Spyderco "mislead" about price increases!!!

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unwisefool said:
Those Wrigley doublemint 5-stick packs are still 25 cents each. So take that economics!

"Double your pleasure, double your fun, with Doublemint Gum."
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Sorry. Better come up with another dime;)
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Eli Chaps said:
Might be a smidge over, but Dragonfly 2. Use it, let it grow on you and all of a sudden you realize how many knives you don't carry. :)
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I love that it's in VG-10. Guess I'm gonna go a touch over my quoted price range, cus I need it.


unwisefool said:
Oh weird, I just bought 5 for a dollar the other day. I'll have to go see what they say on them.
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I already have to go to the store this evening, guess I am going to check the price of gum while I am there. lol
 
I feel that Spyderco generally charges a fair price now, with exception to some premium models.

I remember fondly of 2012-2015, where I'd even say they undercharged and wish I bought more. In this period, for ~$125 I got a Griptillian in 154cm/Zytel and Emerson in 154cm/G-10. You know what Spyderco was offering for this price range? The Gayle Bradley in CPM-M4/ CF and Domino in CTS-XHP/CF, with near Sebenza-level quality from Taichung. The Manix 2 XL was $108 and PM2 was $112. On top of that, you could get amazing Ethnic series knives, all in S30V for around $125 too. Mein gott, the Hungarian was an amazing piece of work. Also funky dreams like the Dodo, Poliwog, Khalsa, etc. The Navaja made freaking gun noises! Then leafy perfection like the Superleaf and Superhawk. Spyderco was legitimately the Wonka of the knife industry.

Accounting for inflation, foreign competition, and catching up to market forces, I'd generally say Spyderco is very fair. Some like the Bombshell and Nirvana, I don't really understand, and I'm not the target audience. For sheer variety of steels and designs, their R&D costs must be insane. Not to mention Sal and Eric are respectable and accomplished gentlemen, who send me screws for my stripped screw-ups.



Sorry, I meant to vent something about economics, but ended up writing a love letter to old knives foregone.
 
I went to a music festival once where no outside liquids were allowed in. It was outdoors in the summer in Texas... 105 degree heat. Security checked bags and made sure all liquids were discarded.

Inside the venue there were no free water vendors. No fountains. No hoses. Nothing. A 20oz bottle of Dasani was $12. TWELVE DOLLARS!

That's a price gouge to get upset about. A couple kids died that year from heat stroke and dehydration. They spent their cash on concert Ts, like you do at a music festival when you're 15, and then couldn't find any way to rehydrate.

Why exactly are we whinging about moderate price increases from the one company that actually brings a generous variety of new models and construction materials to market?
 
scarysamcary said:
I love that it's in VG-10. Guess I'm gonna go a touch over my quoted price range, cus I need it.
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The Dragonfly is a little knife. It definitely punches above its weight class, and is perfectly sufficient for 90%+ of what most of us need a knife for in daily use. But it might not be enough handle for you to use comfortably. Actually, it's more about the angle than the length; I find it a bit awkward myself. A Delica might suit you better, although you might prefer to find a used one on the exchange to keep it closer to your price preference.
 
Holy moley, a 17-page thread.

Let’s humor the “unfairly priced” angle for a bit. Do I think some Spyderco models are overpriced? Possibly. The Rubicon and Hundred Pacer for example come to mind. For the construction and materials they offer, one could argue for a lower price especially when considering other knives. But the same holds true for so many other things in the world we live today. A Royce won’t take you to work any faster than a Honda yet the price difference is insane. An LV bag doesn’t hold more stuff than a similarly sized no-name bag, yet girls keep buying ‘em.

There could be a myriad of factors why this is the case: inflation, MAP, providing living wages, rising costs of materials, and yes, making a profit. Spyderco is a business—the bottomline is that they need to make money, and that means price tags that not everyone will agree with. Now I’ve been a fan over the years and I haven’t seen either Sal or Eric outright deceive their customers in any way, shape, or form. LIE is a strong word. The burden of proof is on you, the OP, and so far the evidence is practically non-existent.

The awesome thing is that you can vote with your wallet. Don’t agree with the price, don’t get the knife.
 
Planterz said:
The Dragonfly is a little knife. It definitely punches above its weight class, and is perfectly sufficient for 90%+ of what most of us need a knife for in daily use. But it might not be enough handle for you to use comfortably. Actually, it's more about the angle than the length; I find it a bit awkward myself. A Delica might suit you better, although you might prefer to find a used one on the exchange to keep it closer to your price preference.
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That is Very good to know! I recently suffered a badly displaced fracture in my right hand and a good handle shape has become all the more necessary to me. The Delica certainly caught my eye and I have never been one to stay within my preferred budget.
 
Wow, 17 pages of responses in just 3 days!

The OP certainly hit a nerve. LOL!! ;)

FWIW, I own the Ontario Rat 1 and the Spyderco Tenacious (along w/over 130 other Spydercos) but I still own only 1 Ontario.

Guess that tells you where my priorities lie.
 
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scarysamcary said:
That is Very good to know! I recently suffered a badly displaced fracture in my right hand and a good handle shape has become all the more necessary to me. The Delica certainly caught my eye and I have never been one to stay within my preferred budget.
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I agree with Planterz Planterz input. The Dragonfly’s a little small for my noodly fingers. You can’t go wrong with a Delica or Endura. VG-10 is good enough for moderate EDC use.
 
The more this thread goes on, the more people I see who argue based on their feelings about Spyderco, and not the hard facts.

What has the inflation been like over the past few years?

