You Paid How Much for That Jigsaw Puzzle?

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Quick summary: a jigsaw puzzle company sells a puzzle for $7,995; details below:

The Wall Street Journal had a story a few weeks ago about how difficult it had become to buy jigsaw puzzles. The reason, as you might have guessed, is that people are looking for things to do during the pandemic shutdown, and working on a puzzle seems to be a popular activity.

Of the top 10 items that shoppers searched for on Amazon.com one day last month, nine were antivirus cleaning supplies or personal-hygiene products. No. 7 was “puzzles for adults.”

The North America division of privately held German puzzle giant Ravensburger AG, the world’s largest seller of jigsaw puzzles, reported that sales in North America over the last two weeks of March were up 370% year-over-year. On a single day, March 26, sales were 10 times what they were a year earlier. As you might imagine, the company is having trouble keeping up with demand.

As an indication of just how popular puzzles have become, the Wall Street Journal had another story about puzzles in today’s paper. As a point of comparison, the newspaper has had no other stories about jigsaw puzzles over the past four years, except for these two stories that appeared within a month of each other.

Anyway, it was the headline of this second article that really caught my eye:

Mind-Bending Puzzles for Adults—From Funny to Freakishly Challenging

When I saw that, I just had to read it. And after reading about the first puzzle, I was shocked. Not at how difficult the puzzle was (and it sounded really, really, hard), but the price: $1,187.

Here’s a description of the puzzle:

Though 175 pieces might seem like patronizingly few, the Mane Event jigsaw is designed to befuddle, amuse, and demonstrate how puzzlemaking can be an art form. Categorized by its maker as a “Tormentor” option, the intricately shaped hand-cut wood pieces—which arrive in an unmarked blue box—eventually reveal the “king of beasts.”

Nothing in that description suggests that the puzzle would cost more than one-thousand dollars, so I thought perhaps there was a typo, or a missing decimal point, and it was supposed to be $11.87.

So I decided to check out the web site for the company that made this particular jigsaw puzzle – Stave Puzzles.

Talk about entering a world you never knew existed.

Right on its home page, there is a quote:

“For Customers Addicted to Stave Puzzles, the Torture Is the Point“

This is a different kind of puzzle company. Here is a bit about the company from its web site:

Located in Norwich, Vermont, we handcraft the finest wooden jigsaw puzzles found in the world today and we have been bringing fun, challenge and togetherness to families and friends since 1974. Each wooden jigsaw puzzle is meticulously hand-cut, one piece at a time, by a skilled crafter. No computers, no high-tech. One saw, one cutter — that’s it. Using lots of imagination and a little bit of magic, we handcraft each puzzle – piece by piece – using precision jigsaws with blades no wider than an eyelash. After the cherry back is carefully sanded and polished to a soft gleam, the puzzle is placed inside a beautiful keepsake handmade box. There’s no other puzzle in the world quite like a Stave and there’s no other experience like solving one. The fun isn’t just what’s inside the box — it’s everything about Stave.

Our commitment to family fun and our devotion to puzzle making has transformed the idea of the jigsaw puzzle from a very simple diversion into a highly expressive and entertaining art form. Stave puzzles are collected and treasured around the world as unique and precious heirlooms. The wit and mischief of Stave inspires letters, calls, gifts, bribes and pranks way beyond what you would expect from a normal business. Puzzlers feel free to rant and rave, sing praises, sling insults, beg for more torture, and generally have fits of pain and ecstasy knowing that equally outrageous acts will be the Stave response.

There was a recent article about the company on the Fader web site which noted that the company is 42 years old and has 25 employees. The puzzles they make can sell for as much as $7,995; lower-tier products start at $245. One unnamed customer has spent an average of $50,000 per year since 1974.

Here is the $7,995 puzzle – Knight at Stavely Castle:

So no, there was no pricing mistake in the Wall Street Journal story, the puzzle it mentioned does have a price of $1,187.

Stave was started in 1970 by Steve Richardson and Dave Tibbetts (can you see where the name Stave came from?), and Richardson bought Tibbetts out one year later for $1. Today, the company has 25 employees.

Here are some fun facts about a couple of its puzzles:

  • Each wooden jigsaw puzzle is meticulously hand-cut, one piece at a time, by a skilled crafter. No computers, no high-tech. One saw, one cutter — that’s it!
  • No two puzzles, and no two puzzle pieces, are ever exactly alike.
  • Made from the finest wood and hand-finished with a gleaming cherry back.
  • Cut with delicately fine blades, each piece fits snugly with its mate.
  • Several steps go into creating each puzzle, right down to the signing and dating of the Stave Clown, our silhouette trademark that appears in every puzzle.
  • Each puzzle comes carefully packed with a handmade blue and green box embossed with our Stave Clown. A special label, written in gold ink, bears the title of the puzzle and the number of pieces.
  • One of Richardson’s favorite puzzles in the Tricks product line (the most challenging one) is Champ, a puzzle inspired by the mythical Lake Champlain sea monster. Champ’s 44 pieces have 32 different possible configurations, but there’s just a single correct way to successfully meet the objective of getting the monster to bite its tail. Tricks are so tough that the company won’t sell them to you if you haven’t “earned your stripes.” Earning your stripes requires having solved easier Stave puzzles.
  • For an April Fools’ stunt in 1989, Richardson released a bagel-shaped puzzle, which, though it was made up of just five basic-looking pieces, was secretly designed to be unsolvable. People got so upset that he took it off the market and issued refunds. (Give that April Fools’ is one my favorite days of the year, how can I not like this guy!)

