I agree that their prices are too high, but no sense being bothered by that. They just have a different business model. They price above market value and sell a lot less volume. I am a capitalist to the core and will never begrudge any business for charging whatever the market will bear. The good part about having at least one dealer like that is that if you want a rare model bad enough they are a good place to shop. They have their place in the market just like other dealers with different business models. Interestingly enough, they have some of the cheapest prices around on the endura/delica. I don't buy their overpriced stuff but I don't mind knowing that a dealer has those models available if I really want one and can't find it. I don't know, just my 2cents.
It's not just the obscene prices. This has been discussed before... Here's some pointers taken from previous threads:
- They were caught selling thir exclusives on Ebay as an auction joining the flippers where their knives were going for well above MSRP. Quite tasteless and bad form for a dealer.
- Preorders when they did them were paid in full and non refundable... not illegal but no other reputable dealer does either. Also in the language, there are no guarantees if they oversell meaning they don't even have the motivation to track how much they sold until you are SOL and without a knife you commited to.
- Asolutely NO RETURNS. I've never heard of such thing. You can't even request for them to check your knife as a courtesy that is done by many other popular online dealers. Also, if you get a lemon... they make you go straight to Spyderco, that is terrible customer service and no other online vendor selling ANYTHING I have ever bought ANYTHING from has tha policy.
- They have since removed this from their site (because of the backlash) but delivery wasnt guaranteed!!! Once they hand it off to the USPS, if they lose it and you don't receive the package you are SOL... Of course, you can fight this with your CC company but that was their policy. They even urge YOU to pay THEM for insurance through the USPS.
- When the Elmax Para first came out, they had the audacity to bundle it with the Lil Matriarch exclusive that wa a sales dud and tried to force US to get THEM out of the hole they created for themselves. That was unprecidentedly terrible and no one bought it. What dealer does something like that?
- Bumps the price for example of the S90v Millie to over $300 when other dealers value similar models like the Cruwear Millie and the CF Millie from $140-$190 when they came out. Full MSRP is their right but that alone is enough for people to patronize other dealers. It is cleaer that many agree as ALL of their recent sprints are still in stock and ALL of them being popular models would have long sold out if it were commissioned by other dealers.
- Out of fear and greed, they forced Spyderco to sell THEM their entire lot of factory second S90v blue Millies so that Spyderco doesn't sell them on their yearly factory seconds sale. The result: $200 plus taxes and shipping for a knife without warranty... Factory second Millies sold by Spyderco are half that price. No other dealers to my knowledge has done this to their exclusives.
They DO NOT have the cheapest prices for the Delica/Endura, after $12.95 shipping, they actually have one of the highest. Also, if you live in CA, add in 9% sales tax. To make your statement completely wrong, some variations like the pink ones are at full MSRP which make the THE MOST EXPENSIVE.
This is NOT at all just about the free market, I just wanted to clear that up. You are, in this free market FREE to shop there. They will have rare knives that no other dealers have because of their prices but guess what... Evilbay and knife exchanges will have those rare models at similar or less prices MOST of the time, just be patient. They also supposedly have good email communication. Whoopty do, ALL my dealer do as well. Even Ebay flippers will want to talk to you for your money.
You can argue that none of this is illegal or it just doesn't bother you and make you love bying from them even more... But to a lot of people, all these and more combined make them a terrible place to do business with.
