It’s beginning to look (and feel) a lot like Christmas! If you’re in the gift-giving mood, consider that purchasing all the gifts in the classic carol “The 12 Days of Christmas” will cost you $34,558.65 in 2017, a boost of just about $200 from last year. That’s the official tally according to the 34th PNC Christmas Price Index.
PNC’s Christmas Price Index®, or PNC CPI, is calculated using a method similar to the government’s consumer price index (CPI) and measures the cost of buying the gifts given in the song, “The 12 Days of Christmas.” By way of comparison, the government’s CPI measures the cost of goods and services for consumers. Each month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports on the CPI; since those numbers are tied to inflation, they tend to be indicators on interest rates. That’s important to taxpayers since the Tax Code provides for mandatory annual adjustments to certain tax items based on interest rates. When the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced the annual adjustments for 2018, the numbers meant savings for most taxpayers. Why? A higher CPI pushes the brackets upward and increases the standard deduction and exemption amounts, which means that the taxes due on the same income will decrease.
To keep the comparison between government and its own index fair, PNC removes the cost of the swans, typically the most volatile item in the list (the government similarly excludes energy and food prices). By taking the swans out, PNC’s core CPI rose just .9% (the government’s core CPI increased by 1.7%).
Of the 12 items on the list in 2017, nine remained the same as last year. The outliers? Buying a partridge in a pear tree will cost you 4.7% more this year but don’t blame the bird: the cost of the pear tree increased by 5.2% due to the increased cost of living for workers and the limited supply of larger, more mature trees. The Lords-a-Leaping also saw an increase, as prices jumped 2%. But the real mover this year was those Five Gold Rings: the cost of gold boosted the cost of the rings by a whopping 10%.
If you’re looking for a deal this year, you’re out of luck: None of the 12 items got any cheaper to buy.
Here’s the entire list together with the percentage changes from 2016:
- 1 Partridge in a Pear Tree: $219.95 (+4.7%)
- 2 Turtle Doves: $375.00 (no change)
- 3 French Hens: $181.50 (no change)
- 4 Calling Birds: $599.96 (no change)
- 5 Gold Rings: $825.00 (+10.0%)
- 6 Geese-a-Laying: $360.00 (no change)
- 7 Swans-a-Swimming: $13,125.00 (no change)
- 8 Maids-a-Milking: $58.00 (no change)
- 9 Ladies Dancing: $7,552.84 (no change)
- 10 Lords-a-Leaping: $5,618.90 (+2.0%)
- 11 Pipers Piping: $2,708.40 (no change)
- 12 Drummers Drumming: $2,934.10 (no change)
If you add up the cost of all the gifts in 12 Days of Christmas song this year, it would cost you $34,558.65, about $200 more than last year’s total. If, however, you really want to impress your true love by nabbing all 364 items – the number of the items as repeated throughout the song over and over (and over) – you’d have to cough up $157,558.00, about $1,000 more than last year.
Those prices reflect the cost of shopping the traditional way: actually going to jewelry stores, plant nurseries and hiring talent in person. If you bought all of these items on the internet, however, you’d pay $45,096, or $10,538 more than walking into a store. That’s largely attributable to shipping costs – despite lower fuel costs overall, it’s apparently pretty expensive to ship swans and doves.
Sales tax (or use tax, if you’re shopping online) might be payable on your Christmas gifts – but that varies by location. While most states impose some level of sales tax, there is dramatic variation between what goods and services are subject to tax. This is especially true when it comes to the costs of services. PNC is located in Pennsylvania where food (except for ready-to-eat), most clothing apparel, and medicines are non-taxable. But that pear tree? Taxable. Those gold rings? Taxable. Pets and most animals? Also taxable. Those milkmaids, however? Not taxable; as a farm and dairy state, most dairy-related services are exempt. Figuring the exemptions from state to state would be wildly time-consuming, so the CPI is tax neutral.
PNC has figured the CPI each year since 1984. Prices this year are 83% higher than they were in that inaugural year when the cost of the gifts totaled $18,845.97.
For most of that time, Rebekah McCahan, Vice President & Investment Strategist, PNC Asset Management Group has been in charge of tallying up those costs. McCahan gets most of her shopping information directly from the source: a national game bird supplier assisted with the cost of the partridge and turtle doves. The sources for the prices generally remain the same to promote consistency. They have, however, changed when necessary – along with economic trends. For an in-depth look at the numbers, you can find the price chart here.
