Buying a limited run knife?

C

cutitout

Joined
Aug 12, 2012
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135
I recently discovered that Zero Tolerance is near releasing some new limited run knives, a 0650 composite, and three totally new designs, the 0600 and the 0888 also the 0777. All of which will only have between 500 and 1000 or 1500 made and poof they are gone. So I started calling the usual retail distributors and was told (no surprise) that there were already more pre orders than knives to be released.

None knew or would say when they might be released but I suspect that on the day they are released there will be a mad dash to find a rogue dealer who is selling first come first serve without taking pre orders. So my question is how can someone without any connections get a hold of one of these very high demand knive? Is there a list of dealers that sell first come? Can you overpay to get to the top of a "list"? What's a guy to do? I really, really want one. Actually I really want a 0600.
 
Trust me, when those knives are released, there will be plenty on the secondary market (ie. our classifieds, ebay) to buy. At first they will sell for a large premium, but in most cases prices will settle to a more acceptable amount.
 
MSRP is about $650 but they are selling for about $450 if you are lucky enough to get in on the first distribution. I suspect that the resale asking will start at about a hundred over MSRP. That would really suck. I hate that they put these out a year early and then only sell a small handful. Why bother from their perspective, it can't be much profit since they have to retool to produce them and then go back to selling what has been around for years. Why not just replace the old stuff with the new stuff. There is no doubt that it will sell based on pre sales demand. I bet a lot of people who are either iffy on a 0300 or a 0350 or even the old 0560 would just jump at the chance to get the improved 0560 or the 0777 which is the knife of the year per Blade Mag.

What if Toyota (just to name one) made a 2013 model and just sold a few thousand of them and then only made 2012 models for the next several years and removed the newer improved models. Or you could say the same for Apple computers or any other consumer good that is improved based on previous buyers demands from year to year or time to time. I must say, it is a weird business model.
 
The hype for new models in limited editions is great advertising, it works people into a frenzy wanting the new grail so they can be assured the entire production is sold out, and I would hazard that many will buy other models instead if they can't get the limited edition models. Demand exceeding supply is a good model for keeping a business going, as long as people keep wanting the product. Similar to limited editions. Plus you get people that buy limited editions to flip for profit, but they still need to cut stuff so perhaps they will add another of a different knife as a user in the same order.

I won't pay premium just for a limited edition, but many others wi so to me it makes great marketing sense!
 
CUTS LIKE A KRIS said:
The hype for new models in limited editions is great advertising, it works people into a frenzy wanting the new grail so they can be assured the entire production is sold out, and I would hazard that many will buy other models instead if they can't get the limited edition models. Demand exceeding supply is a good model for keeping a business going, as long as people keep wanting the product. Similar to limited editions. Plus you get people that buy limited editions to flip for profit, but they still need to cut stuff so perhaps they will add another of a different knife as a user in the same order.

I won't pay premium just for a limited edition, but many others wi so to me it makes great marketing sense!
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I get that and appreciate that it's hard to keep a brand in high demand without some sort of stimulus. But as a customer or I should say as someone who wants to be a customer, I get very frustrated. I may and probably will go out to a competitor of ZT to buy something that resembles the one I could not get. But I suppose that since RMartin who collaborated with ZT for the 0600 will also benefit when I or others like me go to them to get the model that most resembles the 0600. Still just very frustrating. I guess customer loyalty is a one way street. They want us to be loyal but they don't really have to be, so they can tease me with a knife and then pull it away just as I get close enought to think I could buy it. I guess it's nice that someone out there will benefit in the secondary market, but their gain is my lose so I am not sure if that is right.
 
Producing 1000s of an "exclusive" knife kind of kills the exclusivity. The fact is regular buyers don't buy those knives. Its the knife collectors and enthusiasts that do. And we crave sprint runs, exclusive designs and steels. We are willing to pay a premium for them and these companies oblige us by making them. Otherwise you'd only see sub $50 knives with run of the mill steel.
 
That's an interesting perspective. Imagine a world where we only had to pay what a product was actually worth. Hmmmm Na, it'll never work.
 
00ChevyScott said:
Trust me, when those knives are released, there will be plenty on the secondary market (ie. our classifieds, ebay) to buy. At first they will sell for a large premium, but in most cases prices will settle to a more acceptable amount.
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- That's exactly what happened with the Tilt.
 
If the obvious result of producing a limited run is at least in part to create a secondary market where a product becomes more valuable than its parts which are then sold to the intended consumer by other consumers who are motivated by greed, what is the point of having licensed distributors and retailers? I say obvious result because it seems like this pattern has been repeated many times by Zt and many other knife makers, so they know exactly what is happening when they limit the availability of a coveted product. ZT may be creating some buzz, but I am not sure it is entirely the positive type of publicity that creates a good feeling about the manufacturer and makes me want to keep going back for new products in the future.
 
00ChevyScott said:
Trust me, when those knives are released, there will be plenty on the secondary market (ie. our classifieds, ebay) to buy. At first they will sell for a large premium, but in most cases prices will settle to a more acceptable amount.
Click to expand...

Not always. There are many knives from Buck, Spyderco and Kershaw that were made in small sprint runs or build outs that the price does nothing but go up. Some of these knives are selling at 4 to 5X original price even though more than 1000 were made. Supply and demand rules in these cases.
 
You have to remember that it isn't just new stuff they are making. It's special versions of some regular production knives. Carbon fiber scales, handles, and special steels alike. Would you pay that much for a regular run top end type zt? The 56x for example is around $260, if you were to make the new 56x that will be coming out at almost double the cost a production knife, I think the price would impede on the sales for it. It's just not the way zt or kershaw for that matter are built to run. The business model they have calls for alot of bread and butter, not gold encrusted pie.

I guess I just don't get the comment of replacing old stuff like the 0350,030x, and 056x with the new limited stuff like the 0777,0888, 0600. Maybe in the future they will make a regular production type 0600 and 0888 but it will not be with super high end material like you were implying, because it won't make the money.
 
From what Thomas said in the past was that they make these super knives for us crazy knife people. They dont make much money on them and they are a pain to produce but it keeps us happy. I look at the production of these knives as a benefit to all who love knives and that ZT is doing us a favor by making them.
 
Plenty of dealer's do pre-orders so if you really want one, you should be able to secure one, just keep watching the dealer sites for when the pre-ordering opens up.
Good luck!

Side note, I would snap up a LE depending on the materials, not just because it's a LE. I most likely wouldn't pay a "premium" for a LE, I just don't see myself doing this. I rather spend the $$ on a custom.
 
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