Sprint runs!

Buffalohump

Buffalohump

Joined
Sep 7, 2006
Messages
6,214
Who doesnt love em? They are becoming quite the sought after item among knife nuts. And why not? Limited runs, tasty variations in handle material and some very hot super steels, all at quite affordable prices.... what's not to like?

Well, there is one thing that isn't so great. When people buy up several at a time because they know they can flip them later at a profit. :grumpy:

Case in point, the S90V Para 2. Judging by the number of mint ones that turned up on the aftermarket, clearly a goodly portion of these were purchased purely for that purpose.

So how does one prevent this from happening? I feel that there is one simple method. A limit of one per customer. I know KW did it with the M4 Millie. So why can't Spyderco make it pre-requisite for all dealers to do the same?

That way people wont be able to buy up a bunch just so they can resell for profit. These knives are meant to be enjoyed and used by knife nuts, not turned into a way to turn a fast buck.

My .02 cents....
 
Excellent Idea. I think that's more fair to folks that dont have the $$ when

the sprint run comes out than having to pay More to someone who has

bought more than they need.. do you Need a safe queen only sell it later

for a profit.

Better to have 600 people get 1 knife than others to get more than they

will Use...IMO.
 
So what about the people that buy 2, one for use now and one for use if something should happen to the first or to just have a 2nd one if perfect condition?

Although I see your intentions are good this is just not a feasible way for a business to run. Limiting a customer on what they can purchase can and will cause sales loss. This would also require a lot of time and resources on the companies part and they are already tightly strung.

The people who do buy multiples for resale will always find another way.
 
anti-torsion said:
So what about the people that buy 2, one for use now and one for use if something should happen to the first or to just have a 2nd one if perfect condition?

Although I see your intentions are good this is just not a feasible way for a business to run. Limiting a customer on what they can purchase can and will cause sales loss. This would also require a lot of time and resources on the companies part and they are already tightly strung.

The people who do buy multiples for resale will always find another way.
Click to expand...

Why would you need to keep one in perfect condition (if you're not going to sell it)? :)
 
You could still purchase quite a few, even at one per dealer.

In any event, I really doubt that Spyderco wants to get into that kind of a relationship with its dealers. Once they buy the inventory, it's their property and they can do what they want. The only practical way for Spyderco to enforce this is to sell sprints only direct from Spyderco. Even there, you could have purchases made through different addresses, relatives, etc.

Buffalohump said:
Who doesnt love em? They are becoming quite the sought after item among knife nuts. And why not? Limited runs, tasty variations in handle material and some very hot super steels, all at quite affordable prices.... what's not to like?

Well, there is one thing that isn't so great. When people buy up several at a time because they know they can flip them later at a profit. :grumpy:

Case in point, the S90V Para 2. Judging by the number of mint ones that turned up on the aftermarket, clearly a goodly portion of these were purchased purely for that purpose.

So how does one prevent this from happening? I feel that there is one simple method. A limit of one per customer. I know KW did it with the M4 Millie. So why can't Spyderco make it pre-requisite for all dealers to do the same?

That way people wont be able to buy up a bunch just so they can resell for profit. These knives are meant to be enjoyed and used by knife nuts, not turned into a way to turn a fast buck.

My .02 cents....
Click to expand...
 
Although I agree, those who want more than 1 will just find another way: like buying one from several dealers, or have several friends buy one for them.

The time and energy Spyderco will need to regulate a one per customer rule will be wasted, and better spent doing other things like designing and making more knives :)

That said, it'd be cool if online dealers just had one per customer limits so as to try to better distribute the inventory, and serve as a mild deterrent to those who may want to try, but aren't gung-ho about making profits like this.
 
What next, price controls?

No thanks.

I was glad someone else was able to get more than one blue Manix and sell the second one to me. I was not able to buy or find one at the time they went on sale. After learning about sprint runs I decided if I wanted to buy them I would need to do the following:

1 Save money so I can buy them when available

2 Read Spyderco threads all over the internet for Sprint information.

3 Watch dealer sites and posts for Sprint information.

4 Watch YouTube for Sprint information.

5 Pre-order when they become available.

6 Pay the toll when I am not able to get an order directly.

I might just change my mind if you are willing to see me a 25 year anniversary Delica for the MSRP. :D
 
No matter what system is used, those who want to buy for speculation will find a way around it. Am sure a few of them wound up with multiple M4 Millies via "friends and family". IMHO, Spyderco's only concern with Sprint Runs should be that the knives sell, rather than languishing in their inventory. Bad enough they have to force dealers into signing an agreement regarding resale of "restricted" models and even that, thankfully, is not always honored.

