Price of foam!

[baileyuph]

Noticed a definite trend regarding consumer expectation when buying new foam'  they all are taken back about the price.  "For a piece of foam!" or something to that point is their reaction.  They can't believe the prices.  A lot of them keep on walking and forget the idea they had in mind.

I explain the best I can that it is related to oil.  That helps them understand it but doesn't provice a reason for them to buy it.  I suppose if it was needed to run their car, they would reluctantly buy some.

Oil prices are definitely making an impact in our industries.  Some of my foam suppliers have closed their doors.

Maybe they will find a tasteful way to recycle foam, probably not though.

Of course everything else related to oil has gone up, our yard goods for a start. 

Time for the engineers to come with another alternative, maybe they will.

Hope it is something natural, like we used to use.  Whatever, it is doubful that anything will be economical again.  One thing for sure, foam is sure going through the roof.

Doyle

[bobbin]

Yes, Doyle, I agree!  Foam began skyrocketing in price after Katrina and the destruction of facilities on the Gulf Coast.  Coupled with the price of shipping it, I too, find the customers are aghast at the price of it.  My stock line has become the price of foam embarrasses me, but sadly the price is what it is. 

I find I steam out a lot old foam and reuse it, adding a layer/two of batting to bulk it up a bit.  But always with the caveat that the batting is not a "cure all" and over time will pack down and the tired foam will again become evident. Still, though, I find that customers are willing to accept that and a few have replaced the foam with new stuff in a year/two's time.  I've also become good at cutting and gluing to minimize waste in the sheets that I do buy.  I've found that some time spent doing a small pencil and paper layout is well worth it. 

The hardest thing for me is explaining that tired, partially degraded foam will not adequately plump out new cushion covers and that making the covers a smidge smaller will only make them too small for the piece of furniture for which they're destined. 

I'm with you, I wish there was some sort of way to recycle foam to minimize its impact on landfills and possibly provide a lower price point for customers. 

[sofadoc]

When I look at a cheap sofa at a furniture store, I sometimes see that my wholesale cost for the foam and fabric alone would be at, or above the retail cost of the entire sofa.
So yes, foam is a hard sell. Me and a nearby competitor pool our money for bulk purchases of foam. Of course, this means that my competitor and I have the same quality foam for just about the same price. So no opportunity for a competitive edge there. Even then, the customer's jaw usually drops to the floor when I quote them a price for new foam.
If you have any competitors in your area that you have a friendly relationship with, buying in bulk together might be a good idea for you.
But for those of you that are stuck buying "one-at-a-time", I'm afraid there's not much relief headed your way. 
Bobbin is "dead on" about Katrina. It also affected the raw materials for stained glass (same crude oil by-product). After Katrina, I told one of my customers that foam would eventually go back down in price, once the damaged refineries were repaired. She STILL calls me a couple times a year, asking if that day has arrived yet. 

[Ihavenoname]

I've learned to brake it down and this helps.

Instead of X for a cushion core installed, I bid like this:

Foam $x
Dacron padding $y
Labor  $z
Total x+y+Z = total price per core.

This way the foam can be a lower price but they still need dacron (by the yard) and someone has to cut and install the core (by the hour).

It's more paper work and math but it is what people seem to want.

Also this way if they go to Joann Fabrics and buy cheep foam, I still make money and no guarantees on quality.