Shipping of internal parts

[sal]

Thanx Des,

and welcome to our forum.

sal

[M4Life]

I don't really have a problem with the current policy on shipping parts but, I do wish that information about what hardware is used in the knives was more readily available, so that I can for example, find a replacement washer or bearing from a 3rd party easier, if they were damaged. This would also be nice for those of us who like to customize our knives with things such as heat colored screws, so that way if I make a mistake and the color comes out wrong, I can just buy more screws rather than a whole new knife.

[Gideons]

I have a Spyderco Domino, that had an issue with a pivot screw and I made it worse. I need to send in my Spyderco Domino for warranty work, and I'm in Canada. Any flipper crossing the border, has a VERY strong possibility of being seized due to recent CBSA policy changes. I would 100% pay for parts, I understand that is expensive on Spyderco's end, and logistically challenging. However, the Spyderco Domino is a premium knife($200+) and when I compare it to the competition for example; Zero Tolerance... they would ship me the parts. Now, I will have to pay duty fees (coming back into Canada), I will have to pay for warranty, and there is a strong chance my knife will be seized. I'm not even sure if it is worth it to send it in for warranty work since the risk of it being seized is so high, these issues will prevent me from buying another Spyderco Knife anytime soon sadly.

[Wanimator]

What if you shipped the knife zip tied shut?

[Durham68]

So glad you are having this conversation. I have a Mantra that has had a fair amount of work done to it. I absolutely love it, but somewhere in the process of turning it into what it is today, someone made it lockup real late. It’s safe and probably won’t be an issue for some time, but seeing as this is the knife I’ve been seeking for years, and required a good amount of work to make it so, I would pay a hefty sum for a spare lockbar insert with a little more meat on it.

[sal]

Hi Durham,

Welcome to our forum and thanx for your input.

sal

[Durham68]

Hi Durham,

Welcome to our forum and thanx for your input.

sal

Thanks Sal!

[Slash]

dewey or putnam?
Inventory auditors need jobs to...
I'll count screws in exchange for a 1 year supply of sharpness.

Thought about it. Can add parts to universal database that consumers can access similar to ereplacementparts and such.

If it's a warranty ? should deal with retailer for newly sold knives.
For older ones it's easy enough to take pics and email. If the same guys/gals continue to get free parts flag and charge them.

I'll post on taking knives apart about how I feel about tiny screws that easily break.

[deckeda]

I come from a world where it’s not unusual to buy auto parts, things to fix my house ... I even replace the iPhone battery and replace hard disk cables in laptops, for example.

WE all live in a world where iFixit and YouTube do a fine job of assisting those willing to turn a screwdriver. And the manufacturer is free to look the other way without risk.

Doesn’t matter if it’s Chevy or Apple or Spyderco. The manufacturer’s position isn’t affected by what the end user does.

Make the obvious things available without jumping through hoops. Weber enthusiasts have to hassle with this despite the machines being simple and largely interchangeable across many grill models.

Screws, washers, CLIPS. Stock a few alternative handles unrelated to sprint runs/exclusives. There’s a new business line; you’re welcome.

Embracing the smartphone way of disposable, glued shut trinkets is unhelpful and anti-consumer. Think more like DIY electronics kits ... those things can make sparks and smoke and yet the makers still thrive. Ask them how.

This is an opportunity. A rather unique one, in fact. It’s also somewhat ironic that knifemakers don’t readily embrace it, given that the thing they sell is directly going to users who do things by hand, with their hands. Thanks for reading.

[sal]

Hi deckeda,

Welcome to our forum and thanx for your opinion.

sal

[MichaelScott]

Deckeda,

There is a long thread here that addresses your points and objections. Might be informative to read it. This is a deep and complex thing. Seems simple I know, but it’s not. Especially for a complex and international company like Spyderco making many, many different knives in different places.

[deckeda]

Thanks Mike. I realize it's not like just flipping a switch. With any endeavor that seems initially untenable, slicing off small chunks helps. So I suppose that's the purpose of this thread, then.

Updates and milestones to any project are also important. Has a consensus been reached?

[MichaelScott]

Consensus? I would say no. From my perspective this seemingly simple function, supplying a myriad of spare parts on demand, involves extensive organizational, technological and infrastructure changes that would hardly be worth implementing. And, would likely lead to an increasing number of user damaged knives sent in expecting warranty repair, a problem that Sal previously noted as significant now.

