Apologies - 2023 Spyderco Online Factory Seconds Sale

[WilliamMunny]

Hey Kristi,
Well I was fired up for my first ever Seconds Sale but unfortunately things didn’t work out for many of us, but I’d like to apologize for my little rant…after I had a sleepless night anticipating this event I made the mistake of not paying attention to the fact that the sale started in “MDT” time…then things went downhill from there with the heat outside and no shade to be found, chainsaws that wouldn’t crank,the trout bite slow, the Braves losing,and then finally logging in to see only a couple knives I wanted but no sheaths…long story short-just a BAD f’n day, but we all have them and we all handle adversity differently…I’m pretty patient until things snowball, then I usually just call it a day and go to my safe haven - a river, a tree stand, the garden or whatever and I tell myself it is what it is and even tho I hate that saying it’s right as rain…I’ve only been a real knife owner since late 2021 and I’ve had and for the most part sold everything but my Spydercos of which I believe is 31?…anyway y’all aren’t the only ones that need to be apologizing on these threads, some of us need to MAN UP and do the same so that’s what I’m doing right now…I’ve only really had one little problem and you, Kristi fixed it immediately so I thank you for that and for being a stand-up person…we’ll get em’ next time and I will NOT be working…see you at 9 EDT

I was not far off from you. Was excited for the week leading up to this, hoping to get a Shaman I missed last years sale and maybe even a box. That Yojimbo for $53 was going to be mine too.

But leading up to the sale my 18 month old refrigerator broke, took a day off work only to have the warranty repair man tell me it was broken but parts were tbd back ordered, no repairs. Then my 3 week old $800 Ego lawnmower broke on my 4th use. Ego told me they could do nothing check with the store I got it at.

Add the Spyderco sale that was excited and then 6 hours of nothing. All added to a rough mood for me to say the least. Does not help built myself up so much for this event.

[Guts]

I appreciate that you guys even held the event for those of us who can't get out to Golden for the in person stuff. While admittedly it wasn't a very nice experience at the time, it was still worth it for me. Hopefully you guys make some improvements so it goes better the next time around.

[yablanowitz]

Thank you Spyderco listening, learning, and trying to do better. It's all one can ask.

For others, stop "tugging the forelock". It is not a privilege to buy second rate goods. However, Spyderco is blessed to have such loyal customers.

What would you call it? An inalienable right? An entitlement? A priviledge is exactly what it is.

[JRinFL]

Thank you Spyderco listening, learning, and trying to do better. It's all one can ask.

For others, stop "tugging the forelock". It is not a privilege to buy second rate goods. However, Spyderco is blessed to have such loyal customers.

What would you call it? An inalienable right? An entitlement? A priviledge is exactly what it is.

I'd call it a business transaction, which is all it is. Do you thank your grocery store, power company, or cable company for the "privilege"? Some of you are really putting the "fanatic" back into "fan".

[TkoK83Spy]

I gotta say, when I got this Maxamet PM2 from the 2020 sale, I was quite happy with it for $91 shipped!! A slight warp in the blade that doesn't even rub the liners, other than that no issues. Thankfully it's Maxamet, so the need to sharpen isn't often! I think this was a fantastic deal for a $200+ knife. I wouldn't say privileged, but am very thankful and grateful for that price on something that I consider to have a manageable flaw.

[vivi]

Thank you Spyderco listening, learning, and trying to do better. It's all one can ask.

For others, stop "tugging the forelock". It is not a privilege to buy second rate goods. However, Spyderco is blessed to have such loyal customers.

What would you call it? An inalienable right? An entitlement? A priviledge is exactly what it is.

To me the mentality here is so weird.

Honestly we are doing the company a favor by buying their seconds.

But we are getting chastised by fellow customers for being whiney and entitled for going out of our way to schedule time off work to help the company move their flawed products.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. This community has issues with critical discussions.

[Mushroom]

Thank you Spyderco listening, learning, and trying to do better. It's all one can ask.

For others, stop "tugging the forelock". It is not a privilege to buy second rate goods. However, Spyderco is blessed to have such loyal customers.

