Upping the price.

[zhyla]

Sure I can´t actually proove that, but I figure that not many really assume Spyderco just uses "cheaper" materials and charges higher prices in order to make more money than other companies and "rip off" their customers - ?! I certainly am sure that this is NOT the case!

I think… it’s complicated.

For their Chinese knives I think they’re trying to maintain higher margins than their competitors.

Then there’s the actual knives. They are pushing 8Cr based products when literally nobody wants 8Cr. For better or worse the knives are all very similar: G-10 slabs, unnested steel liners, liner lock. My guess is they don’t have the best OEM over there. They should be putting out comp lock flippers for $60 with decent steels.

[side note: if you’re trying to tell yourself Spyderco’s 8Cr is better than the other Chinese 8Cr, you are in denial]

And then there’s MAP. MAP is Spyderco’s way of telling us how much they care about retailers. I don’t care about retailers.

Outside of the Chinese production, I see decent value proposition in Taiwan (if I lost my Chaparral I would replace it for sure). Golden seems focused on knives that cost at least half of what a Glock costs. There is no knife design that is worth $250 to me.

In summary, I see a company that has always excelled at knife design struggling to keep up with modern manufacturing.

Political discussion is frowned upon here, but I can't help thinking the federal government spending trillions of dollars that they don't have could have something to do with what we are seeing, and not just Spyderco's alleged greed.

People need to do the math before they chock this up to inflation. Lots of knife makers cranking out great knives for half the price. It’s not inflation, it’s not greed, they just aren’t competitive.

[MacLaren]

I've no qualms at all with Spyderco cost increases
They employ a lot of people with good jobs.
Steel has went up a lot too from what I heard

[Flash]

As much as I love Spydercos K390, I find spending £354 (that’s $446!!) on an Enuff 2 to be quite an ask.

FRN scales, a fixed blade with a hole in it and a sheath with more rattles than a Mojave Green will only get you so much good grace from me Spyderco.

A Enuff 2 is $240 US from Knifecenter
Currency conversion has $240US to be £190

£190 + 20% VAT tax is £228 if you bought from Knifecenter with say £20 shipping it’s £248

So from £190/£248 to £354 is not Spyderco’s doing…

As a Aussie who will buy from Knifecenter in US nearly all of my Spyderco folders and pay the shipping and conversion and save $$s compared to buying from a site or store in Australia…

Buying direct from the US would be my first port of call if it weren’t for the corrupt and / or aggressively incompetent customs we have here in the U.K.

Attempting to import even the most innocuous of knives could put it in a position of being seized or destroyed.
Not only that but depending on the level of competence displayed by the customs checker that day, you could end up with a visit from the police too.
That’s just our ignorant government trying to keep us safe from ourselves.

[Naperville]

The pricing has definitely made me slow down.

When I got into Spydercos you could get....

When I got into Spyderco, a month's rent including utilities and insurance was averaging $400, and gasolne was about $1.79 per gallon. Now that total is over $1000, I no longer have a landline or home internet service and gas is around $2.89 a gallon.

Political discussion is frowned upon here, but I can't help thinking the federal government spending trillions of dollars that they don't have could have something to do with what we are seeing, and not just Spyderco's alleged greed.

Political discussion may be frowned upon, but they are just simple facts that need to be stated.

Milton Friedman: It is always and everywhere, a monetary phenomenon. It's always and everywhere, a result of too much money, of a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than an output. Moreover, in the modern era, the important next step is to recognize that today, governments control the quantity of money. So that as a result, inflation in the United States is made in Washington and nowhere else.

Friedman: If you listen to people in Washington and talk, they will tell you that inflation is produced by greedy businessmen or it's produced by grasping unions or it's produced by spendthrift consumers, or maybe, it's those terrible Arab Sheikhs who are producing it. Now, of course, businessmen are greedy. Who of us isn't? Trade unions are grasping. Who of us isn't? And there's no doubt that the consumer is a spendthrift. At least every man knows that about his wife.

Friedman: But none of them produce inflation for the very simple reason that neither the businessman, nor the trade union, nor the housewife has a printing press in their basement on which they can turn out those green pieces of paper we call money.

The whole conversation:
https://www.heritage.org/budget-and-spe ... -inflation

[toomanyquestions]

The pricing has definitely made me slow down.

I got hard into Cold Steel late last year / this year, and the prices are amazing in comparison......

When I can get a Recon 1 4" blade folder with G10, S35VN and an improved lockback for about $75 VS over twice that for an FRN & BD1 Chief, it's a no brainer for me.

