Speaking candidly, the cost of leather is rising at an incredible pace. If you're thinking about purchasing a wristband, now is certainly the time to acquire it. Recently I did some minor adjustments on a cuff purchased from me over six years ago sent to me by a client, and the cuff had been through hell and back, and still looked really good, so it certainly is an investment.

Back to the topic of leather costs: Generally, I don't make comments about what's going on in the world on my web site, but these are some crazy times and I felt compelled to divulge some interesting information. As this has everything to do with economics, you can appreciate my concern and hopefully apply this info to other things you plan to purchase.

First, simple supply and demand play a big role, but its not the only thing. Right now, the US and Europe are coming out of recession, so demand both domestically and in developed foreign markets are starting to come back into full swing. However, the new big kid on the block is China. Their economy is developing rapidly and as a result, they can afford more things, like shoes. The worlds' demand for shoes greatly effects the price of leather hides. You could say, they're the sole indicator! (back to business) I've heard from my tannery that this year(2011) it is estimated that China will purchase the same amount of shoes as we buy in the US in a year (or about 1.5 pairs of shoes per person in a country with 3.3 billion people) This demand is putting upward pressure on prices. I've received two notices from my tannery about price increases and surcharges just this year alone.

As if that weren't enough, there's more:

Most all commodities such as cotton, grain, oil, steel, leather, etc, are all priced in US Dollars. So we're talking about all the staple materials from which everything is made. The Dollar has weakened significantly in the last year, and now US money doesn't have quite the purchasing power it once did. The US is a large producer of leather, so when other countries buy our leather, they can purchase more for less, when converted back into their currency. This also creates upward pressure on the price of leather in the US.

If you've managed to find this obscure page on my web site, you deserve to know that, YES, I will be raising the price of my items to reflect the increased cost of leather hides. Keep in mind, I will put this off for as long as possible, but that does not mean forever. I can purchase more leather and get a discount to offset the increase, but that's about my only buffer. No date set, just know that it will happen.

After this was originally written, there does seem to be some potential that we'll see prices of raw leather leveling off, although probably never returning to the pre recession rates, according to industry experts.

So again, remember, I haven't raised any prices and this is not a scare tactic to get you to make a purchase, it's just me telling you factual information.

Best Regards,

Matt Rezac - Owner

Note: Like everything else on Leatherpunk, this article has been composed exclusively by Matt Rezac.

Plain Leather Wristbands