overpriced blades

[mmike1357]

Funny story that fits this thread, I used to work at a small town hardware store. One day the owner brings in a new line of pocket knives, to my horror, yep frost cutlery. We have a smaller selection of sub 50 dollar kershaws, Case, decent stuff for the price. They sold quite slow, no one wanted to by a 50$ knife, or a 30$ one for that matter. Anyways, the frost stuff sold five to one over the better quality knives, people liked the ~10$ price point. We did have another line of knives that came with the frost, lowest of the low, I was told to put them in a bucket by the register with 5.99 on it. People would pick one out look at it toss em back. Maybe one or two would sell, but all in all they sat there. The price on the bucket went down, to 3.99, people started to pick them up for beater knives. To sum this mess of a story up 5.99 was entirely overpriced to most people, but we are talking the worst of the worst quality knife here, but at 3.99 they sold.

 

[Ankerson]

Funny story that fits this thread, I used to work at a small town hardware store. One day the owner brings in a new line of pocket knives, to my horror, yep frost cutlery. We have a smaller selection of sub 50 dollar kershaws, Case, decent stuff for the price. They sold quite slow, no one wanted to by a 50$ knife, or a 30$ one for that matter. Anyways, the frost stuff sold five to one over the better quality knives, people liked the ~10$ price point. We did have another line of knives that came with the frost, lowest of the low, I was told to put them in a bucket by the register with 5.99 on it. People would pick one out look at it toss em back. Maybe one or two would sell, but all in all they sat there. The price on the bucket went down, to 3.99, people started to pick them up for beater knives. To sum this mess of a story up 5.99 was entirely overpriced to most people, but we are talking the worst of the worst quality knife here, but at 3.99 they sold.

That's not surprising at all as I have seen things like that 1st hand also.

Some people are so cheap they will fight over a penny.... And no I am not joking.....

 

[ohen cepel]

Strider.
The "high end" Cold Steel stuff.

 

[TriviaMonster]

I will say I think some companies have kinda strange pricing strategies. My best example would be CRK. A large Sebenza 21 is $60 more than a small, which seems a bit steep in my mind. With CRK, you pay for the fit and finish and the machining, and in the process get high quality titanium and good blade steel, but nothing exotic material wise in the basic versions. So I'm confused on why its an extra $60. That's a chunk of cash for not a huge difference size wise.

Also, there is the $195 Professional Soldier. Its a skeletonized CPMS35VN 3.375" blade with a kydex sheath. Ouch. That's a lot for what it is. But, for a mere $35 extra you can get a Nlaya which has a slightly longer blade(3.75 inches), gorgeous Micarta scales, and 0.015" thicker blade, and a nice leather sheath. $35 more buys you the works. Same blade steel, gorgeous scales and a beautiful leather sheath instead of kydex. Interesting, huh?

They aren't the only company who have strange pricing strategies, just a good example. I don't think they are overpriced in general, just the large Sebenza compared to the small. The Professional Soldier is also a bit of a rip compared to the much better appointed Nlaya. Why those difference on the Sebenzas is larger than the fixed blades I referenced is beyond me.

 

[timberweasel]

It took a long time and a lot of patience to find a NIB Spyderco Rock Lobster at a price I was comfortable paying--the problem I had was that I was judging the knife on materials alone. But the design is fantastic; a thing that cannot be appreciated until the knife is in hand. Pricey? Yes. Overpriced? I no longer think so. If you want to see the show, you gotta buy the ticket.

Now, the prices down at the local Brick & Mortar are outrageous... on average, they charge roughly 60-100% more than shopping online.

 

[MrApple]

Agreed. All things are priced at the maximum price people are willing to pay for them. Overpriced things would be priced at a price that is over what people are willing to pay. And nobody would pay for them.

Knife sells....not overpriced.

I think that we are getting into a discussion of semantics regarding the term "overpriced". Just because you are willing to, or have to, pay a certain price doesn't mean that you don't feel that you paid too much. Ex. Your car runs on gas and therefore you have little choice but to purchase it at the price the station has marked. This doesn't mean that you feel $4.00 a gallon for regular is as just a bargain now as it was when you paid $3.20 a year ago.

Now as I step down from my soapbox, I think the TOPS knives and ESEE knives are over priced. I have several blades from each and love them but still think that I paid a tad too much.

 

[razorsdescent]

Rockstead knives seem ludicrously priced to me. some of their folders go for well over 2 grand. There are Sooooooooooo many other knives I would get for that kind of money. like a lochsa duct taped to a hinderer sandwiched between two sebenzas. I mean all they have is this high rockwell hardness so they hold their edge a long time, they are not magic.

I also dont get the price for some of jay fishers "tactical" knives. Aside from most of the designs having zero appeal to me, they look like they have very little practical application. but I digress. The thing is that there are plenty of knife makers that do the same thing for alot less. His basic designs start at over 800 dollars and they will most certainly be hundreds more. Im not trying to knock Jay fisher. He is a true artist, I just dont get the pricing is all, as i said many other people will do the same things for alot less. Besides if i was going into a combat zone I would probably take a grayman or something similar. Maybe my perspective will change a bit when my income increases.

The biggest rip-off i have ever seen was one day walking into a surplus store and seeing a coldsteel natchez bowie being sold for 729 dollars. I almost peed myself. I just cant imagine anyone ever buying that. Its the price of a custom from a Well respected knife maker.


Did someone really mention bud nealy? I think his prices are exceedingly reasonable. just gos to show how much this is driven by perspective. Im sure there is some guy sitting there fondling his rockstead right now thinking about how worth it, it was.

