representative of the usual selling price, which has slowly crept up. As you yourself noted last year, $1850 was apparently a fair price for an excellent chair, a 15% price increase to $2120 RRP is plausible, it didn't just 'casually double in price.'

  • +3

    The world has gone completely and utterly mad and greed is rife everywhere you look, time to embrace a simpler life..

  • Gee, thank god I got mine.. exactly 6 months ago. I had a feeling it wasn't going to get cheaper.

    $1590 at BadBacks during their EOFY sale, did have to wait like 2 months for delivery though.

  • Anyone know if there's a warehouse or website that will take company's old stock back, say after a lease on a building expires? Do they stay in the building for the next "tenant" (corporation) use? I always wondering what happens to used Group property

    • There are specialised used office furniture sellers that acquire these things in bulk, just google your closest. But everyone knows how much their stock is worth these days, so you're not going to find barely used Aerons for $200.

  • I ended up buying an alternative- the neue chair by secret lab $950 delivered

  • They must be raking in so much profit for selling the same thing.

    You seem to be forgetting that a retail business is designed to sell a product for as much as possible. They don’t owe you anything and if there are a bunch of people willing to spend more than you, they’ll get one first, particularly for a premium product.

    Reducing price only comes into it when they can’t sell as many as they want, eg when they have too many.

    • You seem to be forgetting that a retail business is designed to sell a product for as much as possible.

      They certainly are executing upon this strategy. And that is why I think more competition would be nice so HM are forced to reduce their margins.

  • In before some brofessor says the fiat money being devalued is a supply chain problem.

    💵 🖨️ brrr = 💵 👇

  • Damit. I was going to save up for one. Now it's more so out of reach.

  • +1

    $2K for a chair that was once in the low $1K range. Price gouging at its worse.

  • I bought mine 2008 or prior, for $1200 and remembered thinking it was expensive

    Repaired twice under warranty, and twice out of my own pocket wince warranty expired, both personal expense repairs were 1 x $45 part that broke because my fat ass it too heavy

    Worth what i paid… but i think i'll keep my old one limping along as long as possible

  • the one at costco is looking good about now.

  • I bought an embody and an Aeron mineral last year from innerspace and love it. Highly recommend.

  • +5

    What in the mickey mouse shit has happened to this post?

  • +6

    Well that revision took an unexpected turn..

  • +5

    Oh man, I'm confused 😂

  • +7

    lol - wtf happened here - is this extreme re-write of post okay?

    • +1

      What was re-written? I don't remember the original post being super duper different to what it is atm.. but I have shit for brains so..

    • A different kind of bait and switch. Usually you get the risque ad/headline luring you in to find it's tame as… this time it's the reverse tame office chair ending in the xxx

  • +1

    I'd recommend researching the Aeron compared to the Steelcase leap V2.

  • +3

    I got the Aeron during the sit back and relax EOFY sale last year. To be honest the chair is 'ok'. Not worth $1k+ especially since you cannot adjust back height or dear pan position. When I first got it I would get weird twingles in my legs as the sides of the seat pan out pressure on the thighs. Took about W weeks to get used to it.

    Since I've been using it daily as my WFH setup I've grown to like it especially the mesh material. But not worth the $$ especially now with the price increase.

    Aeron is over hyped in my opinion. If you can find Steelcase chairs on special it might be a better deal as it looks like there are more adjustable features available.

    • Got mine the same time as you, from Back Backs though. Is the chair worth $1590 that I paid for it? I'm honestly not sure yet, will depend on how it holds up over time, one of the reason I justified it is due to the 12 years warranty.

      Been using it for my WFH setup almost every single day since I got it, and it's definitely been good for my back, I no longer get back pain after sitting for prolonged period. And purely for this reason, I have no regret with my purchase.

      I think anyone buying this chair needs to make sure that the dimensions of the version they're getting works for them, as you can't adjust the back height or seat pan, like you mentioned. Luckily, mine fits me perfectly, but I did get tingly thigh for the first couple weeks.

  • I bought used Aeron for ~$500 on Gumtree. Used it for about 6 months, then replaced it with IKEA Markus ($229) and can't be happier.

    Aeron is a really cool chair, very hi-tech and well made, however its comfort/ergonomics is a little bit overhyped. Biggest issue for me (I'm 186cm) was a short backrest and quite short seat - possibly going with Aeron size C could do the trick, however it's impossible to find anywhere for a decent $$. Markus has a tall backrest with nice seat cushion, which is by far more comfortable for me.

    Long story short, don't fall for the hype and think that Aeron is an ultimate choice. It's not.

    • possibly going with Aeron size C could do the trick, however it's impossible to find anywhere for a decent $$.
      Long story short, don't fall for the hype and think that Aeron is an ultimate choice. It's not.

      What if you had the right size?

      In any case I do agree, chairs are very subjective. An Aeron won't suit everybody as everyone is built differently. It's not the be-all and end-all of chairs, but if it fits you it's a pretty good choice.

      • I suspect that size C would be a better fit, especially deeper seat part. I also know that you can purchase a headrest from 3rd party company which will make everything better. But honestly $500 for the chair (assuming I can find used size c) + $150 for the headrest - I don't know.

        I also heard good stuff about Secret Labs Titan series ($600-750 range), but quite a few people on reddit complain about poor build quality and weird issues with different parts.

        Anyway, I owned Markus chair previously, it's a decent choice for a fraction of Aeron price. It's well built as well, used one for ~3 years without any issues.

        Again, YMMV.

        • I also know that you can purchase a headrest from 3rd party company which will make everything better.

          I bought the Engineered Now H3 headrest for my work chair and I find it really helpful for those long days. YMMV of course.

          I bought my home chair used, it is 26 years old this year. The only thing I've had to replace is the seat pan last year. That's really impressive IMHO, just as impressive as being able to buy genuine replacement parts for a 25 year old chair.

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