It would certainly be a boon to buyers not in the USA, as many have stated, but overall this seems to be a notion with heavy costs to Spyderco. Of course, Spyderco will decide for themselves and I think the extensive discussion of this idea was helpful to them.

[sal]

So glad you are having this conversation. I have a Mantra that has had a fair amount of work done to it. I absolutely love it, but somewhere in the process of turning it into what it is today, someone made it lockup real late. It’s safe and probably won’t be an issue for some time, but seeing as this is the knife I’ve been seeking for years, and required a good amount of work to make it so, I would pay a hefty sum for a spare lockbar insert with a little more meat on it. B7A3ACAD-EA25-467E-A5E6-DF0EBA05B692.jpeg

This is a perfect example. A new lock bar with more meat made by a custom maker to fit the original model could cost more than the knife itself to make, much less fit. A "Hefty" sum to the owner might mean $20 or $30 dollars, but in reality, you're looking at much more. Closer to $100.

sal

[tps3443]

So glad you are having this conversation. I have a Mantra that has had a fair amount of work done to it. I absolutely love it, but somewhere in the process of turning it into what it is today, someone made it lockup real late. It’s safe and probably won’t be an issue for some time, but seeing as this is the knife I’ve been seeking for years, and required a good amount of work to make it so, I would pay a hefty sum for a spare lockbar insert with a little more meat on it. B7A3ACAD-EA25-467E-A5E6-DF0EBA05B692.jpeg

This is a perfect example. A new lock bar with more meat made by a custom maker to fit the original model could cost more than the knife itself to make, much less fit. A "Hefty" sum to the owner might mean $20 or $30 dollars, but in reality, you're looking at much more. Closer to $100.

sal

No different than machined gun parts. Just a good pair of tritium sights for my HK pistols runs anywhere from $150-$250. Yes, Tritium does cost about $50,000 per gram. But, even without tritium some simple small non tritium sights are well over $100.

People will pay it though!

I think I would buy parts for my knives if they were Spyderco branded, maybe not so much the other way around I dunno.

[Durham68]

So glad you are having this conversation. I have a Mantra that has had a fair amount of work done to it. I absolutely love it, but somewhere in the process of turning it into what it is today, someone made it lockup real late. It’s safe and probably won’t be an issue for some time, but seeing as this is the knife I’ve been seeking for years, and required a good amount of work to make it so, I would pay a hefty sum for a spare lockbar insert with a little more meat on it. B7A3ACAD-EA25-467E-A5E6-DF0EBA05B692.jpeg

This is a perfect example. A new lock bar with more meat made by a custom maker to fit the original model could cost more than the knife itself to make, much less fit. A "Hefty" sum to the owner might mean $20 or $30 dollars, but in reality, you're looking at much more. Closer to $100.

sal

You make a good point Sal. Part of the appeal of Spyderco shipping small parts is the assumption that they would be relatively inexpensive because they are already made and just laying around (logistics notwithstanding). FWIW, I'd pay $50 in a heartbeat for that insert. $100 would be hard to swallow, but I'm not sure I have much choice on this one.

[sal]

A lock-bar with "more meat" is a custom part. Even regular lock-bars are made to order for a run of knives. Nothing is "just laying around". To make a one off custom part will cos more than $100 in just machine set-ups.

Customers that want custom parts should also contact custom makers. That's what they do.

sal

[Durham68]

A lock-bar with "more meat" is a custom part. Even regular lock-bars are made to order for a run of knives. Nothing is "just laying around". To make a one off custom part will cos more than $100 in just machine set-ups.

Customers that want custom parts should also contact custom makers. That's what they do.

sal

Good to know. Thanks Sal.

[Wolf Hedegaard]

Hi, Sal. Just joined.

I’d pay for replacement parts and shipping as I live in Australia and thus sending a knife back for a simple spring or screw replacement would be absurdly expensive and I simply wouldn’t do it.

I’d like to see spares/replacements such as: screws, springs, Manix ball bearings and the polymer cage for it. Just the simple stuff that may often become necessary.

Regards.

[sal]

Hi Wolf,

Welcome to our forum.

We consider these situations on a case by case basis.

sal