Upping the price.

[BLUETYPEII]

I’m sorry but in my opinion these prices are getting a little too high. Spyderco is one of the best and they have to make a profit. However when the Chinese s35 tenacious is going for $120 I think that’s a little much. In 2018 I bought my DLC PM2 for $150/$155

Not looking to argue, I just want to know others opinions on this subject.

Still a huge fan of Spyderco. Unfortunately my purchases will be fewer and farther between due to this.

[TomahawkT10]

Prices are getting out of control and all this "CQI" business is annoying as it just devalues every knife pre the CQI changes. A slap in the face to be honest on most of their high end knives. I am not sure why they can't get it right first time, e.g. they know steel detents wear fast and ceramic do not, so use ceramic first time round... It is also used as an excuse to not fix things under warranty. "Due to constant CQI changes we are unable to fix this or supply replacement parts". Paysan is the biggest example of a knife too expensive and too many issues. Lots of people have been burned by that saga. The standard spoon clip being the cherry on the cake and just sheer laziness to be frank. Buying a knife that expensive and then having to buy a clip to make it look how it should have been is just highly irritating. So yes, prices are too high for what the customer ends up with and for the after sales support (or lack of) and prices have gone up a LOT in the last few years across the whole range.

[JayHenMac]

I am currently hating all of the price related increases across nearly every industry. The price of doing business has gone up, the price of raw materials has gone up, the price of labor is going up. The problem is that costs are increasing faster than incomes.

We complain about knife prices because they are luxury items for most people. We complain, but generally accept, when the price of necessities goes up. We adjust our monthly budgets to accommodate the increased price of fuel, electricity, medical bills, and so on. This leaves less money for the non-necessities. Every increase, large or small, in the price of the non-necessity items then becomes even more impactful to the bottom line. Even if the prices of luxury items didn't increase one dollar, there's still a smaller balance at the end of the month to pay for them.

I am sure some people (especially here) have a budget line for "knives", but I bet most people generally don't. We have a price in our memory that we paid three years ago and remember how far a $100 bill would go. The sad truth is that a $100 bill simply doesn't purchase the same amount that it did just a few years ago.

If you really want to get depressed, look at the cost of buying a home over time and then compare that to the median income over time. Yes, both have increased, but one is increasing at a much faster rate than the other.

[Wartstein]

Prices are getting out of control and all this "CQI" business is annoying as it just devalues every knife pre the CQI changes. A slap in the face to be honest on most of their high end knives. It is also used as an excuse to not fix things under warranty. "Due to constant CQI changes we are unable to fix this or supply replacement parts". Paysan is the biggest example of a knife too expensive and too many issues. Lots of people have been burned by that... The standard clip being the cherry on the cake. So yes, prices are too high for what the customer ends up with and for the after sales support (or lack of) and prices have gone up a LOT in the last few years across the whole range.

I have to disagree - just my subjective opinion of course:

- "CQI" is a main pillar of what Spyderco is and one reason for the great and very refined products one gets from that brand. It might (or will) make things more expensive, and some might not like that.
But to say that "cqi is used as an excuse" is really far fetched imo - like everything the CQI concept has its pros and cons, and that it makes it harder to store every knife part that might be needed for repairs is such a con.

- What do you mean with "standard clip being the cherry on the cake"?!
Regular Spyderco clips are among the very best, solid, most ergonomic and most usabel I know off.
Or are you talking about that "deep carry" thing?! - Not saying that there are no reasons to like deep carry, but generally the regular carry clips just work better in several aspects for many - even on this afi forum many like the regular carry (see here for example viewtopic.php?t=81471) and this will be even more so in the general market (despite there are those withg not much experience themselves but who get "hammered" by youtube reviewers that "deep carry is a must...")

- Prices rise everywhere, it is what it is - and I think in that context Spyderco prices are just fine, when one considers all that one gets: The quality, the will to invest in so many steel variants, the integrity of the company, how they appearantly treat their employees, partners, customers, and so on...

[Erich]

Certainly but beware of the apologists/fanatics on this forum. They will ceaselessly defend the inflation and blame you for everything.

Want to hear a funny story? In November 2022 the Black Friday had every single model at 50% off MSRP or more. Another 50%er hit in the Summer of next year. Those same apologists were now worrying about no one buying Spydercos. You know what I told them? I told them exactly what they told me after the MAP hit in 2016; knives aren't a necessity! So, if Spydsrco and others are getting killed by inflation, I don't have to give them my money because knives aren't a necessity. This is what they told us about the MAP: don't buy it. So, we stopped buying like the apologists told us and the apologists got afraid. Nothing like good old fashioned revenge. I love it

What you have to do is only buy during the big flash sales like on Black Friday or the Summer sales, and never buy outside of those windows. Before November 2022 I only owned 1 Spyderco, a regular old s30v military. I bought like 16 Spydercos during the November 2022 BF sale, I got a Maxamet pm2 for $175 no sales tax, free shipping among other great deals. That's when you go all in. Then when you feel like buying something later on, you won't because you already have so many Spydercos and with the inflation you can always sell high if you get tired of one.

