Price increases 2023?

[Coastal]

Considering inflation is off the charts this year a significant increase seems inevitable. Oh well, it is what it is.

Exactly. And I tend to think in terms of money spent, not percentage price increase. To me at least, a 15% INCREASE on a $200 knife sounds big, but but spending $230 on a knife that will last decades doesn't sound bad at all. Plus, when I consider buying a knife, I never think, "Wow, I wonder how much it cost last year..."

[Super Dave]

Running a business ain't easy. You have to make a lot of decisions and get the vast majority correct. If you don't raise prices when your costs are going up then the profit margin will erode. After that there will be cash flow issues. And after that no more company. Prices must be raised but the question is by how much.

[RamZar]

Can’t avoid the inevitable. Keep buying fewer and fewer wants. Patiently wait for another MAP Holiday which may not come.

[ladybug93]

Considering inflation is off the charts this year a significant increase seems inevitable. Oh well, it is what it is.

Exactly. And I tend to think in terms of money spent, not percentage price increase. To me at least, a 15% INCREASE on a $200 knife sounds big, but but spending $230 on a knife that will last decades doesn't sound bad at all. Plus, when I consider buying a knife, I never think, "Wow, I wonder how much it cost last year..."

i only think of that when it comes to spyderco because they are the only company i know of that does this. most raise prices as necessary, but even with inflation, many other companies have not raised their prices, or certainly not so drastically. quite a few of my knives from other companies that i've had for 5-10 years can be purchased today for the same price as what i paid for them. some knives are even less expensive. i bought an exclusive 4max scout from dlt for $110 a couple years ago. now the same knife can be had for $80 and it's no longer a dlt exclusive. the esee jg5 i got from smkw when it was first released still costs the same $114 today, except with inflation, that actually makes it cheaper.

when it comes to spyderco, i often think to myself, "i should've bought this last year." and it's especially frustrating when you want to buy a knife that's not been restocked for months and then the price goes up while you're waiting for it. look at the swick 5 vivi is still waiting for... by the time he gets it, it will have undergone two price increases before ever being released. and he's had to watch every other version than the one he wants come out while he waits. i've had models i was waiting on from reveals get price increases before release as well. as much as i hate on the shaman for its exorbitant asking price, at least it was out for a bit at a lower price before getting an astronomical increase right before an annual increase increase right before a map increase.

whatever the case, as i've stated every year, i really don't like the january price increase policy. it feels dishonest to me because prices don't magically increase for businesses on january 1st. and i say that as a fan and repeat customer of spyderco. if spyderco keeps up with these 10-15% increases every year, it won't be long before they are left with very few customers.

[Coastal]

whatever the case, as i've stated every year, i really don't like the january price increase policy. it feels dishonest to me because prices don't magically increase for businesses on january 1st. and i say that as a fan and repeat customer of spyderco. if spyderco keeps up with these 10-15% increases every year, it won't be long before they are left with very few customers.

Fair enough. Admittedly, I bought a few Spydies years back and then didn't return to the Spyderco train until a few years ago. I haven't suffered through more than a couple of the January price increases.

[apollo]

Considering inflation is off the charts this year a significant increase seems inevitable. Oh well, it is what it is.

Exactly. And I tend to think in terms of money spent, not percentage price increase. To me at least, a 15% INCREASE on a $200 knife sounds big, but but spending $230 on a knife that will last decades doesn't sound bad at all. Plus, when I consider buying a knife, I never think, "Wow, I wonder how much it cost last year..."

i only think of that when it comes to spyderco because they are the only company i know of that does this. most raise prices as necessary, but even with inflation, many other companies have not raised their prices, or certainly not so drastically. quite a few of my knives from other companies that i've had for 5-10 years can be purchased today for the same price as what i paid for them. some knives are even less expensive. i bought an exclusive 4max scout from dlt for $110 a couple years ago. now the same knife can be had for $80 and it's no longer a dlt exclusive. the esee jg5 i got from smkw when it was first released still costs the same $114 today, except with inflation, that actually makes it cheaper.