So just like the price of men’s suits in the Wall Street Journal, the prices of these puzzles are simply put, puzzling, and outside my reach…

*top image from Enterprise

Published by Jim Borden

A 60-something guy trying to figure out the world, and his place in it. Happily married for 40-plus years, three wonderful sons. Accounting teacher, fitness enthusiast, blogger, reader.

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39 thoughts on “You Paid How Much for That Jigsaw Puzzle?”

  3. They are addictive, and I do have to say I get a feeling of satisfaction when I finish one. I’ve been doing a lot of jigsaw puzzles online, which is easier for us that might not see the details on some of the small pieces. You can make the puzzle bigger or smaller to fit your needs online. Another plus is most of these sites are free.

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      1. https://www.jigidi.com/ These are puzzles created by the people who go to the site. I’ve never published a puzzle, so I don’t know that process. I imagine it’s pretty easy. Things I like about this site: 1. You can choose the category that you want. For example, if animals are your thing, there are thousands of puzzles just for that. 2. Puzzles are constantly added throughout the day. 3. You can choose the size (small, medium, and large), based on puzzle pieces. 4. You can stop a puzzle midstream and come back to it later. They are saved automatically. 5. They rank the top ten times for each puzzle, so it can be fun to compete with others. 6. You can interact (make comments) with other puzzle solvers.

        I sound like a shill for the site, but I’m not. There is nothing proprietary, and they never send you advertising or a bunch of crap you’re not interested in. I’m warning you—it’s pretty addictive. I like to put on some music from YouTube and work on a puzzle at the same time. Look for me—my handle is Sean Spicer. 😎 I enjoy solving puzzles of people, buildings, and animals.

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  4. This is not your old man’s puzzle. Highly entertaining and informative, as always, Jim. I had no idea, and now that I do know I can readily avoid the frustration. I would rather so the NY Times crossword puzzle in pen for a challenge.

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      1. I used to do them everyday in the newspaper, but with the reduction of newsprint in my area (no longer a daily print newspaper), I have not done one in quite a while. I do find them challenging and may be part of the reason for my extended vocabulary.

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      5. I used to be a real smartass and complete the crossword, but purposefully leave every other letter blank. Then I would leave it on the counter of the diner for the next person to either complete or wonder what the heck was wrong with me.

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  5. Terrific post, Jim. I haven’t tackled a jigsaw puzzle in several years, though I pass by one in a break room at work dedicated to this very pastime. The neighbouring Operations department seem to have more discretionary – slack – time on their collective mittens than the Sales Divas. At anytime, Ops will have a modest 1,000-2,000 piece being assembled on a large utility table. Occasionally, the Divas will stop by and “borrow” a few pieces just to keep our workmates on their toes. 😎

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      1. No, I don’t believe so … we typically return the missing pieces within a business day. Also, they’re still stewing because Sales beats Ops in the inaugural Cookie Bake-Off competition in 2018. All proceeds from the company bake sale went to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. We were robbed by IT in 2019. It’s an ultra competitive but friendly work environment 😊

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  6. i have been having trouble finding puzzles, so i can identify with this! one of my favorite ‘relaxing’ activities is to solve a challenging puzzle. i wouldn’t spend thousands on one, and am amazed by the price gouging going on. what to do, what to do?

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    1. I find jigsaw puzzles quite relaxing; the last one we did was one that had the cover of every Hardy Boys book; brought back good memories of my childhood. After we finished that one, we started a similar one of the Nancy Drew books, but for whatever reason, we never finished it…

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  7. Can you imagine putting one of those beautiful costly puzzles together and finding out at the end you lost a piece??!! That would be so devastating to me! When my asthma bothers me, putting puzzles together is a low impact activity that I can do and it seems at the end I am looking all over for that last piece!!!! I almost always find it though!!!

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  8. Wow! I have lots of friends who enjoy puzzles, but don’t know any of them that would pay that price! It was very interesting to read, sounds like the company does put a lot of hard work into them. I have about as much patience with puzzles as I do with math! LOL! Though puzzles do look really pretty once they are finished!

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  9. Pingback: Challenge Accepted | Nuggets of Gold

    1. we all have things we spend our money on, and these puzzles do sound beautiful and challenging. We probably spend more on going out to eat than most people…although that has certainly been put on hold!

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  12. Why spend so much for a puzzle. Once you’re done, the fun is over. The more you redo it the boring it gets. I’d rather spend the money collecting my favorite books instead, and besides, internet can use up your time crazy. Personal experience 😀

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    1. I agree, Jessica. I could not justify spending that much on a puzzle. And I enjoy reading books as well, but a puzzle is a nice way to relax as well. And I know all too well how the Internet can use up time… 🙂

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