Massdrop appears to be conforming to MAP

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gaj999
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Massdrop appears to be conforming to MAP

#1

Post by gaj999 »

The first Spyderco in a long time just went up ... 40% off as the lowest price. Bummer. With the killer deal on the Memory and the good deal on the Positron after the 1st of the year I had hopes that with their business model they might only have to offer the MAP price for the first buy in. I'm going to draw a line in the sand and say that I won't buy any more Spydies unless I can get them for 50% off MSRP. If that means no more Spydies, then so be it. I quit buying Benchmade when they instituted their MAP program years ago and it only hurt for a little while. Why would I do this, when I've paid MAP-level prices in the past? Because I detest price controls. It's a matter of principle. I'm hoping that MAP goes by the wayside as a failed experiment. We'll see. I'll be shopping other brands until then. I'm not trying to offend anyone, I guess I'm just trying to say goodbye and doing a poor job of it. I'll stop whining now. Hope to see you again soon.

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bearfacedkiller
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Re: Massdrop appears to be conforming to MAP

#2

Post by bearfacedkiller »

It is a free country. Do what you must. ;)

I am disappointed that I haven't been able to find knives for below MAP myself. I am not giving up on Spyderco but MAP combined with a few other factors is drastically reducing my Spydie spending and it will apparently be staying that way.

On a side note, I think that expecting to pay 50% is like expecting to pay wholesale. Somebody needs to make something off of it.
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jmh58
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Re: Massdrop appears to be conforming to MAP

#3

Post by jmh58 »

Don't know if it is because of the MAP or what but I have watched Spydercos slowly creep out of my self imposed amount I am willing to spend on a knife.. Sooo.. I will keep a look out on the secondary market for those that I may want!! JMO!!!! John :)
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Blerv
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Re: Massdrop appears to be conforming to MAP

#4

Post by Blerv »

I don't have a problem with MAP but I think Massdrop should get away from Spyderco as a product if that's the case.

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Re: Massdrop appears to be conforming to MAP

#5

Post by Holzfaeller »

I have enough knives to serve me for the rest of my life. The additional $5-$10 that I pay under the MAP rubs me the wrong way, but it's not the reason that I buy no more than one new knife a year. Still, even at the current prices, I think Spyderco offers some of the best values, so it doesn't serve me to take my money elsewhere.
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abbazaba
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Re: Massdrop appears to be conforming to MAP

#6

Post by abbazaba »

MAP is an unfortunate trend in the internet age that will only grow. IMHO it benefits everyone in the chain except for the end customer. As a habitual Slickdealer, I am upset about this too.

Massdrop is hit or miss to say the least. Their polls and community driven buying power have become an advertisement rather than a reality. I love the concept, but I'm pretty sure they they are moving away from their roots faster than Woot did.

Regardless, kindly ask your dealer for their best price on a knife and you will likely get a discount below MAP.
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Almoe66
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Re: Massdrop appears to be conforming to MAP

#7

Post by Almoe66 »

I was excited to see the drop until I noticed the conformity of the price. Count me also as one disappointed by MAP and who has decided to limit myself only to sprints and exclusives because of it. So far this year I have not purchased anything outside of those confines. Money once spent on Spyderco now has been relegated to other pursuits.

Also agree that The Massdrop value prop doesn't hold up when the pricing is met by other and better retailers.
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bh49
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Re: Massdrop appears to be conforming to MAP

#8

Post by bh49 »

The only two places, where I saw prices below MAP are e-bay and Amazon. But even they are getting close. In addition to this MSRP for the most of new knives are getting higher and higher every year. Like somebody mentioned above, fortunately I have enough knives to last me my lifetime + more.
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zhyla
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Re: Massdrop appears to be conforming to MAP

#9

Post by zhyla »

Luckily used prices don't conform to MAP :).
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gbelleh
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Re: Massdrop appears to be conforming to MAP

#10

Post by gbelleh »

So far this year, I've only bought 2 Spydies, one sprint, and one at 60% off MSRP. I wasn't sure how the MAP pricing would affect my purchases, but I do have to say, it has taken the fun out of the hunt for Spydies. I always enjoyed unexpectedly finding and jumping on a great sale price. Now, with those on-the-fence models, I'm finding myself content to just wait for discontinued clearance sales. No longer any point in checking around for sales.
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Blerv
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Re: Massdrop appears to be conforming to MAP

#11

Post by Blerv »

For me, what's killing the collecting more than the MAP is the trend towards higher end materials. I'm not saying Spyderco knives should be made from recycled newspapers and Superglue nor that the makers cannot pull of some excellent products.

The simple increase of MSRP is pushing many far outside my budget. Whether I'm paying 50% or 65% of MSRP when the final price of a Spyderco is upwards of $200 (or $300 in some cases) the competition just gets fierce.
Cujobob
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Re: Massdrop appears to be conforming to MAP

#12

Post by Cujobob »

A policy bad for customers is one bad for the business in the long run. In the Internet age, it's becoming a situation where a business is better off selling direct to customer.

