SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — If you've gone out shopping for a Christmas tree this year, you may have noticed higher prices compared to 2020 due to a variety of factors including high shipping costs.
“The reason why I like Christmas trees is because they smell good, but with this price, I don’t know, I might just get a branch,” said shopper Colette Velasco Hinkle.
She couldn't believe how much more expensive Christmas trees are this year.
“They’re more expensive than I thought that they would be and there’s not a big variety of trees that are available,” said Colette. “It’s slim pickings right now.”
Due to high gas and diesel prices, as well as truck driver shortages, shipping costs have gone up for independent tree lot owners who import trees from out of state. As a result, people are paying more for trees, and there may be fewer varieties available.
Tom’s Adventures Tree Lot in Chula Vista imports its Christmas trees from Oregon, and the shipping situation has been troublesome.
“They cost more this year because of the fact of the supply chain. The truck drivers, we had to pay double or even triple the prices for the deliveries from Oregon,” said tree lot worker James Howe. “The price of inflation going up. Gas is up. Everything’s higher now. It costs more to get them down here. Truck driver shortage. It’s a big, big change this year.”
James said they’d like to keep tree prices down, but they have to cover their costs too.
“We’re definitely feeling the impact here,” said James. “Especially in this community, we try to keep the prices as cheap as we can, but we have to still maintain.”
With the higher prices, Colette said tree shopping is a little more difficult this year.
“The lowest I saw was $70 and the highest is like $132,” said Colette. “You know with the COVID and everything and not working, that’s kinda harsh on you.”