A Single Christmas Tree in New York City Can Cost As Much As $6,500

A regular Christmas tree, even a small one, can be expensive enough. But apparently those of us who find $100 trees a splurge have only seen a fraction of how pricey they can be. According to the New York Post, a single Christmas tree can cost up to $6,500—and people are actually buying them. Call us naive, but our minds are blown.

The trees in question are 20-foot Fraser firs from Soho Trees, and this article from the New York Post calls them the most expensive trees they’ve found in the city so far. The $6,500 covers the tree itself plus delivery and installation, which are no small matters for a tree of that size.

The sales manager at Soho Trees, Scott Lechner, says the Christmas trees—which for many of us cost as much as several months’ worth of rent—do have a market. “We’re sold out,” he told the Post, adding that the 20-footers often end up in lobbies and penthouses.

The same article covers others of Manhattan’s most costly trees, including $2,000, 20-foot Frasers at Tree Riders NYC in East Village and $1,600, 16-foot ones at Tyler’s Trees in Midtown.

Christmas tree experts interviewed for the article mention two factors driving up the cost of Fraser firs this year: After the 2008 economic crash, fewer of them were planted, which means fewer reaching maturity now, and big-box stores like Home Depot can afford to buy a larger quantity of the trees at once and sell them at a lower price than independently owned lots can.

“It’s killing us,” said Vendor Heather Neville, whose business is called NYC Tree Lady. “They don’t make a living off Christmas trees, but we do.”

You can read the whole article on the New York Post here.