Why would a company NOT carry Spyderco?

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Alright, maybe you all can help me figure this out. I could also directly call them back and ask them this question, too.
There is a company, I do not want to mention their name on the forum openly, unless, am I allowed to?

They send out a free catalog and they sell a wide range of mostly cheap-quality knives, self defense items, and outdoor items, and odds and ends, and novelty items. Most of you here are probably familiar with them. They also have a branch-company that sells some quality knives.

And there is a second company that has no relation to the first, and they do the same thing: Both have knives that are equal to or greater in price at times than Spyderco (but in my opinion NOWHERE NEAR as great quality as Spyderco) and yet they do not sell Spyderco knives of any kind. I did searches on their webpages and there are none for Spyderco.

I am not trying to put these companies down, but perhaps you can all answer this: Why do you think they won't carry Spyderco knives?

If they sell some name brands you'd think they would carry at least some Spyderco knives in their stock.

[Ryno]

Perhaps Spyderco chooses not to do business with them.

[StuntZombie]

Some companies may have a certain clientele, and Spyderco might not be a big seller among them.

Or, it could be case of the Spyderco knives having a lower profit margin compared to the other brands.

Frankly, there are so many dealers that do stock Spyderco, that it isn't worth worrying about the ones that don't.

[zhyla]

Money is always the most likely answer. I wouldn't be surprised if the margins are higher on those less quality products. They may sell better too. You can't carry every knife, where would they store all of them?

[Doc Dan]

I think, too, that it has to do with Spyderco's MAP. The new pricing guidelines may hurt many of these smaller shops that used to sell Spyderco less than some larger shops. I can think of a few of these that suddenly dropped Spyderco.

[Waco]

Perhaps Spyderco chooses not to do business with them.

I wouldn't want something that I produced sold in a store/website that sells mostly junk. I've only found 2 stores in the Waco, TX area that sell Spydercos. Maybe they cost more than the average person wants to spend around here. Then again, I've seen Benchmades in a few different stores. IMO, Spydercos are a much better value.

[demoncase]

Why would shop/online store X not sell brand Y?

Take one or more of the following:

1. Brand Y isn't in the same price range as what they normally sell-
Folks looking to buy Casios don't stretch to buy high end Brietlings all that often.
Flipside is folks looking to drop £10k+ on a watch aren't going to be looking at the sub-£100 G-shock.

2. You've had Brand Y ages ago and for whatever reason, they sat on the shelf- and you ended up selling them at a loss, which upset your bottom line. Yeah, the world might've changed and the market- and there's way more choice in Brand Y now, but ****- You ain't explaining to the accountant why you've gotta sell a bunch of stuff below cost again.

3. You don't know that Brand Y exists or don't know it has such a ardent following. No-one's bending your ear to put them in stock.

4. You've got limited space for stock, all your current lines turn over well, and you don't want to take the risk on what (to you) is a gamble.

5. You and Brand Y couldn't come to a deal on price, delivery or stocking levels that meets your business model to make it worth your while

6. You only sell what you like the look of. You don't like the look of Brand Y....Illogical, but there are owner-operators out there like that.

7. You stock Brand Z and sell as many as you can get but the distribution deal with them states you cannot stock Brand Y
(happens fairly often with watch brands FYI- don't know if it happens with knives)

[SouthernCross]

Perhaps their business model was wanting to achieve higher turn over by advertising a discounted price below the minimum advertised price recently implemented by spyderco?

[twinboysdad]

Free market economy...wise retailers don't need practice making profits. My Direct TV has a Cutlery Corner sale on the HSN every so often. Mostly collectable Case or cheaper slipjoints in themed sets or Zombie apocalypse BS. Obviously I could call in and say "if you have any PM2's back there I will take them!" But all they know is their reality and that is what they sell the most of for the highest profit margins

[Ankerson]

double post....

[Ankerson]

Most of it would depend on the cliental the store caters too.

A store isn't going to carry product that it can't move.

[Evil D]

Most of it would depend on the cliental the store caters too.

A store isn't going to carry product that it can't move.

Exactly. If a store makes a healthy living off selling Victorinox knives at ~$30 each, there's a good chance their customers will laugh at Spyderco prices. I don't know how well the Walmart Native sold, but it's probably safe to assume that it wasn't a grand slam or else we would still see a Spyderco in the knife case at Wally World.

[Blerv]

Many stores probably pass on them because they can make more money selling crap.

I'm assuming most Spyderco/Byrd products sold have 35-50% margins depending on the volume a store buys/sells. These same shops could buy a $10 knife and bump the price to $30-$40 quite easily. To have similar margins they would probably have to sell a Delica for $100 which is a bigger pill to swallow for most customers.

IMHO, any quality shop has to carry some Benchmade, Kershaw, and Spyderco knives. They have just become the status quo for a modern folding knife. That said, the last time I saw someone carrying a knife (in the wild) that wasn't a gas station piece of dull rubbish was MANY years ago. Apparently these B&M's know their clients better than I would expect. :o

[JD Spydo]

Post #2 & Post #3 both hit the nail on the head as far as I"m concerned. Ryno and Stuntzombie both got it right!! For the same reason that ROLEX wouldn't want every bargain basement, flea market type of retailer representing their product I believe Spyderco has a lot of the same mission statement as they probably do. Personally I would be very wary of Spyderco if they sold their stuff in those "dollar stores" or fly by night bargain bins you see in many of the strip malls.

To me it would be like a premium bicycle line selling their stuff at Rip-Mart or even some retailer below them (if you can imagine :rolleyes: )

I like the fact that Spyderco only markets to quality minded dealers and customers alike. Because most people that are going to Rip-Mart to buy a folder made in a third world, **** hole with slave labor obviously doesn't give a hoot about quality anyway :rolleyes: It's just like a saying I heard from a pastor I had years ago and he said "Water Seeks It's Own Level">> and it's that way in the retail world too

[dplafoll]

I think, too, that it has to do with Spyderco's MAP. The new pricing guidelines may hurt many of these smaller shops that used to sell Spyderco less than some larger shops. I can think of a few of these that suddenly dropped Spyderco.

I doubt it... they can still sell the knives at whatever price they want. They just can't advertise below a certain price, and the smaller shops wouldn't sell that low anyways, MAP or otherwise. What it does do is force the bigger dealers to play on a more level price floor with the small shops. Plus most of the knives didn't change in price a whole lot based on the MAP, and going forward Spyderco's pricing will be based on the new model. That means that everybody can get the knives at probably very similar wholesale prices and then most will probably sell them at the MAP or not much more, and make roughly the same margin. I was looking at a review of the Roadie recently and the "street price" online was $48, which is the MAP of MSRP-40%. My local store carries that knife for $55. I don't know that they would've been able to do such a competitive price before.

[Doc Dan]

This may be true, but a few companies that no longer carry Spyderco used to sell them a lot more inexpensively and they were not large companies. None of the above theories make much sense from a retail point of view (I know).
Whatever the reason, it must have to do with economics. Perhaps several of these places did not sell enough Spydercos to justify keeping the line when other fine knives were doing well for them?

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Thank you for your answers, that helps explain it to me. I would rather have one Spyderco knife than 1000 cheapo shoddy knives.