Buying items for investment purposes with the intent of using them to make money on a secondary market is no more greedy or unethical than playing the stock market, or investing in art, comics, stamps, or coins. Stamps are nothing more than a piece of paper with ink on them, yet they can demand extremely high prices, and there is nothing wrong with that. The same goes with comics, yet the first appearance of Spiderman drew $15,000 at one time (pretty sure it was about 10 years ago). It can also be said for pieces of artwork that demand millions of dollars.
Comparing the collector market to oil companies who sell a commodity that has become a necessity in our society is comparing apples to oranges, and really isnt an honest or fair comparison. If the supply of ZDP Delicas were to suddenly disappear, then society in general would hardly take notice. However, if the countrys supply of oil were to suddenly dry up, then the affect to our country would be devastating. People in this country do need oil, they dont need a ZDP-189 Delica.
If you wish to tie it into morals then I refer you to the parable Jesus told about the talents given by the master to his servants. The one servant who didnt make the money work for him was castigated, while the ones who used the money to obtain more money were rewarded. Buying an investment for the purpose of making even more money off of it is not immoral but, as the Bible shows, it is a moral thing to do. Furthermore, in the case of the ZDP Delica, one is not taking advantage of his or her fellow man. However, selling it for far less than what the market demands is undercutting your competition, and if done to a great extent can be viewed as unfair trade practice.
This is of course in reference to the secondary market. It would be different if a dealer, who routinely obtains his inventory at costs, then turns around and sells it for over MSRP. That would be a sense of gouging, however well within the dealers rights providing it wasnt in breach of some agreement he had with the distributor or Spyderco. I, for one would never purchase anything from such a dealer again. I dont believe there is a knife that I need so bad as to go to what I consider an unethical dealer to obtain one.
This really isnt anything new. Knives have in the past often solicited extreme prices. However, I suspect that the burgundy Caly Jr., and the ZDP Delica are probably the first knives that are commonly known as common users that have seen such activity. I think that, plus the idea that some see this as the one chance for an average Joe to try a ZDP-189 knife is what is causing all this uproar about inflated prices. Even if that were the case, I still dont understand what the problem is, because it isnt the one chance. This production of user knives with ZDP-189 is IMHO only the beginning of a trend. We already know that there will be more knives produced with the steel (Endura, black Caly Jr. and Delica in different color), and Spyderco has told us that (in the case of the black ZDP-189 Caly Jr.) they will produce them until the demand dies down.
IMHO, while some of these inflated prices may be a result of the gotta have it now at any cost crowd, I also believe that this particular knife is deserved of such prices. Those prices may see a drop after more are released, but I think it will be minimal if at all, and then, I think it will eventually go back up to stay. I say this because I see the collector potential for the ZDP Delica. That is because AFIK, this is the first production knife with a solid ZDP blade (I realize there may be others, but my knowledge prevents me from being aware of their existence). This Delica could possibly be a first in an industry that is evolving at a rapid pace, and that, combined with the limited production quantity, are just the sort of things that demand high, collector prices.
People are acting just like kids with the "gimmees."
I won't be paying those kinds of prices.