Buy low, sell high, but you probably shouldn't sell because of how bad the inflation is. I got a police then for $90.00 total and even though I'm mum on the knife, I'll never sell because the inflation is so bad. Just hold forever. I also got a Bradley folder for $127 with tax and shipping lol. Just hold them. Now, if a model never goes on sale, then don't buy it. Forget about it. Limit yourself entirely to the big annual sales and never venture outside them. You have to act like a union.

[apollo]

Personally i can live with some prices and not with others. It all depends i guess on what value i find particular spydies are worth.
For example the normal g10 Manix is still on a good price for me personally. But a knife like the lil native on the other hand is not. Because Where i live both cost about the same....

But i do hope Spyderco will try and find a solution to keep Inflation in check for there products. Because well there will be a time when it go's to far and then i fear they will loose the regular crowd to the chinese companys.
And then they will be in trouble because the people here on the forum forget that in the total picture we are just a small percentage of the consumer base...
Sure we like to think we are the most important ones but in the end Spyderco can not live from the sales of the forumnites alone...

[Wartstein]

Certainly but beware of the apologists/fanatics on this forum. They will ceaselessly defend the inflation and blame you for everything.
...

Not sure what / whom you´re talking about (honestly!)

I rarely or even never hear anyone "defend the inflation" - it (the inflation) is a bit crazy indeed.
But Spyderco has to live with the inflation and react to it like everyone else - other companies, and, yes, as you say, many customers by purchasing less or nothing at all these days.

The "blame you for everything" part is also a bit unclear to me - again, no offense meant! I just don´t understand what exactly you mean.

To me personally it is clear that with the inflation being what it is and aiming to keep their standards, ethics and quality Spyderco HAS to raise prices. Would I like them to be lower? Yes. Would I buy more then? Probably. But do I get why it is what it is? Sure.

[WilliamMunny]

I don't think it's a Spyderco thing, all prices are going up and it sucks. My salary went up 4.77% this year yet my dog's food went from $60 a bag to $100 a bag. Money just does not go as far.

I like to think I am getting my money's worth out of a Spyderco knife; I have never felt a knife I got was not worth the money I spent. Expensive is also person dependent. I personally don't spend over $200 on a knife, to me that is just too much for a user pocketknife, it's a lot of money. To other people $50 or $100 could be their price points and some a lot higher. They offer cheap knifes, expensive knives and everything in between so there is something for everyone.

You can also find good values from Spyderco. To me there is no better value in the knife industry than the Spyderco Manix 2 LW. They sell around $140ish depending on the steel, a ton of knife for the money.

Also if you look at their competitors like BM, Spyderco's are comparatively cheap.

[Danke]

But inflation is your fault. Wanting things drives demand. Demand lowers inventory. Low inventory drives higher prices.

[TkoK83Spy]

Certainly but beware of the apologists/fanatics on this forum. They will ceaselessly defend the inflation and blame you for everything.
...

Not sure what / whom you´re talking about (honestly!)

I rarely or even never hear anyone "defend the inflation" - it (the inflation) is a bit crazy indeed.
But Spyderco has to live with the inflation and react to it like everyone else - other companies, and, yes, as you say, many customers by purchasing less or nothing at all these days.

The "blame you for everything" part is also a bit unclear to me - again, no offense meant! I just don´t understand what exactly you mean.

To me personally it is clear that with the inflation being what it is and aiming to keep their standards, ethics and quality Spyderco HAS to raise prices. Would I like them to be lower? Yes. Would I buy more then? Probably. But do I get why it is what it is? Sure.

Don't waste your time with this guy Gernot, he's worse than me when I'm in one of my moods...it's him ALL THE TIME, check his post history. Honestly makes me wonder why he even hangs around here??

[ZrowsN1s]

Paper towels and Pizza Hut are what really irk me. And eggs, milk, gas, cars, houses, rent.... some of those are necessities, some aren't. But jeez, I used to get paper towels for $10-$12 dollars. Less than $20 for a large pizza. Now it's like $40 to get a pie delivered and $30 for paper towels. What the heck. It's out of control.

[Sharp Guy]

Prices are inflated for everything. It's not just a Spyderco thing

I'm fortunate to have a nice collection and most of the knives I have I was able to get below the normal price. Some I've purchased at normal price. It was my choice. So I can't complain. Those who are complaining, how many of these thing do we actually need? A few maybe. After that it's a luxury thing

BTW, I primarily have Spyderco but there's other brands I like. Their prices are just as high or even higher. Nobody's forcing anyone to buy these things. If you can no longer afford to buy something you need to reconsider

[PaloArt]

Soooo I was thinking, what kind of jam are you guys putting in PBJ sandwich? Is there some kind of a rule what type has to go in?

