Yojimbo 2 Availability - What Happened?

[angusW]

I just got my order in last night with W&W that have 10 coming in on Dec.19. Looks like I just made it in as they don't have any more spots left. Simple supply and demand. No one dropped any ball.

 

[JNewell]

Thank you, I would have been a little sharper. Very good reply.

You need to get some perspective, buddy boy. Spyderco neither "dropped the ball" nor is either release a "fiasco". Spyderco isn't Apple or EA Games with massive factories in China cranking out millions of iPhones or Madden NFL. They released a couple of knives where the initial demand was simply greater than the amount they could supply. Would you rather they pushed back the release date several months simply so everybody would get theirs at the same time? Are you that petty and selfish? What if supply was greater than the demand, and they were left with too many knives (like the T-Mag)? A miscalculation like that can hurt a company as small as Spyderco, which is a lesson I'm certain they have learned.

 

[dman62]

I like to have my knives yesterday also but in the end it's a knife not a drug I need to stay alive. If I have to wait a few months no sweat. I kinda enjoy the anticipation and there are always lots of knives to throw my money after. Great
news to hear an American company expanding production. Especially at this point in time. Thank's for the good news Sal!

 

[Moving Target]

Some will order the entire production run. Kelly needs to allocate to each to avoid distribution issues.

sal

So, essentially, the available inventory is doled out to merchants a few at a time to ensure everyone gets some to sell?

That makes sense, and I understand the desire to provide knives to each merchant fairly, just curious how you decide who gets how many and when?

 

[Moving Target]

I would have been a little sharper.

You big internet bully you. :jerk it:

 

[Burke]

So, essentially, the available inventory is doled out to merchants a few at a time to ensure everyone gets some to sell?

That makes sense, and I understand the desire to provide knives to each merchant fairly, just curious how you decide who gets how many and when?

I don't think that's what Sal said at all. They're "doled out" as fast as they make them, not a little at a time, but not every distributor gets as many as they want.

If you're going to fault anyone, it should be KnifeCenter for taking orders for a knife they didn't have in their hands and couldn't guarantee they'd be getting on release.

 

[Moving Target]

They're "doled out" as fast as they make them, not a little at a time, but not every distributor gets as many as they want..

Yes, that is how I understand it.

If you're going to fault anyone, it should be KnifeCenter for taking orders for a knife they didn't have in their hands and couldn't guarantee they'd be getting on release.

See my second post.

 

[Moving Target]

That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

Don't be embarrassed, many people have a difficult time grasping basic economics.

Pre-orders drive business and promote customer loyalty by guaranteeing delivery when a new item becomes available. By not supporting their distributors who chose to take pre-orders, they undermine their customer base by forcing them to go elsewhere to make their purchases. We have already heard from two people in this thread who canceled their pre-orders because they could purchase the same knife from another site without waiting. Another poster said they would be purchasing a different knife altogether. This represents a net loss to the online retailer, if not to Spyderco itself if customers opt to purchase an alternative.

People who don't pre-order should expect to wait until all existing orders have been filled. They should not be able to scoop them up and flip them on Ebay for a ridiculuous profit. It may be easy money but it's still bad business.

 

[pwet]

so your solution is that spyderco should not give anything to stores that don't take preorder until they have filled ever preorder taken everywhere ?

GREAT IDEA.

do that and the next day you'll have every internet knife stores taking preorders and back to the initial situation.

Don't be embarrassed, many people have a difficult time grasping basic economics.

i guess you know what you're talking about here?

 

[Insipid Moniker]

Yup, people who don't preorder should expect to wait. As long as they're buying through the same vendor. Seeing as that's not the case, it's kinda silly to argue that all the vendors should wait until all the preorder lists have been filled before they sell to customers that didn't preorder. It's sounding more and more like you feel that a preorder entitles you to a knife before anyone else and that's not actually what it does.

 

[darthsoaker]

It's sounding more and more like you feel that a preorder entitles you to a knife before anyone else and that's not actually what it does.

This, this, 1000 times this.

A preorder list entirely separate from, and independent of, Spyderco's delivery arrangement. It is an agreement between you and the dealer, not you and Spyderco.

 

[wsdavies]

I'm looking at my Yo2 sitting here on my desk. I didn't pre-order. My point being: Those willing to keep their ear to the ground and spend a little time searching usually do alright. Read this forum and Spyderco's forum and you'll hear all kinds of tasty tid bits.

