The knife market bubble needs to happen

:cool: The addiction is real! I just bought two Bob T's at a greatly reduced price. If you don't need the latest and greatest there's incredible deals out there to be had.
I think there's a emotional element to knives that defy logic.
One of the knives I bought was the C174GP double bevel. From all the reviews I read from 2013 9/10 people hated this thing. I even posted a thread if I should get the DB or the Starmate? And the DB got zero votes. But every time I tried to walk away from this knife there was just something that I couldn't explain that kept drawing me back to it. I may never be able to explain it till I finally get my hands on it.

EDIT..What I'm trying to say is when you have that emotional connection well your brain will justify the money somehow. If your brain is saying this is too expensive then you need to move on as it's not the right one for you.
 
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Blade_Runner85 said:
ok Shakespeare, the only ones getting salty are the 3 or 4 guys who seem WAY too happy to pay higher prices or who try to justify why they pay so much for something that realistically costs a fraction of what it should. All I said was that I disagree with it...
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It is fine to disagree. It is all the other comments.... I doubt any of us are "happy" to pay higher prices. Who is to say what the right price is for something? How would you know? What profit is appropriate? What should they pay their employees? Just buy your Chinese knives and be content. Many are.

Bought a replacement pouring spout for a gas can yesterday.... all plastic and cost about $11+sales tax. Seemed expensive, but if I needed the product, what were my options?
 
cbrstar said:
I hate to say this but the fact that people can buy a brand new Spyderco Sprint then a week later sell it for a profit means the original price is too cheap.....
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I agee with this concept. I generally don't chase Spyderco sprint runs. But I have been interested in traditional folders made by Great Eastern Cutlery, the SFO's, and the regular runs. They often sell out pretty quick (often hours, not days) except for some of the acrylic handled ones for the most part.

The pricing on the SFO's, always surprised me considering that a dealer usually is putting their capital on the line to make a profit. Turns out to usually be a quick profit once the knives arrive. But, if something sells out in one-day at $100, why not charge $120 and sell out in 2-days, or $150 and sell out in a week or two.... Only now you are seeing the $150 kind of pricing on them.
 
I would definitely say there is some of that involved with GEC's production. They can't keep up with demand generally and the knives sell very quickly at their dealers. So, the premium pricing concept is there. Benchmade probably does this as well as their knives are mostly sold through places like Cabela's, Bass Pro, on line retailers.... and the pricing is usually pretty "high". But Benchmade does the MAP thing with their dealers and apparently enforces it.
 
cbrstar said:
I hate to say this but the fact that people can buy a brand new Spyderco Sprint then a week later sell it for a profit means the original price is too cheap.
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Not necessarily too cheap, but someone will pay more. You see it in the popular custom makers all the time. They charge what they think is a fair price and secondary market doubles it.

There is no magic pricing number. Those that are selling ask what they want, if there is a buyer that is willing to pay that a sale is made. If not no sale. These producers feel this is now the right price for their items. If we find it acceptable we buy, if not we walk away. We don't have to pay the price and they have no obligation to get knives into any particular persons hands. If all(or enough) say the prices aren't acceptable, they priced wrong and have a problem. Nobody(except the super rich for prestige) likes to pay more, but that is almost always the trend unless something brings down the production cost.
 
There are a lot of good points made on all sides in this thread.

Here's my take on it: Whatever you do for a living, is it possible someone would do the same thing for less? Maybe you have something that you do that adds some intangible value to your trade. Maybe you simply make the customer feel warmer and fuzzier with your interaction. Maybe your boss just doesn't feel like headhunting for someone better because you're "good enough".

However, is it possible you are being overcompensated comparatively? Could what you do be done cheaper, or more to the point, could you do what you do for less money and survive? Of course you could. We could pay a family doctor $30,000 a year. For arguement's sake we'll say a rich uncle paid his or her tuition. Now their office would be small, the tongue depressors may be used a few times before thrown away, but for $30k a learned man or woman could tell you to say "ah", check your pulse, and tell you if they think an antibiotic would cure your ills. They are not performing surgery or using expensive machines. They are simply using their knowledge to diagnose illness. Anyone know any family doctors who make $30,000 a year?

Now I realize that's not a perfect analogy. I know medical insurance plays a big role as well as the protective insurance physicians must keep is a hefty price. However, does anyone think that anyone with that much prestigious societal value would settle for $30,000 a year?

My point is that some sort of market sets a price. I can tell you that in what I do the material cost is way under the price I command. Why? Well, it's a high overhead business with lots of moving parts, its seasonal and weather dependent, and any construction contractor had better hold a multimillion dollar insurance policy for protection. Also, I'm worth it. What we offer, how we do it, the quality, the legacy, etc. The market determines that is worth a premium. There are guys who do what I do for less, and they have been doing it for a couple years, maybe. Our business has been cultivated and adjusted through ups and downs over 65 years. For a budget buyer, that may not be worth a thing. For others, buy once cry once is their motto, and they want a known high quality.

