Prices are hit or miss with this product. All sorts of variables. I think I paid $150 for my 30" Siru, and they were on sale for what $115? I paid $300 a year ago for my first Berk's Special and was glad to get the $50 off the web price, but then they sold all year as UBBB's for $150 and even $145. Uncle Bill even had one with a handle repair the other day for $125!
But then I paid $60 each for a couple of Seax's, and I know guys were paying $100 for those when they came out. Now 14" BDC's go for what, about $75, which is $50 off the original price.
I figure it all works out in the end. I just got a Kumar Karda with chandan handle that should have gone for at least $75 ($60 base price + $15 for special wood), and Uncle Bill sold it the other day as a best buy for $45. Go figure.
One more example: I saw an 18" Dui Chirra with all the tools the other day and it went as an UBBB for only $145. Had a dark chandan handle. As a general rule add $25 for chandan over satisaal or horn. (But the exception that disproves the rule: the Manjushris have ALL sold for $195 no matter what the handle material.) Two days later I see another 18" Dui Chirra by Bura with a bright red handle marked "rato chandan" that was $50 more so I bought it. At first I thought I had paid too much and that they should have been priced the same, esp. as the specials were only 2 days apart, but the handle on mine is far more unique as far as the grain goes, the tools are perfect, and even the scabbard looks a bit nicer as far as the leather is concerned.
The final consideration driving my decision to pay more was that this was only the _second_ 18" dui chirra I had ever seen, as all previous models are 21" with satisaal handles. I may be wrong and there may have been a ton of them offered for sale prior to 12/03, but I don't think so since then. The bottom line is it was worth it to me to pay a bit more to have something unique.
All in all, out of dozens of transactions, I recall only one time haggling a bit with Uncle Bill because several previous UBBB's had one exact price, and one other had a higher price on identical knives, so I asked UB to split the difference (mostly because I short at the time but didn't want to lose the sale!)
Supply and demand and what the Kami's decide to send, plus lots of intangibles that I think only Yangdu completely understands...
Regards,
Norm