 

[C Ben Susrool]

GEC's are overpriced !
I have owned a couple, still have one. For the blade steel and bolster material, not much there for the price.

 

[mmike1357]

Staying away from the secondhand market, I think that is a whole different animal, I think that some of spyderco's taiwanese produced stuff is way overpriced (not tenacious line, think zulu, des horn etc). Some versions of the dragonfly are overpriced too, g-10 ffg is like eighty bucks! I agree that cold steel's more premium offerings don't deserve that large of a premium.

 

[Snody]

If Mike Snody's facebook is to be believed, I would say that a few of his recent custom folders selling for $2,200 is ridiculously overpriced.

Thanks for mentioning my name..
I have been a Professional Knife Maker for over 15 years and Invested well over $150,000.00 in equipment
My shop rate is much lower than the local muffler repair center..
My knives are made by hand in America and I am proud of my work.
Knifemaking is my sole source of income to provide for a family of four.
My knives have steadily appreciated in value for the past decade.

Here is a folder that sold for $3,750.00 two weeks ago.

The one you are talking about was a Custom Black-Out Damascus Resistor that sold last night for $2,250.00

This Custom Reactor sold last week for $2,750.00

Thanks again and please visit my subforum "SnodyLand" here at Bladeforums.
Much Respect from Texas..

 

[retzius]

Hi Mr. Snody.

Your knives appear to have very nice craftsmanship and designs. I appreciate that you are producing an American made product and runnning a successful small business.

I dont understand the 'image' you have created around your knives. Why are they posed around dollar bills, gold bars, diamond watches, gold chains, and brand name perfumes? Is that a 'hip hop' thing?

Your knives look like some very well crafted tactical folders but I dont understand why they are protrayed as pimp jewelry

 

[jamesbeat]

Anything made by Gerber.

Another, related thing that irks me is is the premium placed on blade steels.
More exotic steels are more expensive, but when you're talking about 3-6" of steel bar stock for a blade, the price difference is tiny. Even if a premium steel costs 2,3,4, even 5 times the price of, say, 420HC, we're still talking very small amounts of money per blade.
The exceptions are the manufacturers who use really good steels to make inexpensive knives, such as Frost's and Opinel et al, who prove that there's no mystery to using good steel, even if some of the more exotic ones require more careful HT.
I'd happily pay an extra couple of bucks to have a better steel on some of the knives I own.

 

[TriviaMonster]

Its because Snody isn't just selling a sharp piece of steel that folds in half. He's selling personal embellishment and artistic style. Same reason a guy buys a Rolex or a the like. Its cool, its superbly made, and its not a common Walmart knife. Its not that they are $2,600 sharper than a Benchmade Activator, its that its rare, and a work of art. If you like Snody's knives and can afford them, then why not?

On top of that, Snody is a class act.

 

[retzius]

Its because Snody isn't just selling a sharp piece of steel that folds in half. He's selling personal embellishment and artistic style. Same reason a guy buys a Rolex or a the like. Its cool, its superbly made, and its not a common Walmart knife. Its not that they are $2,600 sharper than a Benchmade Activator, its that its rare, and a work of art. If you like Snody's knives and can afford them, then why not?

On top of that, Snody is a class act.

That still doesnt explain the pimp vibe. Rolex, as you brought up, does not market itself with gold chains, gold bars, dollar bills, and bling bling.

I was just wondering what the 'image' was that he was going for. It reminds me of a rags to riches ghetto fab type thing.

 

[jamesbeat]

Hi Mr. Snody.

Your knives appear to have very nice craftsmanship and designs. I appreciate that you are producing an American made product and runnning a successful small business.

I dont understand the 'image' you have created around your knives. Why are they posed around dollar bills, gold bars, diamond watches, gold chains, and brand name perfumes? Is that a 'hip hop' thing?

Your knives look like some very well crafted tactical folders but I dont understand why they are protrayed as pimp jewelry

I don't want to answer for Snody, but my guess is that he has found a niche market that works for him.
They look like nice knives, and if he's selling them with that image, there's obviously a market there for it.

It's not to my taste either, but any knifemaker who can support his family on knifemaking alone without having to have a 'day job' has earned my respect.

 

[Snody]

Its because Snody isn't just selling a sharp piece of steel that folds in half. He's selling personal embellishment and artistic style. Same reason a guy buys a Rolex or a the like. Its cool, its superbly made, and its not a common Walmart knife. Its not that they are $2,600 sharper than a Benchmade Activator, its that its rare, and a work of art. If you like Snody's knives and can afford them, then why not?

On top of that, Snody is a class act.

Thanks for your post.
I really appreciate it.
Here are a couple more images..
Much Respect.

 

[jamesbeat]

Here's my homage to your photos Snody (hey, the Rolex and the silver bar are real at least...)

Can I have a free knife?

 

[Snody]

I don't want to answer for Snody, but my guess is that he has found a niche market that works for him.
They look like nice knives, and if he's selling them with that image, there's obviously a market there for it.

It's not to my taste either, but any knifemaker who can support his family on knifemaking alone without having to have a 'day job' has earned my respect.

Thanks for posting..
I appreciate that..
Much Respect from Texas.
[youtube]gmBluMyw3h4[/youtube]

 

[Snody]

Here's my homage to your photos Snody (hey, the Rolex and the silver bar are real at least...)

Can I have a free knife?

No, but you made me smile..

Beautiful Time Piece..

Thanks for a great post..

You Rock Young Homie..

Respect.

 

[james terrio]

double post