Spyderco Price Increase - Some Surprises

I

insta9ves

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Apr 3, 2007
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We all know Spyderco is changing their MAP pricing. It's been announced quite a while ago, and there's been quite a bit of discussions on this. However it wasn't quite clear that some item got a much bigger price bump than others. So the universal 35% MAP wasn't the only thing that's causing the price increase.

For example:
Spyderco Shaman - 2017 $150 | 2018 $182 -->21.3% increase!
vs
Spyderco Paramilitary 2 S110V - 2017 $153 | 2018 $165.7 --> 8.3% increase

IMO the price has got to a point where user is starting to have many better options.
E.g. for $182, instead of getting a Shaman with G10 and S30V steel, i can get a Reate Hills for $179, or a CPM20CV Benchmade 551-1 for $179, not to mention a myriad of high quality titanium framelock knives produced in China(s35vn/m390 steel, ceramic detent, great fit & finish etc).
If you want to buy American, for less than $20 more than the Shaman, you can get ZT0801Ti & ZT0562 for $200 everywhere, which is as heavy duty as Shaman with great warranty. Even ZT0350 and ZT0909 with similar materials are going for much cheaper.

I know im probably get flamed by Spydiefans here, just wondering what everyone's thought on this, and the logic behind why certain items got more bump than others.

Not my video but this guy pretty much sums it up:
 
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8.3% is just the difference in MAP increase (40% to 35%)
 
If there employees got a raise for the increase in price of knives I would be fine with it, but I'm willing to bet there just lining there pockets.
Glad there are so many more companies to spend my money on.
 
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:(:(:(
The sad truth is I am being priced out of the retail market.
I can only dream of an 8% pay increase...much less 20%!

Although I’ve never held a Shaman, up until now from what I’ve seen and read I’ve thought it an affordable competitor to the 0562...I guess I was half right.

Manufacturers and retailers have to do what they must. I get that. It mostly just makes me sad that my means are not keeping pace with inflation.
 
My understanding from one of Sal s posts in the Spyderco forum is that the new prices are the required advertised prices. Spyderco is not controllong the sale price. Perhaps inquiries and negotiation will be possible with the retailers.
I hate to see the above comparison of the Shaman to the Benchmade 551-1 in terms of price. Could it be that the 551-1, which some think is over priced, like many Benchmades, is actually a better value than the Shaman?
 
Blacplastik said:
If there employees got a raise for the increase in price of knives I would be fine with it, but I'm willing to bet there just lining there pockets.
Glade there are so many more companies to spend my money on.
Click to expand...
You're way off base. I'm not thrilled with an MAP increase, but it's explicitly about the price dealers advertise for, not the price Spyderco charges. I'd honestly have less of a problem if it was an increase to MSRP, as that would go directly to Spyderco.
 
I'm a little discouraged by the prices of most production knives, particularly the new pricing from Benchmade and Spyderco. Who ever thought we'd look to ZT as a bastion of price stability!;)

I don't blame either Spyderco or Benchmade. I don't attribute the price increase to corporate greed; that's total nonsense. I think this is the result of the incredible expense to design, tool and produce new knives in the face of rampant theft in the knife world. Those of us who support clones and the rest of us who lust for new knives are largely to blame. And...hey...I NEED new knives to lust over!

That's just the way it is. It's the cost of staying ahead of the curve in business. Yes, I'll probably buy fewer knives and be more picky over the ones I buy, but I'll still buy from both companies.
 
Wonder if this extends to every market.

A basic PM is 172 euro or 206 dollar here.
Idk the before price but it seems like the gap used to be bigger.
 
I saw your posts on Facebook too and it's probably in the Spyderco forum also.

My take on this is that stuff costs more. It's been going on for years apparently.

People who say they can only buy so many knives a year but won't buy Spyderco anymore (or whatever brand happens to be the focus) seem to be more caught up in the act of consumption vs. needing a knife. You can only carry so many knives at once and you can only use so many at a time. If your hobby is collecting knives then you have to pay to play. If there's one super special knife that's a must have people have to buckle down and work harder.

And if by any chance company X does price their goods out of the marketplace then they won't sell. Then the will have to either adjust their prices downward or cease to operate. None of these places operate on the basis of a charity to supply trinkets to post on social media.
 
I can see 3 possible reasons their costs went up:

  1. Arbitrary price gouging ('lining their pockets'). This seems pretty unlikely, both because Spyderco is a high integrity company, and because in such a price-sensitive industry with strong import competition, it seems unlikely they'd want to do this, they'd just be shooting themselves in the foot as consumers would quickly switch to equivalent better priced options if the price difference is too large.
  2. Cost of doing business increased in some way (labor costs, new government regs, materials costs for steel and other materials, research and development, added new manufacturing capacity, etc).
  3. Increasing consumer demand. Example: if they are perceived as a premium brand and therefore experiencing increasing consumer demand that they cannot keep up with, this alone could account for price increases. Most consumers would not want the long delays and unavailable products, so for them to not lose customers and keep cranking out high demand product line, they have to ramp up production and that costs money.

I'd bet the increase comes from 2 and 3.
 
Mo2 said:
Why do we need three threads that are about the exact same topic?
Click to expand...

What three threads?

If the other two are in another subforum, like the Spyderco subforum, then a thread about Spyderco pricing asked to the "genreal public" in GKD will get entirely different responses than one in the Spyderco forum will.

They will be entirely different based on the context of where they are opened.

That's why.
 
Well, I have high respect for Spyderco products AND for Sal and gang. I've had a ton of Spydies compared to any other brand...ZT being second. I have no plans to change.
 
I just saw the increase ($10) on a couple knives I've been watching, the Raffir Chaparral and the PM3. Honestly, I thought these two were underpriced. Not that I want to pay more, but I can. On something like the Pattada, also watched, it wasn't cheap to start with, and is even less appealing price-wise now, so I'll probably pass.
 
Blacplastik said:
If there employees got a raise for the increase in price of knives I would be fine with it, but I'm willing to bet there just lining there pockets.
Glade there are so many more companies to spend my money on.
Click to expand...
I believe Sal stated his employees are getting a pay raise.
 
If he gave his employees a pay raise then that is great.
We need more business owners to do the same.
The middle class in America is dying a slow death while the richest get tax breaks and raise prices.
And I do love my Manix2.
 
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