Well for one thing....the price of steel has went up 215% since less than a year ago. The manufacturer can absorb some of that cost but the end buyer has too come up with the rest of it! I don't know when the USA will figure out not to sell foreign countries steel for xx, then turn around and buy it back for xxxx! Someone with a lot of power is getting there pockets full!
When I sold my house, where my first shop was, I scrapped a lot of mowers. Many loads to the scrap yard. One load, had 4 riders, 3 push mower and some two cycle stuff. I got like $45 for that load.
Last year, when I shut the in town shop down, I scrapped the mowers. That same weigh brought over $130 last year, vs the yeara before. 4 loads I ended up with over $500.
So if you got any scrap laying around, now is a good time to junk it.