In regard to the business end of this, we live in times where credit is tight unless you have a rock solid balance sheet. I'm guessing Spyderco has a pretty solid balance sheet, but even then, leverage is a sword that cuts both ways. Ask Lehman Brothers about that. There are a lot of profitable businesses that no longer exist because they had to much cash tied up in equipment and had their cash-flow financing pulled back. I'm guessing a man Sal's age (my dad is a business man the same age) isn't looking to leverage up at this point, but to grow his American production organically. This way he can insure he has some gold for his golden years and that he passes a strong healthy business down to his kids.

 

[neuron]

I'm looking at my Yo2 sitting here on my desk. I didn't pre-order. My point being: Those willing to keep their ear to the ground and spend a little time searching usually do alright.

This is my experience as well, including with the Yojimbo 2. I actually got one that I pre-ordered, but the second one I got with no pre-order and a little bit of searching.

 

[2edgesword]

There is limited production capacity and it all can't be focues on one knife when there are probably back orders for many other knives.

 

[legion681]

@ Moving Target

As others pointed out, you made a mistake when ordering from KC. Not because they are a bad outfit, but because their policy of taking all pre orders they can without considering how many knives they will actually receive, just sets you up for a big disappointment if you are slow in placing your pre order.
Better places, just to name a few, are Knifeworks, GP Knives, Howes Knife Shop, Cutlery Shoppe, etc. etc.

You don't seem to be new to Spyderco collecting/purchasing, hence you must have gotten a hint that in order to get your hands on one of these fairly early you would have had to be quick on the take, both with pre ordering or just purchasing one when some dealer had them in stock.
To be completely honest, it doesn't take a lot of effort, if you are REALLY interested in something. Going to 3-4 of the major dealer's websites once or twice a day would take you maybe a couple of minutes. I think anyone can spare that amount of time a day, don't you think?

In my case then, I was able to pre order a Yojimbo 2 from GP Knives back in July, on day 1 of them opening pre orders for this knife.
Then I decided I wanted to have 2 of them (1 a user and 1 for my collection because I love this knife THAT much) and I kept an eye open for people to have them in stock: I missed a couple of places (they were sold out quickly), until one place (Knifeworks) had them in stock and I got one. Then, that same day I remember at least 2-3 other reputable outfits having them in stock. As recently as a couple of days ago I received an email from Warrios and Wonders in Canada telling me they had them (but obviously I already had 2 Yojimbo 2s coming to me...so no need to get another one). All this is to say that it wasn't that impossible to find one, not even difficult...

It's not Spyderco's responsibility if you haven't looked hard enough or if you dozed off on this one. It's only yours.

 

[singularity35]

Entitlement issues here....

 

[Popsickle]

Entitlement issues here....

agree completely!

i think the OP just needs to be a bit more patient..... and here was me thinking i was impatient LOL! this takes it to a whole new level

 

[Liveitloud]

This is not a problem with Spyderco although they usually end up in the cross hairs over it. Reputable sites will put up a pre-order and then stop once they have met the amount of knives they expect to get. Then you have others who keep their pre-order up long after they cannot realistically meet the demand. This is what creates angst and problems. It has happened to me as well and I have chosen not to do business with that site again. I think it says a lot for a company when people rush to get a new/old re-released model. Spyderco is one of those for sure.

 

[Siggyhk]

I handled one at a local shop yesterday. I must say, this knife is an absolute winner. If I didn't just get one of those LE 806s, I'd have a Y0-2 on me right now. If you have to wait, it will be worth it, and the price wasn't bad considering the BNM store, so in time, street price will be a steal. Just hang in there. I hope to become an owner of one myself asap. One of the more impressive knives I held in the past years of so. -Great knife.

 

[Planterz]

Don't be embarrassed, many people have a difficult time grasping basic economics.

Awww, how cute. He's trying to be condescending.

Pre-orders drive business and promote customer loyalty by guaranteeing delivery when a new item becomes available.

What guarantee? Did Spyderco give you a guarantee? Did KC? No they didn't. All you were given was a place in line which you abandoned.

By not supporting their distributors who chose to take pre-orders, they undermine their customer base by forcing them to go elsewhere to make their purchases.

Balderdash. As I said, that makes no sense whatsoever. If offering the option of pre-ordering gave a retailer an advantage in offering new knives quicker to their customers, every dealer would offer it. As Sal just said, some dealers want more than they can even get. By your logic, a single dealer could offer thousands of pre-orders and nobody else could sell them. How does that make sense?

People who don't pre-order should expect to wait until all existing orders have been filled. They should not be able to scoop them up and flip them on Ebay for a ridiculuous profit. It may be easy money but it's still bad business.

And you say that I don't grasp basic economics.