My number came up for a new 3.5" XM-18. Is $625.00 too much?

From a dealer I wouldn't pay more than $450, any more than that after you waited is too much IMO.

You can get a CUSTOM folder made to your specs for less than $625.
 
Such price tag coming from a dealer is way too much. Just like others said, I wouldn't pay more than $425-450 depending on my mood.

$625 can buy you that ZT0551 and you will have $425 left over for another mid-tech or maybe even a "custom".
With ZT0550 on a market I just don't see that overpowering appeal in XM anymore. From a user standpoint, ZT and XM are very similar, they are both pretty much production knives with difference being that XM might be assembled and sharpened by Rick (correct me if I'm wrong), hence lower production numbers and higher price. XM better for prying, ZT better for slicing. Quality, materials, features and warranty will be pretty much on the same level.
From a collector point of view, sure there is an appeal in XM, because of the lower production numbers, but still I don't think I can justify $625 tag coming from a dealer (I wouldn't pay that much on a secondary market either). $400-450 for a production (mid-tech) XM-18 is a good price.
To be fair, I wouldn't pay $400 for Strider SNG either, just for the same reasons stated above. SNG, XM, ZT055X are way too similar in my eyes to justify such difference in price. But they are different knives, and if you just have to have it, then no price is too much.
That's just my opinion.
 
Trust me, if you don't buy it, someone else will at that price. To me, that says it all. I now have a 3.5 and a 3 and can say they are two of the finest tools I have ever owned.
 
vicbastige said:
Trust me, if you don't buy it, someone else will at that price. To me, that says it all. I now have a 3.5 and a 3 and can say they are two of the finest tools I have ever owned.
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IMO :) all that means is that someone else is willing to pay too much to a dealer. :( But it isn't my money, so my opinion is sort of irrelevant.
 
vicbastige said:
Trust me, if you don't buy it, someone else will at that price. To me, that says it all. I now have a 3.5 and a 3 and can say they are two of the finest tools I have ever owned.
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Yeah like the old saying goes...

A Fool and his money are soon parted.
 
Ankerson said:
From a dealer I wouldn't pay more than $450, any more than that after you waited is too much IMO.

You can get a CUSTOM folder made to your specs for less than $625.
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Would you say I could get a custom blade made for the XM-18? Heat treated by Phil Wilson? Or would that be heresy?
 
Ankerson said:
Yeah like the old saying goes...

A Fool and his money are soon parted.
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At this price range, it's all a matter of luxury. What good is some other custom at this price if all one wants is am XM-18? It doesn't make sense to judge others just because we might not do what they would with that amount of money. If the customer can afford it and wants it, it's really no different than what we all do in principle.
 
Kaizen1 said:
At this price range, it's all a matter of luxury. What good is some other custom at this price if all one wants is am XM-18? It doesn't make sense to judge others just because we might not do what they would with that amount of money. If the customer can afford it and wants it, it's really no different than what we all do in principle.
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Because it's priced way more than it's worth. ;)

And from a dealer at that..... Gouging.....

I could understand if it was a custom knife, but it's not.

You can one heck of a lot of knife for $625.....

The XM-18 isn't a $625 knife, it's a $400 knife at best.
 
I REALLY can't see paying more than $400 for a folder...ANY folder. I don't care if it is made by Superman or a man from Mars...Anything over $400 is just a pissing contest.
 
glockman99 said:
I REALLY can't see paying more than $400 for a folder...ANY folder. I don't care if it is made by Superman or a man from Mars...Anything over $400 is just a pissing contest.
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I don't know...

You put enough quality gemstones into a Large Sebenza and I can really see it being worth the price, technically speaking.

But really, it's just fascinating that people would spend over $600 for the XM-18, even more so because I'm one of them.

If you ask me though, I think the availability of the knife itself is 90% of why the price is so damn high. As for the other 10% well, it IS a damn good knife. I can't say it's worth $260 more than my Lionsteel SR-1, but it's undoubtedly worth more than Rick's $400 asking price. Still, supply and demand means that sellers can charge the $600-$700, and the knife will still sell like hotcakes.

I've also never seen any other knife where you have replaceable handle scales like the XM-18. It certainly adds a level of personalization to it all. What we need next is to have replaceable BLADES of different steels(and/or grinds) and this knife will be absolute perfection:thumbup:.
 
I paid for mine around $560 , and I overpaid , No from me .
you can get it cheaper if you look around .
 
Ankerson said:
Because it's priced way more than it's worth. ;)

And from a dealer at that..... Gouging.....

I could understand if it was a custom knife, but it's not.

You can one heck of a lot of knife for $625.....

The XM-18 isn't a $625 knife, it's a $400 knife at best.
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So you don't see how your values aren't universally shared? Clearly it is worth $625 to some people. It's just not worth that much to you. The question about it being a custom or not is debatable. 3rd gen. XMs have much more work on them coming from Rick than many other supposed custom knives. The only thing on there that's outsourced is the grind, but that discussion is for another thread.

Point is, what you like isn't necessarily what others like. That much should be pretty obvious.
 
