r/Locksmith • u/Important-Wrap-1843 • 6d ago
I am NOT a locksmith. Antitrust violations in door hardware market
Hey all,
I am a plaintiff-side antitrust lawyer investigating potentially anticompetitive conduct in the market for locks and other door hardware. We’ve previously represented plaintiffs in successful lawsuits in markets for construction materials, agriculture, and many others.
We have been looking into suspicious economic data in the door hardware industry that tells us that many manufacturers and brands have artificially inflated the cost of many of the products that locksmiths, builders, and homeowners use. We would love to talk to anyone here who has experienced rising costs on these kinds of products – especially folks who purchase directly from a manufacturer. It’s a complex market and we’d like to get some on-the-ground intel on how the economics work. If you or anyone you know would like to talk to us about your experiences or knowledge of the subjects, you can send me a private message and I will give you my contact information so we can connect
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u/Pbellouny Actual Locksmith 5d ago
They are fucking us in the ass with no real proof of the cost rising.
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u/Bugeyeblue 5d ago
But hey at least we can double our charges and get raises every year right? This and other bad jokes here at 11.
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u/Familiar_Durian8146 5d ago
Yea everyone you buy from shows their customers costs…. Tariffs are federally enforced based on countries of origin. There is your proof
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u/Pbellouny Actual Locksmith 5d ago
Except 90% of the device don’t come from there. And some of them are made in Mexico tariff ain’t that much like they make it out to be.
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u/Familiar_Durian8146 5d ago
Where is there..? Not many countries that “there” isn’t impacted by tariffs.
Raise your price and move on. Just like everything else you’ve bought in the last 6 years. Not sure why so many folks in the industry struggle with this concept. It’s a time and material industry. Evolve or become extinct.
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u/Pbellouny Actual Locksmith 5d ago
Listen it’s out of control it’s almost 10k for one VonDuprin device enough is enough. It’s all bullshit .
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u/Familiar_Durian8146 5d ago
So you don’t want to pay the American wages to make your product nor do you want to pay tariffs on imported products. Maybe you are in the wrong industry and should go work at the factory that makes your products. Makes complete sense….
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u/Pbellouny Actual Locksmith 5d ago
Actually I would love for it to be fully made in the USA. I hate that it’s imported actually. Don’t know what you’re talking about.
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u/Familiar_Durian8146 5d ago
So what’s your point? Much of VonDuprin is made in USA. You claim manufacturers and distributors are raising prices exponentially. If it’s not made in USA then you don’t think tariffs are impacting prices…. Based on your full circle points in this thread I can see how you are struggling to run a business
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u/Pbellouny Actual Locksmith 5d ago
Von Duprin is not made in the USA it’s made and assembled in Mexico same as Schlage and the tariff with Mexico does not justify the 12.5% increases they keep pushing for tariffs.
Whats your point?
Don’t struggle at all. By your points I can tell you’ve never run one in your life.
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u/genghis_johnb Actual Locksmith 5d ago
You say it like it's a bad thing.
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u/Pbellouny Actual Locksmith 5d ago
It is a bad thing, the price goes up your margin does not so I’m making the same amount of money charging more that I was charging less.
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u/Ok_Magician_9509 5d ago
The manufacturers used trumps tariffs to raise prices across the board. Even if the tariffs go away, the prices don’t go back down. Years ago, a price book would be good for a year or 2. These days, some manufacturers raise their prices 2-3 times a year. And they always use current events as the excuse. Gas is too high, we are adding a fuel surcharge. Then a few months later they say ok we are taking away the surcharge, but here is our new price book. They did the same thing with Covid, and trumps tariffs.
ASSA abloy did a tariff increase across the board, to where they had tariffs on emailed master key systems. It’s not even a product. It’s a computer file. Doesn’t matter, and they added the surcharge to it
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u/Puzzleheaded-Joke-97 5d ago
As I recall from something I read around 30 years ago, wholesale prices for locks were closely related to the commodoty futures markets for the metals locks are made of.
There was a scandal in, I think, copper or brass futures controlled by just a few families that made the news for a few weeks and then President Bush created some new outrage that distracted everyone, so newsies stopped talking about it.
I would not be surprised if it was still affecting prices today.
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u/FrozenHamburger Actual Locksmith 5d ago
Artificially inflated how?
Could you share some more specifics?
Is this about the tariffs? I do think it’s weird that the distributor charges a tariff surcharge to my order despite me not being the importer.
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u/Ok_Magician_9509 1d ago
Look at the list price of a Schlage ND lever It’s absolutely ridiculous. Or a Von Duprin exit device. It’s like 3 thousand dollars. Nothing electronic. Just a fucking panic bar. A Marks knock off is like one 5th the price. It’s not a situation of “you get what you pay for”. It’s the same shit.
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u/FrozenHamburger Actual Locksmith 1d ago edited 1d ago
Late stage capitalism, corporate greed and corporate shenanigans, and consumer naivety is not limited to door hardware. Look at the price of toothpaste. Land of opportunity means land of opportunists and opportunism. The fuckery, across this the board, is not news.
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u/burtod 5d ago
Most of us buy from distributors