why are Microtech folders so expensive?

[Charlie Mike]

I really miss the Vero Beach days.

 

[ToddM]

Doesn't matter what the PRODUCT, ie cars, tires, tools, skateboards, firearms, kitchen cabinets, flooring material, concrete, nails, bolts, light bulbs, cereal , computers, etc, etc... (this time it's about a particular folding knife) if it's a low cost price point item all that means is they had to make compromises to get the price down in order to make a profit. This is business.

Cheaper labor,
unskilled labor,
Cheaper materials,
Quicker manufacturing techniques that may cause minor inconsistency, and on and on....

There's a lot more than just that going on in most businesses, not all businesses in the same industry have the same costs, or emphasis on profits, or pride in their work. Look at the Benchmade fiasco, they are forcing dealers to jack up prices to the customer, for the exact same product, and since Benchmade is not charging dealers more, there's no change in the product itself or Benchmade's profits per sale. Nothing about the product changed, but the effective prices to the customer just jumped 20-30%. There are plenty of companies out there selling products that are not representative of their price point. Many small companies start out with extremely high quality and value, then as they build a reputation they are bought out, or their quality control gets lost as they grow larger, and they still sell on their old reputations. They expand into areas they are not experts in, they water down their products by producing lower price points. I can think of many examples.......Kimber, Leupold, SIG (oddly after the guy that did it to Kimber was hired by SIG), Mountain Hardware, Arcteryx, Sidi, Mercedes, the list goes on and on. In many cases those decisions mean expansion and more profits for the company, but a lower quality product for the consumer.

There are lots of reasons a particular product is more expensive, it's not always about product quality or material costs. Look at Arcteryx, they were bought out by Salomon years ago, and a $500 indestructible jacket that was made in Canada to extremely high standards and durability now comes from China with still high but not nearly as high of quality, but the price stayed the same.

At the end of the day sadly it's the consumer's fault for not expecting more for their money and voting with their wallet when a business provides a sub-par product, and of course spreading the word.

 

[Adrenaline_6]

The bottom line is its worth what the consumer will pay. If people stop buying a product, prices go down. If the company can't keep up, prices go up to take advantage of that demand. Look at the ammunition shortage. What a joke. People were paying crazy prices. A company that does trigger work for HK handguns, Grayguns, jacked up there trigger jobs about a $100 to $365 for their reduced reset carry perfection package. They do awesome work, but really? Almost 40%??? People still pay for it and they have a back log of work so you can't really blame them for it. Take what you can get I guess. I won't do it out of principle, but that's just me. Everyone spends their money how they want, it's their right to do so.