Good, beautiful wigs cost a bloody fortune. My sister is getting married and went to get a band-fall. They wanted $2,700. The regular nice wig she bought there was $2,275.

Can't the rabbonim do something about sheitel prices? I know it sounds extreme, but sheitel prices keep rising. I think it's a huge chutzpah to charge so much.

Even the cheaper ones are expensive, and then they're not always so pretty.

I wish they would go down. I desperately want a new one, but am unable to justify the price so far.

You have to keep in mind that the cost of the hair and labor is not cheap, but yes, they ARE ridiculously expensive. I recently went in to a shaitel macher and while looking around, asked if she had anything under $2000 - I was given a dirty look and promptly dismissed as a window shopper. I don't see how married women can afford them at all - a lot of women I know are still wearing the shaitel they got when they married 6+ years ago. You have to remember, it's a captive market, and if you fall in the demographic where wearing really nice shaitels are the norm, you pretty much have no choice but to pay whatever the going rate is. I know that people have started buying israeli shaitelach in order to cut costs (even those are expensive), but if you want a nice shaitel, I think you pretty much have to resign yourself to spending a hefty chunk of change. I don't see that changing anytime ever.

Yep, there you go.

Have prices jumped in the past 3-4 years? When I got married, I did not pay 2000!

i don't get it - a band-fall is more expensive than a full shaitel?

and here i was complaining that my sheitel cost me around $800 (4 years ago). come to think of it, a HAT-fall wasn't that much cheaper, but it was longer than the sheitel.

question: all those $2,000+ sheitels - they are custom-made?

I'm actually considering at this point just buying a variety of super-cheap wigs and alternating them. I'm the type who very quickly gets bored of the same style/cut/color and uses hair to accessorize, so I figure this is probably cheaper in the long run than spending $3k on another shaitel that a year down the line I'm bored with. The reason shaitel machers can charge $4k for a wig is because people have it in their head that they have to have the absolute best - they simply CAN'T be seen in anything but virgin european hair with skin-top mono parts from the "in" shaitel macher of the moment (is it still Shevy, now?). In reality, some of these cheaper shaitelach actually do look decent, and if a $200 wig lasts you six months or a year before you chuck it, isn't it a better investment than a $3500 wig that lasts you 5 years?

If Jewish women stopped going to stheitl machers and started going to "regular" (sic) wig stores, the prices would come down. Few things beat economic pressure.

A lot of the pricing depends on the quality and length of the hair. Virgin hair goes for more, as do longer lengths.

$2,000 won't get you a custom in most places nowadays. Mine were probably $2500 each and they were "out of the box customs". Virgin european hair with highlights (not custom), both fairly long at the time of purchase. I wasn't charged for the cut of either. I think if I actually went back now and wanted the same shaitel, I'd probably be charged more for it (gotta pay for that brand-new two-story salon somehow, don't we?).



I've been to regular wig stores. Most of them offer cheaper (asian or synthetic) hair wigs, and then can "custom-order" you a european hair wig from - guess where? A yiddishe shaitel macher! Might as well cut out the middle man, no?

Asian hair is cheaper than European hair, eh?

I got my fall 3 years ago, and it cost me $1,600 for a long one. Now it's $1,000 more!



In this case, yes. They said something about a custom color, custom-ordered, etc. She didn't get it there, let me tell you. Still looking.

Only by like a factor of ten. It also *looks* less realistic (the major reason women go out and spend thousands of dollars on shaitels), and the construction is often of very poor quality (uncomfortable caps, very processed hair, etc).

And is it possible to get a custom-made wig from someone who is not a shteitl-macher (directly or indirectly)? If so, then I still content that economic pressure would work. Alternatively, Jewish women who are fed up with the exorbitant costs could simply stop wearing wigs and boycott the entire industry.

a friend of mine got a fall for $20 at the plaza (in a store that sells accessories and wigs for blacks). she's very happy with it and we wouldn't have been able to tell had she not told us.

it was a shade darker than her natural hair because they didn't have anything lighter, but for $20 she wasn't going to complain. she bought another one to experiment with length and haircuts.

