Sky-high MSRP? Haven't we moved past this?

[The Deacon]

I've heard a lot of claims about perversion on the internet, but that "perversion" of the "normal" supply chain is a concept called "just in time delivery". Inventory is to be eliminated as much as possible in the modern economy. The internet has simply adopted a common business practice.

That's not really true. A B&M retailer has to have stock on the shelves. Nobody walks into a store looking to order something. Thirty years ago might have worked, to a degree, for a few businesses, but I doubt Sears has one "catalog showroom" left. Even if they do, the vast majority of folks walking into a store expect to be able to examine the item they've come for, purchase it, and walk out the door with it.

Contrast that with distributors who, to circumvent the "no retail sales" agreements most manufacturers insist on, will pretty much set up a website for you running against their inventory, drop ship to "your" customers, and handle all returns. You make a couple cents on the dollar, but have practically zero overhead. Granted, that's the extreme, but any business that does not need a storefront has lower costs than one that needs one, as does any business that can, effectively, be open 24-7 with 1 shift worth of crew.

 

[RevDevil]

Agreed Esav, but the gulf between MSRP and steet price has widened so much, that I no longer feel the MSRP even represents what is a fair selling price.

I am glad some others are wading in with opinions. It's been bugging me for a while.

MSRP was never intended to be a fair selling price, which is a very ambiguous ideal to begin with. What is fair to one is an outrage to the next. The reason MSRP was started was for purposes of standardization among retailers that carried the same products from a mass manufacturer. Paying $150 for a recliner chair at one store, versus $500 at another, the MSRP helped consumers make better judgements when making purchases. I agree though, times have changed and the way things were intended to work in the industrial revolution are no longer working that way because we have a completely different type of economy, and back then globalization was not a factor. Just my take anyway.

With Spyderco, it seems that the deepest standard discount we see off MSRP from online dealers is 45%. Ebay of course gets lower than that.

I sincerely...sincerely hope that things with Spyderco remain the same actually. Other main knife companies enforce strict MAP pricing and what were once brands that dealers were able to compete to bring us GREAT prices are now a thing of the past... Yeah they are "past that" indeed OP. Like Chris Reeve said, if he catches anyone selling his knife for less than he dictates, they're cut off...

So please Spyderco keep it just the way it is. Please.

MAP pricing also has it's place, it prevents one dealer from sniping the business out from under others that may not be able to compete as fast or quick to market, leaving the rest for gouging. MAP pricing can be effectively done and would be acceptable in a similar way to how it was done with another manufacturer. Through the use of specific coupon codes and discounts in store. Eliminating all flexibility to the dealer is what makes no sense.