I hope you will let us know how your CS folders hold up; I have been interested due to price point / value (and almost recommended one to someone I know).

However, after reading a post (on a reputable retailer's website) that claimed their CS model eventually became useless due to lock wobble (I believe this happened in about 3 years) I began to wonder if ---

A) CS is prioritizing toughness over the appropriate hardness in their locking mechanisms
B) CS QC has drifted since the co. was sold

[ChrisinHove]

I have always found that I can readily sell Spyderco on the secondary market without losing much overall. They cost a lot, but sell for a lot. There’s not many “value” brands that can match that.

[ladybug93]

The pricing has definitely made me slow down.

I got hard into Cold Steel late last year / this year, and the prices are amazing in comparison......

When I can get a Recon 1 4" blade folder with G10, S35VN and an improved lockback for about $75 VS over twice that for an FRN & BD1 Chief, it's a no brainer for me.

I hope you will let us know how your CS folders hold up; I have been interested due to price point / value (and almost recommended one to someone I know).

However, after reading a post (on a reputable retailer's website) that claimed their CS model eventually became useless due to lock wobble (I believe this happened in about 3 years) I began to wonder if ---

A) CS is prioritizing toughness over the appropriate hardness in their locking mechanisms
B) CS QC has drifted since the co. was sold

the only issue i've ever had with a cs folder is a really uneven scandi grind on my finn wolf. it doesn't really affect anything though and the knife was only $30, so i don't expect as much from it as i would a delica. but when we're talking value... you can get a lot more cs for your money and maybe care a little less about perfection. even a 4max scout is less than a standard delica, which is kind of insane. they even cost about the same as a tenacious.

[RamZar]

With Spyderco and Benchmade you’re also paying for their longstanding reputation and market presence.

Benchmade lost its patent on the venerable Axis Lock and now there are quite a few excellent Crossbar (you can’t call it Axis due to Trademark) Lock folders out there made in USA or Italy which outdo Benchmade on price.

For instance, the Benchmade 945 with S30V and Aluminum or G-10 is $207.00.

• Doug Ritter Mini RSK (made by Hogue in USA) with MagnaCut and G-10 is $159.95
• MKM Yipper (made by Fox Knives in Italy) with MagnaCut and G-10 is $139.90
• Kershaw Bel Air (made in USA) with MagnaCut and Aluminum is $149.95

[jabba359]

I've only bought Spyderco ever since discovering them back in 1997, but recent pricing has had me eyeing some of the other options out there (WE, Civivi, Kizer and Giant Mouse all tempting me with certain models). I didn't buy a single Spyderco outside of the factory seconds sale last year. Part of that is due to me having plenty of knives already, but part of that is the price point being too high to justify the additional knives.

My wages, like many others, haven't nearly kept up with inflation and price increases over the past decade, so I'm being a lot more selective where my money goes and the value I'm getting for it. I used to feel like I was getting excellent value for my money with Spyderco, while these days I feel like I'm still getting excellent quality, but at a much reduced value.

[Fastidiotus]

However, after reading a post (on a reputable retailer's website) that claimed their CS model eventually became useless due to lock wobble (I believe this happened in about 3 years) I began to wonder if ---

A) CS is prioritizing toughness over the appropriate hardness in their locking mechanisms
B) CS QC has drifted since the co. was sold

Everyone was so worried that the GSM Outdoors takeover was going to ruin the QC but I haven't seen it. At least anything coming out of their Taiwan factories, I don't have any of their Chinese knives. The Recon 1 and Code 4 are really great edc blades for work. Ive been carrying a Tuff Lite everyday for 2 years it's what I use to spare my other knife abuse. Its a prybar, screwdriver, scraper, wire stripper/cutter, I treat it like a folding utility blade that I hate and it's mind blowing how great and durable a $25 knife can be. GSM bought SOG as well and have really turned them around. The Altair XR is a fantastic knife, and disassemblely reveals a really innovative design.

Spyderco has mainly become my afterwork and weekend knife. It lets me experience all the steels I've read about. At the price point they're at though I'm not taking them to a job site and letting other guys have their way with them for a few hours. The sprints and exclusives showcasing unique and unusual steels are where Spyderco really shines for me and is what keeps me interested and invested.

[wrdwrght]

Wall Street is building houses and AirBNB is renting them. I can’t imagine why things are getting more and more out of reach for more and more people. /s

[Laphroaig9]

When a Presidents spends $4 Trillion in less than two years it causes terrible inflation. And first year business major who has taken economics knows that.