I think the majority of women don't actually go with full customs (where they simply choose a sample of hair and that specific sample is made into a custom wig for them). I'm sure someone, somewhere makes custom wigs, but the majority of goyishe shops I'd been into just referred it to Judy. I think a lot of women are more comfortable trying on different wigs in frum stores, where there is a certain amount of privacy. As far as boycotting the industry, remember that certain demographics feel the only appropriate covering outside the house is a wig, and many, many women feel more comfortable going out in wigs (because of how they look without hair, or because they don't want to draw attention to the fact that they are covering their hair, or because they want to present a more "professional" appearance at work and social functions). It's not realistic to suggest that women stop wearing wigs altogether when that is the social norm for them, and unfortunately that means paying top dollar for the privilege.

It's a choice Jewish women have to make for themselves, as they are the only ones who can put real pressure in the industry.

Who else makes wigs nowadays? You could find a Broadway or Hollywood wigmaker, but their wigs cost up to 2,000 too.

ETA: Oh man, these are even more expensive

I'm sorry but this is absurd. Why is it the rabbonim's business if someone wants to charge $2,700 for a shaitel? They are religious authorities, and should have anything to do with our free-market economy. Maybe cars are also too expensive, and houses, and food? Should they set the prices for everything? How would you feel if you were a shaitel macher? If they are charging these prices for shaitels, there is only ONE reason, and it has nothing to do with rabbonim. It is because well-meaning frum people, such as your sister, are willing to pay $2,275 for a hairpiece. I'm not saying that's right or wrong - it's their money to do with it as they please. Some people pay $200 for a steak, that's also their own business. If shaitel prices were really "too much" then people would simply stop paying them and make do otherwise. There's no halacha requiring anyone to wear a shaitel. If anything, shaitels may be questionable halachically, and not as preferrable as other forms of hair-coverings. So if anything, maybe the rabbanim ought to make shaitels more expensive!

Sorry for the rant, just had to get it out.

Now back to your regularly scheduled h.com.

YES!
The sheitel macher I bought mine from less than a year ago has since gone up in price $400-$500 per sheitel.

oh, my. mine were also semi-custom, which is the same as out of box custom, as far as i understand it. but yours is longer, and i have no idea if my hair is virgin or not (it's smooth and silky - it's all i cared about), it doesn't have highlights, although it's european, too. but those differences = over $1,500 difference? that's crazy.



i went to such store once, too. once you are used to human hair sheitels, it's hard to wear those synthetic ones. the prices are great, and you can definitely change them every month (doubt they'll last longer than a few months), and have fun with different shades and styles, but i would always be afraid of looking "not real". although the shorter the style, the easier to pull it off.

$2.000 sounds steep. Two different sheitelmachers I spoke with quoted 1400-1800 for a full custom curly.

2k sounds a lot to me as well.

While I am never one to argue with the free market economy, this is not a free market. Shaitels are like streimels in that they are pricy items considered necessary in certain frum communities that are not widely consumed by the non Jewish public. They're also both yiddish words. This allows the companies that provide the goods to price-fix the way the shabbos robe manufactures intended to. That's not a free market - it's what my MicroEconomics professor refers to as "market power", an inelastic demand curve - whatever I won't get into the technicalities. Basically, if companies aren't competing to provide the lowest prices, it's not a free market.

Yes, the prices of sheitels keep going up. I spoke to a sheitel macher about the price of certain sheitels 11 months ago, and a few months ago she told me that the price went up $300 since then. A month later, she told me they went up another $300.

Yes they could just discourage women from wearing sheitlach at all. You can get a tichel for 10 bucks....

If you want to live in style you can't complain about the price....

Buy a "wig" not a "sheitle".

