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Comment by pkphilip | Hacker News Reader

$1k for a manual wheelchair? and that is considered cheap?

I have no idea why a wheelchair should be that expensive. We get them here in India for far less - you can buy pretty good wheelchairs for much less than $100. You can get powered wheelchairs for around $500.

https://www.amazon.in/b/ref=dp_bc_aui_C_3?ie=UTF8&node=11365...

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Here in Malaysia we can get pretty good quality wheel chair for US$46. I am genuinely surprised to see people consider $1k cheap for a wheel chair!

https://www.lazada.com.my/products/gt-medic-germany-ultra-li...

Those are not good wheelchairs for independent people to spend 16+ hours in.

I work in EMS and see all kinds of "budget" wheelchairs and they'll all shit.

The parts alone for this lightweight chair have to crack $300.

I don't doubt it, but just out of curiosity, could you elaborate the ways in which they're shit?

see my earlier post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41721976

Wheelchair market is ripe for IKEA.

Don't forget labor: welding lightweight, exotic materials requires a lot of experience, as every imperfection in the weld will lead to it cracking with time, which would be extremely dangerous.

I am not a wheelchair expert but $1k is quite a lot, also there are quite a lot of cheap options in Europe for less than ~$350 and some of them are covered by the public health care system.

Customized to your dimensions wheelchair. Because people shopping for these are permanently disabled and are looking for long term comfort and performance. Performance meaning the chairs can actually be used to enjoy life instead of being a fragile "medical chair".

There are plenty of sub $200 wheelchairs on US Amazon.

Even then it shouldn't cost $1k. A customised wheelchair will still use the same wheels. Most likely the only customisation available may be for the width/height of the chair. Not a big deal of work at all.

Let me use a car analogy.

I have no idea why a car should be more than 10k. On Amazon you can get a go-kart for less than 100: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=go-kart

It is really the same comparison. A true every-day wheelchair or a "hospital" wheelchair that will make you sweat after 10 yards

Please see the link i sent. These are good wheelchairs. There is ZERO reason why a cushioned seat on a pair of wheels should cost more than $1K. I am always amazed at the extent to which Americans go to justify the crazy cost of medicines, healthcare, equipment etc in the US. Folks, you are being taken for a ride. Don't keep making excuses for the profiteering healthcare companies in the US.

How do you know they are good? Did you use one for an extended period of time?

A set of wheels and a cushion do not make a good wheelchair, if you want to live an active life. Please see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41721976

I am from Europe and chairs are a bit less expensive here, but an "active" wheelchair is usually more than 2k$ anyway, often closer to 3k$. And some are much more than that (for instance if you want a soldered chassis)

I have family members who have been life long users of wheelchairs

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