I found this site: https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

It says that in the past 17 years in the US, something would have become about 41% more expensive. Over the past 20 years about 50%. If the price of a certain item increased significantly more than that, it's OK to wonder what's up. (It's not OK to throw around accusations willy nilly, but it's definitely OK to scratch yourself behind the ears.) I'm not sure how accurate it is.

I love you guys. But if some of you got together, you could apply for tax-exempt status.
 
Lodd said:
The more this thread goes on, the more people I see who argue based on their feelings about Spyderco, and not the hard facts.

What has the inflation been like over the past few years?

I found this site: https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

It says that in the past 17 years in the US, something would have become about 41% more expensive. Over the past 20 years about 50%. If the price of a certain item increased significantly more than that, it's OK to wonder what's up. (It's not OK to throw around accusations willy nilly, but it's definitely OK to scratch yourself behind the ears.) I'm not sure how accurate it is.

I love you guys. But if some of you got together, you could apply for tax-exempt status.
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In 1996 the Spyderco Military had an MSRP of $175. It now has an MSRP of $275. That's a 57% increase. In the same time period inflation has been 65%. Cherry picking prices and misrepresenting them is either dishonest or stupid.
 
Lodd said:
The more this thread goes on, the more people I see who argue based on their feelings about Spyderco, and not the hard facts.

What has the inflation been like over the past few years?

I found this site: https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

It says that in the past 17 years in the US, something would have become about 41% more expensive. Over the past 20 years about 50%. If the price of a certain item increased significantly more than that, it's OK to wonder what's up. (It's not OK to throw around accusations willy nilly, but it's definitely OK to scratch yourself behind the ears.) I'm not sure how accurate it is.

I love you guys. But if some of you got together, you could apply for tax-exempt status.
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I see your side of things, and in all honesty, i think what we are differing on has to do with cultural norms between the Netherlands and US in terms of business and economic leanings. I don't mean this in a bad way at all. The world is vast and the ideas of what constitutes fair in commerce.

Where European economics tends to lean more toward mathematical "fairness", US economics tend to lean strongly in favor of the free market and the value based on if it sells or not given the price. I don't mean to sound patronizing. Im sure you are obviously aware of this. I'm just making a broad point.

I just think that sometimes the intangible "feeling" of why people of different cultures place value on something gets lost in the translation of conversation. I think it's a difficult debate to have face to face, let alone on the page.

I certainly am not a high volume purchaser of Spyderco. However, I find what they bring to the table worth the asking price (in domestic currency. I can understand the price oversees is quite a bit more in comparison). While I am not naive enough to have a myopic view of a totally free market, the fact is that Spyderco sells every knife it makes at the price they are set at. They may have a rabid fan base, but a company cranking out the number of knives they do can't sell them all due to cult of personality alone.

They are hitting the sweet spot. Quality knives at $50, a wide range of working knives between $75 and $185, and some very cool artsy knives above that. Pepper in some Spirit Runs for the loyalist, and you have a large company that meets the needs of its customer. The cherry on top is that despite all of this success, the senior management has been "in the trenches" with its online customer base constantly for 20+ years.

I'm not trying to found the Church of Sal, but a man and a company I respect will always have my support and my dollar from time to time.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
Oh, additionally I take serious issue with your math on this one in the same way I take issue with the OPs math. The MSRP of the Military when it was introduced in 1996 was $175. Current MSRP is $275. So the price has gone up 57% in 24 years, which is actually not at all far off inflation.
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Simple calculator says that msrp should be $289 now, so they are actually cheaper now and better materials. Hmmm
 
knarfeng said:
My point is not about the liners. The point is about the handle materials.
  • The FRN handles of the $25 Rat are injection molded. This is an inexpensive process for items made in large qantities.
  • The G10 used in the Spyderco must be formed into a sheet under pressure and heat. They then must be machined into shape. And to be good knife handle material, the surface of the G10 must also be treated to make it suitably rough, but not too rough.
Good G10 is significantly more expensive than injection molded FRN because of all the additional process steps.
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Sorr
knarfeng said:
I am.





The knives are not comparable.
  • Tenacious has G10 handles
  • $25 RAT has FRN handles with no liners.
G10 is much more expensive to form and machine than the FRN handles of the RAT.

And you want to be real careful throwing around insults at the moderator. "Fanboy" is an insult.
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Sorry this thread got carried away I just seen that you said it didn't have liners and knew mine did I get what your saying about from and g10 being more expensive.
 
Lodd said:
The more this thread goes on, the more people I see who argue based on their feelings about Spyderco, and not the hard facts.

What has the inflation been like over the past few years?

I found this site: https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

It says that in the past 17 years in the US, something would have become about 41% more expensive. Over the past 20 years about 50%. If the price of a certain item increased significantly more than that, it's OK to wonder what's up. (It's not OK to throw around accusations willy nilly, but it's definitely OK to scratch yourself behind the ears.) I'm not sure how accurate it is.

I love you guys. But if some of you got together, you could apply for tax-exempt status.
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It's also ok to wonder what's up with your poor understanding of economics. How unfortunate. Unless of course, you're not seriously saying "Life and everything in it should only be 41% more expensive now."

But surely, your understanding of macro and microeconomics is better than that.

Right? :)
 
Insipid Moniker said:
In 1996 the Spyderco Military had an MSRP of $175. It now has an MSRP of $275. That's a 57% increase. In the same time period inflation has been 65%. Cherry picking prices and misrepresenting them is either dishonest or stupid.
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After seeing some of his posts in this thread, I'm starting to wonder if it's both.
 
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