Kaizen1 said:
So you don't see how your values aren't universally shared? Clearly it is worth $625 to some people. It's just not worth that much to you. The question about it being a custom or not is debatable. 3rd gen. XMs have much more work on them coming from Rick than many other supposed custom knives. The only thing on there that's outsourced is the grind, but that discussion is for another thread.

Point is, what you like isn't necessarily what others like. That much should be pretty obvious.
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It's still a production knife though and if I remember correctly those who are able to get them direct are paying like $350 and change.

But yeah if people want to pay $625 for a $400 knife then more power to them.

Personally I think he would be better off selling them Direct for like $450 or $475. :)
 
Ankerson said:
It's still a production knife though and if I remember correctly those who are able to get them direct are paying like $350 and change.

But yeah if people want to pay $625 for a $400 knife then more power to them.
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Hey, I agree that the price differences in the secondary market are significantly higher than retail (which is $385 btw. I originally got mine for that price plus shipping, something I'm proud of;)), but we see the same thing with Emersons for example. People buy Emerson customs through lottos at shows for something like $500-$600 and turn around (sometimes literally) and flip them for $1,000+. The secondary market's there. I certainly wouldn't pay the $400+ premium that the secondary market demands for custom Emersons. Same deal for Marlowes, (some) DDRs, Scott Cooks, etc.

If 3rd gen XM-18s are productions, then so are most of the knives that are generally considered customs. And even if it would be considered a production knife, there's so much more work coming from the maker himself, that it's worth noting that there's a huge difference between his "production" knives and that of others. Think about it, the only thing not done by Rick is the primary grind. He makes the screws, the standoffs, the scales, the frame, the pivots, the clips etc.
 
Ankerson said:
It's still a production knife though and if I remember correctly those who are able to get them direct are paying like $350 and change.

But yeah if people want to pay $625 for a $400 knife then more power to them.

Personally I think he would be better off selling them Direct for like $450 or $475. :)
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That really seems like an exercise in futility given that a good number of the people who would buy direct from him can simply do what the dealers are doing(if they're not doing it already).

The only way it would ever stop is if Rick puts one of his knives into full production.
 
Kaizen1 said:
Hey, I agree that the price differences in the secondary market are significantly higher than retail (which is $385 btw. I originally got mine for that price plus shipping, something I'm proud of;)), but we see the same thing with Emersons for example. People buy Emerson customs through lottos at shows for something like $500-$600 and turn around (sometimes literally) and flip them for $1,000+. The secondary market's there. I certainly wouldn't pay the $400+ premium that the secondary market demands for custom Emersons. Same deal for Marlowes, (some) DDRs, Scott Cooks, etc.

If 3rd gen XM-18s are productions, then so are most of the knives that are generally considered customs. And even if it would be considered a production knife, there's so much more work coming from the maker himself, that it's worth noting that there's a huge difference between his "production" knives and that of others. Think about it, the only thing not done by Rick is the primary grind. He makes the screws, the standoffs, the scales, the frame, the pivots, the clips etc.
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The secondary market is always interesting so I won't really go too deep into that one.

My problem is there are no options, it is what it is and that's all it is in that they are all the same cookie cutter knives.

From a custom maker you have options material wise, steel, handle materials, finish etc. That is a Custom Knife to me, when I can contact the makers and specify what I want and get it.

Yes I know the XM-18 is a good knife so I am not taking anything away from that, but it's still production no matter how you slice it.
 
Noctis3880 said:
That really seems like an exercise in futility given that a good number of the people who would buy direct from him can simply do what the dealers are doing(if they're not doing it already).

The only way it would ever stop is if Rick puts one of his knives into full production.
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That would be interesting if that happened. :)
 
Ankerson said:
The secondary market is always interesting so I won't really go too deep into that one.

My problem is there are no options, it is what it is and that's all it is in that they are all the same cookie cutter knives.

From a custom maker you have options material wise, steel, handle materials, finish etc. That is a Custom Knife to me, when I can contact the makers and specify what I want and get it.

Yes I know the XM-18 is a good knife so I am not taking anything away from that, but it's still production no matter how you slice it.
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Okay, so the way you're using the term would make the following makers, makers of production knives rather than customs:

Darrel Ralph
Ernie Emerson
Charles Marlowe
Scott Cook
Anso Knives
Bob Lum (before he passed)
Mick Strider
Duane Dwyer
etc

All of these makers reached a point in the careers that they pretty much were no longer making knives to customers specs. They had so many successful designs they created that they simply didn't have the time to make knives according to customer specs. These would all be "production" makers then?
 
Kaizen1 said:
Okay, so the way you're using the term would make the following makers, makers of production knives rather than customs:

Darrel Ralph
Ernie Emerson
Charles Marlowe
Scott Cook
Anso Knives
Bob Lum (before he passed)
Mick Strider
Duane Dwyer
etc

All of these makers reached a point in the careers that they pretty much were no longer making knives to customers specs. They had so many successful designs they created that they simply didn't have the time to make knives according to customer specs. These would all be "production" makers then?
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Have you seen most of the knives these guys make, most of them are based on a design, but are all different, hardly Production blades.

I know about Custom knives so don't even go there.... ;)
 
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