I think Massdrop will likely have some under MAP.
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Re: Massdrop appears to be conforming to MAP

#13

Post by apollo »

Map is just bad but on the other hand even with map the prices in the us are still very very good.
If you want to buy a spyderco in europe you need to buy msrp +40%.
So 40% discount does not sound bad to me.

For example i just ordered a g10 manix and a manix lw in the states.
Well i can tell you even with shipping and customs included that the manix lw is free for me because the europe price for the g10 alone is way higher then the price i'm going to pay now.

All the knives from thaichung are 300 + euro's for the cheapest ones!
If you call a name like the Rubicon youre talking 500 euro or up. And trust me the price of the nirvana in europe will make youre pants fall down and make them run away from you by them selves ... :p
Last edited by apollo on Mon Mar 28, 2016 3:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
TomAiello
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Re: Massdrop appears to be conforming to MAP

#14

Post by TomAiello »

Meh. Spyderco's are a specialty high end item, and we can afford a few dollars more to support small merchants.

I don't object to MAP at all. I'm happy to buy from my favorite dealers even for a few bucks extra.
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Re: Massdrop appears to be conforming to MAP

#15

Post by QUICKSILVER »

MAP got me thinking about alternatives. I am considering collecting world traditional knives like the Japanese Higonokami or the French Laguiole. Maybe I will buy some customs.

Since MAP I haven't bought any regular Spydercos. Bought half dozen in anticipation of MAP. Will be buying only mules and maybe an occasional sprint. They have always been 60% of MSRP or more. Have a full set of 6 Superblue and considered getting a set of Hap40 but have bought some world traditional instead.

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Re: Massdrop appears to be conforming to MAP

#16

Post by Surfingringo »

gbelleh wrote:...I wasn't sure how the MAP pricing would affect my purchases, but I do have to say, it has taken the fun out of the hunt for Spydies. I always enjoyed unexpectedly finding and jumping on a great sale price.....
I believe this is a consequence of map pricing that may not look like a big deal on the surface but could end up having long term effects on overall sales. There is a "game" aspect to the whole hunt, buy and collect hobby. I myself have spent a lot of hours perusing sites and looking for deals. All that hunting translates into lots of hours looking at Spyderco products, and as we all know an impulsive button push is much more likely to occur at any moment during those hours. Now that I know there is no real chance of stumbling across a "deal", I spend virtually no time looking through those same sites. I can't help but believe that this will ultimately equate into less impulsive purchases. We shall see.
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bh49
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Re: Massdrop appears to be conforming to MAP

#17

Post by bh49 »

gaj999 wrote: I'm hoping that MAP goes by the wayside as a failed experiment. We'll see.
I wish MAP would go away, but I do not hold my breath. Quite a few companies implemented it years ago and it doesn't look like they regret it.
gaj999 wrote:
I'll be shopping other brands until then.
I tried. Didn't work well for me. I got spoiled with Spydercos good ergos and slicing edge performance. But I do not see myself spending anything close to $200 and up on knife, which I like. For these money I have to love it badly.
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Re: Massdrop appears to be conforming to MAP

#18

Post by Liquid Cobra »

gbelleh wrote:So far this year, I've only bought 2 Spydies, one sprint, and one at 60% off MSRP. I wasn't sure how the MAP pricing would affect my purchases, but I do have to say, it has taken the fun out of the hunt for Spydies. I always enjoyed unexpectedly finding and jumping on a great sale price. Now, with those on-the-fence models, I'm finding myself content to just wait for discontinued clearance sales. No longer any point in checking around for sales.
Man you really hit he nail on the head with this post. I used to have a daily routine of bookmarked websites that I would check on a daily basis. I was looking for deals on older knives hoping to get lucky. Alternatively I was looking for the best price on newly released knives. Since the MAP pricing I no longer search for any of it. Now I just wait for the new ones to come into my local shop here in Canada. Last year I bought 44 Spyderco knives. Mostly new from dealers and the occasional nib gem from the secondary market (I kept a list). Here we are at the end of March and I've bought 3. There are other factors involved for sure but the fun of the hunt is gone which has resulted in less buying.

Maybe part of their intention was to make us more loyal to our local shops?
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Onionman
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Re: Massdrop appears to be conforming to MAP

#19

Post by Onionman »

I noticed the MAP pricing on Massdrop too, but they now have a "free" case where if you decline, they take $25 off the MAP price. It also has free shipping. So it is slightly less than the MAP price if you don't fall for the gimmick and decline the free case.

With that being said, part of my passion for knife collecting was searching for the best price. It was fun and made a good find extra special. I can always go out and find a police model for $100 or so, but when you find a special from an online retailer or an ebay auction ending in the early morning and get that police for $45, it just makes it extra special.
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Re: Massdrop appears to be conforming to MAP

#20

Post by jimmyjohnjohn »

gaj999 wrote: I'm going to draw a line in the sand and say that I won't buy any more Spydies unless I can get them for 50% off MSRP. If that means no more Spydies, then so be it.
So it shall be written. So it shall be done.

More for me then!
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