Why are bird toys so expensive?

Have you ever wondered, why bird toys so expensive? There are many factors when pricing parrot toys. Starting a bird toy store isn't just about toys but the whole small business plan which helps bird toy creators to present their designs to the whole community. This article is to help parrot toys customers understand the factors of pricing and to help new parrot toys company to understand the business. 

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Bird Toys so Expensive Because of Labor

An untreated pine wood toy starts with lumber which needs to be cut down into smaller blocks. Those small blocks then need to be drilled, dyed, and sanded before stringing them together to make parrot toys.

For some bird toys, individual beads or wood blocks will be knotted, or every puzzle piece, individually punched, before making parrot toys.

An individual needs to turn lumber into blocks, prep raw materials, or knot each bead for bird toys. One thing we always forget are these bird toys are made by hand. The price to make toys are expensive in America. They are considered to be handmade goods that always cost more yet have better care and quality.

Bird Toys Parts

Over the past few years, bird toy parts have been getting more expensive. Even buying in bulk you have to consider shipping costs for large packages. As individual parts and shipping increase, it is inevitable for small businesses in the parrot toy industry to increase their prices.

Parrot toy companies that use stainless steel, un-oiled rope, or other non-toxic materials have to increase their price to compensate for the higher price of raw materials. Stainless Steel and un-oil rope are more expensive than zinc plated and any rope. Companies that are conscious of non-toxic materials will be priced higher due to these factors. 

Why Bird Toys so Expensive...Tools

The bird toy creator that also cut their own wood need power tools and the ability to maintain and buy parts for their power tools. Power tools are not cheap and their maintenance isn't either. When people use power tools they always need additional safety equipment like gloves and safety goggles which adds to their production cost.

There are many smaller power tools a bird toy marker needs for everyday use in their workshop. I have around 20 tools from screwdrivers, pliers, and scissors, to drill bits and hanger bolt adapters. And I have to mention the crop-a-dile big punch, my favorite tool which is $40. Most of these tools last a long time, but when they need to be replaced, it's part of the cost of running a business

Shipping 

Not only shipping prices have increased but there are many other costs for shipping packages. Boxes or package materials, shipping materials, labels, paper, printer, tape, shipping scale, business cards, and thank you cards.

Storage

Online stores need a place to store their raw materials, wood blocks, or even toys. Cost of storage racks, totes, and rent. There is also time associated with organizing and storing new bird toy parts in the proper places.

Digital 

Every online web store needs a website and has to pay monthly or yearly for their website. Not to mention, you need a computer if you're online to perform maintenance on your website.

A small business owner has to either use their time to set up a website or hire someone else. You just don't make a website and be done. There are hours of work that go behind each website for it to be searchable.

Online bird toy stores need to spend time photographing their bird toys. This is the most important part since customers can't touch or feel the toy, but only see an image. Photography is another aspect of online business where it takes additional time and skill (or hire) to convey the likability of the 3D bird toys using a 2D image.

Advertising and Marketing 

For a website store, one needs to advertise and market so customers can find them but also to acquire more customers. Website stores use ads or other means of marketing tools and every business has business cards which cost money for the company.

Designing Parrot Toys Contribution to Bird Toys being so Expensive

If your favorite parrot shop is unique, they design their bird toys. Designing bird toys is an important part of having an online bird store and having diversity in their products. The cost of time to design a toy is part of the final bird toy pricing.

Time

If you have been reading this you will see that time is a really big aspect. There is time associated with every step of the process of making parrot toys. Time to store and organize, time to design, and time for online presence. Time.

Time to learn the skill. Every size bird toy has different skills, materials, and tools. It means learning how to use different materials for different size parrot toys and making sure you're doing it right. 

There is time associated with buying toy parts, finding the right toy parts store, find the correct product to make bird toys. The time it can take to find the bird toy part could take a few hours to days or even weeks to complete.

Time to respond to the customer via email, phone, comments or even chat. Small business has to answer questions about their product, fix problems, or help a customer navigate the website to specific bird toys.

Pricing can become very complicated and creative people, which bird toy creators are, hate this part of the business. Bird toys are so expensive due to their inevitable production cost. Bird toy companies have to price their bird toys at a certain price because of cost, not because they are trying to make billions of dollars. I don't know of a single bird toy company on the Fortune 500 list. Most parrot toy creators try to price their toys as low as possible with their customers in mind but also understanding their bottom line. 

 

More Articles on DIY Bird Toys

Make your own bird wood blocks

Benefits of Flat Bird Perches

The Importance of Choosing the Right Toys for Your Birds

 

Author: Monika Sangar
Co-founder of Prego Dalliance Sanctuary, Artisan of PDS Parrot Shop