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This is lovely looking, but I shy away from carpet-based cat scratching posts because I don't want my cat to view carpet as acceptable scratching material.

"My cat refuses to scratch on anything less stylish than Flor tiles..."

$315 is a bit steep for my taste. I've got a well-used Kittypod and routinely had to clean up cardboard mess, which got to be a PITA. Since I started making my cats wear SoftPaws I have not had (as many) furniture scratching incidents.

$315??? (which I find simply mind boggling.) It's beautiful, but I'm just tired of anything that's "modern/minimal" costing an arm and a leg. I mean, it's a bent piece of wood and a Flor tile. The Flor tile is like $10, how much is that piece of wood??? - Complaint over.

nathan - i'm with you!! i gasped when i saw the price. i don't understand why pet accessories (especially cat) are either plastic and ugly or modern and super pricey (http://www.kattbank.com/).

Aww but they are cute (the cats)..Ok. Ok. Yes this designer just killed their credibility with the pricing or lack of proper what I call market testing. What you do with an item like this is the entry stage is gauge interest and have people elect to suggest a price and work off that. To be honest a penny over $42.99 (base model) and it is over. The floor tile purchased in bulk would probably come out to about $3 or 4 dollars for the designer and the bent plywood althought takes a little effort to mold costs nothing and could be manufactured in bulk in a few days. Materials in bulk $9 total perhaps. Mark up of 400% shipping = $42.99. $315.00 there is a problem. They just went out of business.

Mark up of 400% shipping = $42.99.

damn PLUS button not working. Jeez..

Mark up of 400% PLUS shipping = $42.99

SOLD for $42.99!

It's very frustrating to hear people comment on the cost of products/materials when they have clearly had no experience in manufacturing or furniture design. I know for a fact that FLOR only offers 20% off for designers. I also know that having custom bent plywood costs a fortune, especially when it is done in the USA. This looks like a real piece of furniture, not some throw away cat condo made in china that you can buy for $42!! Besides, there are quite a few cardboard cat scratchers on the market that cost more than this walnut piece of furniture. You should really do your homework before speculating on the cost of people's products!

yeah, $42 doesn't seem like enough, but there's no way I'm spending 315 on a cat scratcher. Seems like a decent do-it-yourself though, if you can settle for something less trendty. Wood boards instead of bent plywood, finish or paint them, and get the flor tile yourself.

Yeah. I admit I lack proper manufacturing experience and I agree the number mentioned may be unrealistic including operating expenses and I am not questioning the craftmanship. Last think I would do. But there is a substiantial disparity in price to what we as the consumer think and what the retailer/producer thinks. You know that knee jerk reaction when something immediately is not right? Anyway, I am sure many of you people are crafty this is an easy build as some have suggested and for relatively nothing. Less the curve. An Eames LCM or DCM can be had for $329 or something like that at DWR. Don't think I am building any Eames replica's anytime soon but certainly can built a halfpipe for a cat with a sticky piece of designer carpet for $25.00. Kinda why I chimed in on this one..

Funny thing is I don't even have a cat. Thought the pic was funny.

I agree with Rosiekal,

I've just recently entered the world of furniture design and I've come to realize that production of furniture on a small scale, in America, is VERY expensive...

We are very used to the price of mass-produced furniture made in China (Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, etc, etc). I don't think the price of this cat scratcher is far off.

Ridiculously expensive. I agree with quercus, if you want your cat to stop scratching your furniture/carpet/upholstery, why use a scratcher that is made with similar materials?

I'm a fan of MAX scratchers myself. There are lots of designs available, some novel, some modern. And the prices are more reasonable (10 - 150 depending on the size of the scratcher).

I could buy a new couch for 315 at ikea.