Spyderco Cleaning Mat?

[Sharp Guy]

https://www.battlbox.com/products/spyde ... t-edc-tray

Anyone know if this is an official Spyderco product?

[Candyman]

I was curious about this mat as well.

Rich

[sal]

I don't think we're making it which means it is unauthorized and an illegal trademark infringement. Bit I'm checking with legal and sales and will know more on Monday.

sal

[Sumdumguy]

Boy am I glad! Looked like it needed a lot more development to perform well in it's intended function.

[Mushroom]

I would've assumed they worked with Spyderco to legally use their logo, but after reading Sals response, it sounds like that isn't the case. They even went as far as to include a "Spyderhole" in the mat!

[sal]

Many companies and individuals just do not understand that company names and logos cannot just be used to make money with. Usually more ignorance that evil intention.

sal

[BornIn1500]

https://youtu.be/OVT3QT6gWMk

At 25:40, he says it's a "first release", implying that it is made by Spyderco. He also said they visited the Spyderco factory in Golden, CO. That would be awful if it's a bootleg mat, but he makes it sound like it's legit.

[The Deacon]

Mat issue aside, I'm simply amazed there are enough people willing to plunk down between $30 and $150 a month for a "surprise" box. Know they're not the only ones using this business model, and maybe I just too cheap to spend money without knowing what I'm getting, but it still leaves me scratching my head.

[curlyhairedboy]

If this is unauthorized, I wonder if the DLT handkerchiefs were too...

[JuPaul]

If this is unauthorized, I wonder if the DLT handkerchiefs were too...

DLT confirmed that it was a spyderco authorized hank.

[sal]

I know the hank was authorized. This may be legit. I'll know on Monday.

sal

[JustinB]

Don't mean to derail, but have been wanting a nice Spyderco coffee mug for a while. Would it be trademark infringement to print one for my own personal use?

Maybe I just don't understand commercial law enough to fully comprehend how copyrights and trademarks work, but I would assume as long as I am not selling it I would be fine right?

[sal]

Hi Justin,

It can be fairly complicated. Don''t sell it, don't give it away, The easy answer is just don't. We're pretty litigious about our marks. Then you are paying lawyers and fines.

sal

[ChrisinHove]

Mat issue aside, I'm simply amazed there are enough people willing to plunk down between $30 and $150 a month for a "surprise" box. Know they're not the only ones using this business model, and maybe I just too cheap to spend money without knowing what I'm getting, but it still leaves me scratching my head.

I wandered into one of those high octane scam auctions once, where you could bid on bin bags (!) of random “bargain” goods, boxed electrical items and the like.

You even had to buy a jewellery item first, to allow you to participate in the auction.

The first couple of apparently reticent bidders bought bags, and opened them to find CD players, iPods, phones etc. However, to speed up the auction, winning bidders where then told to wait until they got home before opening the bags.

It turned into an absolute frenzy of bidding. Totally incredible. People rushed to buy the crappy jewellery item to be able to bid, then bid up £££s for rubbish bags of entirely unknown content.

The consequences were predictable, and it got into the local paper. It wasn’t there the next day and their purchases were worthless!

[Evil D]

Mat issue aside, I'm simply amazed there are enough people willing to plunk down between $30 and $150 a month for a "surprise" box. Know they're not the only ones using this business model, and maybe I just too cheap to spend money without knowing what I'm getting, but it still leaves me scratching my head.

I don't get it either. Maybe if all of the possible items were things I wanted anyway, like a food sampling or something. Maybe I'm just too cheap, maybe I'm not adventurous enough. I prefer to obsess over specific purchases lol.

[u.w.]

"Interesting" video

Talks all about how they visited the Golden store and factory, got a tour of it, how the quality & quality control is off the charts, made in the USA, etc... - then shows the Persistence, and never mentions that it isn't made in Golden, CO... I wonder if anyone gets that "mission" and is confused when they see "China" on the blade? For that matter - I wonder where the mats are made? Golden?

u.w.

[Sumdumguy]

These subscription box companies are all the same.

They spin the truth, to make their "service" sound like an ultra high quality, bargain. In reality, you are paying $130 for MAYBE $40 worth of product.