when it comes to spyderco, i often think to myself, "i should've bought this last year." and it's especially frustrating when you want to buy a knife that's not been restocked for months and then the price goes up while you're waiting for it. look at the swick 5 vivi is still waiting for... by the time he gets it, it will have undergone two price increases before ever being released. and he's had to watch every other version than the one he wants come out while he waits. i've had models i was waiting on from reveals get price increases before release as well. as much as i hate on the shaman for its exorbitant asking price, at least it was out for a bit at a lower price before getting an astronomical increase right before an annual increase increase right before a map increase.

whatever the case, as i've stated every year, i really don't like the january price increase policy. it feels dishonest to me because prices don't magically increase for businesses on january 1st. and i say that as a fan and repeat customer of spyderco. if spyderco keeps up with these 10-15% increases every year, it won't be long before they are left with very few customers.

Well said! Totally agree on everything you said there.
And as you mention Spyderco’s increase every year while many others do not , even the brand with the “butterfly” logo has many models that do not seem to increase over time or t least not enough to mention.
And no i am not a fan of that brand at all. That said if Spyderco keeps growing more and more to Sebenza category of prices i will need to change even if i do not want to.
That said even if i need to quit collecting spydies. I have enough of them for the next 10 lifetimes so i will still hang around here as a ghost of the good old days.

[VooDooChild]

The other day I made a post about the price of things since I joined the forum in 2007.

The price of Spydercos has roughly doubled in those 15 years.

It got me thinking about other things I buy, and whether or not they've doubled in price.

Skateboards are the same price as in 2007.
Disc golf discs cost the same.
Videogames same price.
Milk is about the same.
Gas costs about the same, though it shows serious fluctuations ($1.50 - $4.50 since 2007, currently $2.50/gal)
Tires for my old car are the same price.
Flashlights cost the same and you get waaaay more for your money than when LED tech was newer
Toothpaste, soap and similar cost the same as they did.
Victorinox knives have gone up maybe 5-10% in price.

Now things that have doubled in price since 2007:

Target house brand pasta sauces
Food service sized orders of raw chicken wings had doubled in price right after the first covid lockdowns but have since stabilized below that
1lb ground beef rolls
Spyderco knives

That's all I can think of.

Wonder what it is about knives and tomatoes and ground beef that saw their prices go up so much?

2007 is kind of interesting though because it was the start of the financial crisis and gas (oil) was also high at that time.

Compare tire prices with 2000 and they absolutely doubled.

Other things that have doubled or more...
Housing prices/ Rent
(both of these are the biggest issue)
Building materials like lumber
A lot of food stuff
Probably a lot of other stuff too.

Add onto this that we generally have more bills and charges for services than previous generations. Also subscription based business models are becoming more common and are objectively a rip off. We are also losing our right/ability to repair on a lot of goods. Thats unfortunate as well.

Its nice that milk and gas has been in the same 2 to 4 dollar range for 15 years. If I end up living in a van at least I can still drive it.

[JRinFL]

Every expense that a company incurs is ultimately paid by the customer. You want them to build expanded manufacturing capacity? We pay for that. Price of materials goes up? We pay for that. Taxes and other governmental expenses go up? We pay for that. You want the latest and greatest hard to process steels? We pay for that.

I want prices to stabilize or even decrease a bit, even if that means no more wonder steel of the week. You guys want something else and so you need to get used to paying more. There is no free lunch. You cannot complain about each price increase while always paying the increased prices. The vote you get here is with your wallet and some here have been very good at setting that example. Some by not buying, some by increased spending. Each is a vote.

[Foehammer]

Prices have been ridiculous over the last year or so. I understand that everything is getting more expensive, but for me personally I have resolved not to buy a new knife unless it’s at a crazy discount; my last new knife was the DLT pm2 in CruWear and I ended up paying North of $300 CAD for it. It’s honestly hard to justify at this point. The secondary market has a lot of good deals, you just have to keep your eye open for bargains.

[vivi]

The other day I made a post about the price of things since I joined the forum in 2007.

The price of Spydercos has roughly doubled in those 15 years.

It got me thinking about other things I buy, and whether or not they've doubled in price.

