I just remembered this.....
Last year I bought a new Craftsman 21” lawn mower for $200 with a Briggs instant start engine.
It was replace a mower that was virtually identical. It was 24 years old and the sears receipt for the old one showed $200 purchase price.
The inflation rate for Sears mowers over 24 years was 0%. If I were an economist, I would say the price for a Craftsman is inelastic
there is also an old debate in business strategy....
your Sears lawn mower worked and lasted for you, for 24 years!
maybe the quality’s just a little too good ?
meaning, if the quality had been a litle less, so your mower served you well for 8 years, by now you’d have (probably) happily purchased three of them and be on your fourth
or something like that. there’s long been a debate whether its really possible to produce products that are TOO good
anyway its a fun classroom discussion exercise.
what with everything being made in the PRC nowadays, labor costs have gone way, way down
so lots of THINGS like mowers and radios and appliances, have not seen major retail price increases