Ughhh..... more price increases coming in 2018

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Yo Mama

Yo Mama

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Looks like along with Spyderco moving to MAP, Microtech has now looked like they plan on making increases in price in 2018 (even being advertised as a reason to buy now on Bladehq).

UTX85 and LUDT going up by 30 bucks to dealers! That puts the UTX85 at the price of the Ultratech.

Wow, glad I stocked up, I can't keep up. Any other companies going on the "rise"?
 
I learned in another thread that Condor instituted MAP pricing. Their product line has been increasing in price noticeably over the last couple of years.

Added: I generally expect a price increase as good companies typically increase their employee wage rates. Also, it appears that knives made a bit of a come back last year in terms of sales in general.
 
22-rimfire said:
I learned in another thread that Condor instituted MAP pricing. Their product line has been increasing in price noticeably over the last couple of years.

Added: I generally expect a price increase as good companies typically increase their employee wage rates. Also, it appears that knives made a bit of a come back last year in terms of sales in general.
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With Condor I noticed over the last few years they have more of a refined product. They used to look like a beat on steel bucket with an edge, but now they have a focus on clean grinds. So for that I'm all for a modest price increase. And I agree wages need to keep up with inflation so that I also expect.

My issue though is at some point it diminishes return, and I look elsewhere.
 
"... More Price Increases Coming in 2018"?!

Surely you were not expecting prices to remain the same, or price decreases, were you? :)

Hint: Expect more than one price increase this year on everything, and for that trend to continue for the rest of your life. :(

Based on my 62 years of "life" on this rock, I can assure you that whatever it is you want to buy in the future, it will cost more then than it does now. :(
I remember when you could buy a NEW 1973 Camaro for $3,800. Today, that is not even a good down payment for a new Camaro ... or for a restored 1973 Camaro, for that matter.

35¢ for a loaf of Wonder Bread ... 50¢ for a gallon of milk ... 5¢ for a full size candy bar or a bag of Raman Noodle Soup ... 10¢ for a 12 ounce bottle of soda pop ... 18.9¢ for a gallon of (leaded) regular gasoline ...

I'll never see prices like those again :(
 
Yo Mama said:
And I agree wages need to keep up with inflation so that I also expect.
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Sure the problem is, in one their biggest target markets, the USA there's a whole lot of people that have no jobs because they've been legislated out of the country. I realize these companies need to pay a decent wage but, thru no fault of their own, they're going to end up pricing themselves right out of business.

I know damn few people who have the disposable income for a 300 dollar UTX-85 or 100+ dollar Condor.

Not sure what the answer is here, but I'm pretty sure raising prices in a RIGGED *free-market system* isn't it.
 
Keeping up with inflation?
 
Jack_Burton said:
Sure the problem is, in one their biggest target markets, the USA there's a whole lot of people that have no jobs because they've been legislated out of the country. I realize these companies need to pay a decent wage but, thru no fault of their own, they're going to end up pricing themselves right out of business.

I know damn few people who have the disposable income for a 300 dollar UTX-85 or 100+ dollar Condor.

Not sure what the answer is here, but I'm pretty sure raising prices in a RIGGED *free-market system* isn't it.
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How true. American steel producers didn’t count on China’s determination when they tried to form a hegemony on global production.
 
Maybe these American companies should lobby congress to promote financial legislation that would that would have the net effect of oh, I dunno....MAKING THE DOLLAR WORTH MORE?

Just throwing that out there :rolleyes:
 
I never said price increases were rigged.

Unfortunately, inflation is a vicious circle.
Wages go up, then prices go up.
Wages are any business's number one expense.
When costs of doing business goes up, a business has two choices:
Raise prices, or lock the doors.
To stay in business, they have to make a profit.
Unlike a government, they cannot print more money or run in the red indefinitely.
 
Just read an article somewhere on one of the knife sites that said that sales had rebounded in 2017 from the two previous years' flat (or in some cases lower) sales. I think most manufacturers will grab what they can when they can and when thinking about it, prices have been pretty stable the last couple of years.

I am interested to see how pricing will be once more and more off shore companies make better and better knives, knives designed from respected designers from across the world, knives made from premium materials, and in some cases better quality control than their counterparts.

More and more "American" branded knives are made off shore, so I don't see how the marketing model would allow an "American" knife brand to compete with a direct channel seller of similar quality. Could be an interesting year. To my eye, I am already seeing a lot of influence on American branded knives by the Chinese manufacturers. Strangers designs, the addition of color in backspacers, pivots, frames, etc. And different blade styles and waaaaayyyyy too much 3d machining to me. (Thinking of ZT specifically here where you now have to buy a special wrench for the "peep eye" pivot on their folder.)

Like I said, could be interesting.

Robert
 
Yonose said:
If we had the same tariffs in place on Chinese made products as they do on American made products, it wouldn’t be as much of a problem.
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Do you understand how tariffs work? The importer pays them, not the exporter. That wouldn't keep prices from going up at all, and--in fact--would do the very opposite.Economists argue about all sorts of things, but one thing they're in agreement on is that tariffs are not a good idea for boosting the US economy.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Do you understand how tariffs work? The importer pays them, not the exporter. That wouldn't keep prices from going up at all, and--in fact--would do the very opposite.Economists argue about all sorts of things, but one thing they're in agreement on is that tariffs are not a good idea for boosting the US economy.
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Prices would go up on foreign goods, not American products. Case in point, China has tariffs on almost all foreign produced goods; the result is that companies there have a huge advantage. And the desired result is what they call a trade imbalance
 
Yonose said:
Prices would go up on foreign goods, not American products. Case in point, China has tariffs on almost all foreign produced goods; the result is that companies there have a huge advantage. And the desired result is what they call a trade imbalance
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That has nothing to do with annual price increases...
 
afishhunter said:
J Jack_Burton , you can thank
President Richard M. Nixon for the devaluation of the US Dollar.
He is the one that took us off the Gold Standard, during his first term in office.
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Yep, when he decided to make the dollar a fiat currency it was doomed. As far as I know, every single fiat currency in the history of the world has collapsed. And the dollar is just going to be the next one.

If it hadn't been propped up by the elites for the last 4 decades as a vehicle to bring their agenda to fruition, imo it would've already collapsed over 20 years ago.

Thanks Dick :(
 
price increases and/or decreases usually happen slowly, and in a way that deflects “sticker shock.” Announcing them the way spyderco did,(along with a map increase) I think was a marketing error which will disproportionately affect sales of its American made models(e.g. the shaman). If they end up closing Golden facility, or make it fully robotic, I won’t even buy any more of my favorite seki models. We have a pretty healthy and mature trade relationship with Japan, while our trade policies with China are detrimental to everything except banks and the corporations which log Chinese imports as exports. (By virtue of being designed by an American company) Tech companies, textile manufacturers and finished goods moved their production almost immediately after this “special” exemption was passed.
 
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