In your opinion, what warrants an above $400 MSRP for a production pocket knife?

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It's important to remember that $400 is a lot to some people, and pocket change to others.


I think the idea of spending a couple hundred grand on a car, or thousands of dollars on designer clothes (both mass produced in factory conditions) is amazingly silly. To some, it's a matter of course.

This conversation has nothing to do with concrete, real-world value. It's all about one's individual perception of value and the depth of one's pockets.






Knives and guns are a couple of the last hold-outs of North American manufacturing. That's where the value lies for me, personally.
 
There are Not 400$ knives or more that I believe are worth that investment.
I don’t believe CRK or Hinderer are worth that either, hence why I don’t have one.

If you have the $$ and it’s what you want then good on you.
Some of them are really cool looking.
However I’de have trouble using a knife for that money other than a display.
 
BoCen said:
That said, factors like materials bought in bulk, and in some cases even oversees production, should be reflected in an MSRP in my opinion and we're seeing too little of that with some major brands.
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When it comes to Chinese production knives, it would be interesting to know what the margins are on a $400 knife made there. I'm certain that a number of factors come into play even well beyond obvious things like making an integral vs a sandwich style knife. Without knowing those exact numbers, it's difficult to say "They're charging too much for a Chinese production knife".
 
norcalAF said:
Ah the trusty old chevrolegs!
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I'll be taking the black Cadillac's today.

GSG-9.7.E_Boots_Black_GZ6115_01_00_standard.jpg
 
Years ago my thinking was a well made knife would/should be right around the $300 mark. $100 for the blade, $100 for each side scale, but things start stacking up when they include fancier bits and things to the works, but I always used the simple math. That doesn't carry as much now a days. I've said before that there should be a warning before you venture into the Custom Knives for Sale section : "Your Wallet Must Be This Thick To Enter" kinda like the height warnings at the fair rides ;)

A lot of good takes on why things are as they are. I recently bought a small Sebenza Insingo with box elder inlays, $575 was a bunch for me, but upon getting it, it feels and cuts about as good as I could ask for. The sting will wear off, the knife, fingers crossed ;), will stay a while longer than most.

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Insingo_ by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

G2
 
J. Doyle said:
It is nearly impossible to have an "objective" conversation about knife pricing because by its very nature it is almost exclusively subjective.
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I beg to differ good sir. For arguments sake, picture this: Let's say I'm the proud owner of a pile of 1000 rocks that I bought in bulk for $800. I had employees bring those rocks to my business and I had them polished in a machine which cost me $100 to do. I spent another $100 on advertising these rocks as decoration pieces. I'm now the owner of 1000 polished rocks which cost me $1 a piece to get retail ready.
Now, regardless of what I (can) ask customers to pay for those rocks, they now represent an objective value of $1 each. The fact that a customer is willing to pay $50 for one of my rocks because they are collectors and they like the quality I provide doesn't change the fact, the cost I made as a rock producer was $1 a rock.

Similarly any given production knife represents an objective value based on production cost and overhead. My original argument was that I don't see where a $400+ per piece price comes from taking into account everything it takes to get a knife retail ready. UNLESS my production volume is extremely low or the materials used are extremely rare like in my Tirpitz example.

Forget the $400 for a second. Take a BM Bugout. Currently retailing at $200 at Knife center for the base S30V, grivory handled model. Given the sheer volume of production and the already well established BM production line, what do any of you estimate the production price a piece is for that model? Is there anyone that honestly believes that $200 is an actual indicator?

Again, my question isn't "Are you willing to pay that as a collector because the design makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside" my question put very bluntly is: is that piece objectively produced at a cost that justifies that asking price.
 
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