Do you think that cold steel would be much more succesfull if they.......

I think ANY product will sell more at lower prices.

As discussed thoroughly in another thread recently, the whole of the knife market seems a tad overpriced. But it appears most people are willing to pay those inflated prices, so they have no reason to price them more realistically.

I own many, many knives, including Cold Steel ones that I only purchased when they went to clearance for being discontinued or not selling well or whatever the reasons may be. The price I paid for them was roughly 35 to 40% of their original price (and I don't mean the bull-pucky MSRP, which is ridiculous) and only then did I feel I was getting a good value for my money.

And I have a feeling, even at these deeply discounted prices, they were NOT being sold at a loss, which shows you how overpriced the market is! Greedy so-and-sos! :mad:
 
axtalan0 said:

And I have a feeling, even at these deeply discounted prices, they were NOT being sold at a loss, which shows you how overpriced the market is! Greedy so-and-sos!
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The knife industry is a business, with a "why make a buck is you can make 2?" mentality. Fortunately, online shopping and eBay promote enough competition to give the financially challenged access to many of those wonderful shinny toys. There is a market for penny pinchers (nothing wrong with that since I'm one :D ). But even then - with enough patience and a truckload of luck - even a penny pincher can score the occasional steal. I know I have. :cool:
 
I think they would sell a few more to knowledgeable knife fans if they toned down their marketing but they would loose many of the mall ninjas. Better blade steel would be a step in the right direction and with fewer marketing dollars spent they wold maintain the profit margin more less. They have an image that would be hard to shake though to gain enough respect in the mainstream market place. IMHO Aus8 is not a premium steel as they often refer to it as
 
unky_gumbi said:
I think they would sell a few more to knowledgeable knife fans if they toned down their marketing but they would loose many of the mall ninjas. Better blade steel would be a step in the right direction and with fewer marketing dollars spent they wold maintain the profit margin more less. They have an image that would be hard to shake though to gain enough respect in the mainstream market place. IMHO Aus8 is not a premium steel as they often refer to it as
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Might not be Premium, but with their heat treatment it's very strong and tough. ;)
 
gotta remember that they're knife makerteers and don't manufacture.
that probably already dictates a certain direction in their overall business plan.
so their A & P formula has to be hard sell all the way, in a do or die manner.
there's probably a lot riding on market response everytime a new product is launched.
CS also probably has an ageless ever ready niche market.
there wouldn't be any radical changes in it's products for as long as the public response remains at a level comfortable enough for old Lynn to keep laughing all the way to the bank.
changes only comes with the times.
why fix something that isn't broke?
 
They'd benefit from ceasing those awful videos and letting ol Lynn know that he's no great white hunter...
 
Jake Bauer said:
They'd benefit from ceasing those awful videos and letting ol Lynn know that he's no great white hunter...
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Can't fault the man for that, I am sure he is living his dream now. :)

I however don't agree with that warrior lifestyle stuff.
 
Ankerson said:
Can't fault the man for that, I am sure he is living his dream now. :)

I however don't agree with that warrior lifestyle stuff.
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I posted this thought on another thread but I'll repeat here too - whenever I see those godawful marketing vids I always think LT looks just like that chubby kid who recorded himself as an imaginary Jedi with a broom stick light saber.
 
I think this company does everything right in their standard models. The prices seem more than fair. No color combos or passing fancies in steel choice, everything stays fairly constant and quality is the standard. Not the only company I am invested in but definitely my favorite for working knives.
 
iambored388 said:
lowered the prices alot, or just put better steels in their knives and dropped prices just a wee bit.

I personally think that if prices dropped their sales would skyrocket.
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Volume always rises with lower prices and declines with higher ones. The trick is to find the level at which profit is maximized. If the price goes down 10% but the volume only rises by 1%, the price drop was probably a loser. If prices actually were to "skyrocket" with a small price drop, then Cold Steel and everybody else would do it. Things don't often work that way.

Cold Steel is very successful. I suspect they know what they are doing.
 
They are already quite successful with doing things the way they do. They have knives priced from lesser expensive to high dollar. This seems to me to already answer your issues. They have knives priced for the guys that think $50 is an expensive knife and for those more into high end they fill that need as well.

Why change what works?

STR
 
I used to like Cold Steel knives. Really, I did. I probably had around 20 of 'em. I still have 10 or so, but the newest ones I have are almost 20 years old. I think the steel and quality of the older knives are much better than most of what they are producing today.

My favorites were the mini-tanto, the Outdoorsman, and the mini-outdoorsman. Also like the Carbon V Trailmaster, and, of course, the SRK. The only folders I had/have were/are the San Mai folders.
 
Every company is a 'marketing' company, otherwise they wouldn't be in business for long and Cold Steel is no exception to the rule. As a corporate entity, Cold Steel has found a product mix that works for them and through the years have successfully adapted to changing conditions. Say what you will about the owner, the fact remains that he is not stupid.

When I bought my first Cold Steel knife, I wasn't even aware of the 'Proof' videos. When I bought my second CS knife, it was because the first performed so well.
 
Volk said:
I just think they'd be a lot more successful if they dropped their "look at our killer blades, how well they stab and cut through jeans, the perfect killing machine" marketing. Even if the knife is good, their marketing is considered ridiculous by many. I have a black rhino, its not a bad blade, but its kinda too big for me. Maybe it will make a good camp folder or something. But I don't look at it as anything "tactical."
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Yeah and lynn thompson should get that smug look off his face...I mean the knives are cool (except for the fact that the only color they come in is black)
 
The old Carbon v Trailmaster was touted by many as one of the best bowies for the money of its time.I still have mine and I still like it.
 
A.P.F. said:
Every company is a 'marketing' company, otherwise they wouldn't be in business for long and Cold Steel is no exception to the rule.
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The exception is that they are not a manufacturer, unlike the majority of knife manufacturers that also market their products.

LT isn't stupid, he is just a scumbag. But hey, he makes lots of money so that is all some people need to admire him.
 
Rat Finkenstein said:
The exception is that they are not a manufacturer, unlike the majority of knife manufacturers that also market their products.

LT isn't stupid, he is just a scumbag. But hey, he makes lots of money so that is all some people need to admire him.
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Cold Steel changed the whole knife industry back in the 80's and we wouldn't have most of the quality or variety of products that we do today if it wasn't for Cold Steel.

I don't care if you like Cold Steel or LCT or not, he gets the credit for it.

Most of the people here aren't old enough to remember what most knives were like before the 80's and into the 80's. our choices were crap at best with very few exceptions.

If it wasn't for them we wouldn't have the high performance knives that we do today and we would still be using junk that fell apart like the old days. Well some of it is still junk and falls apart today but you get my point.
 
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