A good, stunning, human hair "wig" from a "wig store" is generally about 1/3 the price of a "sheitle" from a "sheitle store".

i know nothing about sheitels, other than what i see in front of me, however when i showed a certain "100% human sheitel" in the ebay to my shaitel macher friend (sooo much cheaper than "normal" places), she advised against it, because of quality. now, i'm not particular about virgin hair, etc, but i do want silky, soft hair. so, to my understanding, not all 100% hair is equal.

Most of the stuff on ebay being sold as davka a "shaitel" is super-processed asian hair, often without the skin-top part (which is crucial to making hair look "natural" if one isn't wearing a hat or band). You can even see in the photos that the hair is much coarser than actual european hair. The non-shaitel wigs on ebay are significantly cheaper, but construction is usually shoddy and what you see isn't always what you get in terms of style, actual color, or level of realism. Those type of wigs are generally marketed to the theatre/drag queen crowd. If you're going to buy a non-shaitel wig, your best bet is purchasing from companies that specialize in wigs for women with hair loss.

Supposedly, there was a time when Esrogim hit prices that were absolutely insane, and Rabbi Heinneman (of the Star-K) made an announcement that unless the prices come down to a maximum of 'x' number of dollars, everyone is exempt from the mitzva of Esrog.

I dont' think that would work with Shaitels because not everyone HAS to wear a shaitel to cover their hair.

And did prices indeed come down?

(Yes, you're right...even if the rabbonim were to take a stance, how could they enforce it when women will still go out and buy them, regardless of price?)

yes

This thread, and the threads about diamond rings and all the other stuff people need...

What's "virgin" hair?

Yes, but correct me if I am wrong but she would have a vested interest in keeping ou in "sheitles" rather than "wigs" no?




I am not talking about the cheapies meant for "Playwear". I am talking about good quality WIGS, those meant for medical patients and whatnot. The quality is totally on par with sheitles, and even their "customs" (of which I have seen numerous as my mother wears wigs for medical reasons) as way cheaper than ours. They last longer too.

Getting them done at non "sheitle" places is cheaper as well.

wow, this is very impressive.



i'm not 100% sure, but i think it's unprocessed hair (were you hoping for a juicier answer? )



i will gladly correct you. she is my friend, who happens to be a shaitel macher. i wasn't buying from her, will not buy in the near future, and she knows it. i just asked for her opinion.

The problem is not that shaitels are too expensive, or that women NEED to buy these insanely expensive shaitlach in order to meet their religious obligations. The problem is that as soon as a new shaitel innovation comes out, it quickly becomes the minimum standard which everyone must adhere to in order to be considered minimally well-groomed. If anyone settles on a lower end shaitel they risk being the subject of rants on H.com (mygawd how awful some people look!)

Personally I bought a semi-custom or whatever the word is, 3 years ago for $800. I preserve it as much as possible by not wearing it in the snow, rain or during the summer. It still looks presentable. IME the people who spent over $2000 on their shaitels weren't any happier than the ones who spent less than $1000, nor are the more expensive shaitlach necessarily longer lasting. You might also try getting it styled by someone who isn't a top name, who will probably be just as competent but more reasonably priced and a whole lot nicer.

Also, as Shuli suggested, a rock-bottom priced human hair shaitel will cost about $200 and look decent for about six months. You can either buy and replace as needed or have a few on hand that you can alternate.

I'm sorry but I'm calling BS on this one. There are multiple producers and sellers of shaitels, and nobody is coerced into buying them. End of story.

You guessed correctly, though "hoping" is not the right word, I just wanted to make sure it's not THAT

I don't buy this. The expensive wigs that Hollywood (for example) uses do not come cheap and they charge plenty. Are frum sheitelmachers charging a premium? Probably. Is it driving th price up that far? I don't think so.

The cancer patients I've known don't go for the super expensive, totally custom jobs. It's not worth it to them. It's worth it to buy something that looks good but they don't need a wig that will last for years--and they can't wait that long for a full custom. How many wig stores are really selling the same level of product? It may not matter to a particular customer if they're getting THE best sheitel or just a good one, but you have to compare like with like, because you can get cheaper sheitels from frum places too.

