Price increase?

Jaydud

Jaydud

Joined
Jul 24, 2015
Messages
338
i was browsing through Emerson’s Website. It’s been a while since I looked through it but the Commander and Cqc-15 show a starting price of $260. Is it me or did prices increase?
 
ron finkbeiner jr said:
The knives aren't worth the price. $150.00 - 175.00 maybe but not that. The increase is a money grab no more no less. Just my opinion of course.
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I understand your position. As a business owner myself, I hope that the pricing reflects a desire of Mr. Emerson to reward his smallish staff in order that they have an enjoyable life. Knowing what I do about Ernie, I strongly suspect that is the case.
 
Its confusing because with the tariffs in place Emerson should be in a great position as a US company using US steel to profit with existing pricing. Inflation is stagnant here also, more stable than it has been. Seems the production companies are racing to see who can raise their prices the most?
 
The "poor/low value for the cost" argument is an old one with Emersons. It is one of the most common arguments against them - that the materials don't match the price and that for the same price X manufacturer gives better steel and handles and bearings etc. There are many possible reasons for the price increase. I'm not going to speculate on them.

However, 12-20 dollars more on some/all knives is not going to cut out many new buyers who were already not going to buy them since they can get a Reate or Kizer or Lionsteel or WE or whatever with "better" materials anyway. I think people who like or want an Emerson want it for the intangibles that have been much discussed here and elsewhere and are going to buy it regardless, as they have been. People who only want a knife equation that tallies up on paper properly are already out of the market for Emersons.

For those of us who appreciate the soul/essence of the knifemaker and what he puts into his product and not just the math of the materials, the price increase will likely not have much effect.

And really, for non-knife enthusiasts, who buy a single knife a couple bucks does not make a big difference. When you are buying 10, 50, 100 knives a year those increases add up fast. But pricing is not geared towards the enthusiast, it's geared towards the layman I would think. The one time buyer, or every couple years buyer.

YMWV.
 
BHQ prices appear to be the same as far as I can tell...I hope they don't go up any more since they're already inflated badly. If they do I'm sure we will get a blog post blaming it on some foreign entity/religion/millenials.

Take this with a cup of salt, but the Wiki page for EKI estimates $10M a year in revenues, is that plausible? It doesn't seem like they make enough knives for that.
 
Officer's Match said:
I understand your position. As a business owner myself, I hope that the pricing reflects a desire of Mr. Emerson to reward his smallish staff in order that they have an enjoyable life. Knowing what I do about Ernie, I strongly suspect that is the case.
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There was a time I really liked his knives and to a point I still do. The real issue is that the materials used don't justify the price point. Point in case look at Cold Steel as an example. While it's true their advertising is a bit over the top their materials to price point ratio is much easier to swallow, even with some of their mid tech custom stuff. I am not a Coldsteel fan boy I am just using it as an example. Zt is another good example of materials to cost ratio that is mostly reasonable and fit and finish is alot better in most cases. I used to dig Mr. Emerson's knives esp back when I first learned about them from Roque Warrior books years ago. I just wished he would step up his game a bit but then again he is who he is and that's what sets him apart from so many others. I respect Mr. and Mrs. E always and forever I just won't buy anymore of his knives cause I just can't choke down the price of the knives. Again this is just my opinion and I'm not trying to start a flame war. The Bill of Rights is a beautiful thing isn't it?
 
bvo85 said:
That's not how tariffs work. They raise the cost of raw materials for everyone, even people using US steel.

The price of steel is based on supply and demand. Before a tariff, some people are buying foreign steel and some are buying US steel. After a tariff, some portion of the people who use to buy foreign steel have switched to buying US steel. That causes increased demand in US steel, which raises the price of US steel.

Tariffs on steel are "good" for one group of people -- US Steel manufacturers. Everyone else is hurt by them, including US companies that buy US steel and US consumers that buy products made from US Steel.
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Then shouldn’t prices be increased across the board? Not just a few models?

I love my EKI knives. I’m just not a huge fan of what they cost.
 
Pointing out again that it's all relative. If you are only buying one knife a $12-20 dollar increase is probably not a big deal. If you are buying a knife per month, it might start to hurt. If you are buying 3 dozen knives a year, it adds up to a chunk of change.

But, if one is used to buying $1K+ customs, a couple bucks extra for your EDC is no big deal.

With it being the Commander and 15 (both recurves), maybe it's just laying out the patterns on the blank steel sheets is less efficient than say a A-100 or CQC-7. Or maybe EKI has hundreds of other blades on hand and had to re-up on these two. Maybe their supplier had to pass on a price increase. Dunno.

Perhaps an email to EKI would get your questions answered?
 
I totally get the point as stated above. My intention of this thread wasn’t to question why the increase in price but just to point out the increase as I questioned my sanity wondering if it was always that price or if it did increase. I truly believe that Mr. Emerson (or any business owner) can charge whatever they want for their product.
 
I didn't know about the price increase and thought this post was useful. Although, the title originally made me thought it was across the entire product line. phew!
 
Reminds me of when certain knives were classified as the "Prestige Line". Their prices jumped significantly.
That's when I snagged up the A100, Mini A100, and Horseman (Mini CQC-8 at the time) all for less than $124 a piece.
Non of which were in the Prestige Line.
 
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