Exclusives - Need "Thought- to- share"?

Is it possible the Delica OD Cruwear exclusive will ever be available again someday ?
 
The system works fine. Turns out the edc group is larger than us old dudes. If you collect it can be hard to keep up with all the iterations. If you just want a nice knife there will be another knife coming around the mountain. I have 3 exclusives, 2 by design and one by blind luck.
 
dan35 said:
The system works fine. Turns out the edc group is larger than us old dudes. If you collect it can be hard to keep up with all the iterations. If you just want a nice knife there will be another knife coming around the mountain. I have 3 exclusives, 2 by design and one by blind luck.
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That's pretty much the same for me. I didn't get the original Orange/Rex45 PM2 and really kinda felt mad at myself. Then the Copper/Rex45 PM2 came along and I got that one.

If I miss something there will be another in the pipe.
 
Sal Glesser said:
On the "con" side we have.........................?

sal
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I’ve got nothing...

Exclusives allow me to try different steels that interest me at a very reasonable price. I love them. The more popular exclusives are sometimes hard to get, but it’s hard for me to put that in the negative column. The only solutions I can see would be if the distributors put in for bigger orders (which would put them at much greater risk if they are wrong about the demand) or a massive increase in the price of exclusives. Both options seems suboptimal to me.

Maybe offering some of the standard releases in more colors would appease the people only interested in the colors available with the exclusives?
 
Sal Glesser said:
There was bit of dissent over exclusives on Ramzar's intro thread. I think it's a valuable discussion and I'm sure I'm not the only one that thinks so. So I thought to move it here so as not to derail Ramzar's ongoing thread.

Spyderco has been making exclusive variations for Distributors and Dealers for some time now. On the "pro" side, the Dealers and Distributors like them and are after more than we can keep up with. It permits us to make more variety in offerings without having to sit on inventory and foot the cost.

On the "con" side we have.........................?

sal
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Sal, first, the fact you are on here and asking questions like this is why you’re the best.

My unvarnished feedback is this. I’ve got to think that the sprints make your production slightly less scalable and therefore either raises prices for us or costs for you.

I think it’s also kind of confusing.

I used to like how Spyderco would have a base model, a CF top model, and maybe a few regular production steel variants.
 
Logically, it is not possible for everyone who wants an exclusive to get one. It is, after all, an exclusive. Not every dealer ships to every location and to those that they do ship to, it is first come first served.

I like the Exclusives and Sprint programs. The only thing is that sometimes the batches are too small, but not usually.
 
Reading this illustrates that most customers have absolutely no clue as to the business side of things and why America has so many people voting for marxism. :(
 
Only con I see is the abundance of butthurt after a limited edition sells out faster than everyone who wanted one has time to get one. Such is life. Move on. That’s not Spyderco’s fault and you should assume no blame for it.
I think we all like the many variations, but I won’t get caught up in refreshing my screen every 15 seconds just to score one. And I won’t pay more than what I feel an item is worth.
Keep doing what you’re doing.
 
I've very painfully missed out on many exclusives, including the RECPM2 that I "successfully" bought only to have REC cancel it the next day.

As painful as that is I absolutely love the exclusive market and would change nothing about it. I would go as far as to say that exclusives are the main reason I'm so into the knife industry as I generally only prefer to have unique knives these days. (Of course whether or not I have the guts to use them is a different story, and part of the overall fun!)

Exclusives also help me build loyalty to certain brands and try new ones I wouldn't have purchased from otherwise.

Exclusive are a huge plus to the industry, don't let the loud naysayers make you think otherwise!

BTW I think the exclusive market is good the way it is now. No need to fiddle too much with inventory or supply chain etc etc. That may make it lose its magic.
 
The argument I'm hearing is the flippers' actions somehow keep more people involved in the knife industry through some twisted but functional form of advertising/marketing hype.

Perhaps that's important.

Then again, we may be a few years away from the Chinese destroying the American knife manufacturers simply on price, in which case the point is moot. We'll all be buying Chinese Cruwear with micarta handles for $50.
 
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A handful of posts which served no function but to argue or insult other members, or offer opinions on the tiff, have been moved to the moderator section.