It's a fool's game.

[curlyhairedboy]

If this is unauthorized, I wonder if the DLT handkerchiefs were too...

DLT confirmed that it was a spyderco authorized hank.

Whew! I've been using it and liking it, haha!

[BornIn1500]

These subscription box companies are all the same.

They spin the truth, to make their "service" sound like an ultra high quality, bargain. In reality, you are paying $130 for MAYBE $40 worth of product.

That's quite an exaggeration, though. In fact, it's just plain wrong. Look at Battlbox here. In the "Pro Plus" tier that is $150, I looked up all the products to find prices.

Spyderco Persistence is $47.60 at BladeHQ
Breadcrumb Bluetooth Location Marker is $39.99 on Amazon
Lamson Ulu Knife is $28.79 at Knifecenter
Calcutta Bimini sunglasses are $22.50 at Walmart.
Calcutta wire sunglasses retainer is about $7.
Tecnu poison ivy wash (4 oz) is $8 at the cheapest place I saw.
And you still have the "survival kit" and rubber Spyderco mat.

So let's do the quick math. It's $153.88 at retail, not including the survival kit and mat and not including the separate shipping costs. Maybe you can bargain hunt and find some things cheaper than I found them, but their price of $150 + s/h seems right in line with retail. How is it only $40 of product? :confused:

[Sumdumguy]

These subscription box companies are all the same.

They spin the truth, to make their "service" sound like an ultra high quality, bargain. In reality, you are paying $130 for MAYBE $40 worth of product.

That's quite an exaggeration, though. In fact, it's just plain wrong. Look at Battlbox here. In the "Pro Plus" tier that is $150, I looked up all the products to find prices.

Spyderco Persistence is $47.60 at BladeHQ
Breadcrumb Bluetooth Location Marker is $39.99 on Amazon
Lamson Ulu Knife is $28.79 at Knifecenter
Calcutta Bimini sunglasses are $22.50 at Walmart.
Calcutta wire sunglasses retainer is about $7.
Tecnu poison ivy wash (4 oz) is $8 at the cheapest place I saw.
And you still have the "survival kit" and rubber Spyderco mat.

So let's do the quick math. It's $153.88 at retail, not including the survival kit and mat and not including the separate shipping costs. Maybe you can bargain hunt and find some things cheaper than I found them, but their price of $150 + s/h seems right in line with retail. How is it only $40 of product? :confused:

Okay, so tack $20 onto my valuation. Also, I was talking about their cost, not retail.

The biggest ticket item is the Spyderco. I'm not sure what wholesale is on one of the Chinese knives, but I would imagine that it is(was?) a pretty good deal. Let's say their cost is $30 per.

The Ulu is probably around $5-10 per.

Bluetooth thingy is sub $5 per

Sunglasses are sub $5 per, aswell(probably quite a bit less).

The rest of the items are sub $2 per.

Add that up and it comes out to $58(40+20=60), assuming the max of the range provided. Now, this is all just spitballing. I don't know the actual cost they pay. But I do know that bulk pricing on Chinese manufactured products is(was) ridiculously cheap.

I'm not saying they are ripping you off or anything, just that it's all marketing. This is just another gimmick to get more of your money. I imagine the board meeting went something like this...

Mr. McDuck: "Sumdumguy is going to buy a $50 knife. How do we sell him $100 of extra crap, that he wasn't going to buy?"

Johnson: "I've got it! We'll take the knife, all the other crap, out it in a box and hide it behind a curtain, a magic curtain! A magic curtain which can only be lifted for the low, low price of $150.

"What's behind the magical curtain, you ask? No one knows... There's only one way to find out!"

"His curiosity will be too much to overcome!"

Mr. McDuck: "Johnson, you're a genius! How did you ever come up with it?

Johnson: "Well, it all came to me while I was playing with my cat..."

Mr. McDuck: "..."

(I've got another for the proposal of the subscription service...)


What my problem really is, is that I detest thiefs and liars.

Copyright infringement to make a profit, is theft.

Using wordplay to make it sound like your infringed product is official, is lying(close enough)

Now, I will reserve full judgement until we hear back from sal about it. Generally though, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, chances are, it's a duck.