What would you call it? An inalienable right? An entitlement? A priviledge is exactly what it is.

I'd call it a business transaction, which is all it is. Do you thank your grocery store, power company, or cable company for the "privilege"? Some of you are really putting the "fanatic" back into "fan".

Before it was ever online for every ungrateful …person to participate in, it truly was a privilege. It required actual commitment and effort to participate in. The sense of entitlement to these favors (seconds sales) Spyderco is doing for their customers is disheartening, at least.


In my opinion, if the online seconds sales must continue, a third party platform to host the sale and handle the additional bandwidth needed is probably one of the better solutions. (If not the best solution)

First, it would be able handle the increased web traffic and would create a manageable shopping experience for everyone. (Even if it was cleaned out in less than an hour, likely leading to even more whining and complaining)

Second, (the best part) it would raise the prices of the factory seconds sold online! Using a third party service to host the sale would not be free, so to make up for those additional expenses, they could just pass them on to the customer! If you want the best possible prices on factory second knives, you can earn it by investing time, money, and effort into attending the traditional seconds sale in November.

If traveling to Golden is not something you can or want to do, well then you’ll still have the option of sitting back and doing nothing until 9am mdt on the day their online sale starts. It just comes with the premium cost of being able to shop comfortably on the couch.

[thuyenbuom]

Thank you Kristi and the rest of the Spyderco team for doing this Seconds Sale...no apologies needed

[vivi]

If traveling to Golden is not something you can or want to do, well then you’ll still have the option of sitting back and doing nothing until 9am mdt on the day their online sale starts. It just comes with the premium cost of being able to shop comfortably on the couch.

While I don't at all disagree with the general gist of your post, I requested off work for the sale. I started trying to buy factory defect knives 5 minutes before the sale began. I didn't get to actually buy a knife until 6+ hours after I started trying, and I didn't get to buy the knife I originally wanted.

I'm thankful to Spyderco for even offering this option, while being clear headed enough to know there is definitely, absolutely room for improvement.

[Spyderwebs]

Even though the online sale wasn't exactly smooth, I, and most others, have zero ability to buy seconds without it, so I'll take a rough online sale over no online sale any day. Hopefully incremental improvements will be made each time, but either way I'll be back for more.

Looking forward to the next one, however it goes.

Thanks again

[JRinFL]

There are lots of solutions to avoiding bad customer experiences and I'm sure Spyderco will select one if they choose to do another online sale.

Keeping to Sal's shiny footsteps, I'll bow out now.

[WilliamMunny]

My take so far, a few days separated from the event and reading all the comments:

1. Spyderco is an amazing company and running this online event is an amazing opportunity for its fans and customers. We are all very grateful for it.

2. The event is not a "gift", while very grateful, it serves a purpose for Spyderco, make some money on second knives that would otherwise not be sold. Yes, there is the in-person sale but at some point, you can only sell so many seconds to that local area.

3. The event should have been a bit smoother experience.

4. Spyderco owes its customers nothing and we owe Spyderco nothing. BUT we are lucky to have Sal/Spyderco and they are fortunate to have a devoted following.

5. It's way too easy for a person who got an order in saying "get over it" to someone who was not able to order.

6. Someone who was not able to get something but still complaining (might have been me at one point, sorry) see point number 4.

7. Everyone one this board would love to go in person but financially it does not work. If I paid $1000 in airfare, lodging and food I would be better off just using that $1000 for new knives. Not to mention if I am in Home Depot for more than an hour I get a call from the wife wondering where I am, let alone taking a few days to go to Golden. Just joking, love you honey.

8. We need to be part of the solution not the problem. I think anyone on this board is more than willing to help, even just with ideas to make the online second sales more of a success for the customer and Spyderco.

9. No one wants the online second sale to go away, except maybe Mushroom who wants all the seconds in store for himself.

***My opinions are always fluid as this discussion continues.

[spydergoat]

It's all good! I hope you all do online seconds sales in the future still.