I have my line in to the sand when it comes to what I will pay. Generally, $300 is my cutoff, but I usually dont spend over $200 for a splurge of a knife. I do plan on buying a Sebbie for over $450, but that's for a special achievement. As long as the knife pricing doesn't outpace my earning power/disposable income, I will pay the price. The market will determine when it's too high to bear and will adjust.

IMHO, there are many, many more industries where we as consumers are being fleeced on actual necessity items. I save my ire for them over my hobby.
 
I haven't read the whole thread but look people, this is NOT just normal inflation. And it's NOT just in the knife industry, in the last 15 years, I've seen prices across the whole spectrum basically DOUBLE or even more.

Check the inflation record chronologically, it has NEVER moved so high so fast since they started keeping records. Probably even in US history. Better snap out of it folks and quit trying to make lame excuses for it because the ostrich defense will NOT protect you and yours from it's effects.

Now, the naive and lethargic among you will say all I'm doing is spouting 'doom & gloom' well, you ignore it and blow it off if you want, but HYPER-INFLATION is a VERY real and VERY dangerous thing. (just ask Zimbabwe or Venezuela)

We'll either learn from AND ACT in response to cases such as those or follow in their footsteps.

Maybe the question we should ALL be asking is, why was there no crippling inflation and nearly worthless dollar before the inception of the private FED (and yes, it IS private, Alan Greenspan has even admitted as much himself. I've heard it from his own mouth)

Perhaps it's time we rethink the decision to let a private sector banking consortium control the creation distribution of our currency.
 
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Peter Mandrake said:
I haven't read the whole thread but look people, this is NOT just normal inflation. And it's NOT just in the knife industry, in the last 15 years, I've seen prices across the whole spectrum basically DOUBLE or even more.

Check the inflation record chronologically, it has NEVER moved so high so fast since they started keeping records. Probably even in US history. Better snap out of it folks and quit trying to make lame excuses for it because the ostrich defense will NOT protect you and yours from it's effects.

Now, the naive and lethargic among you will say all I'm doing is spouting 'doom & gloom' well, you ignore it and blow it off if you want, but HYPER-INFLATION is a VERY real and VERY dangerous thing. (just ask Zimbabwe or Venezuela)

We'll either learn from AND ACT in response to cases such as those or follow in their footsteps.

Maybe the question we should ALL be asking is, why was there no crippling inflation and nearly worthless dollar before the inception of the private FED (and yes, it IS private, Alan Greenspan has even admitted as much himself. I've heard it from his own mouth)

Perhaps it's time we rethink the decision to let a private sector banking consortium control the creation distribution of our currency.
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No doubt inflation can be devastation, but present inflation is pretty mild compared to times in history
1949-18.1%
1978-9%
1979-13.3%
1980-12.8%
1981-8.9%
2018-1.9%
I was lucky enough to get my 1st house in 1980 with a fun filled 13% mortgage.
I don't follow Spyderco or Benchmade closely, but have observed(as far as inflation is concerned) how some others do their price raises. They tend to make broad strokes-over raise at 1st and hold until their profits are being eaten into before raising again. They are fully aware that customers don't love price raises.
 
Every year is a broad stroke lol. The dies are made the machines are bought.
Tooling costs it’s tooling costs hahah.
My dozen knives I buy a year make no difference I know.
Just sucks when you can see the greed take over and you are getting prices out of your hobby.
 
Greed? So materials and labor costs don't affect prices?
 
Peter Hartwig said:
No doubt inflation can be devastation, but present inflation is pretty mild compared to times in history
1949-18.1%
1978-9%
1979-13.3%
1980-12.8%
1981-8.9%
2018-1.9%
I was lucky enough to get my 1st house in 1980 with a fun filled 13% mortgage.
I don't follow Spyderco or Benchmade closely, but have observed(as far as inflation is concerned) how some others do their price raises. They tend to make broad strokes-over raise at 1st and hold until their profits are being eaten into before raising again. They are fully aware that customers don't love price raises.
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I'm not referring to a single year, I'm referring to the last 2 decades. (even tho this inflation spike goes back even further and seems to originate at the moment Nixon took us off the gold standard. just a coincidence I'm sure :rolleyes:)

Inflation IS accelerating rapidly, this cannot be denied. And I don't need fudged and twisted stats to tell you that. I've seen it w/ my own eyes, gone grocery shopping lately?

If you want truly healthy food from the store that's NOT loaded w/ toxins and poisons, it's going to cost you.

In fact, it's going to cost you more now than I have EVER seen before in my 40 years in this world.
 
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