@TheFactor, since you chose to go back and edit your posts late last night with further trolling remarks after being told to drop it, you have received a warning. The next one will be more severe. Do not reply in this thread...if you wish to comment send a PM, and do not derail this thread further.

My apologies to the forum for this interruption of their discussion. Carry on.

 
Nothing much to add except everything has a trade off.

To me, if there's a high burden of risk, it should be more with the dealers, not Spyderco.
The dealers are middlemen and can not exist without a source/producer, not that dealers aren't beneficial.

Overall, I'm in favor of whatever keeps everyone in business.

I would hate to see Spyderco go out of business, sell their brand, and eveything end up coming out of China, like has happened to so many good producers of past.
 
Really like sprint runs, really like buying different steels and don't like very many dealers. I feel like exclusives are for knife people and should be easier for a collector/fan to get. Current system costs spyderco because I wont buy a regulars PM2 or non sprint. Current line is lacking fun colors and cool steels in popular designs. I see that slowly changing with a few FRN knives, and some 390 tool steel. Spyderco needs to do more fun colors from the factory, how big of a rage was the camo PM2? Maxmet PM2? Let dealers have a specific design pattern if they want, just don't give them the market. With all these great sprints and exclusives you have set the standard higher than your normal product line...

My wife would throw $200 down on a knife for me for x-mas, but she knows I don't want something black and plain...

My current take is... buy another brand...
 
While everyone clammers for the exclusives and high priced sprint runs i will just sit back and as the regular produced knives i really want eventually get long in the tooth and get reduced in price as they get discontinued will be my hunting ground. I still sometimes wait too long and let one go out of stock but still works to keep this hobby on the straight and narrow for me.
“Ouroboros” the one that got away! :(:thumbsdown:
 
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On pre-orders, from the Dealer perspective they are not viable to determine order quantity as it can be anywhere from several months to two years after we sign a contract until we see the knives. We just have to do the best we can to forecast demand on quantities.
 
I'm late to this party but I'll just throw my 2 cents in nonetheless.

I personally have little to no interest in "exclusive" dealer offerings but I am interested in Sprint "reissues" by the company of discontinued models that I do not currently own but would like to have even in a Sprint version -- the Slysz Bowie is an example of that.

In any event, I think that dealer "exclusives" are a win-win-win for the company, dealer and public.

As I understand it, the dealer who contracts for an "exclusive" has to pay up front for the cost of production and the wholesale margin. So, the immediate benefit to the company is that it can produce the "exclusive" with a built in profit w/o any market risk; that risk is entirely on the dealer.

I also assume the company has a lot to say about what the dealer wants to produce. So, it is a collaborative effort that strengthens the company's relationship w/the dealer and provides a way for the company to build a knife that it may have wanted to produce but did not think it was economically feasible otherwise.

The production of dealer "exclusives" also benefits the company in further promoting its products and expanding interest and demand for its brand.

The benefit to the dealer is that, if the knife is properly designed, increases consumer interest/traffic on their website which, even if it does not result in the sale of the "exclusive" may result in the sale of other products now or later.

And, of course, the more of the "exclusive" that they can sell, the more they make and the more successfull they are in selling "exclusives," the more likely the company will be willing to contract w/them to sell others which will further increase their profits and the reputation of the dealer as the seller of premium Spyderco products.

The benefit to the public is that they have the opportunity to buy knife variations that the company might never have otherwise produced and sold. The limited supply also drives demand for current and future exclusives, which is of obvious benefit to the dealer.

If the "demand" is a result of "bot scalpers" (as suggested below) or entrepenurial flippers then, as suggested previously, a solution would be to limit the # of dealer exclusives that people can buy, just as Spyderco decided to limit the # of OpFocus purchases apparently due to similar abuse.

In any event, most people who are Spyder fans have more than sufficient advance notice on this and other sites about pending "exclusives." So, there really are no excuses if you miss out, especially if you can place an advance order for one.

So, I don't think there are any losers in selling properly designed/marketed "exclusives."

On the other hand, there is a risk of "too much of a good thing." The company needs (as I believe it has) to be careful about not agreeing to produce too many "exclusives" that results in flooding the market and undermining their main product line.

That's a difficult tightrope to walk but I think the company has been doing a good job of it so far because demand for it's own products and exclusives does not have seemed to be diminished.
 
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