General

I almost can't help but notice that over time, the weight limit of new bathroom scales for sale have increased over time.

What I would like to do is gather anecdotal experiences on whether there's any possible truth to this.

Specifically, what country you live in, the weight limit of your scale, and an estimate of when you got it or when it was made. If you have similar information of scales you've had or used over the years, even better.

Speculating on this, here's my thought. Generally speaking, manufacturers love mass produced volume, because of cheaper per-unit costs. Individuals who don't need the extra capacity, can use the new scales with higher capacity anyway, so their needs are still served.

But perhaps they have also figured out there's an ever increasing chance that at least one regular user of the new scale will need the higher limits, which would mean the lower limit scales won't sell as well.

Here's some anecdotal evidence I've some across to start off.

It's been a real long time, but I think I used to see very old scales, the ones that were mechanical and spring loaded, that topped out at only 220 lbs. They always lose calibration, so you had to turn the wheel on the side to set it to 0, before using it. Later models of a similar design, topped out at 280 lbs.

I have a digital, electronic scale that was new in '07 (I only remember so clearly because I would have gotten it right after relocating), and I still have it, working as well as it did the day it was new. However, it tops out at 280 lbs. I look forward to the day when I will have to replace it, because it will say "Err" every time I try to use it.

Anecdotally, I had someone tell me his wife had a scale that topped out at 350 lbs, though he could only say she had it since before they met. However, I would guess it's under 10 years old.

But if I look at brand new scales for sale, every model I've seen tops out at 400 or 440 lbs.

I should note that I'm talking about regular, standard bathroom scales designed for individuals to stand on. Not specialized models with a very high weight limit, either for individuals of very large size, livestock, trucks, etc. Or scientific scales that may perhaps not support more than 10 lbs, but with precision down to milligrams or even a fractions of milligrams.

Funny you say that. I sadly lost a relative a couple of weeks back while clearing their house yesterday I took their scales back here from their bathroom. His has a dial that goes to 18stone (just under 250lbs).

We already have the same brand and size of mechanical scale here (Salter) and it goes to 24stone (350lbs).

If you google Salter Doctors Style scales, you can see some older models mixed in and they all max out at least 70lbs below the current ones for sale.

It appears you're right, at least with the Salter brand

Definitely true - i remember having trouble finding scales that would go up to 150kg (330lbs) when i outgrew my old one which went to 120kg (240lbs). Fast forward to last year when i got close to outgrowing the current scale, almost everything available has a limit of 180kg (400lbs) in my area!

I'm only now realizing our old scale was high capacity. The one I grew up with went to 300. But my dad was probably around 220-250 most my life so the lower capacity ones you all were referring to wouldn't work.

It got damaged and the replacement bought in 2004 went to 330. I'm assuming that was normal at the time since it came from the dollar store.

My current scale was bought around 2010 and it was hard to find one that went to 400 in stores then.

Wandering walmart last week I found scales averaging a 350 limit with a few models going to 440 and one that boasted a 500 pound capacity.

The scale that we had when I was a kid went up to 330 I think (might have been 300? Certainly started with a 3). That was just a simple mechanical one with the adjuster wheel, in a thin other than me family, in the 70s/80s.

Aside from the population getting fatter, better mass production of mechanical components, and then the move to electronics scales, probably made it cheaper to make scales that weigh heavier weights.

My parents used to have a mechanical scale that only went up to 280. It was nice seeing that shoot up to 170 when I was first gaining. I always pictured it going past the limit, unfortunately I’m not even close to that number yet. I have a digital scale that goes up to 400 and it also syncs with a app on my phone that attempts to keep track of my body fat percentage as well as bmi, and other factors such as how much visceral fat I have and my body’s age. (It’s probably not too accurate with that information but I still like seeing those numbers go up along with my weight!)

My family bought a 300 pound limit one in 2006 or so. And a 400-pound one last year. I'm too heavy for both.