Skateboards are the same price as in 2007.
Disc golf discs cost the same.
Videogames same price.
Milk is about the same.
Gas costs about the same, though it shows serious fluctuations ($1.50 - $4.50 since 2007, currently $2.50/gal)
Tires for my old car are the same price.
Flashlights cost the same and you get waaaay more for your money than when LED tech was newer
Toothpaste, soap and similar cost the same as they did.
Victorinox knives have gone up maybe 5-10% in price.

Now things that have doubled in price since 2007:

Target house brand pasta sauces
Food service sized orders of raw chicken wings had doubled in price right after the first covid lockdowns but have since stabilized below that
1lb ground beef rolls
Spyderco knives

That's all I can think of.

Wonder what it is about knives and tomatoes and ground beef that saw their prices go up so much?

2007 is kind of interesting though because it was the start of the financial crisis and gas (oil) was also high at that time.

Compare tire prices with 2000 and they absolutely doubled.

Other things that have doubled or more...
Housing prices/ Rent
(both of these are the biggest issue)
Building materials like lumber
A lot of food stuff
Probably a lot of other stuff too.

Add onto this that we generally have more bills and charges for services than previous generations. Also subscription based business models are becoming more common and are objectively a rip off. We are also losing our right/ability to repair on a lot of goods. Thats unfortunate as well.

Its nice that milk and gas has been in the same 2 to 4 dollar range for 15 years. If I end up living in a van at least I can still drive it.

Rent and housing has definitely gotten crazy.

Tires for my old car were always around $80-120 new, $25 from the used tire spot in the hood. New car uses more expensive tires but that's not the markets fault.

Lumber got crazy after covid but prior to that I don't recall it doubling in price.

In fact most of the goods that have gotten crazy expensive only did so post 2020, while Spydercos have been on an upward price trajectory as long as I've been aware of them.

Subscription services are a rip-off but they're optional. I buy my kid DVD's or use bittorrent instead of things like disney +. I have ripped over 600 CD's to my PC over the years and keep the full collection on a 512gb SD card on my phone. I use a mobile browser that lets me listen to youtube videos with the screen off and blocks their ads so no need to subscribe, etc. Built a home gym for less than the price of a year membership.

[petz462]

The other day I made a post about the price of things since I joined the forum in 2007.

The price of Spydercos has roughly doubled in those 15 years.

It got me thinking about other things I buy, and whether or not they've doubled in price.

Skateboards are the same price as in 2007.
Disc golf discs cost the same.
Videogames same price.
Milk is about the same.
Gas costs about the same, though it shows serious fluctuations ($1.50 - $4.50 since 2007, currently $2.50/gal)
Tires for my old car are the same price.
Flashlights cost the same and you get waaaay more for your money than when LED tech was newer
Toothpaste, soap and similar cost the same as they did.
Victorinox knives have gone up maybe 5-10% in price.

Now things that have doubled in price since 2007:

Target house brand pasta sauces
Food service sized orders of raw chicken wings had doubled in price right after the first covid lockdowns but have since stabilized below that
1lb ground beef rolls
Spyderco knives

That's all I can think of.

Wonder what it is about knives and tomatoes and ground beef that saw their prices go up so much?

2007 is kind of interesting though because it was the start of the financial crisis and gas (oil) was also high at that time.

Compare tire prices with 2000 and they absolutely doubled.

Other things that have doubled or more...
Housing prices/ Rent
(both of these are the biggest issue)
Building materials like lumber
A lot of food stuff
Probably a lot of other stuff too.

Add onto this that we generally have more bills and charges for services than previous generations. Also subscription based business models are becoming more common and are objectively a rip off. We are also losing our right/ability to repair on a lot of goods. Thats unfortunate as well.

Its nice that milk and gas has been in the same 2 to 4 dollar range for 15 years. If I end up living in a van at least I can still drive it.

Hopefully that van won't be "down by the river."

https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/v ... tion=click

[ladybug93]

Every expense that a company incurs is ultimately paid by the customer. You want them to build expanded manufacturing capacity? We pay for that. Price of materials goes up? We pay for that. Taxes and other governmental expenses go up? We pay for that. You want the latest and greatest hard to process steels? We pay for that.