[Fastidiotus]

Being patient and buying things 2nd hand or on sale is the way of the world if you're not in the more money than brains club. If you don't want to or can't wait, then paying full retail is the convenience charge.

The real question is what do all of these knives cost wholesale and how much is wholesale really affected by these price increases vs what retailers turn that into. Everyone needs to eat but everybody wants to feast. As long as people keep buying, profit margins aren't set by the customer they're set by the retailer saying they would ideally like to make XX% profit on the investment of purchasing/stocking/shipping these products. Spyderco needs retailers to shoulder the risk of production otherwise every piece produced is a liability to the company. Retailers need to markup from wholesale to cover their operating costs plus any potential losses from buying in bulk with no guarantee those products will sell.

Ferrari once said "I only sell cars to fund my racing, and the people who buy those cars are fools". Compared to competitors in the budget segment, and sometimes in the premium segment as well this is certainly how it feels to me. Disassemble and reassemble an Ontario Rat then try to disassemble and reassemble anything in the Tenacious family, its really disappointing. Spyderco has knives that aren't there for us, they're for the laymen. They're there to provide income from a segment of the market that will find them good enough so that enthusiasts like us can have everyday access to s110v and Maxamet, so we can look forward to things like 15v and Rex 121. Spyderco is unique in its offerings pushing the boundaries of steel in knives and you can't really compare what they're doing to Civivi/We, Kizer, CRK, Hinderer. Spyderco is at its best in the $150-250 segment using steels most people haven't heard of, and other companies wouldn't dare.

[Flash]

I agree with a lot that is being said, but the main thing is no one is forcing anyone to buy anything that they don’t want. The price is there, you can pay it if you like.

It’s not like the TV licence in the U.K. where we are bullied and constantly threatened into purchasing something we have absolutely no desire for - for example.

You guys live in the land of the free… and you should be happy about that.
If you feel that strongly opposed, simply don’t buy it.

[RamZar]

Just be more selective, buy fewer (or none) and look for deals or if/when they go on sale or when they’re discontinued.



Smock came out in 2019 when MAP was 35% off MSRP of $250.00 so the street price in 2019 was $162.50.

Since then MAP has changed to just 25% off MSRP of $304.00 so the street price now is $228.00.

The street price of the Smock has increased by 40% since it was released in 2019.

[ZrowsN1s]

Soooo I was thinking, what kind of jam are you guys putting in PBJ sandwich? Is there some kind of a rule what type has to go in?

Grape, Orange Marmalade, Blueberry, or Raspberry for me. Call me weird, it is what it is. As long as it's not Petroleum, I think any jelly or jam people favor is acceptable for PBJ.

[Erich]

Certainly but beware of the apologists/fanatics on this forum. They will ceaselessly defend the inflation and blame you for everything.
...

Not sure what / whom you´re talking about (honestly!)

I rarely or even never hear anyone "defend the inflation" - it (the inflation) is a bit crazy indeed.
But Spyderco has to live with the inflation and react to it like everyone else - other companies, and, yes, as you say, many customers by purchasing less or nothing at all these days.

The "blame you for everything" part is also a bit unclear to me - again, no offense meant! I just don´t understand what exactly you mean.

To me personally it is clear that with the inflation being what it is and aiming to keep their standards, ethics and quality Spyderco HAS to raise prices. Would I like them to be lower? Yes. Would I buy more then? Probably. But do I get why it is what it is? Sure.

You people did it for years with the "MAP." I remember, I created another account because the MAP police were so obnoxious. The most notorious seem to have fallen away by now, thankfully. The consumer has the right to voice complaints, stand up for himself, and don't buy. Spyderco isn't entitled to my money any more than any other company, nor I their knives. So, I bought back in BF 2022 at rock bottom and am set for life. Knives are indeed not a necessity! I agree! That's the excuse that was constantly thrown in the face of anyone who dissented from the MAP. So, now that the script has flipped, I throw it back.

[Coastal]

It's what it's. Can't keep 'em from charging what they think they can get.

On the other hand, I've definitely modified my buying habits. I seldom buy a NIB Spyderco just to try something new anymore. It has to be something I know I'll like. Or I'll wait for a sale, or buy used. More and more I'm buying other brands that are of equal or higher quality while using less exotic steels. Lot's of interesting options out there.

[Danke]

Soooo I was thinking, what kind of jam are you guys putting in PBJ sandwich? Is there some kind of a rule what type has to go in?

I"m so broke a jam sandwich is two pieces of plain bread jammed together.

But I do have a lot of knives.