Knife Prices

[Colinz]

...or production moves forward. Nigeria anyone?

 

[sabre cat]

...or production moves forward. Nigeria anyone?

You might not be to far off with that. A pattern shows up if you look at the history of where wealth is located within the world. For most of modern history, North America and Europe have held about 80% with the other 20% scattered through out the globe. Many banks and private companies are now looking at Africa with great interest. I recently had the chance to listen in on a talk from one banker claiming that unless something changes, Africa is the new area for world investments and that 20-25 years down the road the 80/20 split will be closer to 60/40 with much of the wealth shifted to Africa. Of course we can't forget about China.

 

[Pointshoot777]

The prices of most things are going up - even though the government says otherwise using manipulated 'statistics'. Along with that comes less for your money - in terms of quality and quantity. Over time producers cannot offer the buyer what they did in the past and keep it at a price that the customers can afford and will pay. Undoubtedly many of us have seen this across a wide range of products.

Check out "What Has the Government Done to Our Money ?" by economist Murray Rothbard. Fortunately, it can be found online for free here:

http://mises.org/document/617/What-Has-Government-Done-to-Our-Money

(Now back to knives ! I come here to relax and forget all this economics stuff - for a little while anyway.)

 

[RevDevil]

Guys, lets not turn this into a discussion on global economics. We need to stick to the topic.

 

[bld522]

I agree on manufactures pricing themselves out of their intended market, but it does make a Sebenza that much more appealing when a comparable knife from a larger company is going for only $100 less.

My thinking exactly. If high-end production manufacturers continue to maintain the velocity with which they've increased their prices and companies like CRK hold the line, it's only a matter of time before the argument in favor of buying high-end production pieces falls apart. Or to put it another way, no . . . I would not buy a $300 ZT in favor of a $400 Sebenza. The Sebenza would win that argument every single time.

 

[bdmicarta]

I have been collecting knives for a long time, but I don't have good records to allow for an in-depth analysis.

These observations are very unscientific: I have noticed however that in some types of knives, prices have not gone up that much, while others have. I bought a lot of custom knives 10-15 years ago, and some factory knives. I would say that generally custom knife prices have gone up 50%-100% in that time frame, while some production knives have barely gone up at all. I bought a Benchmade folder to carry, never carried it, and tried to sell it 10 years later. I couldn't even break even on it. I have a Blackjack fixed blade that I've thought about taking out and using, a new one today is barely more than what I paid 10+ years ago.

 

[bld522]

I have been collecting knives for a long time, but I don't have good records to allow for an in-depth analysis.

These observations are very unscientific: I have noticed however that in some types of knives, prices have not gone up that much, while others have. I bought a lot of custom knives 10-15 years ago, and some factory knives. I would say that generally custom knife prices have gone up 50%-100% in that time frame, while some production knives have barely gone up at all. I bought a Benchmade folder to carry, never carried it, and tried to sell it 10 years later. I couldn't even break even on it. I have a Blackjack fixed blade that I've thought about taking out and using, a new one today is barely more than what I paid 10+ years ago.

Hmmm. If you still had your Benchmade, I wonder if you'd be able to sell it today for a profit now that MAP/UPP/OMG pricing is in effect. As the saying goes, timing is everything.