I want prices to stabilize or even decrease a bit, even if that means no more wonder steel of the week. You guys want something else and so you need to get used to paying more. There is no free lunch. You cannot complain about each price increase while always paying the increased prices. The vote you get here is with your wallet and some here have been very good at setting that example. Some by not buying, some by increased spending. Each is a vote.

to your first point, i'm happy to pay a little more if it lets spyderco expand and keep more stuff in stock, as well as continuing to innovate and bring new designs. it would also be nice if spyderco would be reasonable about their increases and not just arbitrarily raise the prices each year. if anything gets another 15% increase this year, i'm probably done, minus a couple knives i've been waiting for and wanting for a while.

to your second point, i'm guilty of voting the wrong way. last year i complained about the increase, but then i bought more than ever, even with the biggest increase i've seen and the dumpster fire of an economy we're experiencing.

[rgc]

Great sketch. Unfortunately, these days living in a van down by the river can be more expensive than a house in a neighborhood. Those vans can get expensive quick.

[Naperville]

Just a suggestion. We are in an inflationary period, and things are going to keep going up for at least another year. Spyderco and any other knife manufacturer has no choice but to raise prices.

The US dollar has lost 90% of it's value since the Fed was created.

If you're worried about what to do when the dollar gets removed from the international basket or is no longer the "petrol dollar" and crashes, head over to https://survivalistboards.com and read up on how to prep and survive for 2 to 3 years after The Crash.

You can always buy a book on the economies of Argentina, Venezuela, or Weimar Germany too and read up. It could happen. 5yrs, 10yrs, whatever, they cannot print money forever, and the US is in almost what? $32 Trillion in debt already?

https://www.usdebtclock.org/

[Naperville]

Great sketch. Unfortunately, these days living in a van down by the river can be more expensive than a house in a neighborhood. Those vans can get expensive quick.

The price of a 2500 Series, Chevrolet Express Extended Cargo Van has gone up $10,000+ in 20 years. Now the plain ones with a big V8 in it are going for $45k. I had one for years, and should have slipped in a new motor for $7k. Instead I sold it and it was in very good shape. Just needed a new motor.

[Peter1960]

[...]it's especially frustrating when you want to buy a knife that's not been restocked for months and then the price goes up while you're waiting for it.

Very good point - you can't even influence it in any way ... you can't even turn the tables and take just as long to pay.

That said even if i need to quit collecting spydies. I have enough of them for the next 10 lifetimes so i will still hang around here as a ghost of the good old days.

The description fits me perfectly, with one exception: I've already stopped collecting.

Price increases over the years caused that a few years ago and actually I'm at the point of no return because I'm also a pensioner and my income doesn't allow it anymore either. I don't even want to talk about the hugely higher retail prices in Europe, because I think even Sal has already stopped doing anything about it.

So when I say I have more than enough Spydies already, I can really say that without melancholy.

As in previous years, I will spend my money on more necessary or beautiful things in my life, I no longer want to afford the luxury of collecting Spydies.

Beeing a ghost of the good old days in the forums is also an attractive part.

[Unbrokenchain33]

All I know is I was excited to see the Subvert back in stock. I was surprised to see it is $378 when I originally purchased for $305.

The initial price was pushing it, and at $378 I just can’t justify it. Sad.

[JSumm]

Ya'll ghosts of forum past need to start some fresh threads re-reviewing and talking old models you like and why. I think it is worth while seeing some old models brought up for discussion. Some of us that may be relatively new to Spyderco enjoy seeing those past models around here from time to time. Some we may never have known about if it wasn't for a member showing them off in all their glory.

[Peter1960]

Ya'll ghosts of forum past need to start some fresh threads re-reviewing and talking old models you like and why. I think it is worth while seeing some old models brought up for discussion.

Why this? Is the search function in the forum not working?

[vivi]

Ya'll ghosts of forum past need to start some fresh threads re-reviewing and talking old models you like and why. I think it is worth while seeing some old models brought up for discussion. Some of us that may be relatively new to Spyderco enjoy seeing those past models around here from time to time. Some we may never have known about if it wasn't for a member showing them off in all their glory.

I do but they tend to get little response.

viewtopic.php?t=89067

viewtopic.php?t=85484

I've thought about making a post detailing why I prefer the ergonomics of the spin to the dragonfly, or a 15 year review of the Police 3, but I wonder how much interest there'd be in those threads?