[Peter1960]

Could be a blessing in disguise. Chances are if you're on this forum, you've already got more than enough knives in your collection to keep you busy/happy as it is...you just don't know it yet. Based on the poll that was going around a couple weeks ago, the amount of people scooping up 15+ knives a year (excluding the Seconds sale knives, because those deals are too good to pass up!) I'm willing to bet most of the folks haven't given a majority of those knives even a full week of carry and use during this past year, probably even less went as far as giving these knives a new edge. The high prices should deter folks from this obsessive buying complex and get to know the knives they already have. You may already have your grail in your collection, you just don't know it yet because you're scooping up new knives left and right.

Just a thought.

Am I the only one who feels addressed by these wise words?

[zhyla]

When a Presidents spends $4 Trillion in less than two years it causes terrible inflation. And first year business major who has taken economics knows that.

Again, the cost of quality knives has dropped dramatically over the last decade while the cost of Spyderco has only increased. Inflation is a component but it’s a constant amongst all manufacturers. Why have Spyderco’s prices tripled instead of decreased?

[Danke]

Yes I agree no one should ever buy a Spyderco knife again and furthermore never log into this terrible terrible website again.

[dsvirsky]

Again, the cost of quality knives has dropped dramatically over the last decade while the cost of Spyderco has only increased. Inflation is a component but it’s a constant amongst all manufacturers. Why have Spyderco’s prices tripled instead of decreased?

The availability of low cost quality knives has increased over the last decade, but it is incorrect to say that the price of quality knives has dropped. It is worth noting that WE created a new budget line of knives, Sencut, because of the need to increase prices in what had been their budget line, Civivi.

[ladybug93]

When a Presidents spends $4 Trillion in less than two years it causes terrible inflation. And first year business major who has taken economics knows that.

Again, the cost of quality knives has dropped dramatically over the last decade while the cost of Spyderco has only increased. Inflation is a component but it’s a constant amongst all manufacturers. Why have Spyderco’s prices tripled instead of decreased?

yeah... i'm far from an apologist for price increases, but this is just false. what dsvirski says above is true... the amount of budget offerings has increased but the price has not decreased. and why would spyderco drop their prices while the economy spirals out of control? in what world does it make sense that they'd be able to do that. just as life has gotten more expensive for us, it has for each member of the spyderco team individually, and for spyderco the company. they can't stop paying their employees a fair wage so that you can buy another knife you don't need at a price that meets unreasonable expectations put in place by a foreign government that recklessly deals in play money internationally and allows exploitation of its population in horrible conditions, all to damage the world economy while we lift it up as some kind of pillar of quality.

there's more at play here than the quality control and perceived value of a couple of pieces of metal slapped together and offered to consumers on fancy websites at great deals.


anyway... i hate defending price increases. if you look at my post history, i'm not usually on this side of this argument and i've made some people here pretty irritated in the past in regards to these subjects. now more than ever though, it's clear how the world market is being manipulated to draw us away from paying a fair price for goods and toward pulling the rug out from under any competition, with little to no regard for the ultimate cost.

[cycleguy]

Could be a blessing in disguise. Chances are if you're on this forum, you've already got more than enough knives in your collection to keep you busy/happy as it is...you just don't know it yet. Based on the poll that was going around a couple weeks ago, the amount of people scooping up 15+ knives a year (excluding the Seconds sale knives, because those deals are too good to pass up!) I'm willing to bet most of the folks haven't given a majority of those knives even a full week of carry and use during this past year, probably even less went as far as giving these knives a new edge. The high prices should deter folks from this obsessive buying complex and get to know the knives they already have. You may already have your grail in your collection, you just don't know it yet because you're scooping up new knives left and right.

Just a thought.

Am I the only one who feels addressed by these wise words?

Been feeling it long before the words showed up here, and not just knives.

Gluttony? Think we’ve been warned about this!

CG

[zhyla]

Again, the cost of quality knives has dropped dramatically over the last decade while the cost of Spyderco has only increased. Inflation is a component but it’s a constant amongst all manufacturers. Why have Spyderco’s prices tripled instead of decreased?

The availability of low cost quality knives has increased over the last decade, but it is incorrect to say that the price of quality knives has dropped.

Those are equivalent statements, are they not?

[Michal O]

Personally I was buying Spyderco only on good sales and from second hand for good price. In Europe they're just too expensive in most cases to buy even with 15% discont, especially now when prices are going up, not only on new models, but some discontinued old stock too...