[huyfishin]

I have the perfect solution LOL

spyderco lists all seconds on ebay LOL Problem solved

[Mushroom]

My take so far, a few days separated from the event and reading all the comments:

1. Spyderco is an amazing company and running this online event is an amazing opportunity for its fans and customers. We are all very grateful for it.

2. The event is not a "gift", while very grateful, it serves a purpose for Spyderco, make some money on second knives that would otherwise not be sold. Yes, there is the in-person sale but at some point, you can only sell so many seconds to that local area.

3. The event should have been a bit smoother experience.

4. Spyderco owes its customers nothing and we owe Spyderco nothing. BUT we are lucky to have Sal/Spyderco and they are fortunate to have a devoted following.

5. It's way too easy for a person who got an order in saying "get over it" to someone who was not able to order.

6. Someone who was not able to get something but still complaining (might have been me at one point, sorry) see point number 4.

7. Everyone one this board would love to go in person but financially it does not work. If I paid $1000 in airfare, lodging and food I would be better off just using that $1000 for new knives. Not to mention if I am in Home Depot for more than an hour I get a call from the wife wondering where I am, let alone taking a few days to go to Golden. Just joking, love you honey.

8. We need to be part of the solution not the problem. I think anyone on this board is more than willing to help, even just with ideas to make the online second sales more of a success for the customer and Spyderco.

9. No one wants the online second sale to go away, except maybe Mushroom who wants all the seconds in store for himself.

***My opinions are always fluid as this discussion continues.

The more the merrier!

But in all seriousness, I’m not so opposed to the online sale as I was before the first one because I’ve seen how little it effects the inventory at the traditional in person sale. There is still an overwhelming amount of inventory to search through in person, so it definitely feels like both versions of the sale should be able to exist.

The selection of models available online was good, in my opinion, and the addition of the mystery boxes for exclusives made things interesting. That aspect of the online sale seems to be taken care of. Right now it feels like handling the increased web traffic is the largest hurdle at the moment.

[Erion929]

My take so far, a few days separated from the event and reading all the comments:

Good post, Munny
.

[SG89]

Thanks for the apology. I was unsuccessful this year after spending 5 hours continuously trying to buy a knife. I was able to buy a knife in the 2020 sale fairly easily. I will try again next year if the sale is online. I am looking forward to the next Reveals.

[Pokey]

I'm fortunate enough to go to the in-person Seconds Sales, so I tried a couple of times to look at the website only to see what was available. No luck.

Knowing what's available at the Sales, and the value for the money when buying a Second, I think Spyderco should continue to work the bugs out of the system and continue the online Second Sales. This way they can get more "bugs" out of the building for the rest of the world enjoy them.

[Jurmuscle]

If traveling to Golden is not something you can or want to do, well then you’ll still have the option of sitting back and doing nothing until 9am mdt on the day their online sale starts. It just comes with the premium cost of being able to shop comfortably on the couch.

While I don't at all disagree with the general gist of your post, I requested off work for the sale. I started trying to buy factory defect knives 5 minutes before the sale began. I didn't get to actually buy a knife until 6+ hours after I started trying, and I didn't get to buy the knife I originally wanted.

I'm thankful to Spyderco for even offering this option, while being clear headed enough to know there is definitely, absolutely room for improvement.

Couldn't say it better myself. And I'm glad they apologized. While everyone can say what they want about not needing it or whatever, it still is nice for them to realize it wasn't a pleasant experience for everyone and admit that. While people can speak on their own behalf of no apology needed, I find it to help kill the sting of trying for 6+ hours.

[z1r]

Many thanks. Both for the apology and recognition of the "bugs" in the online sale, and for the tremendous effort that is put into this and every Seconds Sale.

I am fortunate to be able to participate in the "in person" sale and I'm very grateful for that. Great deals and an opportunity to connect with equally great people, both staff and other enthusiasts. The online sale is an opportunity for those that can't physically attend to also experience this, albeit with less interaction.

Yes, I tried numerous times and almost was successful in getting a Crucarta PM2 to replace the one I lost recently. But I'm sure I'll have other opportunities.

I'm happy for those that were successful.

Thanks again Spyderco! And take solace in knowing that people wouldn't be disappointed if the product wasn't so good!