time to adjust the Military pricing?

[sharp_edge]

I love the Spyderco Military model such that I have spent more $$ on it than any other knives, all brands and models considerered. However, when comparing its retail prices to PM2 and Para 3, I wonder if Spyderco Military is priced a bit too high. This speculation is also partly due to my observation that sprint runs andr dealer exclusives of Military sell much slower.

As of now, here are the retail prices of the base production model of these three at Knifecenter (s30v steel and black g10):

Military: $174
PM2: $136
Para 3: $130

Comparison of pm2 and para 3 seems to indicate the difference in the amount of materials used plays a nonsignificant role in deciding the prices. I seem to have heard the same argument in another thread. If this is true, should not Military be priced a bit lower?

Granted the comparision of millie and pm2 is a bit more complex as they use different locks, but I am not sure if linerlock costs more than compression lock, or actually less.

Or we can argue both PM2 and Para 3 are priced too low.

 

[RickJ]

I may not know what I am talking about but I do own several Military versions and a couple PM2 Versions. To me there is two Issues that make the Military more costly. 1. More Material needed period. 2. Like you said overall the Military does not sell as much as the PM2 that actually per Unit should drive the price up not down. I could be wrong but that is my 2 cents worth.

 

[lieferung]

Para 2 and 3 are essentially the same knife but different sizes, while the Millie is sort of it's own thing (liner lock, tip down only).

 

[MyLegsAreOk]

I love this family of knives, but I only think the millie should get lowered to 150 for psychological reasons. I mean I will pay 170 for one of these, but most people think of 150 and 170 as too different planets and not that you are spending more and getting more. IMO para 3 should be 120, PM2 135, and Millie 150. It's more material though all the way around so it makes sense it doesn't work that way though.

EDIT:
I would like to add that the Manix 2 being just over 100 and being almost as good as a military family knife is a STEAL. Manix 2 is incredible value.

 

[MaxFisher]

I may be wrong or speaking out of turn on this, but I seem to remember hearing that the Manix2 and PM2 (and the Para3 as well given the price) sell at a much lower profit margin than other Spyderco models. As I recall, this was done to make these US made models more accessible to consumers.

 

[blame it on god]

American made steel is going up in price. American labor cost is going up. (as it should. milk, eggs, mortgage, car and such isn't going down)
A price adjustment is probably long overdue for an American made knife that sells for less than a lot of Taiwanese made Spyderco's. It won't be in your favor!

I would love a decrease, but that is not going to happen.

 

[kniferelatedname]

This speculation is also partly due to my observation that sprint runs andr dealer exclusives of Military sell much slower.

Don't you think that might be why it costs more? If you sell less of something you have to spread R&D, line tooling changes, and other costs onto a smaller number of product. So it increases the cost. I suspect this is why people complain about low volume VG-10 knives being "expensive" (like the Ouroboros or that cleaver thing), even though the material cost of VG-10 shouldn't be that much.

 

[Yonose]

I never thought about it before, but I think you’re right—a $6 dollar difference vs a $38 dollar difference between knives that are more or less larger versions of the same design seems a bit out of proportion, and could very well be slowing sales of the best knife they produce in Golden!!

 

[DocT]

I love the Military and the present cost is why I do not buy more.

 

[cabfrank]

I may be wrong or speaking out of turn on this, but I seem to remember hearing that the Manix2 and PM2 (and the Para3 as well given the price) sell at a much lower profit margin than other Spyderco models. As I recall, this was done to make these US made models more accessible to consumers.

I'm pretty sure I've read the same, or very similar, a couple different times. It's exactly what I was thinking.

 

[Danke42]

Sounds like what they need is a knife this size in the Byrd family.


Cheap/Good Quality/Made in the USA. Pick two of the three.

 

[Fonedork]

No.

 

[MaxFisher]

Sounds like what they need is a knife this size in the Byrd family.


Cheap/Good Quality/Made in the USA. Pick two of the three.

The last few Buck knives I've looked at confirmed the last part of your post. I don't mean to put them down, but they're trying to do USA made on a budget and it just isn't up to my standards. Kershaw does a bit better with their USA models, but only because they have a huge line-up of imported blades to offset the costs of their dwindling number of USA models.

I'd go for a Millie style knife in the byrd line any day.

 

[Jenner 515]

Nope, IMHO it is fine the way it is. My latest Millie was a dealer exclusive, nice exotic CTS-204P steel, for less than $180.

My latest email tells me I can get an ATR in S30V for over $210.

At the current price Millitary is a great deal.

 

[TX180SX]

My opinion on the subject is that the Military is just expensive enough that I cannot collect all of em....so I limit myself to the sprints.

 

[Yonose]

I don’t think Spyderco will lower the price, but in discontinuing the Ti models they definitely made them more attractively priced. I stocked up on these and the exclusives from knifeworks while on sale so I won’t need to buy another Millie for a long time. My edc is usually a Millie in Ti/s30v, KW’s cf/Ti s90v, cts-204p or cruwear.

 

[sharp_edge]

I don’t think Spyderco will lower the price, but in discontinuing the Ti models they definitely made them more attractively priced. I stocked up on these and the exclusives from knifeworks while on sale so I won’t need to buy another Millie for a long time. My edc is usually a Millie in Ti/s30v, KW’s cf/Ti s90v, cts-204p or cruwear.

So you dont plan to pick up the Rex 45 Military? Hard to pass ...

 

[Yonose]

So you dont plan to pick up the Rex 45 Military? Hard to pass ...

I’m hoping it sells out before I get around to buying one. It sounds too good to be true, given the high hardness I’m wondering how “brittle” it will be in real world usage!

 

[sharp_edge]

I’m hoping it sells out before I get around to buying one. It sounds too good to be true, given the high hardness I’m wondering how “brittle” it will be in real world usage!

I am trust Spyderco is able to find a good balance point between edge retention and toughness for this seemingly great steel.

 

[Yonose]

I am trust Spyderco is able to find a good balance point between edge retention and toughness for this seemingly great steel.

I’m not gonna be able to resist, probably, I’m just trying to hold out as long as possible. The Millie will be around longer than the pm2, surely!