Poll for alternating annual seconds sales between online and in-person

[PayneTrain]

I'd love an east coast in-person sale! I'll drive within 12 hours to do it every year. Golden is more like 24, and is much more of a scheduling challenge. Love a good road trip though, and really hoping I get to make it out there next year. Here's hoping we can all breathe on each other again soon!

[eRoc]

Voted to keep online. I'll make the pilgrimage one day but the expense for travel exceeds any savings for me. This being online gives me a chance to buy a few knives I can hand off to family and friends.

Another option is to keep better quality for the in person folks and the rougher ones for us online? Would make it less attractive for flippers and allow me to get some beaters.

[infinkc]

i think there should be another poll option, that seconds be available year round, why hold onto inventory? yea its fun and all for a sale, but i would buy a second any day. Maybe just a yearly sale for further clearance. companies sell refurbished items daily, why not spyderco? they clearly have the website that can do so and the skus now.

[spoonrobot]

I'm not sure the online sale is an equitable way to do it either. Some people are reporting multiple purchases of 10+ knives and I've been kicked out of an order after putting in my credit card info multiple times. At least standing in line outside I got a chance to buy something.

[yablanowitz]

"Only a Sith deals in absolutes" and that poll is nothing but absolutes. I would prefer that the sale be in-person for reasons I have stated before. I understand that it is not always possible, and I applaud the effort put in to bring us an online version. In similar circumstances it would be better than nothing. For those who say they'll never be able to attend, I used to say the same thing, but I worked it out.

Frankly, I miss seeing the crew and my fellow knife knuts far more than I miss buying a few knives.

If you are thrilled with the online version of the sale, try saving for two years and use one year's savings for the trip and the other for purchases. This online sale so far has been a very pale shadow of the in-person event. At that, I believe it has been ten times as much work for the crew, and they don't even get to laugh at us idiots camping on the lawn.

[RustyIron]

You forgot one option: DON'T MUCH CARE.

[sabb8pro2]

I think another option is to have the sale in person, then do a smaller/ simpler sale online with the leftover inventory.

[steelcity16]

I think another option is to have the sale in person, then do a smaller/ simpler sale online with the leftover inventory.

The problem with this in my eyes would be the leftover inventory would be probably a very small number of each of a very large number of different models with the worst defects.

It seemed they went for the opposite here. I'm guessing each model they took the time to create a page for and list had to meet some minimum number of knives. 50? 100? Who knows. And they apparently weeded out the worst flaws.

So it would be a huge undertaking to list many 100's of different model numbers online to sell 1 or 2 of each model vs listing 100 or so model numbers where they have at least 50 of each model to sell.

[kobold]

I would change the annual into perpetual. Just offer them continuously, both online and in the shop as they are being made. Load balancing so to speak.

[Pockets]

I'd love to see the drops at random unannounced intervals throughout the day (and even during the night!). Keep us on our toes a little bit!

[Wartstein]

I decided early on to not even try and snatch something in this years online seconds sale - though it would have been tempting.
Generally, and probably speaking for most non-North-American-Spyderco-afis: Of course an online sale at least gives us the chance to get a "second", while in-person-sale is really not an realistic option, due to travel time and -costs.
On the other hand I have to say: Syderco just IS an US based company, I can fully accept that and think the in-person sale is a nice tradition and meet up of Spyderco-fans, even if "we" non-US folks most times won´t be able to participate.

So: Maybe splitting the sale in lets say online in spring and in-person in the fall or whatever would be a nice option...

[Thunderpants]

It strikes me as bonkers to drive hundreds of miles just to save a few dollars on a knife!

[Ric]

Wartstein, for me they are a global company. Factories all over the world, also Europe.

As soon as US slept there were no updates for the second sale. The other world had never a chance to snap anything. I tried many times. Never succeeded.

Either the keep it as US only or change their process to give also others a chance.

For example: 50 / 100 / 200 vouchers where randomly something is picked and shipped....

[Sumdumguy]

I voted for no more online seconds sales.

No disrespect intended. But, this has been a mess. I've tried for several hours, several times, to get in and get something. The furthest I have gotten is to the cart. The site has not once let me go past that, except for when everything is out of stock(all but the Chinese fodder)

There should have been an early access for the loyal forum folk. That would have nulled the vast majority of initial bots. The fact that there wasn't any sort of perks rewarding our loyalty is troubling.
Take care of your own.

Don't get me wrong, I saved a good deal of money by not being able to get anything. But, at the end of the day, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth and I'm sure I'm not alone.

I wouldn't even attempt to buy anything from a future online seconds sale, unless there were serious changes. But, I'd rather it go back to in oerson only. It feels more special that way.

[nerdlock]

Wartstein, for me they are a global company. Factories all over the world, also Europe.

As soon as US slept there were no updates for the second sale. The other world had never a chance to snap anything. I tried many times. Never succeeded.

Either the keep it as US only or change their process to give also others a chance.

For example: 50 / 100 / 200 vouchers where randomly something is picked and shipped....

I think that is one legitimate concern because when the sale starts, it's 1 AM in my side of the world. But then if we think about it, the real life Factory Seconds sale is really geared towards continental Americans only, being that it is always held in SFO in Colorado after all. I'm just happy to finally be able to participate, albeit only virtually, and to experience even just an inkling of all the possible factory seconds knives that a few lucky and determined spydieheads in the US get to do every year.

[steelcity16]

I voted for no more online seconds sales.

No disrespect intended. But, this has been a mess.

I think a lot of you are ignoring that this was thrown together with very little time to plan. If they moved to alternating between online and in-person they would have TWO YEARS to plan for the next one. I have to imagine the experience would be much different and much smoother in 2022 (or even 2021 if the coof doesn't go away).

[p_atrick]

I hope Spyderco doesn't give up after this year. Improvements can and should be made to the online process. I also like the idea of making the Seconds Sale more accessible to those who cannot afford to go to Golden.

[Mini2white]

I have only been able to participate online and still managed to miss out on anything I wanted, due to glitches and then lack of items. I spotted an item but no way was I going to add the international shipping when I couldn't consolidate orders. So for me, face to face seems to be the only way. I just need to make that grail trip.

[yablanowitz]

It strikes me as bonkers to drive hundreds of miles just to save a few dollars on a knife!

It strikes me that way, too. I added up the MSRPs of all the seconds I bought at one sale and they totalled almost $3800. Since I spent almost $1200 at that sale, I thought the savings worth the trip. Altogether I've saved about ten grand buying seconds over paying full price, and I have a bunch of models that I wouldn't otherwise own. Even if I didn't buy anything I would still have a day or two of visiting with like-minded people. As Ed Schempp said "This is my one chance each year to talk knives for more than five minutes before eyes start rolling and people walk away." The deals are just a bonus.

[jpm2]

As a couple others said, I would do in person first and left over online.
People willing to show in person should get 1st choice.
Meet people, help local economy, eliminate excess inventory.

You're buying "as is". If you want to inspect it, show up.