Do you ever consider a knife's price vs. its cost to produce and sell?

[DMG]

First, I didn't say there were only four factors. Please don't lie about what I posted. There can be a HUGE multitude of things to consider (e.g. tooling depreciation schedules, projected product lifecycles, expected maintainability and warrenty expenses, etc., etc.) depending on what's being costed which neither you nor I mentioned. Thankfully, both examples I used are fairly simple and straightforward.

In the end, it's all (in theory) about maximizing profit given the profit margin/unit vs. sales volume relationship. Well, except for the obvious exceptions of course like loss leaders (e.g. Costco rotisserie chickens) and attention-getters like the Giant Opinel which function more like a form of advertisement for the company, than a real revenue runner.

It's clear the Giant Opinel's price has little relationship to its COS. That gives me pause when it comes to purchasing. That's really neither here nor there when compared to some knives which have an even weaker (much weaker in some cases) price/COS relationships.

Some seem to get very defensive about this? Perhaps because they own products whose price have little relationship to their COS? Frankly I don't care.

There are so many factors that people just don’t think about that go into the cost of a good or service that price/COS should be irrelevant unless the ratio is glaringly out of range.

Will the $100 Esee do the same work as a $300+ Carothers? Pretty much. I have both. But if you spend some time using knives in the woods or in a trade, you start to appreciate longer edge holding from better steel and the slicing that comes from being thin behind the edge. Or the better handle design. And of course often overlooked by many knifemakers is sheath design.

 

[DMG]

Did someone mention customs yet?
If I see a knife and I get the little voice that says "why is this thing 900$ again? Oh it's a 'custom'" then I know the knife is not for me.

For reference, here is my @malanika small hunter, CRUWEAR, beautiful wood, leather sheath fits like Dr Scholls. 325$. Took him months to make and fit and finish is...impeccable.
View attachment 1577182

Tell me again why your piece deserves 900$ again? Or 2000$? Your time is worth more than a humble blacksmith in Europe? Your knife is more popular? Hmmm...

To each their own. As soon as that question creeps in on me, I stay away.

I'm fine with secondary market driving up costs of production knives...its how the world works. I sold my limited edition blue eyes ultimate dragon for 50$. Its individual perception of "worth" and dont let anyone else tell you otherwise.

I feel like the guy with the honda complaining about ferraris lol. Alright rant over I promise, thanks for reading.

To 99.9% of knife owners, that $325 custom is crazy money. My brother is an attorney and makes good money. He could afford a good knife. He is shocked by the price of some of my knives. His kitchen knives are all crappy and dull. He has broken a tooth opening packages with his mouth. The best knife in his house is the Wenger SAK I gave his son.
He isn’t retarded, he just isn’t interested.