I do think there'd be some merit to restricting Sprint Runs to their original role of bringing back older models briefly, allow dealers and distributors set their own distribution rules for Exclusives which they've sponsored, and produce "exotic" runs of current production knives, like the S90V Para 2, as Limited Production with no specific cap on how many would be made. That would allow those who want them for the right reasons to get them while reducing their appeal to speculators.

Paul
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My Personal Website ---- Beginners Guide to Spyderco Collecting ---- Kiwimania ---- Spydiewiki
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I dont quite follow your logic. Wouldnt you have been even happier if you were able to get one yourself direct from the dealer?

pinetreebbs said:
I was glad someone else was able to get more than one blue Manix and sell the second one to me. I was not able to buy or find one at the time they went on sale.
Click to expand...
 
Buffalohump said:
I dont quite follow your logic. Wouldnt you have been even happier if you were able to get one yourself direct from the dealer?
Click to expand...

Yes, however that isn't always going to be possible. Reasons to not buy a sprint run directly, budget, work, family matters etc. The world is not fair.
 
I guess if you really want a sprint that will be coming out, you need to make it YOUR JOB to find one. I know when i missed a deal for the s90v para, I asked, via personal messages, when they pre-ordered from a certain company. One guy was nice enough to point me to a location where some of these sprint often show up....within a few hours, it was there...and then ordered by me. Just keep your head up when you hear of anything. The biggest thing is often that you don't know enough about the blade before it is just too late to try and get one in the regular market. At that point you have to drop $285 for an after-market one.
 
Best thing to do is to get on the ball ASAP. The early bird catches the worm as they say. Most dealers are actually good about selling 1 per customer, I know of 5 places that have done this in the past.
Dr Heelhook said:
Why would you need to keep one in perfect condition (if you're not going to sell it)? :)
Click to expand...

If I do something stupid and snap the blade or otherwise ruin the knife, I want a spare. If I have the money I do not see the problem. No sense in walking around with 2 of the exact same knife in each pocket. That would be, well... a little to tacticool for us non mall ninjas. ;)
 
I agree as well. I'm happy that I had the opportunity to buy my CF Para 2 aftermarket but I would have been happier if it was available from the retailer instead of being bought up by people who just want to make money off of the high demand/desirability.

They should make it a two-unit limit so people can have their safe-queens to keep minty fresh.

It's always a slippery slope when we start regulating a market in any way.
 
This is America and the capital of capitalism.

I buy two of any knife I think I might like for the sole purpose of having a back up. If I choose to let the second on go I never mark them up. I sell pretty much at street price. I do not buy multiples for the purpose of profit. It's my prerogative to buy as many as I want.
 
Bottom line this is a free country you can buy as many as you want. I understand those that want a backup safe queen. I don't understand buying to make a profit, but that's the way society is. Is all about me me me.
 
If they are selling out that quick maybe do a larger sprint run? Aren't most sprint runs in the 600-700 range? Maybe do 1000 piece runs? No sense in leaving $$$ on the table(assuming it won't cannibalize profits from the original model) and leaving customers unhappy IMO.
 
Mr. Sogetsu said:
If they are selling out that quick maybe do a larger sprint run? Aren't most sprint runs in the 600-700 range? Maybe do 1000 piece runs? No sense in leaving $$$ on the table(assuming it won't cannibalize profits from the original model) and leaving customers unhappy IMO.
Click to expand...

Exactly. I think spyderco could bump up the turn out to around 2000 and they would sell just as fast. If there were more made they would still be very exclusive, but it would discourage the speculators in my opinion.
 
Reeek said:
This is America and the capital of capitalism.

I buy two of any knife I think I might like for the sole purpose of having a back up. If I choose to let the second on go I never mark them up. I sell pretty much at street price. I do not buy multiples for the purpose of profit. It's my prerogative to buy as many as I want.
Click to expand...

That's BS. I want someone to tell businesses just what they can do and what they can't, right down to how many knives can be bought. In fact, I think permits and OKAM should be the law. I don't want to have to be responsible for finding a sprint. I deserve it and I want someone to get it for me and make it easy. I have a right to a sprint and I want someone to guarantee it. That's the way things should be. :grumpy:





In the Soviet Union, anyway. Oh, wait... :eek: :foot:
 
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