...survive! knives needs to generate operating expenses by selling knives to generate the funds to make the knives already paid for while not actually making the knives they just sold...
The seconds have a shorter delivery time-frame for a reason, namely that those knives are already in process and were paid for with the "investment" (and yes, Survive! actually used that word in the Starter program that generated the funds that got production rolling in the first place) of knives sold in the Starter program.
Survive! has stated
on this forum and Lance simply re-iterated that S!K used the Starter funds to build infrastructure as well as purchase steel in sufficient volume to build
not just the knives ordered but MANY MANY more, and putting in deposits with contractors to produce said knives,
hence becoming "asset rich and cash poor". THAT is the "truth" as far as we know it.
It is clear that S!K over-spent on assets, particularly in light of the fact that a LOT of the product turned out
unsatisfactory (again, based on what we
know). Now, what is a tiny company to do when the contractor returns tons of product that doesn't meet your specs? Something went horribly wrong there, but that is being kept private and so S!K must bear the penalty from consumers who expected their knives LONG ago. *shrug*
If you buy a "pre-order" knife, you are paying for a product that isn't even made yet and providing S!K the capital to make that and probably other knives as well, i.e. you are investing in the production of
your knife while subsidizing the manufacture of knives that other people will pay for down the line. And by the way, that is true for products you buy from other companies "off the shelf" as well. *shrug*
If you paid for a second, you are actually paying for a knife that is in production
on someone else's investment that didn't quite meet specifications so it is offered to you at a discount (and shorter delivery time frame, long as it may be) and S!K will use those funds as part of getting that "someone else's investment" ready for them (since you now own the knife that was supposed to be theirs), and yes that includes keeping the production facility in operation. So in a sense, yes,
your funds help generate future knives while
your knife was paid for by funds that came before yours, but that knife you paid for only exists because some person (not you) invested in its production to begin with and the product wasn't satisfactory.
