Why is a Hinderer XM-18 worth $525?

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river251

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Can somebody help me understand why a Rick Henderer XM-18 is worth $525?
I have seen knives that are works of art, costing thousands, that had I the money, I'd buy joyfully. But this knife is not that, it is a functional knife like most Benchmades, Zero Tolerances, etc. It has good steel, but so do many less expensive knives. I'm not picking on Henderer, it's really a question about knives in this price range in general, and Benchmade and other well known brands have knives in this range.

But, unless you just have money to burn, why would a working man pay $525 for this knife?
 
I can not speak to this particular knife since I have absolutely ZILCH experience with this maker and this specific pattern but I will give you an analogy, something which I've been grappling with:

Folks who know me on here, know that I have no problem buying the brands which I luv and drop anywhere from $400 to $1000 at drop of a hat. I don't mean this in a braggadocios way, just how my brain is wired when it comes to knives that I happen to like very much.

Now, I've been eyeing up a set of pots and pans at Costco which run close to $400 for the set but once in a while they drop them by $100 on their coupons. maybe they do this once a year and since I missed out the last one, I've been waiting for their next coupon phase. Now, $300-$400 should not be that much of an obstacle to me, right? But news flash: major mental block and it is! I can easily buy their $199 sets all day long and be done with it but I want the better stuff that lasts probably a lifelong (I'm in the twilight of mid-age). Now let's say you scoff and say, "$300 for a set of pots and pans? Pffft, big spender!!! <sarcastically of course!>... I'm sure that some who are culinary experts spend $2000 alone on ONE fancy pot or pan! Will the high end pot or pan make the food taste better? I dunno, I hoard and shove food very quickly down my throat to differentiate but to some ultra-civilized Frenchman who takes 2 hours to eat that meal, it may.

This is an over elaboration of what Bravo had said with one current thought experiment in my own head :)
 
river251 said:
Can somebody help me understand why a Rick Henderer XM-18 is worth $525?
I have seen knives that are works of art, costing thousands, that had I the money, I'd buy joyfully. But this knife is not that, it is a functional knife like most Benchmades, Zero Tolerances, etc. It has good steel, but so do many less expensive knives. I'm not picking on Henderer, it's really a question about knives in this price range in general, and Benchmade and other well known brands have knives in this range.

But, unless you just have money to burn, why would a working man pay $525 for this knife?
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You're mistakenly equating cost with worth.

Why? Because your working man wants one?
 
Casinostocks said:
I can not speak to this particular knife since I have absolutely ZILCH experience with this maker and this specific pattern but I will give you an analogy, something which I've been grappling with:

Folks who know me on here, know that I have no problem buying the brands which I luv and drop anywhere from $400 to $1000 at drop of a hat. I don't mean this in a braggadocios way, just how my brain is wired when it comes to knives that I happen to like very much.

Now, I've been eyeing up a set of pots and pans at Costco which run close to $400 for the set but once in a while they drop them by $100 on their coupons. maybe they do this once a year and since I missed out the last one, I've been waiting for their next coupon phase. Now, $300-$400 should not be that much of an obstacle to me, right? But news flash: major mental block and it is! I can easily buy their $199 sets all day long and be done with it but I want the better stuff that lasts probably a lifelong (I'm in the twilight of mid-age). Now let's say you scoff and say, "$300 for a set of pots and pans? Pffft, big spender!!! <sarcastically of course!>... I'm sure that some who are culinary experts spend $2000 alone on ONE fancy pot or pan! Will the high end pot or pan make the food taste better? I dunno, I hoard and shove food very quickly down my throat to differentiate but to some ultra-civilized Frenchman who takes 2 hours to eat that meal, it may.

This is an over elaboration of what Bravo had said with one current thought experiment in my own head :)
Click to expand...

I find myself doing things like this all the time. I was looking at TV's the other day, and I actually said "I'm not sure I want to spend $450 on a TV" while I had my $600 Hinderer Fulltrack in my pocket. Our brains are weird.
 
As with many other products, you pay a premium for the name/brand.
Hinderer knows, that there will be people out there willing to pay that extra, just because he is the maker.
He has made a name for him self, and profits off that. For a long time, he hyped up his own name, by only selling his knife to a select few. Thus making the outsiders wanting his product even more.

At the same time, I am sure the Hinderer knife is excellent.
 
OP: Why did someone just pay $110.7M (plus a 13.9% buyer's premium) for an original Monet oil painting? Because there was only 1 and the person who bought it wanted it THAT much!

As I'm sure you already know, "supply and demand" is the basis for the pricing for everything in a "free" market. The greater the supply and the lower the demand, the lower the price. The lower the supply and the greater the demand, the higher the price.

There has always been a relatively low supply and high demand for Hinderers but, as demand has dropped off, prices for Hinderers have too and prices for them now are actually lower in the 2ndary market than they were just a few years ago.

FWIW, I recently bought a Gen 6 XM-18 3.0 Slicer but sold it almost immediately because I thought it was too expensive for what it was, given that I already owned many ZT/Hinderer variations that cost less that I liked as much or more.

So, if you think that the Hinderers are too expensive (as you apparently do), I suggest that you consider a ZT0566, 0562 or 0560, which are comparable to the XM-18 3.0 and XM-18 3.5 and XM-24, respectively, but cost only about 1/3-1/2 the price of their counterparts. I currently own 31 ZTs (including 7 ZT/Hinderer variants) but no Hinderers for this reason.
 
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Cuz sometimes your money goes.towatds a knife and its materials, and sometimes.it goes for a bramlnd. You seem to understand theres no way steel and g10 cost 400+ as materials, so people like the brand and hinderer can charge a premium.
 
91bravo said:
Same as buying a $2K Sako rifle and putting a $50 scope on it...:D
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IF the $50 scope holds zero and you don't change settings the question becomes, was it really a bad purchase if you are still hitting your target?
 
I believe Hinderer is still a relatively small company compared to some of the big manufacturers. Cost of materials is likely very low to all the other costs involved-building, research and development, machinery, American wages & benefits, taxes, warranty, dealer profits to name a few. All this has to be paid from a relatively small amount of knives made. I am sure Rick is doing fairly well these days after 20 some years of developing this company & creating a popular product(many others have come and gone), but I doubt he will be flying into Blade on his private jet.
Compared to what I used to pay on the secondary market for XM's when demand far exceeded production capacity they are practically giving them away. In those 20 some years I believe he has raised his price from $395 to $425(if the above post is correct)
I have no complaint, but if I did I wouldn't buy them-you don't have to
 
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Bob6794 said:
IF the $50 scope holds zero and you don't change settings the question becomes, was it really a bad purchase if you are still hitting your target?
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That depends. Does the $50 scope have great clarity, light transmission,is made of durable materials, nitrogen filled, waterproof, have an acceptable reticle, enough magnification, and a lifetime warranty? If so, I’d say it wasn’t a bad purchase. If anyone knows of such a $50 scope, please share. I think it is a relevant comparison.
 
Huntnow said:
That depends. Does the $50 scope have great clarity, light transmission,is made of durable materials, nitrogen filled, waterproof, have an acceptable reticle, enough magnification, and a lifetime warranty? If so, I’d say it wasn’t a bad purchase. If anyone knows of such a $50 scope, please share. I think it is a relevant comparison.
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That $50 scope comes with a free lunch too.
 
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