There are market issues that are driving sheitel costs up. One is the cost of hair. You want genuine virgin European hair? There isn't much of it and demand is high. Two is the amount and cost of labour. The completely hand done ones are a lot of work. Even if you send it abroad to be done, it doesn't come free, and the logistics of arranging it mean that it isn't always hugely cheaper to outsource (just easier to deal with). Then there's the overhead.

I don't wear a sheitel so I have no vested interest in defending the system but I don't think it's just some sheitelmacher cartel.

Buying a shaitel is similar to buying lingerie in that frum women will often go to a frum store because they want to be fitted by a frum woman - not some non-Jew. Hair is only uncovered in their bedroom and the shaitel macher and that's a big deal. So just as frum lingerie stores can jack up the prices of bras, they can do the same for shaitels.

And? What exactly is the problem with that? Aren't they in business, like everyone else, to make money, and lots of it? If people choose to pay it - and choose they do, because as you said they want to be fitted by a frum woman, or the like - that's what the market will bear. How is that not the exact definition of a free market economy?

huh? and in the department stores they will be fitted by men? or they care if a woman who is fitting them is frum or not?? why is it a big deal if the hair will be uncovered in from of a non-jewish woman?

it's pure convinience- no shlepping to 5 different stores, spending a few days on that. go to one store, right in your neighborhood, find everything you need, good service, and be done.

Because a free market is predicated on the concept of having limited or no barriers to competition. While there are several frum women offering similar services within this niche, it's still small enough for prices to be higher than within the general population.


Not being a shaitel patron, I guess you may know better than me. I will do some research.

my last part about convinience was about the frum lingere stores vs buying lingere in department stores, not about sheitels. i never learned how to quote in parts, so i just break them into paragraphs and answer accordingly.

This was my thinking. Women cover their hair as a mitzvah. I understand that we can wear $10 tichels, but we also want to look beautiful for our husbands. Sheitels make us look lovely, and it seems unfair to have to wear a cheap tichel because the nice sheitels are pricey.

Since when is life fair? Is it "fair" to pay $3.50 for a gallon of gas? Is it "fair" to pay $5 for a gallon of milk? Is it fair to pay $30 for a shirt? Is it fair to pay $2 for a pair of socks? If you think the prices are too high, stop paying them. There is no legitimate claim that a fancy shaitel is a "necessity", and even if there was, so is food, and food can be expensive too. I still don't see the issue here. If people really think the prices are "too high", why do they pay them?

while i also disagree that all those who don't like the prices should just cover their heads with tichels, women don't have to buy those $2,000 sheitels either. nice human hair? yes. but not those additional add ups that add to the price (virgin, highlights, long - these are the things that could be omitted if the money is tight. btw, i have that thing that i could make my part on either side - totally useless, i found the way i like and wear it the same all the time anyway, but that additional money as well). now, if even those sheitels are nowhere $1,000 - that is a problem indeed.

Let's cut the crud. How many women are wearing sheitelach for "their husbands" They don't even SEE their husbands for most of the day, and most people don't run to put on their $2000 sheitel to serve him dinner when he comes home.

And there are some REALLY nice tichels out there, and none of them even APPROACH the $2000 price range...

My issue was the assumption that wearing a sheitl is a GIVEN and self understood. Many segments of the population don't wear them at ALL, let alone pay $2000 for them. I think it is a sign that something has gone terribly wrong here, and bringing down the price will not do anything to rectify the REAL issue here which is rampant materialism and frum married women "showing themselves off" whenever they leave their houses.....
I'm GLAD that nice shetelach cost so much. I'll be happy if they go up to 5 or 10 grand a piece so people will finally have no choice but to stop wearing them....

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I'm glad to see that getting married hasn't made you any less articulate...