Spyderco price increases and higher MAP pricing

RamZar

RamZar

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Effective January 1, 2018 per Facebook post by National Knives, LLC an hour ago:

"Stock up on your favorite Spyderco knives. Come January 1, 2018 there will not only be the yearly price increases, but also a new Minimum Advertised Price policy (MAP) that will go into effect. Currently MAP pricing is 40% below MSRP. Jan.1, that will be 35%. That's a 5% increase on top of the yearly prices increases!"​

I've been buying fewer Spyderco knives since MAP enforcement of I think two years ago and now it'll be fewer still.
 
Well, that is quite unfortunate. I will also be less trigger happy and will most likely remain patient for those special occasion sales... I think!
 
So instead of a Para 2 costing about $125 it will cost $135+ for the standard model. Not pleased....but not upset. I just have to buy less. ;)
 
I can’t comment on Spyderco because I have yet to research this claim but over the past year or so, the knife industry has seen a significant reduction in sales yet prices continue to increase. Not exactly a formula for success. I am much more selective with my knife purchases and unfortunately I don’t see that changing in the future.
 
that is certainly bad news, then there is the annual 5% that gets applied across the board including stock dealers already have on hand. that one really irks me
 
RamZar said:
Effective January 1, 2018 per Facebook post by National Knives, LLC an hour ago:

"Stock up on your favorite Spyderco knives. Come January 1, 2018 there will not only be the yearly price increases, but also a new Minimum Advertised Price policy (MAP) that will go into effect. Currently MAP pricing is 40% below MSRP. Jan.1, that will be 35%. That's a 5% increase on top of the yearly prices increases!"​

I've been buying fewer Spyderco knives since MAP enforcement of I think two years ago and now it'll be fewer still.
Click to expand...

Don't read too much into any MAP Policy. It's just a guideline for minimum advertise prices, not minimum sales prices as that is illegal called price fixing. What Spyderco is doing is limiting was retailers can advertise for, probably based on some kickback retailers won't receive if they break the policy. For consumers it means a harder time researching prices, but my guess is like any website does on most MAP pricing is not show you the price until you add it to your cart (or something like that).

Will actual selling prices go up on Spyderco knives based on the year changing, maybe/maybe not, but now you know you're retailer's cost price on Spydercos are going up.

FWIW, Retailers are faced with this yearly in almost every industry. Retailers buy a bunch more before the cost increase to them in December, buying into a ploy by manufactures to lower their inventory before the end of the year. Same ploy this retailer is doing to get consumers to buy something before the end of the year, lowering their inventory.

Forgot to add, the majority of MAP pricing policies across most industries is due to the fact the MSRP (Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price) or SRP (Suggested Retail Price) is whack. Meaning the value the manufacturer places on the item is way higher than the actual selling price at retail (what the consumer places the value at). For example a black bladed PM2 MSRP is $229.95 which is complete nonsense as you can buy one for $137.97 all day for exact MAP at many many online places. Anyone ever bought one for MSRP? Only if they were stupid and I would bet some people pay less than $137.97.
 
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RamZar said:
Effective January 1, 2018 per Facebook post by National Knives, LLC an hour ago:

"Stock up on your favorite Spyderco knives. Come January 1, 2018 there will not only be the yearly price increases, but also a new Minimum Advertised Price policy (MAP) that will go into effect. Currently MAP pricing is 40% below MSRP. Jan.1, that will be 35%. That's a 5% increase on top of the yearly prices increases!"​

I've been buying fewer Spyderco knives since MAP enforcement of I think two years ago and now it'll be fewer still.
Click to expand...

I would very much like somebody to explain why knife makers like Spyderco set such a high MSRP and MAP pricing. There has to a practical reason for it... right? o_O
 
Honestly with the quality they are outputing, all the new designs, all the different super steel at friendly costs, etc... I'll pay for it. It's worth it.

Only a few models that I want this year that I have to wait until next year to get. I'd say it's still worth it for them.

Don't get me wrong paying more sucks but I'd they keep producing this level of quality with all these options I'm cool with it. I mean cost of materials and labor go up all the time. Sal is a good man and would not just do it to line his pockets.

Only thing I'd like to see is maybe add the option to buy a replacement blade at least for the main models like benchmade and zt do. Even without I can't be mad.

Im not even a Spyderco fan boy, love alot of different brands. Just find them the most useful with icing on the top with all the options and overall quality.

And if the increase is due to warranty because now disassembly isn't against the warranty I'm cool with that too. If costs increase for repairs it's got to come from somewhere and the policy change was awesome.

I've actually never seen anyone sell a Spyderco below map pricing but I've bought zt's, benchmades and a bunch more below map. But I'm happy to do so. It's not like they are over pricing in comparison to the competition.
 
Yeah, my buying on brands that enforce MAP has slowed to a crawl, but Spyderco's policy was lenient enough that I didn't have too many complaints. I definitely bought fewer, but not by a huge margin. This will probably slow things down more.

Just to note, I don't make a conscious effort to avoid brands with MAP, I just look at the value proposition offered by the knives hitting the market. If the value isn't there it makes it much harder for me to pull the trigger. A 5% increase isn't much in a vacuum, but when stacked up against competitors it can definitely give me pause.
 
I used to buy them all but since MAP introduction I can count on one hand the new Spydies I've purchased.
Not sure if it's a direct correlation but it is what it is.
 
Unfortunately I'll be forced to stock up on blades before the end of the year...unfortunately...:)
 
Do you think if everyone on the forum (and their friends are family) put off their next purchase for 6 months instead of preordering the latest flavor of the month we’d see a different sellers attitude?

Possibly, but the downside might be less of a willingness to innovate by the designers and manufacturers.

Let’s face it, so many folks have “aquisition disorder” (and my wife thinks I have a bad case), that the sellers have little fear of a coordinated consumer revolt. So, most aficionados will continue to preorder good stuff and snap up every “special” as long as “better” things come along.

Another 10% won’t stop me from being ready to buy an ivory G10 PM2 in the latest super steel. It will go nicely with my Blurple S110V and red M390! What can I say, I’m feeling patriotic.
 
The cost of a lot of things has gone up. The employees at Golden deserve healthcare, 401K, and raises like other hardworking folks do. My company has had to issue rate increases to many customers and none liked it. The truth is the cost to retain good employees is expensive and margins must be maintained. This slight increase does not change the value I find in Spyderco knives.
 
I think this is the key thing - even with an increase in price, is the product still a good value? Some models are just out of my reach, but most spydercos are great values because of the designs, materials, and manufacturing, and most models are still more affordable than many other makers. True, higher prices means fewer total purchases on a limited budget, but I already have way more knives than I use, or than a sane person would own anyway ;) There is a reason we are called knife knuts!
 
That would put an endura 4 at $78? They're going to have a hard time competing with a company like Cold Steel. I got a Broken Skull for $79 from knifeworks, that's G10 in a bunch of colors and DLC coated CTS-XHP steel! It even weighs less at 3.1oz vs 3.4oz! CTS-XHP smokes VG-10 and you get G10 too all for only a $1 more. I love Spyderco but CS has been getting my money more often than not lately.

Besides the Sliverax I haven't bought a single Spydie this year but I did get a bunch of CS folders. My first 2 years I bought 18 Spydies, then MAP hit. I've bought 3 since. Now I only buy designs that really speak to me or when I see a really good deal on a sprint. If true this is a sad turn, like it was for Benchmade (which I can't remember the last time I bought one of their folders). At this time there are too many good deals to had elsewhere, this is not good news if true for sure.
 
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