Custom White's Boots ... Thoughts?

[FutureComesToday]

Looks like another price jump with White's. Bounty Hunters through Baker's and 350 Cruiser/Cutters from White's are now $670.

In Dec 2021 prices were $600 per pair, which was a jump from $550/pair in June 2021. Before that, I think they were ~$480/pair in 2020. From $480 to $670 is 40% in ~2 years. This will change my buying habits.

I remember when BH's were $439. Those were the days.

 

[PACostag]

Looks like another price jump with White's. Bounty Hunters through Baker's and 350 Cruiser/Cutters from White's are now $670.

In Dec 2021 prices were $600 per pair, which was a jump from $550/pair in June 2021. Before that, I think they were ~$480/pair in 2020. From $480 to $670 is 40% in ~2 years. This will change my buying habits.

I remember when BH's were $439. Those were the days.

That's hilarious. They stopped being worth it two or three price increases ago...

 

[brandonboot]

That's hilarious. They stopped being worth it two or three price increases ago...

Dude wtf is up with these price increases? 200$ increase in not even a year yet?

 

[Woodtroll]

That's hilarious. They stopped being worth it two or three price increases ago...

Yep, that's the truth, unfortunately. White's (or ABC, their Asian owners) wants to branch out and do all these fancy models of shoes and boots, then jacks their prices up at a crazy rate over the last 18-24 months, and also extends their wait times to six months or more, in some cases? I'm pleased with all the White's boots I own, although I'm disappointed that the last pair I got squeak like a screen door in a hurricane, but I'll be darned if I'll put up with price increases, longer delays, and drops in quality all at the same time. It seems White's has lost their focus. This is a real shame, but you could see it coming a couple years ago (except for the quality issues, which make it all the more disappointing).

 

[chicagoan2016]

Yep, that's the truth, unfortunately. White's (or ABC, their Asian owners) wants to branch out and do all these fancy models of shoes and boots, then jacks their prices up at a crazy rate over the last 18-24 months, and also extends their wait times to six months or more, in some cases? I'm pleased with all the White's boots I own, although I'm disappointed that the last pair I got squeak like a screen door in a hurricane, but I'll be darned if I'll put up with price increases, longer delays, and drops in quality all at the same time. It seems White's has lost their focus. This is a real shame, but you could see it coming a couple years ago (except for the quality issues, which make it all the more disappointing).

I am in the same boat, have enough number of White's boots to last me a long time.
Last year I asked what are the alternatives and we talked about other PNW brands. I don't have any info on quality control issues of other brands but I found out Viberg and Wesco don't offer the same arch support.

 

[chicagoan2016]

The prices in 2020 were 539.99 for Bounty hunters and in early 2021 they increased the prices to $550.

 

[brandonboot]

I am in the same boat, have enough number of White's boots to last me a long time.
Last year I asked what are the alternatives and we talked about other PNW brands. I don't have any info on quality control issues of other brands but I found out Viberg and Wesco don't offer the same arch support.

Even with whites price jumps it’s still a better boot for the price then what viberg will sell ya

 

[Jimk4003]

Yep, that's the truth, unfortunately. White's (or ABC, their Asian owners) wants to branch out and do all these fancy models of shoes and boots, then jacks their prices up at a crazy rate over the last 18-24 months, and also extends their wait times to six months or more, in some cases? I'm pleased with all the White's boots I own, although I'm disappointed that the last pair I got squeak like a screen door in a hurricane, but I'll be darned if I'll put up with price increases, longer delays, and drops in quality all at the same time. It seems White's has lost their focus. This is a real shame, but you could see it coming a couple years ago (except for the quality issues, which make it all the more disappointing).

To be fair, the lead-times are beyond their control. There are backlogs in pretty much every manufacturing sector, and most bootmakers are running behind. I don't think we can blame White's for that, I'm sure they wish they could fulfill orders quicker too.

I agree that the price up/ quality down trend is problematic though.

 

[Widening Gyre]

Narural Maryam Stevens have arrived. Stitching is not perfect (surprise!), but I’m happy with them. Looking forward to seeing them develop.

 

[hoppy_IPA]

that leather is stunning

 

[climbinglife]

I remember when SD's were 389$

 

[chicagoan2016]

I remember when SD's were 389$

What year was that?

 

[Jimk4003]

What year was that?

It's really hard to find old prices online, since websites continually update their pages to the latest pricing, but I've done a bit of digging.

A Wranglerstar YouTube video from 2013 entitled 'Where to buy proper boots' states that White's were about $400 at the time. Somewhat quaintly given current pricing, he acknowledges that this is a lot of money to spend on a pair of boots (but worth it). Since Wranglerstar's boot reviews predominantly focus on firefighting boots, he's probably talking about the Smokejumper, which retails from White's today for $625. That's a $225 increase, or in percentage terms, an increase of a little over 56% in around nine years.

In isolation, that doesn't really tell us much, since prices usually always go up over time; so I did a bit more digging to see how those increases compare to other boot companies that sit either side of White's price bracket.

Looking at an old Styleforum thread, the retail price for a pair of Red Wing Iron Rangers in 2010 was $280. Today, the same boot is $349 from Red Wing. That's an increase of around $70 in twelve years; which is actually damn impressive all things considered. Red Wing have only increased their prices by a little under 25% over twelve years, compared to White's 56% increase over nine. Where a pair of White's may have run you around $100-$150 more than a pair of Red Wing's a decade ago, today they're around $300 more, or nearly double the price.

Looking above White's price point, a Stitchdown article tells us the Viberg Service Boot launched in 2010 for $595. Today, the same Chromexcel Service Boot sells on Viberg's website for $785. That's an increase of $190, or around 32%, over twelve years.

For reference, US inflation has been around 24% from 2013 (when Wranglerstar released his video) to today; so White's prices have increased at nearly double the rate of inflation in the last nine years. Inflation from 2010 to 2022 has been around 33%, so Red Wing have actually kept their pricing around 8% below inflation (kudos Red Wing) over that period. Viberg prices have, rather unimaginatively, stuck almost exactly in line with the rate of inflation from 2010 to today.

This is all really informal research, and apologies if any of my sources are off. From the information I can find, it's true to say that all boot companies have had to increase their prices over time, but White's prices are increasing at a dramatically faster rate than inflation, and are increasing faster than some of the brands they are priced between.

 

[chicagoan2016]

@Jimk4003 and it appears the biggest spike in White’s prices was in the last year or so, in 2020 Bounty Hunters were $539.99 and today they are $669.99.
I wonder why did the Inflation/pandemic hit White’s worse than competitors?
Only White’s has the answer!

 

[brandonboot]

Narural Maryam Stevens have arrived. Stitching is not perfect (surprise!), but I’m happy with them. Looking forward to seeing them develop.
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Like everybody else said these are marvelous. I bought these Wesco boots about 3 1/2 months ago and I wonder if they will be made in this same leather.