Why Rattan Furniture Is So Expensive | So Expensive

Rattan is a naturally renewable climbing palm typically used in furniture labeled as wicker, which is the term for how it’s woven. And the price tag for this furniture is usually high: a real rattan chair can cost over $1,000, and as a material, it’s almost three times the price of bamboo! But getting rattan is complicated. What makes it so hard to harvest? And is that the reason it’s so expensive? EDITOR’S NOTE: At 7:03 in this video, we state that Sarimanto sells 1 kilogram of raw rattan for about 7 cents. This is incorrect. He sells one kilogram of raw rattan for about $14 cents. This would mean that farmers in the 1980s were getting 5 times, not 10 times, as much for the same amount. Insider regrets the error. MORE SO EXPENSIVE VIDEOS: Why Vicuña Wool Is So Expensive | So Expensive Why Muga Silk Is So Expensive | So Expensive Why Wild Ginseng Is So Expensive | So Expensive ------------------------------------------------------ #Rattan #SoExpensive #BusinessInsider Business Insider tells you all you need to know about business, finance, tech, retail, and more. Visit us at: Subscribe: BI on Facebook: BI on Instagram: BI on Twitter: BI on Snapchat: Boot Camp on Snapchat: Why Rattan Is So Expensive | So Expensive